My greatest involvement in university affairs came because I understood a joke, and my understanding impelled me to take action. One day President Montcalm came into the faculty senate and told the following story:

“A newly chosen university president was taken aside by his predecessor and told, ‘In your job you will, from time to time, face various crises. Most of these you will be able to deal with. Occasionally, however, a problem will arise which stumps you. To help you with such situations I have prepared three envelopes. Do not use them heedlessly, for there are only three.’

“The new president thanked him and proceeded to do his job. And just as foretold, there eventually came a situation which baffled him. Try as he would he couldn’tdecide what to do, so reluctantly he opened the first envelope and read, ‘Blameyour predecessor.’ ‘How obvious,’ he thought, ‘why didn’t I think of that?’ He followed the advice and all was well.    

“Then he got along fine for some time, but eventually another situation arose that again seemed to defy solution. Eagerly he turned to the next envelope and read,‘Reorganize the administration.’ This too proved the key to success. He admitted that things had not been perfect before, but promised that the new team would set them right. Again he survived the storm.

“Eventually ,however, a crisis came that forced him to open the last envelope. He hated to do so, for what would he do if another came along after that? He took the plunge, however, and opened it. It read, ‘Prepare three envelopes.’”

My interpretation of this story proved correct. President Montcalm had just learned he was about to be fired by the State Board. When I figured out the meaning of the joke, I invited him and several faculty leaders to a meeting at my house.

It wasn’t just that he was being fired, but when and how he was being fired. “When” seemed to be important. His termination came shortly after the police attack on the students in the park blocks. As we have seen, that event led to his joining a protest march to city hall.

“How” seemed equally significant. He was first told indirectly. At a dinner a friend of his happened to be seated next to a member of the State Board, who said, “You’re afriend of Montcalm, aren’t you? Tell him that he’s going to be fired at the next meeting of the Board.”

The Board would give him a choice. He could resign voluntarily, in which case he would be given a good reference but not told the reason for his termination, or he could demand the reason, be terminated involuntarily, and given a less than good reference.

I was young,rash, and willing to stand up for principle. I counseled fighting, as did most of the other faculty members. In Montcalm’s shoes I would not have been able to live with myself if I had just gone quietly. That is one of the reasons why I never became a university president. To our disappointment Montcalm went quietly. To his gratification, the good recommendation soon landed him another excellent job.

The result of this participation on my part was that President Montcalm named me to the committee searching for his successor….