The Watergate Scandal, the continuing Vietnam War, plane crashes in the Pacific, Muhamad Ali, trouble in the Suez: to say that there was a lot going on 50 years ago would be an understatement. The Weather Vane issue from Feb. 1, 1974, while not directly commenting on these substantial world events, nevertheless provides a variety of tidbits and articles to examine what the then Eastern Mennonite College (EMC) campus cared about and was involved in.
The first front page article revolves around a three week trip to the Soviet Union that five EMC students had undertaken the previous month. A joint venture between other Mennonite colleges, the trip provided time for students to visit locations in modern day Ukraine and Russia, as well as East and West Berlin. The group, largely made up of people with Russian Mennonite family ties, toured former Mennonite sites as well as cultural landmarks. Sophomore at the time, Linda Keller, “expressed the group’s feelings in describing the response of the Russian people to them as American students. ‘The people were very friendly and easy to talk with,’ she said. ‘Getting to know the people was the best part of the trip.’” Other students described the Russians as “very warm” and “patriotic and proud of their economic achievements.” Interestingly, in a timely musing, sophomore Rhonda Stauffer commented that she was “surprised to find them very sensitive to the need for world peace, especially in the Ukraine. They’ve been through World War II and know what it’s like.”
Other articles show EMC students engaged with issues of pacifism and women’s roles in society. In “Women Meet to Discuss Actions for Social Change,” Karine Troyer writes about how 20 students gathered that past Tuesday to discuss topics like the “lack of women as chapel speakers and the recent federal law dealing with sex discrimination on college campuses.” Students hoped to work with the recently formed Student Senate to achieve campus equality, particularly when it came to the dormitory curfew that women still had to obey while male students could come and go as they pleased. Other students hoped that EMC would soon “recognize the importance of exposing the student to successful women who could serve as models in roles other than those traditionally filled by women.” It would be the first meeting of many over the next few months.
In “Investigation Reveals Investment,” writer Gene Miller writes on how EMC’s then approximately $600,000 endowment investments are currently being invested in companies that he “never expected that we had holdings in. Honeywell or Dow Chemical, but the diversity of mutual funds invariably involves defense department contractors.” This revelation is not ideal for a institution and student body so dedicated to pacifist views but Miller acquiesces that “The immediate solution of investing in only those corporations that have no questionable holdings or contracts is barely feasible because while our military organization consumes missiles and ammunition, it also consumes fried chicken and toilet paper.” The rest of his extended investigation involves him talking to other Anabaptist and Mennonite banking institutions about how they ethically chose which institutions to invest in and with the Board of Trustees to ask about their guidelines for investment.Additional content in the issue included President Myron Ausberger’s account of his family’s travels in Switzerland on a Mennonite history tour, and a bizarre article about a group of students playing with puppies, which ultimately devolves into a piece about the merits of people themselves being “an effective puppy” by exemplifying puppy qualities like a relaxed nature, trust, and vulnerability. Nevertheless, author N. Gerald Shenk writes,“this may not at first appear very admirable. It is considered rather degrading to be called canine progeny. Dogs are occasionally the objects of derision, and of disgruntled kicks. We’d rather not be known as dogs”. Possibly the most striking image from the issue comes from the top of page 3, where a reader is graced by the lower faces of 12 of Eastern Mennonite’s best beard owners. Weather Vane readers are invited to “correctly identify all the above 12 sets of whiskers to be eligible for a cash prize.” We have included this picture again in this issue just in case anyone is feeling ambitious in identifying the men today or just wants to indulge in some mid-70’s facial hair nostalgia.
