University of Pittsburgh - Owl Yearbook (Pittsburgh, PA)

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road to academic excellence had been thwarted. The Law School remained without a Dean and the English department was similarly coordinated by a board. Most resignations were neatly kept unpublicized by the University’s Public Relations staff as individual departments suffered losses. Dean of Social Sciences Richard Park. Drs. Philbrick and Meritt in English. Perrow in Sociology, Chinitz and Rich-man in Economics, and innumerable departures which administrative elites dispelled as “the normal turnover.” Improvements were few and eluded the realm of faculty. Dr. James Kchl entered as Dean of Liberal Arts, making some promising revisions in the distribution requirements. The administrative structure changed with the elimination of four Vice Chancellor posts, leaving Drs. Kurtzman, Van Duscn and Peake as the ruling triumvcratc. Athletics received a rude awakening as Athletic Director Frank Carver took liberty with his conscr- vativism and appointed a new head football and track coach. The substantive changes reflected the growing concern for emphasizing an efficient administrative structure for Pitt’s new state-related status, instead of the pre-Kurtzman emphasis on building a scholarly faculty and adding depth to curriculum. Complaints echoed through the hallowed halls as apprehensive faculty and students voiced concern. Chronic complaincrs were told “it’s all for the better,” “there will be no loss in academic concerns,” “you’re not thinking in long-range terms.” Then the long-range terms were exposed in a pathetic commencement ceremony. The main speaker was Dr. H. Guyford Stever, President of Carnegie Tech, and honorary degrees were awarded to Frank Magee and William Rea, both members of Pitt’s Board of Trustees, and Dr. Sidney Marland, Superintendent of Pittsburgh Public Schools. Pitt will now seek academic excellence by regional emphasis. Dr. Kurtz-man simultaneously emphasized the need to “re-examine our responsibilities to the community,” and to seek the “help and cooperation” of community leaders while having no intention of becoming limited to this region.” Ironically, an earlier move for academic excellent with regional improvement as a by-product had been thwarted by the refusal of the Mellon elite to support the University during its crisis. Panther Hollow had been designed to diversify the regional economy and supply an invaluable source of research income for academic purposes. Panther Hollow failed, Litchfield’s plan was crushed, and now Pitt must cooperate on the terms of the community elite. Commencement confirmed the fears of the chronic com-plainers—Pitt’s place in the sun was being replaced by its serving as another institution dominated by the interlocking directorate of the Mellons. The forward look had become the inward look. Transition had begun.