Turning the Tide: The University of Alabama in the 1960s

8. In Defense of Reason

8 in defense of reason a new President starting in June 1969, the mood on campus shifted. When women’s fashions became less conventional, the Capstone’s female students, led by aWs, called for an end to dress regulations.The administration responded by allowing women to wear slacks and jeans to class. Their new look, at times bizarre and eccentric,echoed rumblings of rebellion among a student body caught between the rhythmic sounds of the supremes and the psychedelic musings of Jefferson airplane. it would take more than a change in the women’s dress code to toss the mantle of tradition that rested over the Capstone.despite relative youth,david mathews, who projected the aura of the quintessential southern gentleman, understood the compelling force of tradition; how it made people do the necessary , even when it was difficult or unpopular. He also appreciated how tradition sustained institutions and their leaders through tribulation and turmoil. on Thursday, June 5, 1969, the university trustees gathered in a recessed meeting of the board called by President Pro tempore Thomas s. lawson. a major university had offered its presidency to david mathews and was pressuring him for a decision. mathews already had turned down several offers, including one the previous year to become vice president for academic affairs at Elmira College in new york. first, the board discussed various plans for restructuring the state system and adopted what they called the “arizona model”with presidents at the campus in Huntsville and birmingham as well as one in Tuscaloosa. mathews, by then the leading candidate to succeed rose,stated his agreement with the plan and then excused himself while the board turned their attention to the primary reason for the meeting. While some expressed reservations concerning 170 / Chapter 8 mathews’ relative youth, none doubted his capabilities or intelligence. additionally , frank rose had made known his support for the mathews’ candidacy . after trustee Ernest stone, the state superintendent of education, described mathews as “the brightest star on the educational horizon in the entire southland,”trustee dan mcCall moved he be named president.Trustee stone seconded the motion, which the board unanimously adopted. after mathews accepted the offer, the board agreed not to make their decision public until presidents could be selected for the other campuses and related administrative matters resolved.1 on monday,June 16,when Governor brewer announced the appointment, david mathews and his wife mary were at his side. He also stated that while the trustees had not yet decided on a president for the Huntsville extension, Joseph volker was their choice for the birmingham campus. Under the arizona model, the new system provided independence for each institution.2 additionally , the three presidents formed a “Council of Presidents” that was to meet monthly, with the chairmanship rotating annually.3 at thirty-three,david mathews was the youngest of the twenty-three presidents in the university’s 138-year history. mathews not only radiated youthful exuberance, he embraced youth by elevating larry T. mcGehee, a graduate of Transylvania College with a doctorate in religion from yale University, to the executive vice presidency. mcGehee was six months younger than mathews. James Wilder,the director of University relations,was twenty-nine years old.4 students welcomed david mathews. They identified with his youth and believed he sympathized with their idealism. Even bama’s student activists seemed ready to give the new president a chance.after all,hadn’t he encouraged youthful dissent at the meeting of student leaders four years earlier? Hadn’t mathews worked with supportive elements in montgomery to thwart the most recent speaker ban bill initiative? furthermore, students who took mathews’ american history course knew he was an inspiring, if also demanding, teacher. While frank rose urged the pursuit of academic excellence, david mathews required it. The faculty divided over the selection. Professors who remembered david mathews as a student recalled his intelligence. some felt uneasy about innovations he pushed as executive vice president, especially new College. others saw mathews as rose’s protégé and may have presumed sycophancy.There were faculty members who questioned his credentials, as if a Phd from Columbia University’s Teachers College was not quite up to a doctorate earned in history or the hard sciences. younger professors either resented his rapid rise or anticipated the dawning of the age of aquarius. In Defense of Reason / 171 Generally, expectations for the young man from Grove...