Being Lucky: Reminiscences and Reflections

14. Student and Alumni Relationships

[14J 000 Student and Alumni Relationships I H AVEL 0 N G greeted freshman students with, "So you are a freshman. Great! Freshmen are very important people. Without freshmen there soon would be no seniors or, in fact, a university, and I like it here." With rare exceptions I had happy relationships with the students during my days in the president's office. I saved time for contact with them; I tried to accept their invitations even though in some instances it was not particularly convenient to do so. I recognized the fact that they invited me to their many functions in the best spirit, evidencing their interest in Indiana University and their friendliness toward me. Many times student dinners are a bit stiff and awkward, but the youngsters are learning the art of entertaining , a useful part of their whole learning experience. By keeping close to students, one is reminded that they are a major reason for the existence of the university and certainly the major reason why the state supports the institution. In the quality and spirit of these youngsters is to be found the future of the state and nation. They and their parents are making sacrifices in order to realize an individual and family dream, seeking the mobility and self-fulfillment that can come with a collegiate and professional education. I not only spent a great deal of time in responding to student social obligations, but as well tried throughout my career to schedule open office hours regularly for student visits. At the beginning of the academic year, I set aside a period each month during which, it was announced, students were invited to come to my office without making appointments to discuss any subject they wished. In this way I tried to overcome any reticence that students might have [212] Student and Alumni Relationships 213 about breaking into the calendar of a busy president. Needless to say, students did come, and came in large numbers, particularly at the beginning of each year. But after a month or so, their numbers would dwindle. Possibly it was because I was unable to make the sessions interesting enough for the individual student, or perhaps, when the students found out that they had ready access to the presidential ear, they were satisfied, unless they really had some important reason for wanting to be heard. In the early days of my presidency the university's enrollment was predominantly undergraduate, but as the years went along the graduate and professional enrollments increased dramatically both in numbers and in relation to the rest of the student body. Graduate and professional students often have a maturity that makes them academic colleagues in the true sense of the word, and one can be stimulated by them and learn from them. On the other hand, even to this day I find meeting the shy, naive freshman or sophomore one of the experiences I most value. It is so refreshing to talk to these youngsters, to learn that each succeeding generation of students is facing life in much the same way that their predecessors did, then to try to help them by giving them perspective and encouragement, knowing that they will, if they persist, find their way as so many have done before them. The beginning of my administration was before the time of the organized Help Weeks project that Colonel Raymond L. Shoemaker as dean of students was later to inaugurate. Nevertheless, from time to time, the students on their own quite spontaneously developed projects in which they demonstrated their interest in the university's welfare, addressed the needs of some of the town's unfortunate , or otherwise attempted to meet their civic responsibilities in the society of which they were temporarily a part. Throughout most of my presidential years, there was high student morale on the campus, at both the graduate and the undergraduate levels. The morale was reflected in the students' attitude toward the university and in their reports concerning it to their parents and friends throughout the state. A satisfied student body is, after all, the greatest public-relations asset a university can have. In fact, it needs no formal public-relations program if the members of the university community, students and faculty alike, believe enthusiastically in the institution and proclaim their belief in it throughout the state. The voice of administrators or even the voice of trustees 214 THE...