Generational Shift

"We must place in a special category a tiny minority of students, noisy though they be, who come to our institutions only to indulge in so-called freedom of expression for a few years and who are not sincerely interested in the primary obligation of every student to seek learning from those who have earned the right~ to teach. These self-alienated youths are not so much misunderstood as they are unwilling to be understood, perhaps because they do not understand themselves. To a point they should be tolerated on a campus, but the outer limit of toleration is reached the moment they interfere with the rights of others to learn or to teach in the academic community." - James B. Donovan

Generational Tension

James B. Donovan's presidency embodies this generational tension at Pratt Institute. Donovan empathizes and understands the youths interest within solving the contemporary issues of the day:

"they are unwilling to accept poverty in the midst of plenty or the racial discrimination imbedded in our social fabric; they resent having no clear voice in shaping the educational and social institutions in which they must live and learn;

their young lives are being disrupted by the draft -- and sometimes lost in combat in American military adventures increasingly difficult to justify or sanction"

However, Donovan clearly disagrees with the disruptive methods that students' use to promote social change and incoherent angst of their youth. James B. Donovan towards the end of his life would give a speech, The Limits of Campus Liberty. Within his speech, he proposed that a mandated national selective service which could channel the energies of the dissatisfied youth towards their interested causes:

Donovan_Addresses (1).pdf

Radical problems require radical solutions. It is my proposal today that in the near future the academic community take the leadership in making radical proposals to our national political structure with respect to a basic re-evaluation of existing codes of education and conduct applicable to American youth. It is a necessity that we strive toward a dramatic creation of a new national unity which emphasizes among our young a deeper sense of national pride and awareness of their own responsibilities to this nation. Otherwise the United States will not survive for long as the leader of the free world.

My proposal is that the present Selective Service system, now applicable only to military duty, be abolished and that instead the United States, recognizing the international and domestic crises which we face, institute National Conscription to be applicable to all our youth at age 17 or 18 for a period of perhaps two years. There also are infinite needs in the fields of public health and the preservation of natural resources in which battalions of our youth could serve to bring us closer to the achievement of a better society in America.

How can we bridge the gap in Generational Vaules?

210331_Vol29No13_02-20-1968.pdf

Prattler, Volume 30, vol. 30, 1969.

This generational tension was acknowledged during the 1960s and 1970s as individuals tried to discover how to bridge these different generational values. This is seen within the Prattler Article adjacent.

Parents make unrealistic demands on their children and vice versa. Teen-agers insist on unquestioning love and creative guidance, but they scorn parental discipline or restraint. Adults expect their children to appreciate the sacrifices that have been made for them. Parents most especially fathers, are often hearts to say, ‘These kids have it easy. When I was young I had to work for everything I got.’...They look to their children as a second change, as an opportunity to realize their frustrated hopes but the youngsters couldn’t care less. The sad fact is that many youngsters viewing the adult world with blinding clarity, see a generation of drunks and divorcees, who also managed to invent nuclear bombs. How they reason, can these people us anything? Why should we follow their lead.”

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