A Walk in the Woods

More documents

Recommendations

Info

P A R L O R T A L KS W A R T H M O R E C O L L E G E B U L L E T I N2It’s no coincidence that this column appears opposite the letters to the editor.Taken together, your letters to the Bulletin and my message to you represent atransaction that happens regularly in this magazine: Those of us who produce theBulletin have certain information we want you to know about Swarthmore, yet wepromise that if you will read what we send you, we will pay attention to what youhave to say to us.The letters in this issue show the College’s need to have more dialogue with itsalumni, and we are determined that the Bulletin should provide a place for that tooccur. Since early December, when the Board of Managers acted to restructure theathletics program, College administratorsWe hope you willand Board members have received lettersfind in theseand e-mails from more than 1,200 alumni,parents, and friends. The Bulletin itselfpages the same received an unprecedented 30 lettersintended for publication—about four timesessential experiencethe usual number.that everyEditing your letters was difficult;I know—because I did it myself. We couldSwarthmoreannot publish all of them, but those thatappear in this edition’s expanded lettershas known here.section not only reflect the range of opinionsexpressed but represent most of the arguments, objections, and expressions ofpraise found in your correspondence. (You can read the full text of every letter tothe Bulletin on our Web site, including those that we did not have space to publish.)In a personal thank you to all who wrote to the magazine, I expressed gratitudethat, no matter what their views, they cared enough about Swarthmore to communicate.Many institutions would be frightened by 1,200 letters—some college magazineeditors by even 30—but whether or not we agree with you, we value your passionfor Swarthmore.Some alumni are fairly angry at the College these days. But whatever you think ofthe athletics decision (or anything else, for that matter), we want the Bulletin to beeveryone’s magazine. We hope you will find in these pages the same essential experiencethat every Swarthmorean has known here. When information is presentedaccurately and fairly and dialogue—no matter how passionate, intense, or fraughtwith fundamental disagreement—is being conducted with civility, integrity, andmutual respect, everyone benefits.—Jeffrey LottSWARTHMORECOLLEGE BULLETINEditor: Jeffrey LottManaging Editor: Andrea HammerClass Notes Editor: Carol Brévart-DemmCollection Editor: Cathleen McCarthyStaff Writer: Alisa GiardinelliDesktop Publishing: Audree PennerDesigner: Suzanne DeMott Gaadt,Gaadt PerspectivesAdministrative Assistant:Janice Merrill-RossiInterns: Andrea Juncos ’01,Stephanie Gironde ’04Editor Emerita:Maralyn Orbison Gillespie ’49Contacting Swarthmore CollegeCollege Operator: (610) 328-8000www.swarthmore.eduAdmissions: (610) 328-8300admissions@swarthmore.eduAlumni Relations: (610) 328-8402alumni@swarthmore.eduPublications: (610) 328-8568bulletin@swarthmore.eduRegistrar: (610) 328-8297registrar@swarthmore.eduWorld Wide Webwww.swarthmore.eduChanges of AddressSend address label alongwith new address to:Alumni Records OfficeSwarthmore College500 College AvenueSwarthmore PA 19081-1390Phone: (610) 328-8435. Or e-mail:alumnirecords@swarthmore.edu.The Swarthmore College Bulletin (ISSN0888-2126), of which this is volumeXCVIII, number 4, is published inAugust, September, December, March,and June by Swarthmore College, 500College Avenue, Swarthmore PA 19081-1390. Periodicals postage paid atSwarthmore PA and additional mailingoffices. Permit No. 0530-620. Postmaster:Send address changes to SwarthmoreCollege Bulletin, 500 College Avenue,Swarthmore PA 19081-1390.©2001 Swarthmore CollegePrinted in U.S.A. on recycled paper
KUDOS TO KATHRYNI was absolutely delighted when I pickedup my September edition of the Bulletinand saw Dr. Kathryn Morgan’s beamingface on the cover. I couldn’t wait to read theinterview inside. When I did, all the memoriesof my Swarthmore experience floodedback—good and bad.I recall very clearly that, among theAfrican-American students, it was soempowering (and so much like homecoming)to see this petite and striking blackwoman strut the campus in her alwaysneatly coiffed Afro hair and long flowingAfrican robe dresses, with her sassy earringsswinging in the breeze.It was sheer joy to see from her interviewthat Professor Morgan is still as beautiful—insideand out—as she ever was.ROSALIND PLUMMER ’73Philadelphia, Pa.PROTECT ALUMNI PRIVACYThe letter from Kenneth [’47] and VirginiaStern Brown [’49] (December Bulletin) wasdisturbing. To learn that Swarthmore isselling our names for profit, and therebyactively cooperating in the encroachmentof the commercial-industrial complex onour privacy, is ground for their legitimatecomplaint.The response from Diane Crompton,director of development operations, wasappalling in its intellectual dishonesty.First, she claims that “only a tiny fractionof each purchase made with these cardsaccrues to the College.” Apparently, in heropinion, making money from selling alumninames is justified because the College ismaking only a little bit of money.Second, she states that the bank towhich Swarthmore has sold its alumni list“shares the College’s high standardsregarding ... privacy.” Are we really expectedto believe that Swarthmore is fully aware ofthe bank’s practices in selling its mailinglists? “Sharing” implies mutuality—ourstandards are equated with (i.e., loweredto) their standards. And how “high” areSwarthmore’s standards anyway? Apparently,only so high as selling names,addresses, and telephone numbers but notSocial Security numbers and mothers’maiden names!Finally, Ms. Crompton assures us, “Personswho do not wish to be solicited maybe taken off the list on request.” But whyshould it be our responsibility to preventSwarthmore from doing what it should nothave been doing in the first place? How arewe to know, until after the fact, just whatlist we have been put on? If Swarthmore isreally interested in preserving the privacyof its alumni (those “high standards,”remember?), then surely it should not beselling alumni names in the first place.PETER KATES ’61Norwell, Mass.Paul Metzger ’54 also wrote to object. His letteris on the Bulletin Web site.QUESTIONS ABOUT AN INNWe write in response to the December Bulletinarticle on plans for an inn to be builton a section of the College campus. Thatarticle focused on the project’s purportedeconomic benefits to the Borough ofSwarthmore, suggesting that the Collegeseeks to improve the Borough’s economichealth.Whether better economic health willresult is, however, much less certain thanthe article implied. A consultant to thejoint College-Borough task force on economicrevitalization concluded in hisreport that the inn would have no net economicbenefit to the Borough. It’s not evenclear the inn is viable without heavy Collegesubsidy. College-related businesswould generate optimal occupancy onlyabout 45 nights out of the year. In a 100-room inn (the proposed size), that wouldleave 32,000 “room nights” to cover. Toput these numbers in perspective, it may beuseful to compare the plans for an inn ofthe same size at Temple University, aninstitution with several graduate programsand an enrollment about 20 times the sizeof Swarthmore’s. In negotiating with adeveloper who also specializes in upscaleEDITOR’S NOTEBecause of the large volume of lettersreceived by the Bulletin inrecent months, we have expandedthe space allotted to letters in thisissue. Even with this additionalspace, many letters have been condensed,and, unfortunately, severalcould not be included. The full textof all letters received is posted onthe Bulletin Web site at www.swarthmore.edu/bulletin/mar01/letters.html.boutique hotels, Temple has discussed auniversity guarantee of 4,000 room nightsa year.Should an inn be developed, the Collegewill incur significant subsidy charges forboth infrastructure and daily operation.Those funds will not be available for theeducational purposes of the College,whether strengthening the curriculum,improving staff salaries and benefits,expanding the library, or any other needscharacteristic of a liberal arts college.In sum, the inn does not furtherSwarthmore’s liberal arts mission. It doesnot seem to us a prudent use of Swarthmore’sfinite financial and physicalresources.ROBERT DUPLESSISIsaac H. Clothier Professor of History andInternational RelationsRICHARD VALELLY ’75Professor of Political ScienceWHY SO UPSET?I can understand the sadness felt by membersof the College community at thedemise of football at Swarthmore. As a formermember of the wrestling team, I sharethat sadness, for wrestling too will nolonger be one of Swarthmore’s sports. But Iam puzzled by the upset and anger thatsome alumni have expressed at the consideredand difficult decision to restructurethe athletics program.I hope and trust the College’s missionwill always be that of providing the besteducation possible to its students. Reexaminingthe curriculum, adding newcourses and majors, rethinking the Honorsprogram, degree requirements, etc. havecaused and will continue to cause restructuringof the education offered at Swarthmore.It is hardly surprising that extracurricularactivities, including sports, needconsideration and changes as well.HERB HILLMAN ’47Cambridge, Mass.MINDING THE LIGHT?With its action in December to eliminatethree sports from the athletics program,the administration and the Board majoritycall into question not only the decisionitself, but the decision-making process.Many alumni feel that the decision ismore than a failure to maintain a 122-year-Please turn to page 76L E T T E R SM A R C H 2 0 0 13
Page 1: A Walkin theWoods
Page 7 and 8: a special meeting on Jan. 4, theBoa
Page 9 and 10: J o i n i n gk n i t - i nt h eOOn
Page 11: CORNELL VISITING PROFESSOR OF ENGIN
Page 15 and 16: efore the school bus lodged on Rock
Page 17 and 18: When war left most of your platoonf
Page 19 and 20: A W a l k i n t h e W o o d sThe Co
Page 21 and 22: paved walkways, parking lots, and i
Page 23 and 24: The Ville of SwarthmoreCollege Athl
Page 25 and 26: seen pileated woodpeckers. These bi
Page 27 and 28: ound, he was playing against 480 pe
Page 29 and 30: lot—“the right choice, by chanc
Page 31 and 32: Every aspiring scientist learns tha
Page 33 and 34: MARTIN NATVIGproblem with the resul
Page 35 and 36: “When I grew up, it was the game,
Page 37 and 38: aseball becomes the apotheosis of s
Page 39 and 40: Calling all entrepreneursWhat do Mi
Page 41 and 42: A L U M N I P R O F I L ES W A R T
Page 43 and 44: ished values being taken to extreme
Page 45 and 46: F i l mDavid Linde ’82, producer
Page 47 and 48: A L U M N I P R O F I L EA H i t o
Page 49 and 50: S W A R T H M O R E C O L L E G E B
Page 51 and 52: C L A S S N O T E SS W A R T H M O
Page 53 and 54: L E T T E R SS W A R T H M O R E C
Page 55 and 56:
O U R B A C K P A G E SS W A R T H
Page 57:
R E T U R N T O T H EW O O D STERRY
show all

A Walk in the Woods

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?