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Quakerism on Campus
At the recommendation of
an ad hoc committee created
out of the representatives to
the Community Council to
study the problems of student
life, the Gui/fordian undertook
a project to assess the current
attitudes toward Quaker
"principles and practices" as
part of the Guilford College
experience.
With that in mind, the
following question was
addressed to a number of
Guilford College faculty, staff,
and administrators: How should
Ted Benfey
Friends are realists they see man as seeking and needing a significant
measure of self-fulfilment. However, they know this can only be accomplished
without pain or suffering to others if man recognize himself also as part of a
community whose well-being is his concern. For the Quaker,personal freedom
and social harmony are not in conflict each implies the other. It is the
Quaker's basic faith that his own growth can be gained while the community of
which he is a part gains in stature and quality also.
I mysetf find it hard to see why an academic community cannot organize
itself so that its academic work is done superbly while its fun and relaxation
restore and recreate infused by the heightened skill and wit and ingenuity
fostered by the academic environment.
Tom Bernard
I believe that the practice of any religion, including Quakerism, is primarily a
personal matter. However, religious principles, if deeply held, will strongly
influence the individual both in his relationships with other people, and in the
social and political causes which he espouses. Thus, Quakers have traditionally
been in the forefront of various social movements. Those who work for
social change in this way are not attempting to impose their religious beliefs on
others. Rather, they operate as individuals within a democratic society pro
moting a point of view which they believe is best for the society at large,
regardless of religious beliefs.
These same principles, I believe, hold true at Guilford College. Belief in
Quaker principles (or the principles of any other religion) should first of all
influence the character of the relationships a person has with other individuals
at the college. Secondly, these principles should guide and influence the person
in working for the type of college which he believes will be best for all
students, regardless of religious beliefs. For example, a committed Quaker might
believe that the use of alcohol should be prohibited in the dorms. He might
work for this rule because he believes that it will provide a better college for
all students. However, I think it would be a mistake to work for this rule
specifically because it may be a Quaker practice.
Guilford College should be first and foremost an academic institution,
characterized by academic freedom and the pursuit of academic excellence.
Within this context, the student should be exposed to the principles and
practices of Quakerism through his exposure to the lives and concerns of the
individual faculty members, administrators and students who believe in and live
by these principles.
Dick Coe
It is my hope that an individual, in the process of selection of Guilford or upon
entering the community would seek to acquaint him/herself with Quaker
testimonies as they relate to life within the community. This knowledge can
help to provide a basis for understanding some of the principles which underlie
the college and the goals toward which the college strives.
I would note, however, that when dealing with relationships among the
members of the Guilford community there are certain standards of mutual
respect for the rights of others both for work and for recreation which
are not necessarily particular to any religious faith. It is to the balancing of the
rights of the individual with the rights of other members of the community and to
the purposes of the community endeavors as a whole that we should be
concerned.
a member of the Guilford
College Community relate him/
herself to the principles and
practices of Quakerism?
It was found to be, first
of all, a difficult question to
word and second, a most
difficult question to respond
to. The efforts of those who
did submit responses is much
appreciated by the staff of the
Guilfordian and the College
Community.
Ed. Note Next week
student responses will be
published.
The Guilfordian
Carter Delafield
I think immediately of an example which illustrates instantly the way I see
Quakerism alive and functioning on this campus. I expect few undergraduates
recognize this particular specialness because they haven't been to other schools
and so don't bear the scars the rest of us carry from our experiences with
college registrar s.
Surely nobody goes through any college without finding himself at least once
a special case where strict interpretation of the rules does violence to what is
good for one's education. What happens is always the same: the registrar listens
to the story, agrees that truth and justice are not being served, but adds,
"I'm sorry. There is nothing I can do." And intuitively one knows that after
this he goes home to sleep the sleep of the just because although human
lives may be wrenched out of shape, square pegs are in square holes and all is
well.
Not so here. Like other registrars, Mr. Reynolds has a strong sense of order,
but respect for the individual and concern for what is good for the student are
more important. When there is a conflict human values take priority over
statistical ones. One doesn't always get what one wants, but round human
beings are not bludgeoned into forms to fit square holes.
This consistent recognition of the sometimes annoying uniqueness of the
individual is evident in may places. Women are treated as equals by men on this
campus far more often than in other academic communities I've observed.
Women students are taken seriously. Guilford education is not just academic
training. Many teachers here try hard to help students confront the sometimes
dreadful implications of the ideas they are dealing with and to share the
confrontations. Guilford is a special place.
But something goes wrong at the point where the individual and his rights
meet the rights of the group. Since I've been here, again and again students,
staff, and faculty have given astonishing amount of energy and time to writing,
rewriting, revising rules for community life, to developing alternate plans for
dormitory organization, trying to balance the varied needs of individuals in a
diverse group against the needs of the community. Lifestyles change, but the
complaints are the same that the rights of the many are routinely violated by
the few, that where the desires of one person conflict with the desires of another,
too often the more authoritarian imposes his will rather than attempting
compromise.
The individual questioned about either of these patterns of behavior often
defends himself by citing Quaker concern for the individual. He is a round peg,
he claims, resisting attempts to force him into a square hole. But isn't something
more important left out? The situation is not the same as the one the student
confronts at the registrar's office. Here the conflict is between human beings a
person and a group of persons, or a person and a person. To see only one's
own humanity is to dehumanize the other.
This is a point I don't think any of us stresses nearly enough at Guilford.
I think there are many students who don't even understand it. I don't believe
we can look for much constructive change until we all take it more seriously.
There is a corollary that bears examination too: The individual who, either as
a member of a group or as individual, allows himself to be imposed on by
someone using force or threats is denying his own value and dehumanizing
himself.
By these definitions, practically everybody is violating Quaker principles, as I
understand them, left and right. I believe we all need some discussion about
what Quaker concern for the individual really means. We need, too, some
self-examination to see how we can learn to recognize and assume the personal
responsibility that Quaker principles place on all individuals and without which we
aren't going to learn much about the Quaker sense of community.
Don Gibbon
It is truly unfortunate that the entire campus community could not share in the
ideas and discussions which centered arount the visit of Dr. Jay Smith during the
past four days. Even more is it unfortunate that we do not all have those ideas
as a basis for reflection about life here on the Guilford campus. We have been
asked to sum up our feelings about the role Quakerism should/could play in
this community; this summation has every relevance to Dr. Smith's discussion
of the sources of strength of the "New China."
First, for me, Quakerism is a shifting, hard - to - grasp, blend of stubborn
sticking to principle, individual freedom, and social consciousness, all guided by
a deep Christian faith. Most of the difficult situations which arise for non-
Quakers in their attempts to deal with Quaker institutions come about because
they forget one or more of these integral/non-separable parts of the Quaker
beliefs.
Jay Smith's comments on China could, I believe, be summed up very
briefly: Mao's success in changing the life of the Chinese people from one
of degradation to one of corporate pride and hope is basically due to his