Lehigh University - Epitome Yearbook (Bethlehem, PA)

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BLAUSTEIN LECTURE SERIES 1972 HAROLD WILSON

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Another CPA sponsored event was the performance of Ruth Laredo, nationally acclaimed pianist. She dem- onstrated her affinity for impressionistic music with her excellent readings of Schuman, Ravel, Debussy, and the Russian composer Alexander Scriabin, who has been discovered by Miss Laredo. The Mustard and Cheese had many successful pro- ductions this year, but the most popular of their per- formances was the Pulitzer-prize winning Our Town by Thornton Wilder. Grovers Corners, New Hamp- shire, was brought to life once more by a skillful group of actors in Grace Hall this year. The homey humor, the backyard philosophy and the colorfully human de- scription of small town America, which make Our Town a great play were all brought across by the tal- ented M C troupe. James Cunningham and the Acme Dance Company arrived on campus this spring as part of the Globus Series in Creative Arts. The group presented two major performances and two master classes in modern dance. The evening performances were actually a combination of performance and instruction. In the first half of the program Cunningham led more than 100 volunteers from the audience through a series of limbering exercises which culminated with the entire group dancing about the floor of Grace Hall. The per- formance was entitled The First Family . It involved the unlikely juxtaposition of Walt Disney and Isadora Duncan. Their performance, as the Village Voice wrote, resembles the course of a dream with all its sudden transformations, eccentricities, magic and seeming aimlessness. Another group that came to Lehigh with an enter- tainment-instruction program was the Portable New- port Folk Festival. For the past ten years the Newport Folk Festival has been an annual musical event, held in Rhode Island. Its purpose has been to keep the spirit of traditional American folk music alive and to edu- cate people in the origins of the sounds. This year the show took to the road to bring the music to the people. Featured performers of the Festival included some of this country ' s best folk artists— authentic traditional performers from rural America and city-bred revival singers , including Michael Cooney, Elizabeth Cotton, the Putnam County String Band, and a last minute ad-

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dition, Pete Seeger. To note that Seeger did not domi- nate the performance says much for the other performers. On April 19, 20, and 21, the Lehigh University lec- ture season culminated with the Jacob and Hilda Blaustein Lectures in International Relations. The sev- enth annual lecturer was the Right Honorable Harold Wilson, leader of Great Britain ' s Labour Party and Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1964 to 1970. Dur- ing the time he headed the British government events occured which have changed the world. Among them were the negotiations to enter the Common Market (which were initiated and failed), Great Britain ' s re- evaluation of her colonial situation, and the handling of the Rhodesian crisis which resulted in the strength- ening of the British Commonwealth of nations. The titles of Wilson ' s lectures were: Britain and the Transition from Imperialism, Studies in International Cooperation, and Britain and the European Com- mon Market. Concerning the general world situation, Wilson stated: We now have a situation in which the world does not revolve around No rth America and Europe, but is dominated by the vast majority. The basic issues are race, freedom, and the dignity of man. Describing the British Commonwealth, Wilson stated that it had progressed from colonial status to independent sovereign nationhood in barely a quarter of a century. He called the granting of independence to India, Burma, and Ceylon, an act of faith in a doubting world. As Prime Minister, Wilson attempted to put an end to the colonies and to establish nations in their place. Wilson stated: When I formed the labor government in 1964 I appointed a secretary of state for the colonies and gave him as his overriding instruction that he should work himself out ot a job. Complaining about American-Rhodesian relations, Wilson stated: Sanctions undoubtedly hit the Rhode- sian economy . . . but there were a number of breaches even more serious at this time . . . has been the decision of the American Congress to dishonor the United Nations mandatory resolution so far as chrome shipments are concerned. Wilson felt that the British government had no al- ternative but to intervene in Northern Ireland, which has been racked by what may be characterized as a religious war. He supported President ' s Nixon ' s trip to China saying, I think all of Britain welcomed that he went to China. I was pleased that United States was at the point where it could recognize that China exis- ted. At leat it opens a dialogue, although I don ' t know how deep. In his final lecture Wilson defended the present La- bour party stance against entry into the Common Mar- ket. The matter comes down to a question of terms; the terms negotiated by Wilson in 1968 were good, but France rejected Britain ' s entry. The Labour party thinks that the present terms would be harmful to Brit- ain in the long run. Finally, the Pops Concert topped off the year ' s cul- tural calendar. The Lehigh Concert Band performed their usual array of light classics with obvious relish and enthusiasm. The program was highlighted by this year ' s soloist, the famed bass-baritone John T. Steck- beck. This year also saw the first performance of Le- high ' s Stage Band, a recently formed group devoted to the big band sound of the thirties. A wasteland of culture for dull engineers? No. In fact, Lehigh may be on its way to becoming the cul- tural center of the Lehigh Valley.