Repository: UIHistories Project: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1950 [PAGE 1283]

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U N I V E R S I T Y OF

ILLINOIS

1275

the part of staff members would arise. The Committee wishes to record its appreciation of the difficulties involved in this task. Notwithstanding, it finds that the situation now existent in the Department presents a failure in human relations. The responsibility for this failure must be shared by many individuals, but the burden of it falls on the administrative officers and particularly on Dean Bowen and Professor Hagen. The problem is one of personnel. An Appraisal We are sensitive to the fact that we have already gone beyond the scope of our assignment. Nevertheless, it would be unfortunate if we ended our report here, for we have perceived something which we believe merits emphasis and which holds genuine promise. W e interviewed twenty individuals. They are reasonable people, frank, honest, and intelligent. These observations hold both for the older and the newer staff members. Dean Bowen and his colleagues have assembled in the Department of Economics a group of younger staff members of fine potentialities. Some have already made a place for themselves as scholars. This is not a radical group, and any impressions that it is must be allayed. As to the older men, they have achievements to their credit in teaching, scholarship, and research. It is perhaps unfortunate that the descriptive word "older" is used in relation to these individuals. Several in this classification are comparatively young men. There is full agreement in both the younger and older groups on objectives. All wish to make the Department a distinguished one-—a department in which each will share in mutual pride with the others. All realize that, if they are to achieve this goal, they must learn to work together, and this, indeed, is what they want to do. There is perhaps a misapprehension as to the schools of thought typified in these groups. There is a tendency to label the older group "conservative" and the young one "liberal." At times the word "radical" has crept in. A danger ever lurks in the use of labels. Perhaps on the whole the younger group includes more liberals than the older, but if this be true, it would not be a strange phenomenon. The fact is that there are liberal and conservative individuals in the older group, and liberals and conservatives in the younger one. As a whole, young and old, the group is predominantly conservative. There is a divergence of views among them, but that is wholesome. Diversity in views is of the essence in a society of scholars. The ideal department in a university is one made up of strong men who approach the problems of their discipline from different angles, who are firm in their convictions, but who respect each other's views. Mutual respect and teamwork are essential. It is this atmosphere of trust and respect that now is lacking in the Department of Economics, and in a measure in the College. Except for that, this division of the University has the seeds of greatness. The staff members are well aware of the problems. In our opinion, they are anxious to bring about a happier situation. The point must be stressed, however, that if a propitious atmosphere is to become a reality, each individual involved must contribute his full share toward bringing it about, but while each must contribute to that end, the weight of the responsibility for consummating this result must fall on those who also bear the onus for the breakdown in relations: The weight of the responsibility for creating wholesome relations must fall on the Dean of the College and the Chairman of the Department. In this program Dean Bowen occupies a strategic position, and as a consequence the burden of establishing a framework of mutual trust and respect — a framework in which scholars with differing points of view can work with confidence and a feeling of security — must fall on his shoulders. Sincerely yours,

F. WHEELER LOOMIS FREDRICK S. SIEBERT ALBERT J. HARNO, Chairman