1935

In the December 1973 issue of the Tear Bag, Uncle Reg served up the following litem, adapted from the Mills College Quarterly: "The problem with discussing a college is that everybody has his own point of view. That these points of view quite often don't coincide is the source of considerable confusion and disputation among the various parties involved.

"To an alumnus, class of 1935, it is a small school, an entity unto itself, with old buildings and a quiet atmosphere, where he might learn something. And sometimes, a substitute parent. To today's graduating senior, it is a school where it's hard to find a parking place, and where the greater part of his day is probably spent in buildings which didn't exist in 1935. For him, the campus is probably one facet of a complex world that has become a classroom.

"For a faculty member, a college is all employer: a place to work, to teach, and to spend prodigious numbers of hours in committee work and at ceremonial occasions. For a trustee, it is a subject for communityminded volunteer work, to a more or less involved degree. For an administrator, it is a business, in which the greatest possible benefits and the least possible costs balance on a razor edge. It is a business fraught with difficulties, too; its consumer is its product, and a hard-to-evaluate one at that. Demands change without warning, and there is no way to push production and thereby achieve success.

"For parents, a college is in some way a tribal rite which, achieved with economic stress and no little anxiety, will, they hope, bring maturity and other benefits to their young. For society at large, higher education is a kind of permanent public access television show— a source of entertainment, learning, pride, aggravation, or even total disinterest.

"For you, a college may be something entirely different. But try to give the College your understanding. It is not easy to be a parking lot, teacher, employer, tribal rite, business, entertainment, and substitute parent, all at the same time."

Seemed like a good time to reprint it here!

A few other items of interest. Not previously published, I believe, is a notice that the Trustees have recognized Bob Hage's service to the College, as director of Financial Aid, by creating the Robert K. Hage Loan Fund. A note from George Colton reports a phone call from Phil Guyol, one of our senior fellows, and oldest member of the class, advising that he is enjoying retirement and "the fruits of a long life" in Arkadelphia, Ark. And The Dartmouth reports a search under way to fill the Lazarus Chair in the social services, funded by the family of Ralph Lazarus.

That's it for this issue. Peace and love to y'all — all y'all.

6680 Williamson Drive, Atlanta, GA 30328