Edward Reilly, University of Georgia, lectured on "The Two Versions of Mussorgky's Boris Godunov."
Daniel O'Keefe, a 19 year old freshman at Vassar, was named Ward Chairman of the Town of Poughkeepsie's Fifth Ward Committee. O'Keefe, a Democrat, was believed to be the youngest party official in Dutchess County.
The exhibit "La Belle Epoque," a collection of 137 posters by 35 Belgian artists, was shown at the Vassar College Art Gallery as part of its tour of nine American Museums. This was the first time the posters were shown in the United States.
Dr. Merrill Eisenbud, New York University Medical Center, lectured on "Hudson River Ecology in Historical Perspective."
Daniel Bell, Harvard University, lectured on "Technocracy and Politics."
The Composers' Quartet performed the "String Quartets" of Elliott Carter, who after the concert lectured on them.
Keith Lehrer, University of Rochester, lectured on "Why Not Skepticism?"
Eric A. Havelock, Yale University, lectured on "Was Socrates Literate: Could He Read and Write?"
The student body was informed of the Curriculum Committee's plan to distribute teacher and course evaluations to all students. These evaluations would play an important role in contract and tenure decisions. The Chairman of the Committee, Kathy Flowers, explained that "the results could be very useful for measuring teaching ability and weaknesses in course content."
The trustees met to discuss three options concerning Vassar's involvement in the proposed Mid-Hudson Graduate Center. These options were: participating in a consortium with Syracuse University and Union College, leasing land and facilities to a Center established by Union and Syracuse, or having no involvement at all with the project. The Student Senate strongly urged the Trustees to not get involved with the project. Despite the numerous student protests, the Trustees decided to proceed with negotiations on the Graduate Center. President Simpson invited the student body to participate in the project by joining the Coordinating Committee.
Four hundred students cut classes to protest the Board of Trustees' decision to proceed to develop a Mid-Hudson Graduate Center of Science. Subsequently, in a student referendum, a vast majority of students voted against the Trustees' decision.
Jay Cantor, photographer, lectured on "Corcoran, Vassar and the Second Empire Style in America."
Fifty Vassar students staged protest-march at the Spackenkill IBM plant, in protest of IBM's role in a proposed Mid-Hudson Graduate Center of Science.
The faculty announced that it officially approved the creation of an East Asian Studies major.
'Mother Earth,' rock band, performed a benefit concert for Students for a Guaranteed Adequate Income.
Theodore Ziolkowki, Princeton University, lectured on "Herman Hesse: The Man and His Works."
Karsten Harries, Yale University, lectured on "The Limits of Modern Art."
Joseph Kelly and Charles Marshall, two members of the "Seattle Seven," lectured on the Vietnam War.
For the first time in the history of the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, Vassar College males, Steven I. Rosenberg and Eric Proshansky, were chosen as a fellow and a finalist, respectively.
The Festival Winds performed the Mozart Divertimento, K. 49b, Janacek's "Mladi," and other works by Ginastera, Villa-Lobos, and Elliott Carter.
Jerome Brezner, State University College of Forestry, Syracuse, lectured on "Environmental Contamination: Alternatives to DDT."
The college announced its plans for 25 new coeducational housing units, or town houses, to be built on the west side of Vassar Lake. These new units would be leased to 250 students, each paying $800 per year, $200 less than living in a dorm. Each unit was planned to have five bedrooms, 1.5 bathrooms, a kitchen, a living room, and a basement.
The art of Philip Perlstein was displayed at the Vassar College Art Gallery. Nearly 80 different works, ranging from expressionist landscapes of the 50's to his latest works with studio models, were exhibited.
Bernadette Devlin, British Parliament, lectured on "Civil Rights in Northern Ireland."
Lester C. Thurow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, lectured on "1971 Economy: Up, Down, or Sideways?"
Roger Fernandez-Rojo, a Vassar College senior, traveled to Washington, D.C., as a delegate of the student body in order "to dispel the current delusion that university campuses are quiet and satisfied with developments in Indochina."
Leon Plantinga, Yale University, lectured on "Schumann: The Musician and Society in 19th Century Europe."
Richard Wilson, associate professor of music at Vassar, presented his musical work "String Quartet." This was the American premiere of the composition after having been performed in the final round of an international competition in Liege, Belgium.
Meryl Streep, a Vassar student, received a glowing review in the Poughkeepsie Journal for her role as "Millwood" in the Experimentl Theater of Vassar College's production of "The London Merchant."
Edward Pols, Bowdoin College, lectured on "The Secret Agent."
President Alan Simpson broke ground for fifty new student apartments, later to be known as the Town Houses, to be built on the site of the Murphy Farm.
Hannah Arendt, author and scholar, gave the Helen Kenyon Lecture, entitled, "Thinking and Moral Considerations."
E. Rodriquez Monegal, Yale University, lectured on "The New Latin American Novel."
Dr. Bruce R. Vogeli, Teachers College, Columbia University, lectured on "Mathematics Teaching and Learning in Socialist Countries."
Fusako Yoshida, Sumiko Murashima, and Nobuko Shimazaki performed a concert of Japanese koto playing, singing, and dancing.
Steven Lubin, pianist, performed works by Mozart, Beethoven, and Chopin.
Clarence B. Jones, trial lawyer for Malcolm X and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, and Co-chairman for a Democratic Alternative, lectured on "The University as an Institution for Social Change."
Vassar College President Alan Simpson was among 50 prominent New Yorkers on the Citizens Committee for a Lower Voting Age. The purpose of the committee was to help pass a referendum to allow 18-20 year olds to vote in state, city and local elections.
John M. Burns, former Assistant U.S. Attorney and Prosecutor, lectured on "Can We Clean Our Waters?"
Joan Stambaugh, Hunter College, lectured on "Inconclusive Thoughts on Pity and Revenge in Nietzsche."
Raymond Sokolov, Newsweek, lectured on Jean Renoir's The Golden Coach."
The consortium of Vassar College, Union College, and Syracuse University appointed Curt W. Beck, chairman of the Chemistry Department, as coordinator of arrangements for the establishment of a graduate center in science, technology and human affairs.
Vassar College reported a 9% increase in numbers of applications compared to 1970. This increase came on the heels of the 1969 move to coeducation and at a time when most other private colleges were experiencing declines in numbers of applications.
The Lyric Hexachord performed a concert of Renaissance Music.
Robert H. Boyle, Sports Illustrated, lectured on "The Effects of Pollution on Fish Life."
The faculty gave its approval to proposed revisions in the governance which would shorten the number of years a professor would be allowed to teach at Vassar without being granted tenure from 13 years to 8.
Roberta Flack, a performing artist with Atlantic Records, sang at the Vassar College Spring Weekend.
Vassar College students helped organize the Anti-War March, protesting American involvement in Southeast Asia, in the City of Poughkeepsie.
Dr. Eugenia Hawrylko, The Trudeau Institute, Saranac Lake, lectured on "Cell-Mediated Immunity."
Leo Steinberg, Hunter College, lectured on "The Deluge."
Alan Charity, University of York, England, lectured on "King Lear: Is This the Promised End?"
Gladstone Ntlabati, Wesleyan University, lectured on "The Liberation Struggle in South Africa."
Richard Rory, Princeton University, lectured on "The Historical Mission of Analytic Philosophy."
President Simpson, along with several other members of the faculty, spoke to approximately 350 students regarding faculty dismissals and tenure positions. A sit-in was held by the student body in Main building to protest the dismissal of several faculty members. The faculty, who held an emergency meeting concerning the situation, asked the students to vacate the area, but when President Simpson refused to yield to their demands, the students remained. In addition to this rally, 150 other students gathered in Main Circle to protest the dismissals. The sit-in ended after two weeks, on May 5th.
Dr. Edward O. Wilson, Harvard University, lectured on "How Insect Societies Work."
Michael Novak, a prominent theologian and author, lectured on "Mysticism and Politics."
Arthur F. Wright, Yale University, gave the C. Mildred Thompson lecture, entitled, "T'ang T'ai-tsung, 626-649 AD.: Toward a Psychological Biography of China's Greatest Ruler."
Robert Paul Wolff, Columbia University, lectured on "Preconditions for a Workable Anarchist Society."
Pete Seeger, folk-singer, performed in a benefit for the Hudson River Sloop Restoration Inc. and the Sierra Club.
The Spring Sculpture Exhibition, entitled "Twenty-Six by Twenty-Six," opened in Taylor Hall. The exhibition was arranged by advanced art history students and ran through June 6th.
Dr. Carlyle Marney, director of Interpreters' House, Lake Junalaska, NC, spoke on "The Shape of Your Liturgy."
Dr. Leo A. Aroian, Union College, spoke on the "Theory and Practice of Systems Effectiveness."
Galway Kinnell, Queens College, read his poetry.
Caroline Bird, author, lectured on "Origins of the Women's Liberation Movement."
The students who staged the fourteen-day sit-in protest against President Simpson's dismissal of six faculty members quietly left the administration's wing of Main Building, in order to exert more pressure on the faculty to support their interest.
Dr. Carlton Fredericks, nutrition expert, gave a lecture entitled "Personal Pollution."
Ezra Mishan, London School of Economics and Political Science, gave a two-part lecture on "Economic Growth: The Path to Perdition."
Telford Taylor, Columbia University, and Richard A. Falk, Princeton University, gave the Barbara Bailey Brown Lecture, entitled, "War Crimes: Who is to be Judged by Whom?"
Six students were charged with breaking college regulations durign the sit-in held from April 22 to May 5. The College Court met and dismissed all charges against the students.
Milton Osborne, Montash University, Australia, lectured on "Prospects for Peace in Indo-China."
John J. Abt, constitutional and civil liberties lawyer, lectured on "The Angela Davis Case: Fact vs. Fiction."
The Vassar College Court imposed fines of up to $125 on sixty-three students involved in the fourteen-day sit-in between April 22-May 5, 1971.
Eleanor Holmes Norton, New York City Commission on Human Rights, gave the principal speech at the 107th Commencement exercises.
Helen D. Lockwood, 29-year professor in the Department of English who died on March 27, willed over $5 million to Vassar. Lockwood's gift was the largest in the history of the college.
The college adopted a new policy for pets in dormitories. In the past it was legal for students to keep pets in their rooms, however the rule required that a vote be taken in each dormitory to decide whether pets sould be allowed. If at least 75% or more of the students in the dormitory voted in favor of legalizing pets, then the dorm became a "pet-dorm."
Having been completed over the summer, the Vassar Town Houses were leased for the first time to 250 students at $800 dollars per year student.
Vassar opened its 1971-1972 academic year with a record 2,000-student enrollment.
Anthony Newman, pianist, lectures on "Problems of Performance Practice in Baroque Music," and performed works by Bach and Liszt.
Approximately seventy Vassar females met to discuss plans for the College chapter of Woman's Liberation for the academic year of 1971-1972. One of the main issues discussed at the meeting was organizing meetings of Consciousness-Raising groups. These groups would consist of Vassar female students and faculty, and would examine the role of women in society.
Vassar College students Michael J. Breen and Stephen R. Post, both juniors, were named on the Democratic ticket for election to the Dutchess County Board of Representatives.
New York Senator John R. Dunne spoke on the revolt at the Attica Correctional Facility and denounced ideas for "maximum maximum security" prisons.
Sister Elizabeth McAllister addressed the Vassar campus. Sister McAllister had been indicted in 1971 as a co-conspirator in the alleged plot to destroy draft files, kidnap Henry Kissinger, and bomb the heating systems of U.S. government buildings.
Andreas G. Papandreou, York University, Toronto, lectured on "Patterns of US Intervention" in Greece.
A. C. Ewing, British philosopher, lectured on "Mind and Body."
Alessandra Comini, Columbia University, lectured on "From Musician to Demigod: The Changing Image of Beethoven, 1770-1971."
President Alan Simpson broke ground for the new Biology building, Olmsted Hall of the Biological Sciences.
Nebraska State Senator Ernest Chambers spoke on "Black Political Liberation" at the Center for Black Studies in Poughkeepsie as part of the Vassar College Center for Black Studies program.
Nancy Graber, a 20 year old former Vassar Student, sued the college for one million dollars after leaving Vassar. She cited her roommate's marijuana habit and Vassar's poor handling of that problem as the reasons for her lawsuit.
Ronald Young, coordinator of the Daily Death Toll project, a non-violent civil disobedience campaign opposing the Vietnam War, spoke on anti-war activities.
Fritz Stern, Columbia University, gave the Mildred C. Thompson Lecture on "The German Past and the American Present."
The Vassar College Alumnae Organization held a five day celebration of its 100th anniversary. The programming centered around 39 distinguished alumnae who returned to campus to give lectures, discussions, classroom sessions and informal gatherings.
Thaddeus Gesek, associate professor of drama at Vassar, unveiled his use of plasic six-pack beverage holders as the basis of a theatrical set in a production of "Lady Precious Stream."
A special collection of 100 photographs, organized by the George Eastman House of Rochester, NY, was shown at the Vassar College Art Gallery.
Arthur O. Eve, Assemblyman, D-Buffalo, speaking at a "Black Solidarity Day" observance, called the Attica prison revolt "possibly the most significant event in recent history in exposing the injustices of the [prison] system."
Siobhan McKenna, Irish actress, performed works by several Irish writers.
Michael Horovitz, modern British "pub-poet," read his poetry.
Members of the Trustee Committee on Women at Vassar held an open meeting for students and faculty members. At this meeting the committee discussed the opportunities that were available for women at VAssar and how they could make coeducation at Vassar truly co-equal.
A Vassar College intramural football team, nicknamed "The Big Pink," was featured in an article in Sports Illustrated Magazine entitled "Best of the Powder Puffs," after their intercollegiate victory over Sarah Lawrence College.
Seymour Melman, Columbia University, lectured on "War Economy and Capitalism."
Frank Kehl, Columbia University, lectured on "A Recent Trip Through Mainland China."
The faculty approved a new faculty-evaluation program through which students would evaluate their courses and their professors at the end of each semester via a questionnaire.
Hanna Gray, University of Chicago, gave the Phi Beta Kappa Lecture, on, "Humanis and Religion Before the Reformation."
Vassar College postponed indefinitely its plans for a Mid-Hudson Graduate Center of Science.
Vassar College's new radio station, WVKR, made its first broadcasts, a sampling of music and news.
Country music group POCO performed for an audience of 2,300 in Vassar's Kenyon Hall.
Deborah Jowitt, dancer and choreographer, lectured on "Notes on the New Dance."
Dr. Denes Bartha, Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest, lectured on "Beyond Phrase and Period: A New Method in the Functional Analysis of Classic Music."
The first African-American Trustee of Vassar College, Marian Gray Secundy '60, was elected to Board of Trustees.
Last updated: 10 November, 1999, by Jeremy R. Linden, '00.