WHY A REBELLION AT COLUMBIA WAS INEVITABLE (FROM CRIME AND DELINQUENCY, A READER, 1970 BY CARL A BERSANI SEE NCJ-006248)

• NCJ Number: 10219
• Author(s): E K TRIMBERGER
• Date Published: 1970
• Length: 15 pages
• Corporate Author: Macmillan
• Publication Format: Article
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: REPRINTED FROM TRANS-ACTION, V 5, N 9 (SEPTEMBER 1968)

Annotation

AFTER DESCRIBING EVENTS LEADING TO AND COMPRISING THE DISORDERS, THE AUTHOR CONCLUDES THAT POLARIZATION OF ADMINISTRATORS, STUDENTS, AND FACULTY WAS THE CAUSE.

Abstract

IN THIS POLARIZATION THE MODERATE POSITIONS WAS DESTROYED - STUDENT MODERATES BECAME RADICALIZED, ADMINISTRATION MODERATES BECAME RIGID AND CONSERVATIVE, FACULTY MODERATES FAILED IN ATTEMPTS TO MEDIATE AND BECAME ALIENATED FROM BOTH SIDES. THE WEAKNESS OF THE MODERATES WAS A RESULT OF THE INSTITUTIONAL WEAKNESS OF COLUMBIA - THE ARCHAIC AND ISOLATED NATURE OF ADMINISTRATIVE AUTHORITY, THE LACK OF EFFECTIVE FACULTY AND STUDENT GOVERNMENTS, AND THE ATTENUATION OF FACULTYSTUDENT RELATIONS. THESE INSTITUTIONAL WEAKNESSES LED TO A GENERAL LACK OF ADMINISTRATIVE AND FACULTY RESPONSIVENESS TO STUDENT GRIEVANCES AND TO THE STUDENTS' ATTEMPT TO COMPEL RESPONSE BY DRAMATIC ACTION. A CRITICAL PROBLEM OF COLUMBIA, THEN, IS TO STRENGTHEN ALL COMPONENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY IN ORDER TO RENDER THEM MORE RESPONSIVE TO ONE ANOTHER. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT)