Cornell Alumni News - eCommons@Cornell - Cornell University

perpetuating existing injustices and malpractices in our
society.
In these days of shrinking boundaries of the world,
the term society which we have used above can perhaps
be extended to including some of the developing nations.
The graduates of our colleges (and we are referring
principally to liberal arts graduates) may do a
great disservice to these nations if they encourage them
to continue to follow socialistic principles and practices
in their efforts to better their condition.
What can be done to solve the problem here presented?
It would not be surprising if those to whom this
letter is addressed should say there is nothing that can
be done about it. But that is not the Cornell way. The
Cornell way is to find how to do that which needs to be
done.
If our counsel were invited we would suggest that it
seems impracticable to attempt to remedy the situation
by revamping or reorganizing the existing departments
in the College of Arts and Sciences. In the first place it
would be out of the question to write specifications for
the new members of the faculties who would be required.
Then the various departments which now have
the responsibility for selecting new faculty members
have very definite procedures and ideas which could
probably only be changed by a tremendous upheaval.
Even if a satisfactory revamping were achieved in the
near future the situation would, if past experience in
other colleges and universities is an example, revert in a
few years to a situation quite as unsatisfactory as the
present one.
For those and other reasons we suggest as a possible
solution the formation of a separate and autonomous
school which would necessarily be independent of the
existing schools in the university, but would come directly
under the direction and control of the President's
office. Such a school might be called a "Center for the
Study of the Free Society"; it might well offer elective
courses only, open preferably, to students in all divisions
of the university. It would necessarily be interdisciplinary
because, in one way or another, it would
cut across a number of disciplines.
A school of this kind could be readily financed by the
university because, at first at least, one professor with a
teaching assistant and a secretary would probably be
adequate. The first professor probably would serve as
chairman of the school. He should be well qualified by
reason of his academic experience and standing so that
he would have the respect of his new colleagues at
Cornell. At the same time he should be well grounded
in the libertarian-classical liberal philosophy.
The chairman, in the first instance, and later as the
school expands, with his associates, would, of course,
select new faculty members with the approval of the
President of the University and the Board of Trustees; he
and his associates would also determine the curriculum.
A school of this kind, and under such auspices, would
represent an innovation. But innovations are traditional
at Cornell; they began when the University was founded
and offered courses which previously were regarded as
not suitable for institutions of higher learning. Such innovations
have continued up to the present time when
only within the last year or so the new Division of
Biological Sciences was formed and the Department of
Computer Science was instituted. In the latter case the
interdisciplinary nature of the new department posed
many problems; however, as the Department Chairman
said: "Perhaps such an organizational anomaly could
work only at Cornell, and it appears to be working very
well."
If a school such as outlined is established at Cornell
we believe the idea will be taken up and followed by
colleges and universities across the country and result in
acclaim for Cornell. A solution to the over-all problem is
a crying need which must be met in some way. This plan
presents an opportunity for students to obtain an insight
into the great problem of today—socialism and the welfare
state versus free markets, individual freedom and
limited government; to learn the principles and the requirements
for both philosophies and thus to have the
background necessary for forming an intelligent opinion,
and for determining what position they, as individuals,
should take regarding the day to day problems that
present themselves to an educated man or woman.
CORNELL ALUMNI COMMITTEE FOR BALANCED EDUCATION
10 EAST 49TH STREET, NEW YORK, N.Y. 10017
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE BERTEL ANTELL '28
FREDERICK M. GILLIES Ί8
ROBERT C. LUDLUM '28
MALCOLM B. STURGIS '39
CAESAR A. GRASSELL! II '22 E. HAWLEY BENDIXEN, LLB '40
CAESAR A. GRASSELLI II '22
P. P. MILLER Ί8
J. WRIGHT TAUSSIG '08
SETH W. HEARTFIELD Ί9
JOHN W. BROTHERS '24
SETH W. HEARTFIELD Ί9
H. WALLACE PETERS Ί4
J. D. TULLER '09
WILLIAM H. HILL '22
THAD L. COLLUM '21
WILLIAM H. HILL f 22
LOWELL G. POWERS '30
PETER VISCHER '19
EMERSON HINCHLIFF "14 EDWARD H. CUMPSTON Ό9
EMERSON HINCHLIFF Ί4
THOMAS W. PRIESTER '50
J. CARLTON WARD, JR. Ί4
J. CARLTON WARD, JR. Ί4 ROSCOE C. EDLUND Ό9
NEILL HOUSTON '13
JOSEPH C. PURSGLOVE, JR. '30
GUY T. WARFIELD, JR. '25
PERRY T. EGBERT '15
WILLARD HUBBELL Ί8
GUSTAV J. REQUARDT Ό9
ARVE S. WIKSTROM, PHD '34
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT HENRY C. ESTABROOK, LLB '40
EDWARD G. JOHNSON '28
JOHN W. SMITH Ί0
CHRISTOPHER W. WILSON,
J. D. TULLER '09 JAMES A. FRIEND Ί6
WILLARD A. KIGGINS '21
SEWARD M. SMITH '21
JR. '31
ANTHONY S. GACCIONE '21
RODNEY G. STIEFF '46
May 1967