Word: whole
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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From the outset, the conference was beset by organizational problems, most notably the ineptitude of most of the conference organizers. Rumors kept circulating that the whole conference was, in fact, a sham cleverly disguised by a small group of Ivy League students, who knew each other from high school back in Harverford, Pa., to have a reunion financed by their student governments. The rumor, strangely, seemed credible--all these people could do was pass resolutions, talk for hours on end to no purpose, and argue about procedure. Nevertheless, 20 Harvard-Radcliffe students thought it worth their time and effort...
...conference suffered from a basic flaw: on most campuses, conference planners could not reach the students as a whole or generate sufficient interest to involve more than a handful of people, almost all of whom became delegates. How could delegations hope to implement the conference's policies, and how could they pretend to speak for their schools...
...want to live off campus? Did you know Princeton turned down a donation from the Engelhard Foundation a few years ago? Did you know the University of Pennsylvania has student trustees? By keeping us ignorant of how things work on other campuses, Harvard keeps us quiet, on the whole. By beginning communication, the conference potentially strengthens all student movements...
...anything held back the conference, it was the conference planning committee. They never involved the campuses as a whole in the conference, never forged ties to campus political organizations. Almost all the minority students who did get involved were placed on the minority affairs committee, and they reacted by boycotting the conference after several days of discussion and presentation of a seven-point plan to combat racism by the Big 11. Moreover, the absolutely crucial question of how to follow-up whatever decisions the conference came to was left until the very end of the plenary session...
...that there might be a conference next year if people thought it wise. But resentment and grumbling was rising in the ranks. The organizers put a new chairman in charge of the meeting to keep order, but he couldn't stem the rebellious tide. Eventually, delegates tabled the whole idea in disgust, thereby leaving the question unresolved and saying, in effect, "If you guys want a new organization to play with, go set one up yourself...