University of Miami - Ibis Yearbook (Coral Gables, FL)

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:- in that at 5 was the in which they got most of their input con- sidered was in their own personal lives. Housing was first, then academic affairs later on. Insofar as any real role in univer- sity governance is concerned, the students don ' t have it. I don ' t think it has anything to do with the policies of the trustees or the administration. It has to do with the fact that student leadership is a brief and passing thing. Elections are so frequent that there is no continuity. The only thing that can give continuity to any effort is something that is as- sociated with the administration itself. Student body government has never been able to speak for the student body Graduation procession winds down Ponce de Leon Blvd. toward the Gables Theater, 1943. because it just isn ' t concerned. I guess they are concerned about their academic careers or other personal things. The expanded campus has brought other basic changes to the operation of UM. At first, the University was largely a com- muter school. Now that students live on campus in great numbers, UM has to provide a great many services residence, recrea- tion, as well as education creating prob- lems that the University has never had to deal with before. Housing is one of these problems. While on-campus housing remains the cheap- est living alternative, many students find the dorms an intolerable atmosphere for study or relaxation. Nobody ever appreciates living in dormitories until 10 years later when he can feel nostalgic about it. In the late 1970s, UM is facing an old problem for new reasons: lack of money. The huge physical plant that has been nurtured since 1946 is now getting ex- pensive to maintain, and the general state of the economy is poor. One of the problems lies in unrestricted donations, of which there are too few. Most donations are earmarked for the construction of build- ings, with no provisions for their main- tenance in the future. Dr. Tebeau: The last few years have not been a part of the continuing trend of expansion. There has been a reversal. It makes for a different attitude on the part of the people who work here. Every man becomes concerned about what ' s going to happen to his department, school, or the University as a whole. He becomes apprehensive rather than optimistic. This is a completely logical thing to do. The faculty had something to do with the development of this institution the policies that were made. We shared in authority here. By now, everything has been institutionalized to the point where, when things don ' t go right, all the blame falls directly on the administration. The President and his associates are expected to give all the answers. Any idea of a strong community of interests between faculty and administration, between whom there once were no very sharp lines, tends to disappear. It has gotten to the point where the faculty holds the administration responsible for what happens to the insti- tution and themselves. 25

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ginning in the summer of that year. There were no incidents that summer, and none until the more militant events of the late 1960s. The late 1950s was also a time when UM began to attract national attention, not only for its incredible expansion academically and financially, but for its notorious Sun Tan U image. As Dr. Tebeau remembers, One thing the Univer- sity administration has always had to answer was, How can you operate a serious educational institution in an entertain- ment oriented community? Somebody once asked President Ashe how he could carry on an intellectual life in a climate like this. He said that he really didn ' t know since he wasn ' t an intellectual himself, which was far from being true. But he would point out that civilization was born in the tropics, not the temperate zones. We ' ve wrestled with this ever since Ashe ' s time. That ' s why the tag ' Sun Tan U ' hurts so much, because it ' s some- thing we ' ve been fighting ever since 1926. It stems from an association with an area where horse racing, polo playing, money, recreation, and Miami Beach compose the image rather than the reality. Other people just write the place off. That ' s why it ' s important to maintain areas like the Marine Science School with a national reputation. While Miami may never change its climate, its students themselves have changed immensely. The first students were victims of the Depression. Most of the students of the 30s were Miami people who wanted to go to school but couldn ' t afford to go anywhere else. After World War II, the GIs who came here did not have money because they came at Uncle Sam ' s ex- pense. There always have been those stu- dents who came here for its location and climate only. That proportion grew rapidly in the 1950s and 60s because UM ' s growth was a product of the growing afflu- ence of the entire country. All college students today have far more money than they ' ve ever had before. But there is too much of an attitude that all the students here are well-off. There are quite a few who wonder about their next meal. As to the type of student now attend- ing UM, this was and is a conservative community. It is conservative now in that the degree of student unrest active dis- sent is rather low. The only major unrest at this school occurred after the Kent State shootings in May, 1970. This was the only time UM encountered a threat of serious violence. The school was closed down from 2:30 Thursday afternoon until Monday morning. Some other schools never reopened for the rest of that semester. As an upshot of that period, students did begin to have much more say about what went on. Before the 60s, the students did not have any role in University decisions, but they didn ' t want that role either, so there was never any conflict. The area 24 truste dowi a brie sofre Theo loan) social St been

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The University stands to- day before an abyss that it may successfully leap across or fall into. Pres- ident Henry King Stanford labors under strains and influences that his pre- decessors could only have dreamed about. His tenure, since 1962, has marked the strongest showing of the University both within the academic world and in this community. Listening to Stanford, who is totally optimistic about the future of this institution, one gets the impression that no problem now plaguing UM is too difficult to overcome. As stated in the charter of the University of Miami, the alternative to a suc- cessful and viable insti- tution would be a reversion of the assets of UM to the people of Florida, thereby converting it into a state facility. This is an alter- native the administration does not want to think about, nor, for that matter, does it feel it will ever need to consider. Dr. Stanford, interviewed this past fall on a rainy afternoon, talked with the Ibis about where we are and where he feels we are going. Ibis: How has the ' Sun Tan U ' reputation of the Univ- ersity of Miami helped or hurt your responsibilities? Stanford: I think we will always have the problem to overcome of operating a serious academic enterprise in a resort atmosphere. People are going to question whether a person can ser- iously study in a benign climate. My answer to that is, you don ' t have to be snowbound to be intellec- tual, as we proved in so many areas of this Univer- sity. We have so many distinguished areas, which, if sun were an obstacle, would not have achieved the eminence they have already attained around the world, not to mention in the United States. So I think that is a foolish, silly argument. But it ' s going to continue being applied to the University by people who like to make flippant remarks about any effort you make in the sunshine. So it hasn ' t made my res- ponsibilities very dif- ficult. Ibis: How important is sports within the framework of UM? Stanford: I ' ve often thought about the role of intercollegiate athletics at the University. I lis- tened carefully to people who have been here longer than I, who believe that athletics, particularly football, has propelled UM to the attention of people throughout the Northeast and the Midwest, from which areas we ' ve drawn lots of students. There is a faculty committee report prepared for the self- study procedure which eval- uates intercollegiate athletics, both pro and con. It finally concludes that it is a constructive asset for the University to main- tain because of the spirit which it imparts to the cam- pus, even when we ' re losing. I think we ' ve had a lot of spirit this fall because the team has played so well. Because of the publicity it brings the University throughout other parts of the country, there is a strong recommendation that football be maintained. I ' m also interested in athletics, such as intramurals, that can be carried over and be- come part of a person ' s way of life when he gets to be an adult. Ibis: What do you think about the recent trend to- ward the students perceiving anedi Slfflfo IB me WOK ; ief be taittr Dane, fob Tuni ever, is a: 1st pa 26