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Letters
LEARNING FOR LIFE I was pleased to read about the Learning for Life Program at the College (“Learning for Life,” March Bulletin). It sounds wonderful and much needed. Swarthmore couldn’t run without all its staff, and they deserve the same respect and appreciation given members of the faculty. Students who want to make a difference in the world should not overlook what needs to be changed in their own back yard—and in their own dining room, dormitory bathroom, etc. Why do some Swarthmore employees have to work two jobs to make ends meet? I can think of nothing more important for the welfare of the Swarthmore community—and the education of Swarthmore students—than making sure that all Swarthmore employees are paid a livable wage. I would be eager to contribute toward a significant raise for the Swarthmore employees who are now working two jobs to make ends meet, and I am sure many other alumni feel the same way. BETH FERHOLT ’93 AFFIRMATIVE ACTION FOR CONSERVATIVES Associate Dean Darryl Smaw’s essay “Does Diversity Include Me?” (March Bulletin) graphically illustrates multiculturalism’s fatal flaw. Although he generously supported having [conservative author] David Horowitz speak on campus, the clear and overwhelming focus of his attention is melanin, as if the accident of skin color—not the content of one’s character and the quality of one’s intellect—were the primary distinguishing characteristic of a human being. To illustrate my point: All else being equal, if there were only one slot left to fill in the freshman class, would diversity at Swarthmore be enhanced by recruiting (1) the private school–educated African American daughter of a wealthy New York City psychiatrist or (2) the white son of an illiterate Appalachian coal miner? The answer, of course, is 2, but would—could?—a professional multiculturalist agree? I sincerely doubt it. Dean Smaw’s efforts to foster true intellectual diversity should start with the acknowledgment that conservatives have always been overtly discriminated against at Swarthmore College. That being the case, it is only fair that conservatives should be aggressively recruited as faculty members, administrators, and students—and, further, that practicing conservatives be given special preference over all other similarly situated candidates. In this regard, I speak from painful personal experience. As a young man, I came out of the closet at Swarthmore, proudly and publicly proclaiming that I love Edmund Burke, Irving Babbitt, and Russell Kirk. Thirty years later, how many students—let alone faculty—can correctly identify all three of these illustrious conservative philosophers? One in 10? One in 1,000? One? Until everyone on campus knows who these men were and what they thought, Swarthmore will only be whistling diversity. THEODORE HANNON ’74 UNDIMMED ENJOYMENT Many thanks for your story on folk dancing at Swarthmore (“Stepping and Shifting,” March Bulletin). My Scottish country-dancing spouse and children were amazed to identify with the activity shown on the cover of the magazine. The article caused me to reflect on the many gifts I received from my four years at Swarthmore. There was, of course, a stretching and polishing of my intellect. But more important was the development of a respect for my own mind and those of others—and of a wide-ranging, persistent curiosity. There was a spiritual awakening, which has led me to become a Quaker. There was the foundation of some deep and lasting friendships. And then there was folk dancing, which convinced me that I was not irretrievably inept physically and socially. Since graduation, I have continued Scottish country dancing in various
countries with undimmed enjoyment. This activity has brought me my husband
(a Scottish dance teacher, whom I met at BERTHA FUCHSMAN SMALL ’72 NO SPACE FOR FOLK DANCE In the 1960s, long before there was a Department of Music and Dance at Swarthmore, all dance programs—folk, modern, and water ballet—shared space with the Women’s Athletics Program in the old Hall Gym. When it was torn down [in 1988] for the construction of the Lang Performing Arts Center (LPAC), the College repeatedly assured all users of the gym that accommodations would be made for their programs. Since then, programs with full-time faculty have prospered, either
in the new LPAC or in the athletics facilities. But Irene Moll of the
Athletics Department—the faculty member for folk dance—was
not re-placed after her retirement [in 1978], and folk dance was never
given its own designated space. Although Professor of Dance Sharon Friedler’s
statement that the LPAC studios were constructed for the curricular
Dance Program is correct, it suggests—I believe incorrectly—that
other dance programs at the College were to be excluded. In the early
days of the LPAC, all dancers could use the studios, but as the Dance
Program greatly expanded in the 1990s, folk dance was denied their use. TIMOTHY WILLIAMS ’64 REALLY SWELL TEACHER I greatly enjoyed the article about folk dancing, but there was one
serious omission. Alice Gates, physical education teacher, started a
folk-dance group some years before Irene Moll took it over. At that
time, membership was by invitation only; I was delighted to be selected
(having already taken Alice’s modern-dance class) and even more
delighted that I could get gym credit for so much fun. Also, it was
at that time the only coeducational “sport”—and, because
most of the male students were off to war, a welcome source of dates. After college, I kept up with the English Country Dance Society in
Manhattan; my husband and I also did square and contra dancing. Now
a widow in a retirement community, I still go dancing twice a month.
It’s my most enjoyable activity. I owe a great debt to Alice Gates, who was a really swell teacher. LOUISE ZIMMERMAN FORSCHER ’44 DANCE CONTINUUM As a former folk dancer at Swarthmore, I appreciated your recent article
on folk dancing in the College Bulletin. I would like to take
issue with Sharon Friedler’s assertion that “folk”
dance is separate from the realm of performance art. These separations
are better likened to a continuum. Scottish dancing in particular has
a vibrant performance branch. There are jigs, hornpipes, step dances,
and sword dances (to name a few), which are performed and in which competitions
are held in national and international arenas. Ragtime dances can be
performed in highly choreographed settings or danced as “social
dancing." Scandinavian dancing also has both ends of the spectrum.
Having danced, performed, and competed on both ends of this spectrum
in these dance forms and more, I am hard-pressed to see why the “performance"
end of the continuum is more deserving than the “social."
In many ways, they are not separable. Nurturing one enriches the other.
I hope that the college can find both respect and physical space for
“social dancing.” It is not, and never was, a lesser form
of dance.
KATE McINTOSH ’89 A GREAT GIFT The article “Frank Aydelotte: Architect of Distinction”
(March Bulletin) brought a rush of recognition and renewed
memories of exhilarating encounters. As a member of the Class of 1943,
my association with President Aydelotte was brief, yet his scholarly
legacy and personal kindnesses would remain indelible.
With the advent of World War II, I transferred to Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute to accelerate my engineering studies. After graduation, I
joined Pratt and Whitney as a safety engineer investigating the causes
of airplane crashes. I had a draft deferment because of this job but
became restless when many of my friends left for active service. Having
a strong Quaker heritage, I joined the Merchant Marine, where I could
actively serve without carrying arms. Days at sea afforded many hours
for study, so I took up the great literature my engineering education
had slighted.
I sent Aydelotte a letter describing my seafaring experiences and scholastic
endeavors. His reply was immediate. As soon as my ship docked in Hoboken,
N.J., he sent his secretary to pick me up and bring me to Princeton,
where he discussed with me what I was reading. Whenever my ship returned
to New York, he helped me explore—one on one—the great ideas
of mankind. He even took me to member teas at the Institute for Advanced
Study, where I met Einstein and other great thinkers. And after the
war, he paved the way for me to return to Oxford for further study.
Frank Aydelotte’s interest, kindness, and the great gift of his
undivided attention are memories that I have treasured throughout my
life.
EDWIN MOORE ’43 THE PRESIDENT'S JOB The interesting article on Frank Aydelotte brought back some memories.
A friend of my father’s once told me he was a member of the committee
that selected Aydelotte as one of the first Rhodes Scholars. My late
classmate Joseph Selligman ’37 showed me a clipping from a historical
feature, stating that Louisville’s Male High School had been disqualified
from the football championship because Coach Frank Aydelotte had entered
the game as a player. Aydelotte remarked that he only entered the game
after the coach of the opponents had done so.
During my senior year, I was in Aydelotte’s office for an interview
when he was interrupted for a telephone call. After an extensive, urgent
conversation, Aydelotte apparently received the caller’s agreement
to serve in some capacity. Upon hanging up the phone, he remarked to
me, “The main part of my job is getting people to do what they
think they can’t or don’t want to do.”
THOMAS SPENCER ’37 TWO-TIERED SWARTHMORE How different a school Swarthmore was when Frank Aydelotte instituted
the Honors Program than it is now. In Aydelotte’s day, there were
clearly two tiers of students: a majority that one might call “average”
(the “red-blooded men and women” from the letter to The
Phoenix) and a minority of intellectual high(er) achievers (the
“greasy grinds”).
The two-tiered honors and course system made a lot of sense with such
a divided constituency and, most likely, was instrumental in allowing
Swarthmore to jump from a regional school to one of the top small colleges
in the nation.
Swarthmore today is a very different place. The school has its pick
of some of the best students in the country, and I am sure that most,
if not all, of today’s Swarthmore students would have been condemned
as greasy grinds by the dyspeptic Phoenix correspondent of
1925. Given this, I wonder what Aydelotte would think of the two-tiered
system today? Would he want it to remain in place simply because it
has attained “signature” status?
JON LORSCH ’90 AYDELOTTE AND CONSENSUS Many thanks to Vice President Dan West for his article on Frank Aydelotte,
the “defining president” of Swarthmore College. Aydelotte
and his successors, John Nason and Courtney Smith, were strong supporters
of consensual decision making and of athletics.
As West points out, Aydelotte’s vision of athletics was to have
all students participating rather than being spectators. In fact, during
Aydelotte’s tenure, Swarthmore reached a point where 84 percent
of the male students participated in sports. (Biographer Frances Blanshard
did not have figures for participation by women.) Aydelotte’s
governance style strongly embraced Quaker tradition, and he had the
wisdom to allow the time required to explore all possible options fully
and to reach a consensus before important decisions were made.
Congratulations also to the Task Group on Consensual Decision Making
for their excellent report [see page 4]. It provides a very clear discussion
of the importance of consensual decision making to Swarthmore, both
in the past and the future. It does a good job of trying to understand
how the [December 2000] athletics decision was made—and how it
departed from Swarthmore’s tradition. It offers excellent suggestions
on how to enhance understanding of and commitment to consensual decision
making. Finally, it speaks to a real commitment by the Board to continue
Swarthmore’s tradition of consensus.
BILL ROBINSON ’60 LAX CONFERENCE THANKS On behalf of my family, I would like to publicly thank the College’s
Career Services and Alumni Relations offices for organizing this year's
Lax Conference on Entrepreneurship, which was held on campus on April
6.
Organizing the conference took time and great effort. Its success can
be directly attributed to the staff members in these two offices, along
with the enthusiastic support of President Alfred H. Bloom.
I know that students and alumni enjoyed the keynote address by [stock
market expert] Marc Reinganum and the several panel discussions that
followed. We look forward to next year’s conference.
ANDREW LAX ’77 WE WELCOME YOUR LETTERS Address letters to Editor, Swarthmore College Bulletin, 500 College Avenue, Swarthmore PA 19081; or e-mail them to bulletin@swarthmore.edu. |
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In My Life | Books and the Arts | Alumni Digest | Editor’s Note | Letters | Bulletin Style Guide | “In My Life” submission guidelines All contents copyright 2008, Swarthmore College Bulletin, Swarthmore College |
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