Page 12 - YB1969

Last year, Esquire magazine, in a feature spoof supposedly directed to tradition and safety-minded parents, named Western Mary- land College as one of the handful of the na- tion's colleges and universities untouched by the turmoil and unrest which dominates most other campuses. To us, this means simply, WMC is "where the action ain't". This is an ac- curate statement for the past. Four years ago, a conservative and tradition-bound WMC still sported a long list of requirements and restric- tions. But in the present, we are experiencing the unfolding of possibilities and potential for "action". Action not necessarily or needfully on the scale of Berkeley or Columbia, but action geared to change Western Maryland into a more progressive and stimulating institution for both facu Ity and students. The importance of change on campus has become evident. In one year, this small, liberal arts college has adapted itself to the addition of about two hundred new students-a twenty per cent increase-and has met with the diffi- culties that were inevitable for a student body that is expanding and gaining new insights and attitudes. The different people and personalities have shocked the nervous system of the institu- tion, but in a way that has helped us all to see that other opinions and ideas exist outside of those we have and share with our friends.