748 ADDRESSES AND STATE PAPERS

I want to make one thing clear — everything possible was done to
avoid the need to make these arrests. I consulted with Dr. Samuel
Myers, the president of the College. And I want to commend him
throughout the entire crisis for extremely perceptive analysis and
handling of the situation. I consulted with Mr. Wilson, the Chairman
of the Board of State College Trustees. Mr. Wilson in turn consulted
with the other trustees, and they backed the action I have taken to
the fullest extent. I want to commend the members of the Board for
their reinforcement during this very difficult period of decision that's
taken place over the past several days. And I don't want to forget in
my commendation those students who exercised commendable re-
straint in remaining on the campus and refusing to participate in
this defiance of law and order. It's really a shame that they must suffer.

There are two things that bear emphasizing. Point No. 1: This is
not, repeat not, a racial dispute, but a dispute between students and
college authority. Point No. 2: My refusal to knuckle under to the
demands of students is not a point of personal pride with me, but
pride and respect for this democracy and the law and the office of Gov-
ernor of this great State. I'd like to briefly review the circumstances
which led up to today's occurrences. The matter began on March 25th
and, as I understand it, the students' displeasure evoked from the re-
fusal of the faculty to grant tenure to a member of the College staff.
Other complaints were triggered from this, involving general com-
plaints of conditions at the College which I am the first to admit need
great improvement. I did not refuse to respond to these complaints.
I immediately dispatched one of my top staff people, Mr. Charles
Bresler. He spent a whole day at the College, meeting with the stu-
dents and the faculty to explain what is taking place in the College
and what our aims are.

I want to reemphasize at this time my commitment to higher edu-
cation in Maryland and my desire to see all of our colleges reach the
highest academic standards. The problem became confused by the
influx of certain students from another institution, by the taking up
of the cudgel through misconstruction of the protest, by certain
militant civil rights organizations and, unfortunately, all of the con-
notations of a racial quarrel have begun to surface.

I repeat — this is not a racial question, but a question of students
disputing college authority. The budgets at this College have increased
to a greater extent than any other institution in the State. In two
years, the operating budget of this college has increased by nearly 100
percent from a little over a million dollars to a little over two million