Rockford College - Recensio / Cupola Yearbook (Rockford, IL)

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L.. Students dip into the Alaskan Feast Bowl at the f'Hawaiian Luau . The bowl and other refreshments were located in the center of the room in an enclosure of The College supports the principle of academic freedom with full confidence in the integrity of the faculty in their concern to Find and teach the truth. It further respects the freedom of students, both individually and in groups, to seek the truth by examining diverse views as to the nature of man and his world. However, it reserves the right to refuse its official platform to speakers whose purpose is clearly antithetical to the overall aims as expressed in the Statement of Purpose and Philosophy of Rockford College. The Board of Trustees empowers the President to make deci- sions in doubtful cases involving speakers before the public forums of the College. The Class Attendance Policy also came under re- view and revision: i'Students are expected to attend all classes. Re- sponsibility for attendance shall rest with the stu- XK Its !,i'.,'f' l if ft fi 3. fish net. Other refreshments included unlimited amounts of fresh fruit. dents, but if they fail to meet their responsibilities instructors may require attendance? Dissent. That was part of the educational process at RC. And what a faculty meeting did was not always accepted by the students without cries of displeasure. The Speaker Policy received most violent opposition by the editors of the student newspaper, the CGLLEGIAN. The editors came out early in the year against the policy. They reasoned that c'Under this statement, a speaker from nearly any radical political, economic or religious group could be refused speaking privi- leges at Rockford College. This may not be the case now since President Howard feels the spirit of the policy is no different from the 1962 state- ment. But there is apparently nothing to guaran- tee that this vague policy will not be turned to a specific ban in the future to save the college a bit of embarrassment . . .

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...nl John F. Bennett fRightl, Professor of English. Sally Lo Ware CCenterl Assistant Professor of French. David Palmer ' fLeftj, Head Librarian. Nancy L. Hill, Secretary to the Dean of the Faculty. f A i 1 Rosemarie Remencius, Secretary to the Richard D. Abraham, Professor of Spanish. President. 27

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Present college leaders who respect our RC tradition would do well to remember the words of a former College President speaking of aca- demic freedom. Leland H. Carlson said in his 1955 inaugural address: 'Intellectual freedom is a God-given right which belongs not only to a college, but also to the community and the nation. John Stuart Mill was absolutely right when he said: '6The peculiar evil in silencing the expression of an opinion is that it is robbing the human racef, There are a lot of people today who are sincere, but also sincerely wrong, in trying to hold back the intel- lectual tide, to suppress the free interchange of ideas, and to channel thinking in the comfortable grooves of cherished prejudice. c Many of you remember the horse and buggy days. Do you recall those square blinders which were put on each side of the horse's eyes? It was unfair to the horse, but it's positively dangerous to put blinders on human beings. Cur vision is restricted and we are likely to fall in the ditch. Then we are reduced to looking at the rut. Thatis why we must listen to John Milton when he says, l'Let her CTruthj and Falsehood grapple, who ever knew Truth put to the worse, in a free and open encounter. 'If you succeed in suppressing an idea, and de- stroy liberty of inquiry in the process, what have you gained?' Even the class attendance policy was not immune from the criticism of the student body. Tom Myers, Student Government President, during the September 30 meeting of the student assembly proposed that the Educational Policy Committee reconsider the class attendance policy. The stu- dent body endorsed the recommendation unani- mously. The statement read: . .. that it be rec- ommended to the faculty that an attendance policy be adopted to the effect that class attend- ance be purely voluntary for all students, and that a student be subject to no other penalty than his missing the experience of the class, be it lecture, movie, demonstration, or pop quiz. Andy Loewe slides under the limbo bar at RC's first major dance of the year-the Hawaiian Luau.