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[22J 000 An Unusual Mission to the US. S. R. My A W A KEN 1 N G interest in Russia and its people grew steadily as I came to know individual Russians at the U N San Francisco Conference and later on at UN R R A and Unesco committee meetings and in the UN General Assembly. Some of my colleagues here at Indiana University visited Russia in an effort to activate a U.S.-Russia exchange of scholars, and I learned from them something of the Russian scene. All of these contacts with Russian diplomats and American experts on Russia whetted my appetite to see Russia itself and to try to learn something, if I could, about that enormous land and society so different from our own. Russia was not hospitable to mere tourists and did not have the facilities to handle them. However, as part of its propaganda effort, it did spend a considerable amount of money and time on officially sponsored visits, mainly by delegations from Third World and Communist Bloc countries, which came in large numbers. In the summer of 1958 I was offered an opportunity to visit Russia that would be of benefit to the university as well as to me. At that time, Edward H. Litchfield, who had served with me on the staff of General Lucius Clay in Germany, was chancellor of the University of Pittsburgh and also chairman of the board of the Governmental Affairs Institute in Washington, D.C. A resourceful man with many international contacts, he had been able to arrange for a group of seven university presidents, in company with six other persons, to visit Russia. Litchfield's mission also included Franklin D. Murphy, chancellor of the University of Kansas; Deane Malott, president of Cornell; T. Keith Glennan, president of Case Institute at Cleveland; Harry D. Gideonse, president of Brooklyn College; [340] An Unusual Mission to the U.S.S.R. 341 Gaylord P. Harnwell, president of the University of Pennsylvania; H. Philip Mettgers, vice president of the Governmental Affairs Institute ; Frank H. Sparks, president of the Council for Financial Aid to Education; Alan Scaife, president of the board of trustees of the University of Pittsburgh and Fellow of Yale University. Four wives including Mrs. Scaife accompanied us, adding an element of charm and grace to our party. Our trip was undertaken because of the enormous curiosity, aroused by the success of Sputnik, on the part of the American people and especially American educators to learn more about Russian education. We viewed our visit as an opportunity to observe the Russian system carefully and, upon our return, to report formally to the higher educational community as well as to other interested segments of the American population. The report that we published on our return did receive widespread attention, both in the press and in educational circles, and, I believe, served its purpose well.l It was the custom of the Russians to arrange trips such as ours as exchanges: that is, having invited us, they expected to pay our expenses in Russia and, in return, have a group of Russians invited to the United States with all of their expenses in the United States paid here, thus overcoming the Russian handicap of a shortage of dollar exchange. Since we wanted to be as independent as possible, to have our trip as little monitored and circumscribed as we could manage, we declined the hospitality of the Russians and did not have to reciprocate with similar sponsorship on this side. Our offer to pay our own way was unprecedented in the experience of the Russians. Though hesitant to accept an arrangement that departed from their acceptable pattern of visits, they eventually agreed. We were able to be financially independent because of the generosity of the Scaife Foundation. Its officers, who were also two of its principal donors, accompanied us on the trip. Both Alan and Sarah Scaife were deeply interested in higher education. Both liked exotic and even difficult, out-of-the-way places. Although they were not professional educators, they knew enough about the field and about the world to be stimulating members of our group. They were delightful traveling companions. Prior to our leaving, Litchfield had been able to negotiate successfully with the Russians for a rather extensive trip to include I. Report on Higher Education in the Soviet Union (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1958). [3.133.131.168] Project MUSE (2024-04-24 12:48 GMT...

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