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

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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

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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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nity parts of tisa illation that lained. I ' m i athletic, akthat trandbe- ] think trend to- ts themselves as consumers of an educational good? Stanford: It probably put us more on our mettle than before. There has been a great change in students in the last decade. In the late 60s and early 70s there was a challenge to authority. There seems to be a conviction that you can trace to that melancholy Dane, not Hamlet, but Kierkegaard, that is saying, Time is short. I can, how- ever, affect those decisions which, in turn, affect me, by making my views known. It ' s a kind of existential- ist posture that students and faculty are assuming, a phenomenon of this century. That was the late 60s and early 70s. Now the stud- ents, affected by consumer- ism, ask, What am I getting for the dollar I am pay- ing? Just as the ques- tions about authority forced us to rethink the University ' s structure, I think the questions about cost are making us think about the quality of the product. So I think it ' s constructive in that sense. Ibis: What is being done on a continuous basis to find out what the students think about the quality of the various departments? Stanford: I don ' t know that anything is being done as vigorously as it should be. I know that I meet with students every two weeks for breakfast. These meetings usually see someone making comments about various de- partments and I have someone making notes. The comments are then referred to the department that is being criticized or complimented. I think we need to have a somewhat more formal way of polling student opinion of the various departments. Ibis: Did you engineer integration at this Uni- versity? Stanford: No. The decision to integrate the University had been made before I got here in 1962. However, I think that I have used the authority of this office to bring blacks into the Uni- versity in greater numbers and try to carry out the dictates of Affirmative Action. It is a require- ment of the federal govern- ment to have blacks in prof- essorial, administrative, and other employee positions at UM. Ibis: Has your effort to- ward this end been success- ful? Stanford: No. We don ' t have as many blacks as we should have under the Affirmative Action Program. We ' re working on it. It has not been completely success- ful, but we ' ve made some progress. Ibis: How much longer do you think you will remain at 27