Records of the President, F. Don James (Rcg. Gr 1.10)

The job of acting president of a university is probably the most difficult in the academic world. Although the governing board and the newly appointed acting president make well-intentioned pronouncements that business will proceed as usual and the appointee will not be a caretaker, the reality usually is far different. Faculty, other administrators, members of the governing board, and even sometimes the acting president him/herself perceive him/her as a transitional figure whose principal responsibility is to keep the institution running on an even keel until a permanent successor can be appointed. There is generally a reluctance on the part of the governing board and the acting president to make any decisions that have long term implications for fear of limiting the options of the permanent appointee. Finally, if the acting president is a candidate for the permanent position, there might be subconscious fear to take any steps or make any decisions that may jeopardize his/her candidacy.

It was into this situation that F. Don James came when he was appointed acting president of the University of Rhode Island in the summer of 1967 to succeed the departed Francis Horn. In addition to the usual difficulties of an acting presidency, James encountered in the first six months of his administration a series of events that tested severely his administrative and diplomatic skills. Some difficulties he inherited from President Horn, some were uniquely his own, and some merely reflected the turbulent times of the late 1960's.

Throughout Horn's administration and into that of James, students had been advocating the establishment of a student bar on campus. Horn's response had been that as long as the legal drinking age in Rhode Island was 21 and 80 per cent of the student body was under 21, the problem of enforcement precluded the establishment of a student bar on campus. This argument, of course, did not satisfy students who tried to loosen the bonds of in loco parentis wherever they existed. With James ensconced in the president's office, the student leadership decided to raise the bar on campus issue yet again. In early October of 1967, the Student Senate passed a bill proposing the establishment of a faculty-student bar on campus. Students found James even less receptive to the idea than Horn had been. Despite the inclusion of provisions designed to meet the problems of enforcement raised by the former president, James rejected the proposal on the grounds that "a bar on the campus does not in any way contribute to the goals and objectives of the University of Rhode Island as an educational institution. . ." Although the decision was popular with the general public and many of the faculty, it earned James no friends among the student body. Students continued to press the issue, however, and a student pub finally opened in the basement of the Memorial Union in December, 1969. Material relating to this issue can be found in folders labeled "Drinking on Campus" and "Student Affairs".

While considering the Student Senate bill on drinking, James was confronted by a far more serious matter, the alleged embezzlement of university funds totaling nearly sixty thousand dollars by a university employee. Although apparently ongoing for over ten years, the scheme was revealed only in the fall of 1967. The issue was further complicated by the suicide of a university accountant who confessed to the crime and exonerated his accused colleague in a suicide note. Though seemingly settled by the suicide and confession, the issue continued to attract media publicity and made James task as Acting President all the more difficult. Material relating to this incident can be found in a folder labeled "Business Office: Embezzlement Case".

Finally, James had to cope with the arrest of two faculty members during an on campus demonstration and the resulting AAUP protest and negative publicity generated by the incident. The two faculty members, a full-time economics professor and a Summer Session philosophy instructor, were arrested by local police during a visit to the campus by Vice-President Hubert Humphrey. They had protested to the police about restrictions placed on demonstrators which had not been placed on other spectators. The AAUP filed a vigorous protest with James over what they perceived to be his lack of support for the arrested faculty members and the apparent cooperation of the administration, through the campus chief of security, in the prosecution of the case. The two faculty members were eventually acquitted, but many faculty continued to question James' commitment to academic freedom. When it became clear to James in early 1968 that he would not be chosen as the permanent successor to Horn, he began to explore other avenues. In April, James announced that he was leaving the University of Rhode Island to assume the presidency of Central Connecticut State College in New London, effective July 1.

The records contained in this group are the administrative files maintained by F. Don James during his tenure as Acting President of the University of Rhode Island. They catalogue the activities of the president's office during a trying period in the University's history. The former president had resigned in a disagreement with the Board of Trustees, two faculty members were arrested in an on campus demonstration, an employee had embezzled sixty thousand dollars in university funds, and students continued to press against the restraints of in loco parentis. These issues and others are covered in detail in the papers of F. Don James.