College of William and Mary - Colonial Echo Yearbook (Williamsburg, VA)

Page 31 text:

t is hard to pinpoint exactly when the Uni- ted States began to pre- pare for its gala Bicen- tennial celebrationg as far back as 1972 Nixon in his inaugural was looking forward to 1976 and the nation's 200th birthday party. Rarely since then has the sub- ject been out of sight or out of mind. Pennsylva- nia license plates have been witnessing to their state's Bicentennial Sta- tus for almost two years, and sixty second Bi- centennial Minutes have been televised since July 4, 1974. Now, in 1975, Nixon is gone but the national preparations continue. By January, the College was assured of its place in the celebra- tion when it was named an official Bicentennial Community by the Ameri- can Revolution Bicenten- nial Administration. What better place to designate than William and Mary. se- cond oldest college in the United States? Citing the many early American political leaders who were educated at the College. President Thomas Graves and Ross Weeks, Chairman of the College Bicentennial Committee, applied for official status in Decem- ber 1974. The theme- Alma Mater of a Nation. The College's par- ticipation in the Bicenten- nial celebration is in many ways past the plan- ning stage. Already the Bi- centennial Committee has released a program of par- ticipation suitable to the College's notable place in the nation's history. Major projects include: -Publication in 1976 of Their Majesties' Royall Colledge-William and Mary in the Seventeenth itur and Eighteenth by Dr. J. E. Morpurgo, pro- fessor of English at the University of Leeds, Eng- land. The book, the first full-length historical treatment of the College years, to record a contem- porary archival history of the College and Virginia higher education. -Completion and publi- cation of the first volume of The Papers of John Marshall. The Papers are a research and publication project which will pro- duce a total of ten vol- umes during the Bicenten- nial era. Marshall took his legal studies at the College, and the present project is the first full effort to publish all of his existing papers. -Presentation of Bicen- tennial Medallions by the Society of the Alumni to individuals who have assis- ted the College. The first were presented to Gover- nor Mills E. Godwin, Lieu- tenant Governor John Dal- ton and Virginia Chief Justice Lawrence l'Anson, all William and Mary alumni, at Homecoming in October, as well as to President Graves. -The convening in Decem- ber 1976 of the 200th Anniversary meeting of Phi Beta Kappa, founded by William and Mary students. -Presentation of a cita- tion and official Bicen- tennial flag to Harvey Chappell, Rector of the Board of Visitors, by Lewis McMurran, chairman Virginia's Independent Bicentennial Commission, at Charter Day. -Planning for a nationally recognized law center which would merge the Marshall-Wythe School of Law with the National Center for State Courts. The Center will break ground during 1975. -Student activities fo- cusing on a Bicentennial Fortnight of academic and social programs in 1976. Project ideas will be solicited from students, and a joint faculty- student committee will make decisions. S1 nt ever Written and published. A natural for Bicentennial sta- is one of a series of cus, William and Mary has been Wgrks intended to Cgver celebrating the Revolutionary the Collegels Overall period for years: here a cannon . al t t H ' . history and development. 5 U e a Omecommg -Establishment of an Oral History Project, to be carried out over two BICENTENNIAL

Page 30 text:

N :WL- 415351 ' qlfi if . s tx , ,Q i fn R if 3: L' a 7,5 Xt' W av 'A w 4411 if fake 47,5 r J'-s -ff A 4:3122 J- -Yffaflrfhfe. RSS- 'Q PYP: aaa' JH V' , -,J I The official Bicentennial flag joins the United States flag in fly- 24 BICENTENNIAL ing over William and Mary,

Page 32 text:

SA President Sharon Pandak ad- dresses the crowd before intro- ducing speaker John Dean. mcg historg neve r, eve r, I repeat itself uesday. February 4, 1975, saw 5,000 students and visitors file into William and Mary Hall to hear the man whom S.A. President Sharon Pandak termed the one speaker l won't have to introduce, for- mer White House Counsel John W. Dean, Ill. For most, Dean was re- membered as one of the key figures in exposing the Watergate cover-up, and revealing the possible existence of the Water- gate tapes. Because of his cooperation during the Watergate trials, Dean was given a lighter sentence of from one to four years. In the fall of 1974, after having served only five months of his sentence, Water- gate Judge John Sirica released Dean. 26 JOHN DEAN It was at this time that Dean was approached concerning the possibili- ty of a lecture tour of college campuses. Han- dled by the American Program Bureau of Massa- chusetts, Dean began a tour which would net him over 375,000 Dean toured several Virginia schools in- cluding U.Va. and O.D.U., commanding a sizeable fee at each. Not to be outdone, William and Mary paid Dean 33,500 for his hour-and-a-half appearance, one of the highest fees he received. lt was this fee which made many professors and students take sudden no- tice of his tour. For a time, it looked as if William and Mary might again see a portion of the college community stage a protest charac- teristic of the late 1960's. But of all the talk preceding Dean's arrival, little action materialized. Nine pro- fessors wrote a letter of protest to Pandak complaining about the high fee being paid to a former criminal. At first this attitude seemed to pervade the campus, with students echoing the sentiments of their professors. But by the night of the speech, attitudes seemed to have softened con- siderably. Only six people braved the rain and cold long enough to carry such slogans as, Who said crime doesn't pay? Others simply ex- pressed their anti-Dean sentiment by what they termed a boycott. Whatever the reasons for attending or missing the lecture, Dean's speech remained one of the most talked about events of the year. While reaction had been strong against Dean at other campuses on the tour, the audience re- mained calm during the lecture, even laughing at some points. Dean set the stage for this atmosphere by making an apology for the fees he was to receive on his tour. ln his opening remarks, he said, l truly wish I could speak on campuses for free . . . l find it a very rewarding experience. He ex-