University of Massachusetts Amherst ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014 1-1-1987 Case study of a liberal arts and divestment crisis at Hampshire College : examining the role of the Dean of Students. George A. Scott University of Massachusetts Amherst Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_1 Recommended Citation Scott, George A., "Case study of a liberal arts and divestment crisis at Hampshire College : examining the role of the Dean of Students." (1987). Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014. 4316. https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_1/4316 This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014 by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. For more information, please contact [email protected]. CASE STUDY OF A LIBERAL ARTS AND DIVESTMENT CRISIS AT HAMPSHIRE COLLEGE: EXAMINING THE ROLE OF THE DEAN OF STUDENTS A Dissertation Presented by GEORGE A. SCOTT Submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Massachusetts in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF EDUCATION February 1987 School of Education © Copyright by George Andrew Scott, 1987 All Rights Reserved i i CASE STUDY OF A LIBERAL ARTS AND DIVESTMENT CRISIS AT HAMPSHIRE COLLEGE: EXAMINING THE ROLE OF THE DEAN OF STUDENTS A Dissertation Presented by GEORGE A. SCOTT S to stiyle and content by: Professor David Schuman, Chairperson of Committee V~7/X-aAAjn— _ Professor Marion Rhodes, Member Member Professor Mario Fant irti Dean, School of Education • • • 11 l ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am indebted to the many members of the Hampshire College community who made this case study possible, espe¬ cially Sue Alexander, Chuck Collins and Matt Goodman. I would also like to thank David Schuman for his good teaching, guidance and friendship throughout graduate school. Michael Ford for his willingness to participate in the project and the opportunity it gave me to see how a thoughtful, active and reflective person thinks about and lives in the world. And finally, Deborah Emont-Scott, who encouraged, loved and pushed me when I doubted my ability to finish. Now we can go farther on our evening walks and bring Meredith Suzanne along. iv ABSTRACT CASE STUDY OF A LIBERAL ARTS AND DIVESTMENT CRISIS AT HAMPSHIRE COLLEGE: EXAMINING THE ROLE OF THE DEAN OF STUDENTS FEBRUARY, 1987 GEORGE ANDREW SCOTT, B.A., WARREN WILSON COLLEGE M.Ed., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS Ed.D., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS Directed by: Professor David F. Schuman For eighteen months in 1982 and 1983, members of the Hampshire College community struggled with this question: Were Hampshire's principles of liberal arts edu¬ cation being compromised by profits the college derived from investments in companies producing weapons for the United States government? A group of students believed this to be the case. A proposal was submitted to the board of trustees requiring the college to divest any securities held in the seventy-five companies with the largest United State government defense contracts. After much consideration by trustee committees, the proposal was not approved. A crisis occurred when stu¬ dents, dissatisfied with the decision not to divest, occupied the administration building for five days. Hampshire's Dean of Student played a leading role in v shaping events before, during and after the crisis. The dissertation focuses on the questions surrounding the issue of divestment and how members of a liberal arts college addressed them; particularly how the experiences of one dean of students presents lessons for other administrators faced with the circumstances of a divestiture struggle. The case study and interview methods of analysis are combined as an approach to investigating and explaining the events and their meaning. The interview method offers a critical approach to examining the way the Dean of Students understood his job, the situations he encountered, and why he made certain decisions and not others. The results indicate that the actions of par¬ ticipants are typically informed by either the "traditionalist" view, opposing divestment or the "activist" view which favors it. The events illustrate that either extreme is inadequate because both lack an evaluation of the educational issues at stake for all mem¬ bers of the college. The conclusions stress that divestment struggles provide an opportunity for educational learning to occur. Therefore, it is necessary to develop another perspective, one that is neither automatically for or against divest¬ ment. This alternative view is one where individuals and/or the institution would be willing, when appropriate, vi to take positions that uphold the college's liberal arts principles, its financial well being and its obligation to serve society. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS . ABSTRACT . Chapter I. INTRODUCTION II. ANTECEDENTS OF NEUTRALITY AND PARTISANSHIP IN AMERICAN HIGHER EDUCATION . 22 European Partisanship and American Neutrality. 23 Traditionalist and Activist Philosophies . 30 Contemporary Problems in Ethical Investing. 36 III. HAMPSHIRE COLLEGE HISTORY AND THE CONTENT OF DIVESTMENT . 47 Origins of the College. 48 Educational Program . 54 Financing. 58 The College as an Instrument of Change ... 61 Ideological Tensions . 65 The Roots of Liberalism. 72 Student Characteristics . 78 IV. THE NATURE OF DIVESTMENT. 94 Origins of Movement in South Africa . 95 Developing a Divestment Strategy . 99 Effects of Divestment . 104 Origins of Weapons Divestment Movement ... 110 Development of a Proposal to Trustees .... 113 Effects of the Proposal.121 V. INITIAL PASSAGE OF THE PROPOSAL.135 Trustee Subcommittee (CHOIR) Meeting .... 136 Community Reactions . 1^0 Enrollment and Financial Impact.14-2 Potential Compromise.^3 Faculty Petition.^8 vii i VI. FINAL ARGUMENTS--ESTABLISHING A MIDDLE GROUND . 165 The Two Extremes.155 Activist and Traditionalist Roots *. 1 171 Charting a Course Between the Two Extremes.. Creating a Task Force.* 139 VII. FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING . I97 Events Informing the Meeting . 198 The Meeting.202 Aftermath.207 Origins of an Occupation.214 Preparations Undertaken by Administration . 221 VIII. OCCUPATION OF ADMINISTRATION OFFICES . 229 Monday--Adjusting to the New Situation . 230 Tuesday--Confusion . 241 Wednesday--Tensons Escalate . 232 Thursday--Resolving the Problem . 262 Friday--Conclusions . 267 IX. REVIEW AND IMPLICATIONS OF DIVESTMENT ON HIGHER EDUCATION . 276 Accomplishments of the Task Force.277 Re-examining Assumptions about Divestment . 283 Lessons Learned by Students . 286 Lessons Learned by Faculty and Administration . 288 An Example of "Teaching".291 The Role of the Administration When Reconsidering the Principle of Institutional Neutrality . 300 Establishing an Alternative Approach to the Traditionalist and Activist Extremes.305 X. CONCLUSIONS.327 BIBLIOGRAPHY . 334 ix CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION The subject of nuclear war also provides an excellent vehicle to accomplish the purposes of liberal education: exploring new areas of knowledge, under¬ standing diverse interpretations of complex issues, and becoming active rather than passive learners.1 Adele Simmons, President Hampshire College Why shouldn't they oppose our proposal, our ridiculous hubristic propositions and ludicrous counter¬ assumptions? After all, in terms of present day assumptions, everything we are talking about is outside the realm of "rationality." In essence, we are asking Hampshire College to take the first step--a possibly suicidal step--and challenge the tenants of our liberal social order.2 Chuck Collins, student The Subject Studied This dissertation is a case study about the manner in which the issue of divestment was handled by one liberal arts institution, Hampshire College, in 1982. It contains a detailed account of the significant events surrounding the institution's decision about whether or not to divest, and an analysis of what the ethical investment tension has to tell us about the nature of liberal arts learning. It is typically the case, (which will be explained in more detail later), that when a divestment action is proposed, two extreme perspectives regarding the eventual 1 2 decision arise within the institution. These are usually described as the "traditionalist" and "activist" positions, the former dictating non-divestment and the latter approving of it enthusiastically. The case study is writ¬ ten for higher education administrators. The central argu¬ ment I want administrators to consider is that neither view, "traditionalist" or "activist," takes into account the educational issues that exist for all members of the academic community when a struggle for divestment ensues. Consequently, by not understanding the "educational experience" questions, the administrator does not realize that there exists a third perspective on the nature of divestment. To state briefly, this alternative perspective is one which establishes the continued education of stu¬ dents, teachers, trustees and fellow administrators, along with the welfare of the institution, as the foremost issues for which to be mindful. Chapters of the case study discuss more general topics such as higher education history as it relates to the development of "institutional neutrality," the prin¬ ciple from which the "traditionalist1 and activist views arise; aspects of Hampshire College history that explain why