STAIIE
UNIVERSITIES

PUBLIC
AFFAIRS

MAJOR PAPERS DELIVERED AT

I966 MEETING OF THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
OF STATF UNIVERSITIES AND LAND-GRANT COLLEGES

"State Universities and Public Affairs
was thethemool the 80th meeting or the National

Association of State Univcrsitics and Landonnl Colleges.
Reptiuted ln this publlcation are ve 0! the major papa-s
delich at the oonfctmoc which was held in conjunction
with the annual meeting of the Associatlon 0! State
Collcgcs and Universities. The joint meeting was held

In Washington, DC. November l3-l6, 1966.

Farris Bryant. director of the Oiec Emergency Planning
and former governor of the State of Florida.

 

The Quest for Educational Excellence
Through Federal-Stare Cooperation

By Farris Bryant

am glad there is a National
Armciariun of State Universith and Land-Gram ('0!-
layer. Perhaps I see what I want to see. but 1 read into
your title an orientation to the public which. to someone
who has spent his life in public endeawr. is gratifying
and reassuring.

No one expect; your institutions to trim their sails
to catch every political hreele; everyone is reassured
when you give continuing evidence that you under-
stand that man does not live to learn but learns to live--
and that more abundantly.

Yesterday at noon I spoke in New York to a confer-
ence of the Grocery Manufacturers of America. and its
I sat at lunch I was almost overwhelmed by the realiza-
tion that I lived in a time and a nation where for the
rst time in history there is not only enough airand
enough waterfor everyone. but also enough food for
eteryonc. Since Adam tasted the forbidden fruit. one
0! the fundamental problems of man has been food for
survival; now that problem in this nation is virtually
solved. and man can turn his attention to other needs.
The young people of America have already recognized
this. and are seeking in their rebellious way to solve
needs beyond the elements for survival.

Men orbit the earth, plumb the sea. release and bar-
ness the power of the universe. while people grow taller.
live longer, run faster. than ever before in history.

In the perspective of history. we stand. not simply
on the threshold of a rearranged society. but on the
threshold of a new civilization. A wise old friend of
mine. now passed on. made a speech some 20 years ago
that l have never lorgotten for its symbolism. He held
a string that was 50 inches long. each inch representing

IOO years. and he placed on the string. a colored button
for every major signicant step in the progress ot man.
A bead for understanding the use of fire: a head for the
invention of the wheel; a bead for the invention of gun-
powder. Even at that time. a score of years ago. the
end of that string representing l94t'i was so crowded
with beads that they could not all be placed in their
proper position. I hat congestion was as nothing com-
pared with the congestion we. would observe if we tried
thus to symbolizi: the last decade.

But when I speak of a new civilization it is not in the
sense that rockets will be a common mode of individual
transportation. or plankton front the sea a major source
of loud. or hospitals automatedthough these may
come to pass; not new in the sense that the major char-
acteristic of the new civilization will be some exotic
thing it produces. or uses. or developsthough these
also may be true: but new in the rate of change which
has become the common denominator of life. and new
in that the key to productive living will be the ability
to comprehend. perhaps anticipate. and make use of the
rapid rate of change.

Einstein. applying this thought to the physical world.
conceived that the rate of change within apparently
inanimate bodies created a 4th dimension. To the
static. three-dimensional qualities of the physical world
he predicted the addition of a fourth. What I say to
you now is that there is such a rate of change. self-
sustaining and reproductive. in the world today that
there has been added a new dimension to living. a fourth
dimension to society.

I submit it Is that fourth dunension which is the great
challenge to education today. By your mastery of the

PAGF SEVEN

physical world you have started a chain reaction more
pregnant with consequences for good and evil than all
nuclear reaction. You may have started it before you
have built intellectual fall-out shelters.

Medical libraries are being adapted for electronic
data storage and retrieval. So rapid l5 the growth of
medical knowledge that we may learn to remake man
before we learn what to make him.

Two professors at Florida State University point out
that the number of college students in Florida and
California will more than double between IMO and
Hill). This Florida is preparing for. and I presume
California ts not far behind. But they also predict that
in Florida this increase will be duplicated by 1975. We
had it century to prepare for the college population ol
l9ht). ten years to prepare for the 2nd 100}? and ve
years for the third- The rate of change increases.

A rise in living standards. advances in medical science
and public health administration. with control of mice-
tious diseases. have caused spectacular rises in longevity.
One hundred years ago onefourth of the newborn
died before reaching 5; today they reach 45 before
one-fourth die. One-fourth can expect to live to be 83.
But our economic practices and social laws have not
adapted to this Chang and as of today no satisfactory
provision has been made for the benecial use of this
bonus of years. either by the individual or society. The
conquest of all communicable diseases is n foreseeable
prospect. and that combined with the development of
new weapons for overcoming the degenerative diseases
will max. is causing. change of staggering potential. at
and accelerating rate.

The multiplication of population. of which Florida
is an example. has assumed such proportions as to
defy accommodation. The rights of individuals. which
seemed properly absolute In a day when the population
had a density of one per square mile. or ten per square
mile. must be viewed in the light of the combined rights
of others when the population becomes. as it has. IOO
per square mile. The right to dig a well. to hunt game.
to allow cows to roam at will, to build a house. or to
dump refuse into a river. could be unrestricted when
their exercise had no discernible effect on others. Today
these rights. and all others. can only be exercised with
regard for the combined rights of the rest of the popw
lotion. Florida had a leisurely l30 years in which to
accommodate to the growth of the rst 100 people per
square mile. It has less than 20 years to prepare for the
next 100 people per square mile. The rate of change is
six times as great, and will undoubtedly increase.

Progress begets progress. Growth in education does
not satisfyit increases the demand for education. Ex-
panding knowledge increases demands for consumption.
increases skills in production. a by-prodnct of which is
increased knowledge, and increased capacity to consume.

no: EIGHT

In a world of three dimensions, With its leisurely and
comfortable evolution from one stage to the next. there
was time to gather around the pot-bellied stove to dis-
cuss the few changes that the next several years would
bring. time to debate the pros and cons of different
courses of action. time to adjust to Changes in life in
the way one adjusted to an occasional new pair of shoes
which were basically the same as the old pair. But in
this day of which the intercontinental missile is but a
symbol. Ill which the great antagonist is changing con-
ditions for which we are not prepared. leisurely adjust
ment is no longer compatible with progress. or even
with survival. We need not mm a hot line to Moseosv.
to deal with the changes in the mind of one mun or the
actions of one nation: we need a hot line to tomorrow.
In a world of four dimensions. where today is yester-
day's tomorrow, and tomorrow has dawned before the
sun has set today. the fourth dimension can be mastered
only by the mind Muscle will not perform the task;
natural resources are of no sure value; it strategic ad-
vantage can be wiped out by one invention; a stockpile
can become obsolete overnight.

England ruled the world with a powerful navy for a
hundred years. The nation today that is all-powerful
because of its atomic power. its jet planes or its missiles.
can be a seenndonte power. or vessel. tomorrow.

The one sure resource. other than the love of God.
which need never fail us. is the educated mind stimu-
lated by dedicated leadership and committed to enabling
man to live abundantly in this new environment.

i read on Sunday that Columbia University is cre-
ating a new institute to examine the impact of the scien-
tic revolution on human affairs. l was sorry to read
that because that is what I was going to suggest as your

corporate task. But you must go beyond the examina-
tion of that impactyou must prepare your students to
live in a world the outlines of which cannot be dis-

cernedqa world that sustains the impact of a continuing
revolution.

The Columbia Institute hopes not only to be able to
cope with change. but to anticipate its consequences and
suggest future responses to it. That is the new challenge
to higher education today. It is the task of every pub-
licly oriented university to enable its students not only
to understand and master what is. but also what may
be, in this world of geometric change.

Man lives today on an escalator- He goes to sleep in
one world and wakes in another. lie graduates from
college in one world. but the worlds in which he must
live are far differentand always changing.

Life's targets are no longer bulls eyes. but birds
eyes. and the birds are in flight.

For today is yesterdays tomorrow, and tomorrow
has already dawned.

John 1. Conan. II distinguished educator and
management consultant of Washlngton. D.('.

If Not the University?

By John J. Corson

s a people we have mind-
sets as to the roles of business. of governmentand of
the universities. We act and talk at times as though it
was the drafters of the Constitution who said: This is
the business of business. This is the business of govern
ment. And this is the business of the universities.

Yet cvcn as we parrot such beliefs we see a dozen
private business enterprises each of which spends more
Federal tax dollars than any one of ve departments of
the Federal government. We see Federal agencies that
perform more of the work for which they are respon-
sible through private business rms and universities
under contract than they perform with their own cm-
ployccs. And we see a share of universities each of
which spends more Federal tax dollars than any of a
dozen Federal agencies. such as the Interstate Com-
merce Commission, while simultaneoust performing a
widening range of services for state and local govern-
ments and for business enterprises.

For the neat traditionalist things have gotten all mixed
up. Old cliches about socialism have no persuasive
meaning in today's context. Old cliches about the
university's role being the discovery and dissemina-
tionbut not the applicationof knowledge have no
persuasive meaning in the face of the burgeoning
demand for public services that confronts most
universities.

What I am saying as to the changing function of the
university is illustrated on many campuses. On one
campus the faculty of physical education works con-
tinually with the Bureau of Alcoholism in a state dc-
partment of mental health. A distinguished Harvard
professor designed a garbage disposal ship for the city
of Boston. The faculty of a liberal arts college. at the

 

request of a large private employer. trains forcmen
m the employers' plant. A school of education faculty
developed programs, at the behest of the US. Ofce of
Education. for the social economic rehabilitation of the
unemployed. Key faculty members are absent from a
number of campuses while they help to establish or
strengthen colleges in other lands. or to aid with still
other functions. The medical school faculty on another
campus has contracted to provide medical care for a
whole neighborhood that has been Wrackcd by race
riots.

The list might be lengthened but there is no need.
The contents would not be new to you. My only pur-
pose in presenting this list. and my only justification in
taking your time with it. is to provide the basis for
assessing:

Why this demand upon the university exists. and

What the university is to expect in the future.

Why turn to the university?

Why should not private enterprise resolve. these new
problems, even as historically we looked to private
enterprise to build the railroads. invent the gadgets that
made life simpler. discover the new drugs that would
saw: our lives. and create the new textbooks that would
better the education to be offered?

Why has not government expanded its own staff and
geared itself up to handle the new facets of international
relations, or to invent and develop the new ghting
weapons, or to provide the medical and social services
needed to combat racial tension?

There are. I believe. ve reasons why the American
society increasingly turns to the universities to aid with
the vitally important problems of building a great it

PAGE lHlRlEEN

t-ivry. and let we emphasize that I use the words "great"
and "society" to convey their literal not their political
meaning.

First. the university provides unique inxrirulimml
Slrlgll). it has. a stall. buildings and grounds, and
endowment. and it has more. The university has a
climati- within and a prestige wnltom that constitute

unique institutional strengths for resolving the problems
of a society.

i set on a panel rcccntly to review the accomplish-
ments of one of the regional educational laboratories.
created and supported by the Otiicc of Education to
diagnose the ills of our Schools and to do the research
that will prodttce solutions. This laboratory. like others.
is a new. independent. nonprot institution- its accom-
plishments to date have been despite the lack of the
institutional strengths that it good university could have
pmvidcd.

That laboratory lacks the libraries. the laboratorics
and the administratiw structure that serve the faculties
of at university. But it also lucid the capacity to attract
the nblcst of researchers: it lacks the collegial-interdis-
ciplinary approach to inquiry that makes some univer.
sitics tnily grunt; and it lacks the reputation for objcc-
live. independent incl-finding that the term university
carries with it. That laboratory struggles fecbly along
because it lacks all the institutional strengths it requires
to do its highly important job.

Socond, the universities. as they have grown. have
acquired a substantial monopoly u] the [mrlit'ulur kind
(if human talent required [or dealing with the pmblcnu
a! t! society as distinguished from the problemr of an
enterprise.

The universities have no corner on superior intellccts
l ndecd, having spent almost equal thirds of my adult life
in university lacultics. as an executive in business. and
as an othcial in government, I am concerned that neither
gov/eminent nor the universities attract and hold their
share of truly superior intellects. The rewards offered
by the prot making worldbe. it as a businessman or n
professwnul manare relatively so much greater, that
government and the universities (as I have scctt them)
when

But private enterprise focuses many of our nhtest
minds on the problems of making. selling, promoting
and accounting for their productsfrom diapers to
tomb stones. lt seldom focuses their minds and energies
on the formulation of foreign policy, the design of edu-
cational programs. or the eradication of urban blight
be it slums or smog. The university. I repeat. has a
substantial monopoly of the particular kind of human
tttlcnt that ts capable of seeing the shortcomings in our
foreign policy. in our educational programs, and in our
cities. and capable of bringing knowledge to bear on the
nding of solutions.

PACI- FOLRTFFN

Third. the universities possess a discipline of
objectivity.

Thut asset is scarceand innitely valuablein a
competitive. tension-packed society. The sales mann-
ger. the Negro leader. the union leader. the corporate
labor relations negotiator, or the political executive in
government cannot aord (not has he the time for)
objectivity. Moreover. the organizationthe corpora-
tion. the union. the government department. the politiCal
party. or even the Churchdemands. perhaps requires.
for its survival. acceptance and conformity with its
policies.

Hence. utter a decade or two at plying their trades,
most businenwn, public othcinls. union leaders and
preachers are so ltabitttated to one way of thought that
they cannot attach a problem with the fresh. detached
objectivuy that is required. William James was surely
right when he wrote of the scarcity and innite value"
of "the capacity tor non-habitual perception."

Fourth. the univcrsitics arr r'rmum'lted (a the search
for new knolt'lcdgr.

It is the busincs 0! university faculties to pursue the
curiosity that yields new knowledge. And we live in the
time of what Robert Soto has dubbed the science-
bascd society."  This means. as I understand Solo. that
we lite in a time when advance in many for most! elds
depends upon the creation of new knowledge.

Paraphrasmg Emersons phrase. let me suggest that in
a science-de society he who would have the world
heat a path to his door will nd the idea for his int-
proved mousctrttp in it university laboratory. The day
when advance is based on tinkering and improvisation
has passed. The solutions for not only our physical ills
fcunccr and heart disease, for example) and [or our
scientific needs (such as are illustrated in space explora-
tion}, but as well the solutions for our international
problems, and yes, evn our racial diliicultics will most
likely he tound in the minds of those who have the
capacity. time. and inclination tor rigorous. detached.
creatiVe thought.

Fifth. a university possesses values: it stands for
something; indeed it .vramlx [or the most civilizing values
to] Whit"! We AiiunrJrvcdmn, [or example.

Thus. Mcrrimon Cuninggim aptly suggests that uni-
versity people must "say their piece . must proclaim
their values, that by their very nature they believe and
accept. not for societys salvation alone but for their

DWD.'

His prescription pascs these conscience-shaking
questions:

Can a university be true to itself. let alone to the
society that supports it. it with the knowledgc at its

"The University in A Sciencede Socicty." an unpub-
lished paper.