Gerald W. Smith Memoir - Brookens Library

Gerald W. Smith 210this to, say, California, Florida, or New York where a Master Plan hadjust preceded ours. I can only relate what took place in Illinois. .Q. But the broad involvement of the public in different sectors and bheleadership in the different sectors and segnents of society--this is veryunusual. The Land Grant College Act, when that becarne law, didn't beginto compare to this. It was on a much mre limited scale.This is where Gerry's and nly conversation ended this morning on Wednesday,September 1, 1976. This discourse has brought us to the point where wenow have the proper point for the next phase of the story that Gerry wantsto share with us.This is now being transcribed on the morning of Septenher 7, 1976, followingthe extended Labor Day weekend. Gemy and I are seated here in our usualplace at the dining room table.Gerry, as I recall, we were ready to start talking today about the reaction,the various Wnds of reaction, *om dffferent groups and different individualsto the publication df the Master Plan. Is this where you would liketo begin this morning?A. Yes. As You know, the first Master Plan was released in January orFebruary of 1964 and soon after its release, it became the subject of aseries of public hearings conducted by Dr. Bmwne, Dr. Glenny, with membersof the Bowd of Higher Education, in several sites across the State of Illinois;and then the final form was published in July of 1964. When theGeneral Assenhly convened in January of 1965, it was then tk for actionwith regard to the implementation of the recomndations in the total MasterPlan, but we're referring specifically to those in Chapter 4 dealt withthe c m t y colleges. It turned out that Governor Kerner decided tobrYing an advisory cormnittee into his office, made up of representatives ofthe General Assembly and the public at large, to which I have spoken previously,to address themselves to the recommendations of the Master Planand to make decisions, or to make recomndations with regard to decisions,on specific points within the Master Plan to be draf'ted into a bill. TheGovernor also elected to give his leadership for the introduction of thehillWhat I want to talk about now are some of the issues that surfacedthe period of tfme I have just described, from Januaryflebmazy 1964,ti1 the bill came out of the General Assembly in June of 1965. We haperiod there of some 15 months for discussion and reaction, beforefic bill became a reality.Q. And this bill that was produced in h e of 1965 was then thetive enactment on which the two houses & the State Legislatureable to agree.A. Yes. And this was signed by Governor Kerner on July 15, 1965, to beknown as the Junior College Act. In those days, however, it was House,Bill 1710, (laughter) across the State. I