MEETING OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS June 17,1970 The June meeting of The Board of Trustees of the University of Illi- nois was held in the Faculty Lounge, Illini Union, Urbana, Illinois, on Wednesday, June 17,1970, beginning at 9:30 a.m. President Earl M. Hughes called the meeting to order and asked the Secretary to call the roll. The following members of the Board were present: Mr. Howard W. Clement, Mr. Ralph C. Hahn, Mr. Earl M. Hughes, Mr. Russell W. Steger, Mr. Timothy W. Swain, Dr. Earl E. Walker. Mr. Donald R. Grimes, Mr. Theodore A. Jones, Governor Richard B. Ogilvie, Mr. Ray Page, and Mr. W. Clement Stone were absent. Also present were President David D. Henry; Executive Vice Pres- ident and Provost Lyle H. Lanier; Chancellor J. W. Peltason, Urbana- Champaign campus ; Chancellor Joseph S. Begando, Medical Center campus ; Chancellor Norman A. Parker, Chicago Circle campus; Dr. Eldon Johnson, Vice President of the University; Mr. Vernon L. Kretschmer, Associate Director of Physical Plant Planning and Con- struction ; Mr. C. E. Flynn, Assistant to the President and University Director of Public Information; Mr. John W. Metzger, Associate University Counsel ; Mr. George H. Bargh, Executive Assistant to the President; and the officers of the Board, Mr. H. 0. Farber, Comp- troller; Mr. R. R. Manchester, Treasurer; and Dr. Earl W. Porter, Secretary. 931 932 BOARD OF TRUSTEES [June 17 BUSINESS PRESENTED BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNIVERSITY The Board considered the, following reports and recommendations from the President of the University. PRESIDENT’S REPORT President Henry presented a report on selected topics of current in- terest, copies of which were distributed at the meeting, and a copy was filed with the Secretary of the Board. ILLINOIS EQUAL OPPORTUNITY LAW FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM President Henry called attention to the Illinois Equal Opportunity Law Fellowship Program which will enable disadvantaged students to study law at the University of Illinois under the plan developed in cooperation with Trustee Stone? Banks in Chicago and Urbana-Champaign are collaborating with the W. Clement and Jesse V. Stone Foundation of Chicago in providing funding and loans for the program which will begin in September, 1970. The Foundation will provide up to $500,000 for the program, while the participating banks will arrange for approxi- mately $l,OOO,OOO in federally guaranteed student loans. PROPOSAL FOR FALL ELECTION RECESS (1) President Henry presented a proposal of the Urbana-Champaign Senate that the academic calendar at Urbana be modified in the fall of 1970 to provide “an elec- tion recess” of seven and one-half calendar days. The Undergraduate Student Association had asked to make a presentation on this subject on an emergency basis and Mr. Hughes recognized Miss Cathy Mor- rison who spoke briefly in support of the Senate proposal. Chancellor Peltason presented a statement outlining the arguments for and against the proposal and Professor Marion Benfield, Chairman of the Senate Com- mittee on the Academic Calendar, spoke in support of the recess and answered questions during the course of the discussion. President Henry then presented a memorandum in which he analyzed the proposal and recommended that the Board of Trustees not approve it. (The memoranda from the President and Chancellor and an excerpt from the minutes of the Urbana-Champaign Senate pertaining to this proposal are presented below.) During the discussion, the Board approved a request to address the Board from a member of the Ad Hoc Committee of Student Observers, Mr. John Adler. Mr. Adler spoke in support of the proposal and to the points raised by the President in his statement. On motion of Mr. Swain, the Trustees approved the recommenda- tion of the President -that the proposal not be approved. June 17, 1970 To THE MEMBERSOF THE BOARDOF TRUSTEES: I bring to your attention, with the knowledge of the University Senates’ Con- ference, an action of the Urbana-Champaign Faculty Senate which proposes an “election recess” from October 28, 1970, to November 4, 1970. A statement from Chancellor J. W. Peltason is attached. Over the years, through courses in political science and government, through sponsorship of the Citizenship Clearing House, the legislative internship program and in other ways, faculty members, officers, and departments of the University have stressed the importance of broad citizen participation in the affairs of govern- ment, including the election process. Many faculty members have served local, state, and national government agencies as advisers and some have stood for election. It is a natural and timely corollary of this historic position that in a period ’See minutes, Board Meeting of December 17, 1969, page 729. 19701 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 933 of intense interest @ public issues on the part of young people, consideration should be given to modifying the University calendar to provide a recess in the preelection period (without significantly altering the total number of school days) just as other recesses have been scheduled chiefly to accommodate the personal interests of large numbers of students when no educational objections have been interposed (Christ- mas and Easter, for example). There must be a clear distinction, however, between personal accommodation and institutional policy. The interest of some individuals to be involved in political activity should not be translated into a general institutional arrangement for that purpose, which is imposed upon the entire community, unless the action meets cer- tain conditions outlined below. I do not endorse the resolution of the Urbana-Champaign Senate for the fol- lowing reasons : The action is hastily formulated in the context of institutional mobilization of political activity rather than based upon a systematic measurement of the prefer- ences of the vast majority of students, faculty and staff as to their yielding holidays at Thanksgiving and Christmas in exchange for the October-November period. When the calendar at a major institution is altered, many lives and conveniences are affected. The earliest a complete canvass of students could be conducted would be at the September registration. At that point, a change, even if favored, would be too abrupt to avoid disruption of student and family plans and commitments, employment schedules, and carefully balanced finances for economically disadvan- taged students. Furthermore, there is insufficient time to rearrange contractural obligations affecting employees as well as students. This applies to residence halls, food ser- vice, building supervision and other services, and to student finances. I would have no objection to a calendar recess at the time of year proposed if there were adequate time for planning, if the large majority of students favor it and the objections by those who may not favoi it are carefully considered, if the institutional costs are fully analyzed and budgeted and if the action is framed in such a way and at such a time as to avoid any implication of corporate political action or any appearance of institutional support or opposition to any election issue. For the forthcoming election, I would urge those students, faculty, and staff who wish to be involved in preelection activity to do so as individuals. I recommend that the Board of Trustees not approve the action proposed by the Urbana-Champaign Faculty Senate as described in this report. DAVIDD. HENRY Attachments President June 15, 1970 PRESIDENTDAVIDD. HENRY 364 Administration Building At the June 1 meeting of the Champaign-Urbana Senate, the Senate Com- mittee on Academic Calendar proposed a fall recess of seven and one-half calendar days from Wednesday, October 28, to 1 :OO p.m. on Wednesday, November 4, 1970. The Senate has recommended approval of that proposal. Due to the fact that the proposed recess would interrupt schedules already established for Semester I, 1970-71, I am taking the liberty of forwarding this proposal for your consideration in advance of other June 1 Senate business in order that you may consider it at an early date. The proposal for a fall recess falls within the historic tradition of arranging academic calendars in general accord with the broad expression of student desires and needs. The Academic Calendar Committee acted to recommend this recess in response to a petition signed by more than 4,000 students, and after receiving recommendations for the recess from a large number of recognized student campus organizations of all types, including the Graduate Student Association and the Undergraduate Student Association. As you know, the spring term already has a vacation of comparable length; the proposed fall rece?s would act somewhat to balance the fall and spring academic schedules by providing a somewhat comparable break from classes in the earlier semester. 934 BOARD OF TRUSTEES [June 17 The recess itself has been constructed in such a way that there appears to be no major educational disadvantage to its existence. The original number of academic days scheduled for the fall term is to be reduced by only one and one-half days, the other fall recess days being taken from already-scheduled recesses (Thanksgiving and Christmas). In spite of the above arguments on behalf of the proposed fall recess, several comments regarding the undesirability of the recess are in order. It is our under- standing that the student petition was generated by a laudable desire to become involved in the established political processes immediately preceding fall elections; there is, however, some genuine question as to the desirability of official recognition by the University of political activity-in this way or in any other. It may be argued that there are already mechanisms available to students who wish to become involved in the election process, which mechanisms provide for periods of absence for such activity, with accompanying consideration for academic credit as indepen- dent study or some similiar arrangement.