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3-1969

Western Michigan University Newsletter, March 1969 Western Michigan University Newsletter, March 1969

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WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY NEWSLETTERand alumni events 14/3 March 1969

BUT POSSIBLE LACK OF FUNDS MAY LIMIT SCOPE

WMU's Martin L King Fund Students Doing Exceptionally WellA report from the office of Roger

Pulliam, assistant to the WMU vicepresident for academic affairs, paintsa much more glowing picture of theacademic accomplishments of the 76Western students under the MartinLuther King Fund program, thanhad been anticipated. First semesterperformances in the classroom ofthese black students is a shiningbeacon in Western's academic panorama.

As a group, they earned B-minusgrades (2.69 on a 4.0 scale) duringthe fall semester. Seventy-four of the76 King Fund students earned atleast a C grade average (2.0), whileat the same time, 29 of WMU's 30Upward Bound students also had atleast a C grade average.Pulliam, who heads WMU's Mar

tin Luther King Fund program saysit "is a special support program forstudents who are notably deficient incultural and academic strengths, atleast insofar as 'normal' college entrance levels are concerned."He points out that many of these

students, for various reasons, lackthe depth of background, outlook,initial grounding, and readiness toadvance that a student usually findsis absolutely necessary to survive thecompetition for good grades in college. Pulliam uses such terms as "disadvantaged, culturally deprived, oreconomically improverished" in describing these students.Nelson Jackson, a former WMU

football star aswas Pulliam, isaidingin the program while taking graduatework at WMU.WMU President James W. Miller

has expressed pleasure with the positive results from the first semester ofthe King Fund program. When thefund was established last May with$35,000 Dr. Miller said its aim wouldbe to meet the needs of black students who would not otherwise beable to continue their education beyond high school.Pulliam said WMU's general ad

missions standards do not necessarilyapply to King Fund students.

In above photo, a Martin Luther KingFund coed at WMU converses informallywith, left to right, Jesse Ingram and Nelson Jackson, graduate student assistants

"Normally accepted or expected criteria are not given the usual weightin reaching an admissions decision,"said Pulliam. "Rather than predictive data, such as grade point average, or standardized test data, suchitems as promising school recommendations are given weight."When they reach WMU the King

Fund and Upward Bound studentsreceive special assistance designed tosmooth their transition from a possibly deprived home life to the stimulating social and academic life theyencounter at college. This assistanceincludes course planning, counseling, tutoring in academic and socialareas, group meetings with otherstudents and with program administrators, and a special study centerin Waldo Library in which emphasisis placed on study as an aid to earning good grades.Pulliam said he and his staff "want

to help each King Fund student develop a good self-image, self-realization, human relationship awareness,and economic efficiency." He notesthat in addition to their fine academic accomplishments during the firstsemester at WMU, many King Fundstudents have become involved inextra-curricular activities which aidthe development of a well-roundededucation. These include such di-

in the King Fund office, and Roger Pulliam, assistant to WMU's vice presidentfor academic affairs and director of theKing Fund at Western.

verse activities as participation withthe "Varsity Vagabonds" musicalgroup (one), in a WMU Theatreproduction of "Raisin in the Sun"(five), the "Broncettes" dance groupwhich performs at sports events(two), frosh football (three) andfrosh basketball (two).Pulliam points out that classroom

attendance by King Fund studentsis no problem. "I guess everythingabout college life is so interesting toour students that they don't want tomiss a class."So enthused are they about the

accelerated learning process so evident around them at WMU that upto 15 King Fund students are serving as tutors of elementary and highschool students in the KalamazooTutorial Project, while in turn sometimes being tutored themselves byWMU Honors College students aspart of their King Fund program,according to Pulliam.Attendance in the Waldo Library

study center for King Fund studentsis required twice a week, or onceweekly if the student spends onenight in the special remedial Englishclass of the King Fund program.Pulliam noted that most of the students spend more time than requiredin the study center.

(Continued on Page 2)

For the first time, a black WMU coedwas selected as Western's 1969 SnowQueen in late January. Queen ChereGlass, center, a Lansing sohomore, isflanked by her court, left to right:Dianne Steinberg, a Detroit sophomore;Ann Roseberg, Rockford, 111., sophomore; Betsy Wolfe, Bloomfield Hills

sophomore; and Nancy Stout, GrandLedge junior.Queen Chere won out over 52 con

testants, with the judges' selection basedon poise, beauty and speaking ability. Aweek-long thaw melted away virtuallyall of the traditional snow sculptures andseverely hampered other outdoor eventsduring Snow Carnival Week at WMU.

HISTORY

RACING BLACKNEGRO HISTORy

"Negro History Week," Feb. 9-15, wasobserved at WMU in several ways, in-

King Fund Students cont'dDr. Miller, while elated at the

success of the King Fund program,says further expansion to includemore black students depends on theavailability of obtaining neededfunds. Pulliam says the first priorityis to secure enough funds to continue the present program in the1969-70 school year for those students already enrolled.

eluding a large display of photos andbooks on the theme: "Tracing BlackHistory." here being erected by RoyIngersoll, a student employee in WaldoLibrary, under the direction of Mrs.Linda Rolls, a new member of the professional staff of WMU libraries. Whenproperly placed, the lettering on thesection held by Mrs. Rolls completed thetheme: "Tracing Black History," above"Negro History Week."Mrs. Rolls, who holds an M.S. degree

in librarianship from Villanova University, said it was her first creation ofsuch a display. It contained more than20 photos and some 25 books on Negrohistory.

Professor John Cartwright, a sociologist with the Afro-American CoordinatingCenter at Boston University, prefaced"Negro History Week" at WMU witha late January visit to WMU for numerous meetings with faculty and studentsto discuss programs and materials relatedto black culture and history.In one session he deplored the existing

general "laissez-faire" attitude towardthe approach to black studies at mostschools which have begun them. Thesestudies must have a definite purpose,structure, and goal concerning studyefforts and research, he said.

LOUIS LOMAX

Another feature of "Negro HistoryWeek" at WMU was a public lecture byLouis Lomax, author, teacher, lecturer,and television commentator on the subject: "Two Revolutions: Youth andRace."The purpose of the week was to spot

light the cultural, educational, civic andeconomic contributions of black personsto the U. S. and the world.

A former newspaperman, Lomax wasgraduated from Paine College, Augusta,Ga., and did graduate work at AmericanUniversity and Yale. He was the first ofhis race to appear on TV as a newsmanand until recently was news director of aNew York TV station. He has writtennumerous books.Lomax told his WMU audience that

"youth and race have forced society tolook into the mirror and re-think itsbasic values;" that universities, collegesand churches "are no more than culturalcookie cutters designed to cut out cookiesjust like (the white power structure)."Lomax stressed that blacks want "all

of the truth about all of the people." Hesaid as a beginning for this, young blacksand whites must begin a dialogue tostart building an America "with libertyand justice for all."

CALENDAR-PANORAMAof alumni events

WMU President James W. Miller,seated on the left, was introduced bythe Rev. John Mangrum '43, standing,outgoing president of the Florida AlumniClub, during a late February meeting inTampa at which Dr. Miller spoke on"The State of the University."

Dr. Paul Griffeth, standing, WMUvice president for student services, spoketo a Feb. 21 meeting of the MichianaWMU Alumni Club at Niles, Mich., on"The Role of the Student at the University." Also at the head table wereoutgoing club officers: president DanTelfer, secretary Joellyn Telfer, treasurerHarold Green and vice president PaulPozil.

Newly elected officers of the MichianaClub are, left to right: president JosephC. Horack, vice president Robert Decker,secretary Helen Sanders and treasurerAnthony Ansoera.

At that same Florida Alumni Clubmeeting, Dr. Miller, center, watched asRev. Mangrum turned over the Floridaclub presidency to Art Eversole '60,right, former Bronco track star.

At another late February WMUalumni gathering, in New York city, DanPellegrom '66, chairman of the program,right, talked with Elizabeth (Maher)Bryan '16 during The Biltmore Hotelfunction.

A good turnout of New York areaalums was on hand to renew acquaintances and then hear Alumni RelationsDirector John S. Lore '65 give an illustrated presentation on WMU's dynamicgrowth.

A loan fund at Western honoring Mr.and Mrs. Freeburn W. James of BayCity, shown in the photo, has reachedthe $1,000 mark and has now assisted25 WMU students in the brief span ofits existence. The loan fund, begun byformer students of James, a retired school

teacher, has grown rapidly in the pasttwo years. Mr. and Mrs. James alsocontributed to it when they learned of itsexistence. A short term loan fund fordeserving students, it has helped manyWMU students out of a financial pinchin its short life.

WMU Alumni Enable'68 Annual Fund DriveTo Exceed Its GoalWMU alums came through in

great style to send the '68 AnnualFund Drive over its dollar and participation goals. At the conclusion ofthe drive, $215,751 had been contributed by 5,052 alumni, 105 businessfirms, 21 corporations, five banks andfive trust funds and estates.Initial goals were $200,000 and

5,000 alumni participants under thedirection of drive chairman RobertJ. Bradshaw '54 of Ypsilanti, whohas termed the results as quite pleasing. Other interesting facts of the'68 drive were:# First-time givers totaled 1,450.# Contributions of $100 or more

came from 137 individuals and112 firms.

# Scholarships to WMU were given by 17 Alpha Beta Epsilonalumnae sorority chapters.

# Gifts from alumni, friends, andfirms were designated for 102 different uses.An Annual Fund "task force" of

alumni scattered around the countrysaw each task force member phoneat least five alumni in their geographic area to suggest that alumcontribute, as the alumni participation base was broader than everbefore.

Alumni Invited to 13thAnnual William R. BrownLecture on May 7The 13th annual William R. Brown

Lecture on Literature will be givenWed., May 7, 8 p.m. in room 2304Sangren Hall by Professor John L.Styan of the University of Michiganfaculty. His topic will be "The DarkComedy," the title of his book published in 1962 and updated in 1968.It should not be confused with thecurrent literary interest in Negrocomedy or with so-called "black

(Continued on Page 4)

GENE FORD

SPORTS REFLECTIONSBASKETBALL

Post-basketball season honors continued to roll in for WMU's Gene Ford,who was elected honorary captain andmost valuable player by his teammatesfor the past season as well as garneringthe H. W. "Buck" Read Award from theBronco Downtown Coaches Club at thewinter sports banquet.Ford was a unanimous first team choice

of Mid-American Conference coaches, ashe was in his junior year. And no wonderwhen you look at some of his seasonstatistics. His 620 points this season (second only to Manny Newsome's 653 in1964) averaged out to 25.8 a game.Eight times he scored 30 or more points

while shooting field goals at a .476 clip.In addition he pulled down 230 reboundswhile providing valuable leadership whichenabled WMU to tie for 3rd place inthe conference at 6-6.In WMU's 115-92 win over Loyola,

Gene scored 46 points to break New-

BROWN LECTURE cont'd

comedy" based on jokes.Styan, born in London and a

Cambridge University graduate, isconcerned with modern tragi-com-edy, such as Osborn's Look Back InAnger, recently produced in ShawTheater at WMU. He taught at theUniversity of Hull, Yorkshire andhas been a London theater criticand a member of the advisory committee to the B.B.C. Since 1965 hehas been an English professor at theUniversity of Michigan.

some's old mark of 45 set twice in 1963-64, making 18 of 32 shots.His fine career-closing effort against

Bowling Green (42 points on 16 of 27shots) in Read Field House enabled himto cement his position as WMU's secondhighest all-time scorer with 1,393 careerpoints During the halftime of this gameWMU Athletic Director Dr. Joe Hoypresented Gene with the Loyola gameball as Gene's mother, who lives in Chicago, watched proudly as a WMU guest.Late in February Ford was named

MAC "Player of the Week," for scoring26 and 37 points in wins over Marshalland Northern 111., thereby becoming thefirst MAC player to be so honored twicethis season.Ford says he'd like to play pro basket

ball but that his social work studies arequite important to him because of hisambition, after his basketball days end.to become a social worker in Chicago."It's challenging, important and rewarding work," he notes.Soph center Earl Jenkins connected on

an amazing 10 of 11 field goal shots inan early season loss to Kent State athome. It broke Bob Blohm's old markof making 12 of 14 shots in 1965.During the fall sports banquet Jenkins

was voted "most improved player" onthe team and may step into Ford's shoesnext season.

SWIMMING

WMU varsity swimmers continuedtheir assault on records this season.Dave Pohlonski dropped the WMU

1,000 yard freestyle mark to 10:34.1after lowering it earlier in the season andalso breaking Ball State and Kent Statepool marks in that event.Mike Murray set a new WMU 200

yard freestyle mark (1:50.2) while finishing second at Kent State. Earlier hebroke the Ball State pool mark in thatevent.

The 400 yard freestyle team (Cole,Smith, Pohlonski, Toth) set a new WMUmark (3:19.2) at home.Ron Marcikic's new WMU 200 yard

WESTERN MICHIGAN

UNIVERSITYNEWSLETTERand alumni events

Second class postage paid at Kalamazoo, Michigan. Published eight times a year by Western Michigan University,Kalamazoo, 49001. Robert G. Rubom, Editor

Vol. 14, No. 3

March 1969

breaststroke mark (2:19.9) was set atMichigan State's pool.Larry Toth set a new WMU 100 yard

freestyle mark of :48.8 while finihing2nd at Kent State after tieing the oldmark earlier at MSU.Dave Petersen set a new WMU mark

(: 57.2) in the 100 breaststroke againstthe Air Force Academy at WMU.

INDOOR TRACK

Some fine WMU performances highlighted the indoor track season throughthe end of February. As more than 500individual athletes and 19 teams competed in the WMU Relays in February,WMU took six firsts to lead all competitors.Sophomore Rod Mack's :06.7 in the

60 yard low hurdles and Tom Randolph's:30.2 in the 300 yard dash were newWMU marks. Randolph also set a newMichigan State University Relays andJenison Field House mark of :30.6 inthe 300 yard dash in February.Randolph, incidentally, holds the marks

for the fastest indoor times ever postedby an MAC trackman—29.9 in the 300yard dash and 48.0 in the 440 yard dash.

WRESTLING

WMU's big wrestling upset of Miamiin February (24-9) was its first win overthe Redskins in seven years.

GYMNASTICS

WMU's gymnastic team won its finalmeet of the year, over Central Michiganas part of a double dual meet, includingoverall winner Stout State of Wisconsin.Coach Fred Orlofsky's squad was plaguedwith injuries all season to post a 1-12mark.

ALUMNI ATHLETES

W-Club achievement awards went tofromer Bronco sports figures, who arenow high school coaches, during the annual fall sports banquet: Scotty Wilson(Kalamazoo Central basketball), BillPowell (Battle Creek Lakeview swimming), and Carl Latora (Portage Northern wrestling).