Repository: UIHistories Project: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1976 [PAGE 429]

EXTRACTED TEXT FROM PAGE:

418

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

[October 15

INTRODUCTIONS President Neal announced that attending the meeting as observers were Dr. James Brown, Chief of the Board Staff of Southern Illinois University, and Mrs. Alice Griffin, Assistant Secretary of the Board. Also in attendance as observers were students from Professor Thomas Gamble's class in the Department of Administration, Higher, and Continuing Education at the U r b a n a campus. H e stated that they would be guests of the Board at the luncheon. ANNOUNCEMENT CONCERNING ACTION ON TUITION INCREASE A number of students entered the room at this point, carrying placards expressing opposition to tuition increases. Mr. Neal announced that no action on tuition would be taken at the meeting, that there was nothing on this matter before the Board. H e expressed his view that the Board was unanimously opposed to voting for tuition increases at this time and stated t h a t at the next meeting of the Committee on Student Welfare and Activities, prior to the meeting of the Board in January, students and others would be invited to speak to the Committee with regard to the subject of tuition. H e was interrupted by a student representative (Mrs. Kate Parker) who objected to the action of the Board in September, by which her group, the Students for Equal Access to Quality Education, had been denied permission to speak to the full Board and had been referred to the Student Welfare and Activities Committee. Copies of a document prepared by SEAQE were distributed, and Mrs. Parker undertook to comment on the document and to present a variety of arguments against increasing tuition and on the high cost of higher education in general. At the conclusion of these comments, Mr. Neal stated that a meeting of the Committee on Student Welfare and Activities would be held, as previously announced, just prior to the January meeting of the Board and that a full opportunity would be presented at that time for students and others to address the Committee on the subject of tuition. 1 BUSINESS PRESENTED BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNIVERSITY President's Reports President Corbally presented a report on selected topics of current interest, copies of which were distributed at the meeting, and a copy was filed with the Secretary of the Board. Charles E. Flynn President Corbally made the following comments: I would like to speak to you about one item which does not appear in the written report. After thirty-eight years with the University of Illinois, Mr. Flynn has had an offer to place a capstone upon his career — an offer, as someone once said, which "cannot be refused." As of last Friday, he is editor and general manager of Champaign News-Gazette, Inc.

1 Subsequently, Mrs. Parker wrote to advise the Board of Trustees that SEAQE did not desire to meet with the Trustees at the January meeting.