Page Meetings, 2:30 p.m., part 1: Tape #16
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Transcript
Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.
- | (mumbles) news. | 0:02 |
This is David Christy in Page Auditorium. | 0:03 | |
The meeting which was scheduled to begin at 2:30 | 0:06 | |
this afternoon has not officially begun. | 0:09 | |
The MC is bringing the crowd up to date | 0:11 | |
as to what has happened. | 0:14 | |
I will try and do the same for you. | 0:15 | |
As you know, yesterday morning at 12:30, | 0:17 | |
there was a convocation in Page Auditorium | 0:20 | |
to replace the convocation which Dr. Knight | 0:23 | |
had scheduled for the indoor stadium. | 0:27 | |
The (mumbles) general's office had requested | 0:29 | |
that Dr. Knight not have the meeting | 0:31 | |
in a stadium because they didn't want any mass | 0:33 | |
gathering of Duke students. | 0:36 | |
They figured it would be a volatile student, | 0:38 | |
so Dr. Knight canceled his speech. | 0:40 | |
The students, however, felt themselves free | 0:42 | |
to call the convocation and they met | 0:45 | |
in Page Auditorium at 12:30 yesterday morning. | 0:48 | |
They heard speeches from the president | 0:52 | |
of the Afro-American Society. | 0:54 | |
Dean Griffith was here, Howard Fuller was here, | 0:56 | |
Dr. Rainey spoke, and then it sort of broke | 0:59 | |
into a discussion group. | 1:02 | |
At one point, Mark Pinsky got up and suggested | 1:05 | |
that Dr. Knight's speech, which he was scheduled to make | 1:07 | |
at 6:30 on WDBS was not sufficient communication | 1:10 | |
with the students and they wanted more information | 1:14 | |
from Dr. Knight and he suggested that they march | 1:16 | |
over to University House and confront Dr. Knight in person. | 1:19 | |
Howard Fuller then got up and confirmed the suggestion. | 1:23 | |
At this point, the students marched out of Page Auditorium | 1:27 | |
and marched to Dr. Knight's house. | 1:31 | |
At Dr. Knight's house, Dr. Knight prepared to meet them | 1:34 | |
out in the carport in front of the house | 1:37 | |
and about 500 students convened there | 1:40 | |
and questions were posed to Dr. Knight about the demands | 1:44 | |
that the black students had made when they took over | 1:47 | |
Allen Building at 8:30 on Thursday morning. | 1:51 | |
Dr. Knight tried to answer these questions, but needless | 1:56 | |
to say, there was many cross currents going on | 1:58 | |
behind the people there. | 2:01 | |
Finally, Howard Fuller and the president | 2:05 | |
of the Afro-American Society moved that they meet, | 2:07 | |
the black students meet with Dr. Knight, | 2:12 | |
representatives of the faculty, representatives | 2:14 | |
of the board of trustees at eight o'clock last night | 2:16 | |
and they didn't, at the time of the meeting | 2:20 | |
at Dr. Knight's house in the afternoon, | 2:22 | |
they did not know where this meeting would be held. | 2:25 | |
It was later decided they would hold | 2:27 | |
that meeting at Dr. Knight's house and that meeting | 2:29 | |
convened at eight o'clock. | 2:32 | |
A meeting was then scheduled at Page Auditorium | 2:33 | |
for 11 o'clock last night to discuss what had been | 2:37 | |
accomplished at the meeting at Dr. Knight's house. | 2:39 | |
At 11 o'clock, the students convened here, | 2:43 | |
maybe 400 students convened here and they heard | 2:46 | |
one speech about the situation which had happened | 2:50 | |
on the quad and the trials at the courthouse on Friday. | 2:53 | |
Then the black students and Howard Fuller arrived | 2:56 | |
at Page Auditorium from Dr. Knight's house | 3:00 | |
and Howard Fuller got up and made a speech | 3:03 | |
to try and bring the people up to date. | 3:07 | |
What he said was that there had been something accomplished | 3:10 | |
at the meeting with Dr. Knight and this would be announced | 3:13 | |
today at this meeting, which we are prepared to cover. | 3:17 | |
He talked for just about four or five minutes, | 3:19 | |
explaining that they were all tired and that | 3:23 | |
they would plan to be here at 2:30 with Dr. Knight | 3:26 | |
and an official statement would be released as to | 3:31 | |
what happened at the meeting. | 3:34 | |
Now the implication was given | 3:36 | |
that something was accomplished and that the blacks | 3:37 | |
received some of their demands | 3:40 | |
and some agreement was reached. | 3:43 | |
We arrived at Page Auditorium this afternoon at 1:30 | 3:46 | |
and we've been waiting here ever since. | 3:49 | |
There was a flyer released, | 3:52 | |
which certainly stated that the struggle | 3:54 | |
of the Afro-American Society seemed to have bring | 3:57 | |
some sort of victory for them and that they had gotten | 4:00 | |
this victory by using power against the university, | 4:05 | |
by using force and incurring a struggle, | 4:09 | |
and this flyer went on to state that the white students | 4:13 | |
possibly now don't have as many privileges | 4:18 | |
and as much control over running the university | 4:21 | |
as some of the black students did | 4:24 | |
and the flyer suggested that possibly the white students | 4:25 | |
would resort to the same techniques that the black | 4:28 | |
students resorted to to gain their demands. | 4:31 | |
We have not been able to find out under whose auspices | 4:34 | |
this flyer was released, but it was placed | 4:38 | |
on all the seats at Page Auditorium. | 4:41 | |
We are now, as I said, in Page Auditorium | 4:43 | |
and the auditorium is filling up. | 4:46 | |
We are waiting for Dr. Knight to arrive. | 4:48 | |
Dr. Knight is not here, Dean Griffith is not here. | 4:52 | |
The only person who is here right now is the MC | 4:56 | |
of the meetings. | 5:00 | |
He's been running, sort of taken control | 5:01 | |
of all the meetings which have been held since Thursday | 5:04 | |
on the main quad when they held the forum and then | 5:09 | |
Thursday night here in Page and yesterday | 5:14 | |
here in Page and last night in Page, | 5:17 | |
and then again this afternoon, here in Page. | 5:19 | |
The auditorium is, as I said, filling up. | 5:21 | |
There do not seem to be as many people here | 5:25 | |
this afternoon as there were yesterday afternoon | 5:27 | |
when the students convened to replace the meeting | 5:30 | |
which Dr. Knight had called, although Dr. Knight | 5:33 | |
is scheduled to appear here this afternoon. | 5:36 | |
I assume that the students have heard that it's going | 5:39 | |
to be on the radio and they will listen to it there, | 5:43 | |
but the auditorium is not full as it was yesterday. | 5:45 | |
The downstairs seems to be filling up. | 5:49 | |
The balcony, however, is only about half full. | 5:50 | |
Yesterday they were packing them in. | 5:53 | |
They had to stand in the back of the balcony, | 5:54 | |
stand in the front of the auditorium. | 5:56 | |
They have, as yesterday, reserved the front few rows | 5:58 | |
for the Afro-American Society so that they can sit | 6:02 | |
in a block at the meeting. | 6:04 | |
I assume Howard Fuller will be here as well as Dr. Knight | 6:05 | |
to make statements on what happened last night. | 6:08 | |
Yesterday over at Dr. Knight's house, | 6:11 | |
Howard Fuller seemed to take command of the black students | 6:14 | |
in a very forceful way in requesting that they do not | 6:17 | |
pester Dr. Knight and do not badger him with questions | 6:22 | |
whereas the meeting in front of his house was designed | 6:25 | |
originally to answer some of the questions and reply | 6:29 | |
to some of the demands which had been made | 6:31 | |
by some of the black students Thursday morning | 6:33 | |
when they took over Allen Building. | 6:36 | |
They had tried to systematically go over the demands | 6:38 | |
one by one and Dr. Knight was attempting to reply | 6:42 | |
to these demands as best he could and through | 6:45 | |
what he knew from the administration | 6:48 | |
in his own personal knowledge. | 6:51 | |
However, the various factions in the group | 6:53 | |
kept trying to change the subject and they kept trying | 6:56 | |
to bring him back to why the police had been called in | 6:58 | |
and what was going to happen to the students and what | 7:01 | |
was happening to those who had been arrested | 7:04 | |
and were on trial. | 7:06 | |
And finally, Howard Fuller through the president | 7:08 | |
of the Afro-American Society, moved that they propose | 7:11 | |
the meeting, which was finally held and then he suggested | 7:14 | |
that they all adjourn. | 7:18 | |
After the meeting, we tried to get in touch | 7:20 | |
with Dr. Knight to get a comment from him. | 7:21 | |
Dr. Knight, however, was unavailable at that time | 7:23 | |
to give a comment. | 7:28 | |
He had scheduled before the march to University House | 7:29 | |
to make a speech through WDBS's facilities | 7:32 | |
for 6:30 last night and then at 3:30, | 7:37 | |
when we talked to him again, | 7:40 | |
he informed us that he would be unable | 7:42 | |
to make that statement. | 7:44 | |
However, about two hours later, we found out | 7:45 | |
that he was making a tape of a speech and that speech | 7:48 | |
was played at seven o'clock last night. | 7:51 | |
Is this program for today? | 7:54 | |
- | We are expecting Dr. Knight shortly with the Afros | 7:57 |
to give some sort of statement about the results | 7:58 | |
of the negotiations which were going on last night | 8:01 | |
and this morning, and we hope that Dr. Knight would stay | 8:04 | |
long enough to just answer some questions | 8:08 | |
and then after that, we will have a very short discussion | 8:12 | |
about the free university, which has been established | 8:17 | |
these last two or three days. | 8:20 | |
There will be statements about the free academic senate, | 8:22 | |
which has been set up by about 35 members of the faculty | 8:26 | |
in a statement about the continuation of the free university | 8:29 | |
and then tonight at six o'clock, Oliver Harvey | 8:34 | |
will speak about the union in Flowers Lounge. | 8:38 | |
That's at 6:00 p.m. | 8:42 | |
He'll talk about what's happened since the vigil | 8:44 | |
concerning union, concerning the union here at Duke | 8:47 | |
and this will be a general discussion about another group | 8:51 | |
which has been negotiating now for a long, long time | 8:54 | |
with the university and the results of that negotiation | 8:57 | |
or lack of negotiation. | 9:02 | |
And he will speak, again, as I said, in Flowers. | 9:04 | |
And we'll just wait for Dr. Knight | 9:07 | |
and the Afros to get here. | 9:09 | |
- | It has been recommended that the Black Studies | 9:13 |
group, the Afro-American Studies Committee be set up | 9:17 | |
and put in an application as soon as possible. | 9:21 | |
This committee is. | 9:25 | |
- | (mumbles) committee decided to occur | 9:27 |
at Duke University in a long time. | 9:30 | |
I just heard someone behind me laugh. | 9:31 | |
They were talking about God. | 9:34 | |
And I think it's a crying shame when in this country | 9:38 | |
the time comes when the most important meeting | 9:41 | |
at Duke University in a long time, | 9:45 | |
you don't even have open prayer. | 9:47 | |
(audience groans) | 9:51 | |
Now listen, there are a lot of folks listening to you | 9:53 | |
on the radio, you people that just did that, | 9:55 | |
and I would like to say that every one of you | 9:57 | |
that just did that is a coward because you won't get up | 9:59 | |
and do it by yourself. | 10:02 | |
You're safe back there. | 10:03 | |
(audience chatters) | 10:05 | |
All right, folks, did you hear that? | 10:07 | |
Right now, there are (mumbles) standing up | 10:08 | |
and hissing that because of what I just did. | 10:11 | |
- | God damn you, sir! | 10:14 |
- | I cannot find out who this is speaking. | 10:15 |
- | Yes, I did (mumbles) last night and to be honest, | 10:17 |
I did it because there was gas in the top of the chapel. | 10:21 | |
And you go down to the floor. | 10:23 | |
Personally, I can believe that. | 10:25 | |
(audience laughs) | 10:27 | |
But, | 10:28 | |
I would hope there is somebody out there | 10:30 | |
that also believes in God. | 10:33 | |
For you people. | 10:35 | |
Yes, sir? | 10:39 | |
Are we going to open this meeting | 10:40 | |
at this time of the prayer. | 10:42 | |
I'm going to pray to my God. | 10:45 | |
I'm going to ask that you out there. | 10:46 | |
- | God? | 10:49 |
Please make it non-denominational. | 10:50 | |
- | I would ask that you out there pray to your God | 10:54 |
and I will pray to my God and I hope that we | 10:56 | |
can all do this together because this country | 10:59 | |
needs a little bit more of the ghost | 11:01 | |
and a little bit less decision because at this time | 11:04 | |
in our nation, this country is ripping itself apart. | 11:07 | |
That's why I stand up for (mumbles), | 11:10 | |
because I think this country is tearing itself apart. | 11:12 | |
- | Make it more of a prayer! | 11:15 |
- | There seems to be some confrontation here. | 11:18 |
- | This, I was told, is a free university. | 11:19 |
(people chatter) | 11:22 | |
- | The students in the auditorium apparently do not | 11:27 |
want to open up the meeting with a prayer | 11:29 | |
and yet I have not been able to find out | 11:31 | |
who was speaking. | 11:33 | |
He would like to read a prayer. | 11:34 | |
- | Oh God, you know | 11:37 |
I didn't want to get up here and do this, | 11:40 | |
but out of deep concern. | 11:44 | |
I have a concern for every individual | 11:46 | |
in this room, every person in this university, | 11:48 | |
in this state, in this nation. | 11:52 | |
Father, this country is ripping itself apart. | 11:55 | |
I know that through our self-inflicted suffering | 11:59 | |
you will teach us great truths and great lessons, | 12:02 | |
but I am very upset, Father. | 12:06 | |
Where are your people? | 12:08 | |
Where is their courage, where is their belief? | 12:12 | |
God, I have seen your handiwork in these past few days | 12:16 | |
at this university, but I have not seen a single Christian | 12:20 | |
stand up and face the responsibility of saying | 12:23 | |
what is right through his or her action. | 12:26 | |
There has been a lot of talk, God. | 12:29 | |
I stand on this stage as a witness to my faith | 12:31 | |
and your power. | 12:34 | |
I stand alone based on a prayer. | 12:35 | |
And why is this? | 12:38 | |
Perhaps you'd like this yourself, God. | 12:40 | |
I've been feeling pretty alone lately. | 12:43 | |
This, God, as you notice, is the first day | 12:47 | |
of national brotherhood week. | 12:51 | |
I feel no brotherhood. | 12:53 | |
I see no fruits of the spirit. | 12:55 | |
I see only hatred, (mumbles), adultery, enmity, | 12:58 | |
anger, jealousy, stubbornness, heresies, | 13:01 | |
murders, drunkenness, reverence, | 13:06 | |
and all such things. | 13:10 | |
I confess that I am a part of this spirit too, God. | 13:13 | |
Purify my spirit and make it clean and pure | 13:16 | |
and I humbly ask that you do the same | 13:19 | |
for every person in this room, for each person | 13:23 | |
in this room has a (mumbles) need in his heart right now, | 13:26 | |
a need that cannot be met by his attendance in this meeting, | 13:30 | |
by his presence in this meeting. | 13:33 | |
Father, keep me safe to see the day | 13:35 | |
when all men will be brothers, whether black, or white, | 13:39 | |
or red, or brown. | 13:43 | |
And like Moses, I ask that I might be worthy | 13:49 | |
to see this promised day, this promised land, | 13:53 | |
the dream that Martin Luther King was speaking of, | 13:56 | |
and give me that guiding voice within me | 13:59 | |
that is a part of the Christ consciousness. | 14:02 | |
Open the arms of the blind, the ears of the deaf, | 14:05 | |
the eyes of the blind, and the prisons of the enslaved. | 14:08 | |
In the name of Christ, I plead this prayer. | 14:12 | |
Silent (mumbles). | 14:16 | |
Thank you. | 14:19 | |
- | That was Herb Jameson | 14:20 |
who got up | 14:23 | |
(audience applauds) | 14:25 | |
and suggested | ||
that the meeting me open with a prayer. | 14:27 | |
There was some contradiction opposed to this | 14:30 | |
by the members of the crowd here. | 14:33 | |
The crowd is continually growing. | 14:35 | |
But Jameson figured that since nobody had prayed | 14:37 | |
since the whole thing started | 14:41 | |
that it was in proper tone | 14:47 | |
to open the meeting on a Sunday afternoon with a prayer. | 14:51 | |
We have some comments here from Dr. Knight's speech | 14:55 | |
which he made last night on WDBS. | 14:58 | |
He opened | 15:02 | |
saying that first, "Let me comment on the events | 15:04 | |
"which occurred on Duke campus last Thursday. | 15:08 | |
"I do not and cannot condone the illegal occupation | 15:11 | |
"of any building on university campus for any reason at all. | 15:14 | |
"This sort of action is sort of aggressive action, | 15:18 | |
"is no way in which to resolve a problem. | 15:21 | |
"It simply compounds it." | 15:23 | |
He went on to say that, "I regret more than | 15:25 | |
"I can ever tell any one of you that it was necessary | 15:28 | |
"to bring police into the campus in order | 15:31 | |
"to secure Allen Building last Thursday, | 15:34 | |
"but no honest choice was made evident to us | 15:36 | |
"during the 10 hours in which we tried to work | 15:38 | |
"with the situation and in which we proposed a great | 15:40 | |
"variety of possible solutions | 15:43 | |
"to those occupying the building. | 15:45 | |
"I myself was responsible for the final and deeply | 15:47 | |
"painful decision to ask the police to clear | 15:50 | |
"the building for us. | 15:52 | |
"Tonight, the key members of the faculty of the trustees | 15:54 | |
"and of the administration will be talking | 15:57 | |
"with a number of our black students in an effort | 15:59 | |
"to resolve the problems which have lead | 16:01 | |
"to our current situation not only here at Duke, | 16:03 | |
"but throughout the United States and indeed, | 16:05 | |
"throughout the world. | 16:07 | |
"In the meantime, I depend upon your mature judgment | 16:08 | |
"and upon your sympathetic forbearance as we move | 16:11 | |
"respectively and successfully through a very difficult | 16:14 | |
"experience in the community." | 16:18 | |
Then he goes on to say that he would | 16:20 | |
be in touch very soon. | 16:22 | |
That meeting which he spoke about, as I said earlier, | 16:24 | |
had been held and the black students were there with him | 16:27 | |
and the trustees and members of the faculty | 16:32 | |
and they apparently did reach some sort of agreement | 16:34 | |
and that is what this meeting we are waiting for | 16:38 | |
here this afternoon is all about. | 16:40 | |
Dr. Knight is scheduled to be here to announce | 16:42 | |
the agreement which was made. | 16:46 | |
Dr. Knight has now arrived. | 16:48 | |
Howard Fuller and most of the black students | 16:50 | |
have not arrived. | 16:53 | |
The auditorium is slowly filling up | 16:55 | |
with mostly white students. | 16:58 | |
Although I said earlier, it is not as full | 17:01 | |
as it was yesterday during the 12:30 convocation. | 17:03 | |
- | Altercation last night. | 17:07 |
Also, representative board of trustees | 17:10 | |
and representatives of Kerckhoff Committee. | 17:14 | |
The black students have agreed to a joint statement | 17:19 | |
which will be read by Dr. Kerckhoff. | 17:22 | |
Although in some instances the university appears | 17:24 | |
to have been addressing themselves to some aspects | 17:28 | |
of black students' problems, the lack of effective | 17:31 | |
communication in black student involvement | 17:35 | |
and the processes needed to deal correctly | 17:38 | |
with these problems has lead us to where we are now. | 17:41 | |
It is the hope of the black students | 17:45 | |
that the constructive results obtained will make | 17:48 | |
Duke University more relevant to the needs | 17:52 | |
and aspirations of black people. | 17:56 | |
(audience applauds) | 17:59 | |
- | That was Chuck Hopkins speaking | 18:03 |
at the Page Auditorium meeting with a statement. | 18:05 | |
Dr. Kerckhoff is here onstage and he is about to speak now. | 18:09 | |
This is Dr. Kerckhoff. | 18:12 | |
- | What I want to report today is in the nature | 18:17 |
of a statement of understandings which form a basis | 18:20 | |
of clarification of the past and the present | 18:23 | |
as well as a pointer toward the future. | 18:27 | |
We need to know where we are. | 18:31 | |
We also need to have some kind of an image | 18:33 | |
of where we're going. | 18:35 | |
I think it's a sound basis for discussing both of these. | 18:37 | |
As you know, I've been appointed chairmen of a committee | 18:41 | |
on student concerns. | 18:45 | |
The other members of this committee, | 18:48 | |
Professor Tom Langford, the Department of Religion, | 18:51 | |
Black Havinghurst of the Law School, | 18:55 | |
Martin Lakin, Psychology, Richard Watson of History. | 18:59 | |
Because I think you also know | 19:04 | |
the appointment of this committee was in response | 19:07 | |
to the general sense of difficulty associated | 19:10 | |
with the communication of student concerns | 19:12 | |
as well as the problems experienced in coping | 19:16 | |
with these concerns as Mr. Hopkins has just pointed out. | 19:18 | |
The committee was not originally defined as being concerned | 19:23 | |
solely with the Afro-American students, but was defined | 19:26 | |
as having a broader mandate. | 19:29 | |
However, since its appointment came only hours | 19:32 | |
before the occupation of the Allen Building, | 19:35 | |
the committee has naturally been focusing its attention | 19:37 | |
on these matters and those matters | 19:41 | |
that are associated with the occupation | 19:44 | |
of the Allen Building. | 19:47 | |
Last night, three members of this committee | 19:50 | |
met in University House with members | 19:52 | |
of the Afro-American Society. | 19:54 | |
We were joined by the president, the provost, | 19:56 | |
and Mr. Howard Fuller. | 19:58 | |
It is that meeting and its meaning | 20:00 | |
which I want to discuss with you today. | 20:03 | |
I think it is important to say that all parties, | 20:07 | |
and I mean all party, engage in discussion | 20:10 | |
at that time at a level of specificity | 20:13 | |
and depth of meaning that was most impressive. | 20:15 | |
I think everyone said what was on his mind. | 20:20 | |
A great deal of information was exchanged | 20:23 | |
and some real understanding was achieved. | 20:26 | |
In order to give you both an impression of the quality | 20:30 | |
of the discussion and the issues that were discussed, | 20:32 | |
I will review the points discussed | 20:35 | |
and the understandings reached. | 20:38 | |
The points discussed can perhaps be seen | 20:40 | |
as of three kinds. | 20:43 | |
There were, first of all, those actions | 20:46 | |
which had already been taken, but about which | 20:48 | |
the Afro-American students had not been fully informed. | 20:51 | |
The primary need here, that is, at that meeting last night, | 20:55 | |
was a transmission of information about | 20:59 | |
the current state of affairs. | 21:01 | |
Second, there were those issues on which tangible progress | 21:03 | |
has been accomplished and for which future plans | 21:07 | |
could be and are being made. | 21:11 | |
Third, there are those issues on which there has been | 21:14 | |
misunderstanding on the part of those decision-making bodies | 21:18 | |
in the university, both as to the need | 21:21 | |
and the proposed solution. | 21:25 | |
Let me review briefly each of these kinds | 21:27 | |
of issues for you. | 21:30 | |
With respect to the first kind of issue, | 21:32 | |
points which, | 21:35 | |
on which action had already been taken, | 21:39 | |
but about which full information had not been transmitted. | 21:41 | |
There are at least two clear cut examples. | 21:46 | |
The felt need for an advisor for black students | 21:50 | |
has lead to the commitment by the university | 21:52 | |
to employ such a person, and the person employed | 21:56 | |
will be, must be, mutually acceptable | 21:59 | |
to the students and the administration. | 22:03 | |
(audience applauds) | 22:06 | |
I do not anticipate any difficulty in finding | 22:13 | |
such a person. | 22:15 | |
The funds are allocated for the purpose and such a person | 22:17 | |
will be employed as soon as a mutually acceptable | 22:20 | |
person can be found. | 22:23 | |
I believe he can be found. | 22:25 | |
He or she can be found. | 22:26 | |
A second example of this kind of issue | 22:29 | |
is that of the African Studies living learning arrangement. | 22:31 | |
The decision has already been made to establish | 22:37 | |
such a unit next fall on west campus. | 22:40 | |
The specifics of the arrangement must wait | 22:44 | |
for two things, however. | 22:47 | |
The first, and I'm sure most important to you, | 22:49 | |
is the active participation of the Afro-American students | 22:52 | |
and the organization of the unit. | 22:56 | |
And the second, which may not be as important to you, | 22:59 | |
but it's very important, is the clarification | 23:01 | |
of the technicalities involved in the fact | 23:05 | |
that the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare | 23:07 | |
is associated with the fiscal support of housing | 23:10 | |
units on this campus. | 23:12 | |
It is not anticipated, however. | 23:15 | |
And I think we have a pretty clear image of this, | 23:17 | |
that any problems will be encountered. | 23:20 | |
Thus here again, the university is fully committed | 23:23 | |
to the venture and will come into existence next fall. | 23:25 | |
(audience applauds) | 23:30 | |
Further developments in this direction | 23:39 | |
that is as far as living units is concerned, | 23:41 | |
are always possible and only require the necessary | 23:44 | |
impetus from students and of course, the organizational | 23:46 | |
arrangements within the dormitories themselves. | 23:50 | |
Now we turn to the second kind of issue, | 23:53 | |
those issues on which tangible progress | 23:56 | |
has been made, on which future plans have been made | 23:59 | |
and are in the process of implementation. | 24:03 | |
I think the most important matter here | 24:06 | |
is a program of African Studies. | 24:09 | |
As you know, a number of activities have been under way | 24:11 | |
on this issue. | 24:14 | |
A committee chaired by Professor Harris Proctor | 24:16 | |
of the Political Science department has designed | 24:18 | |
the outlines of a program that would cut across | 24:21 | |
both the graduate and undergraduate levels. | 24:23 | |
Professor Sell of the History department | 24:26 | |
has proposed a program oriented largely | 24:28 | |
to the undergraduate level. | 24:30 | |
Both of these programs are in what can best be called | 24:32 | |
a rough outline stage, but are capable | 24:36 | |
of sharpened focus in the very near future. | 24:39 | |
In order to move forward on this matter at a rapid pace | 24:43 | |
and to coordinate these early efforts with the interest | 24:46 | |
of the black students, we have agreed to organize | 24:49 | |
an intensive two or three day meeting. | 24:52 | |
Excuse me. | 24:56 | |
The meeting would involve some of the students, | 24:57 | |
the Afro-American students, the Duke faculty members | 24:59 | |
involved in the current plans, members of my committee, | 25:02 | |
and one or two outside consultants | 25:05 | |
who have had experience with such programs | 25:07 | |
at other universities. | 25:10 | |
(audience applauds) | 25:12 | |
It is anticipated that such a meeting will take place | 25:21 | |
about March 1st and that it will form the basis | 25:23 | |
for a proposal whose submission date | 25:27 | |
is tentatively estimated at about April 15. | 25:30 | |
It is planned that some part of this proposal | 25:34 | |
can be implemented next academic year. | 25:38 | |
Such a program will, of course, also lead | 25:42 | |
to a greater involvement of black individuals | 25:45 | |
of all levels of participation in this university. | 25:49 | |
In the same category of this kind of issue | 25:54 | |
on which some progress has been made | 25:58 | |
and were still actively engaged. | 26:00 | |
It's the status of those black students who academic work | 26:04 | |
was such that they left the university at mid-year. | 26:06 | |
A review of these students' cases is in process | 26:10 | |
and efforts are being made to involve as many | 26:13 | |
of them as possible in the recently announced summer | 26:16 | |
program this summer. | 26:19 | |
Although this program was conceived of as primarily | 26:21 | |
for entering freshmen, the hope is it can be organized | 26:24 | |
in such a way as to serve this dual purpose. | 26:27 | |
Now let me turn to the third kind of issue. | 26:32 | |
Those matters on which the expression of need | 26:35 | |
by the students was not clearly understood. | 26:37 | |
There are several of these and they're all issues | 26:41 | |
which are within the province of reasonable consideration | 26:45 | |
by the university decision making bodies. | 26:48 | |
First, the concern expressed about the grading | 26:52 | |
of black students is viewed by those with whom | 26:55 | |
we talked last night as part of the more general | 26:59 | |
problem area relating to the grading system at Duke. | 27:02 | |
Certainly other students have expressed Concern | 27:06 | |
about it and dissatisfaction with the grading system | 27:09 | |
here as you know. | 27:13 | |
(audience applauds) | 27:15 | |
This is a legitimate concern of the university | 27:22 | |
community at all times and there is no doubt | 27:25 | |
that it deserves our collective discussion and evaluation. | 27:28 | |
My committee would be pleased to act as a focal point | 27:33 | |
for the meeting of minds on this issue. | 27:36 | |
Needless to say, no one person at any level | 27:39 | |
in this university is able simply to alter | 27:42 | |
the grading system at will, nor should he be able to. | 27:45 | |
This is the kind of issue, however, | 27:49 | |
which we should discuss and on which innovations | 27:51 | |
can be made. | 27:53 | |
Much as they recently have been made | 27:56 | |
in the general curriculum. | 27:57 | |
A second such issue involves the black students' | 27:59 | |
dissatisfaction with the degree to which the student | 28:02 | |
union programs reflect their interest and needs. | 28:04 | |
They wish to form a committee on black activities | 28:09 | |
within the student union, having its own budget. | 28:11 | |
Those of you who have supported their cause in the past | 28:16 | |
are in a very strong position to help bring | 28:19 | |
about this possibility. | 28:22 | |
Again, my committee would be happy to assist | 28:24 | |
in the process of communication, but as a faculty committed, | 28:26 | |
it is naturally not in a position to take | 28:30 | |
direct action in this area. | 28:33 | |
You are. | 28:35 | |
In any event, however, this need can be met | 28:37 | |
within the existing mechanisms. | 28:39 | |
The concern with admissions policy at Duke | 28:43 | |
has revolved around the presumed use of SAT scores | 28:46 | |
of students as a basis for admissibility. | 28:50 | |
It is generally recognized throughout the country | 28:55 | |
that the SAT kind of examination | 28:58 | |
is less fully reflective of ability for students | 29:01 | |
from some kinds of background than for others. | 29:04 | |
(audience applauds) | 29:07 | |
This fact is recognized by the admissions office | 29:14 | |
as fully as by any other agency in the university. | 29:17 | |
As a result, it is generally true, | 29:20 | |
and I emphasize generally, across the board, | 29:23 | |
that admissions are only in part based on such scores. | 29:28 | |
This is true for all students, not just black students. | 29:33 | |
In addition to such scores, high school performance | 29:37 | |
and recommendations are strongly weighted. | 29:40 | |
These latter sources of evaluation are more strongly | 29:44 | |
weighted in the case of those students | 29:48 | |
whose backgrounds are such that the SAT scores | 29:50 | |
are more likely to give a faulty picture. | 29:52 | |
Again, this is true for all students, | 29:56 | |
not just black students. | 29:58 | |
Let me note a few other brief points here. | 30:00 | |
The university is committed to a significant | 30:05 | |
increase in the number of black students on campus. | 30:07 | |
Recruit. | 30:11 | |
(audience applauds) | 30:13 | |
Recruitment of such students is continuing and the more | 30:16 | |
active involvement in black persons in that | 30:19 | |
recruiting process will occur. | 30:21 | |
So far as changes of, excuse me. | 30:27 | |
So far as charges of police harassment on the campus | 30:31 | |
are concerned, it is agreed | 30:35 | |
that my committee should act as a point of contact | 30:38 | |
for filing documentation of any such incidents. | 30:42 | |
We are seriously, | 30:46 | |
completely committed to learn about and do something about | 30:48 | |
such actions when they occur. | 30:53 | |
(audience applauds) | 30:57 | |
It should also be noted that there will be a meeting | 31:04 | |
of DUERA this week. | 31:09 | |
(audience member applauds) | 31:12 | |
It is arranged. | 31:17 | |
One of the concerns | 31:20 | |
was that negotiations could not occur | 31:24 | |
because a meeting could not be arranged. | 31:28 | |
It has been arranged. | 31:31 | |
This is, I assume, they're a new DUERA. | 31:34 | |
Duke University Employees Relations Advisory. | 31:37 |
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