11/4/1968, Times Argus

GODDARD
OPPOSES
RESTRICTIONS

Vermont Press Bureau

PLAINFIELD - The trustees of Goddard College here have opposed federal legislation that restricts financial assistance to students, faculty and other employees of the colleges because of involvement in campus disturbances.

The federal legislation which came under attack were riders tacked onto the Independent Offices Appropriation Act, the Health, Education and Welfare Act and the Higher Education Amendments of 1968.

Goddard College's trustees charged that federal intervention compromises the "traditional responsibility that colleges assume for the behavior of students and staff."

This legislation comes at a time when institutions of higher learning are being urged to increase their involvement in their communities" reads the trustees resolution.

"Such legislation would appear to be directed toward a reduction in such involvement and to tend to isolate the institution and its students from the issues of concern to the nation and its communities today."

The trustees said further that "such legislation discriminates against low-income students because they are more often dependent upon assistance from various government sources for their tuition and expenses than are more affluent students."

The trustees urged congressional repeal of the amendments, and asked for safeguards against any repetition of the attachment of similar riders to the next general appropriations bill.

Copies of the resolution are being forwarded to Vermont's congressional delegation as well as other members of Congress.

The board also directed President Royce S. Pitkin of Goddard to communicate its action to the Vermont Higher Education Council, the New England Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, and other universities and regional associations at his discretion.

Board members were also asked to write their congressmen and board members of other institutions.

Trustees voting on the issue over the weekend included:
Mrs. Lois Weinstein, Sontag, Stamford, Conn., chairman; Melber Chamers, New York City, vice chairman; Alan M. Walker, Plainfield, clerk; Barnard M. Marenholt, Princeton, N.J.; Laurence Batchelder, Cambridge, Mass.; Ernest Cassara, Plainfield; Frank C. Colcord Jr., Boston; James P. Dixon, president of Antioch College, Yellow Springs, Ohio; Peter Fishbein, Scarsdale, N.Y.; Mrs. Esther W. King, Philadelphia; Edward F. Ryan, Manchester, Mass.; Miss Ann Stokes, West Chesterfield, N.H., And Harold Van Ness, Colonia, N.J.