Previous | Next
Session: 1234567891011121314151617 Page 432433434435436437438439440441442443444445446447448449450451452453454455456457458459460461462463464465466467468469470471472473474475476477 of 824
really deal with that kind of a crisis.
But that adversarial situation that you described in '73, and for those first few years--was that also a comment on Bok's inability to change that situation, to make it a more constructive or work-along Board?
Well, Bok--
Was there an attitude toward BOK in there?
Somewhat. I suppose it was in part Bok's fault, but one of the things that as a businessman always fascinates you is that, when a university goes out to get a new president, the odds are that they are going to pick somebody who has practically no administrative ability, proven ability, or experience! And sure enough, when they picked Bok--as it turns out, it was a great pick--but the plain fact was that Derek Bok's administrative experience consisted of three years--two years or three years--as dean of the Faculty of Law. Period. That's all--apart from that he'd been a teacher and a writer. And here he was, suddenly running an institution that had 15,000 students and 14,000 employees [laughter], and power dispersed all over the lot, so that even the president had difficulty in finding it.
And he did not find the oversees to be helpful to his cause. I think if he had his way at the time, he would happily have disbanded the body. But since it had been created 350 years earlier,
© 2006 Columbia University Libraries | Oral History Research Office | Rights and Permissions | Help