AGB History final highres - March/April 2021 - ABG22

In and among these groups of interested
persons, membership increased to 76 member boards by 1959, the year of Richard
Plock's death. The ensuing several years
were marked by much uncertainty about
the future of the organization. At the same
time, there was considerable expenditure of
energy by the persons then at the center.

A Move to Denver
Mrs. Virginia Blue, a Regent of the University
of Colorado and immediate past president of
AGB, succeeded Richard Plock as part-time
executive and located AGB headquarters
in Denver. The title Executive Director was
established for her. (Judge Wildermuth had
served as secretary from 1942 to 1949; and
Richard Plock from 1949 to 1959.)
During the next half-decade, AGB leaders were confronted by a set of problems
that were resolved, with considerable strain.
For some time a conviction had been growing about the need for an organization of
trustees to include the private sector as well
as the public. Such a change involved a decision whether to start afresh or to reshape
the existing organization. The question of
finance posed a further problem. Finally,
the constitution of AGB was revised and
approaches were made to the Carnegie Corporation of New York. There was a cautious,
tentative response. The Corporation shared
some of the general doubt whether it would
be possible to move from the existing organization into a new arrangement.

The $75,000 Understanding
A rather quiet understanding was reached
that if someone could be identified who
could be mutually acceptable to AGB and
to the Corporation to assume responsibility
for the new venture, there might be start- up
funds available to try the experiment. One
way or another agreement was reached, and
a three-year grant of $75,000 was authorized.

The new executive (J.L. Zwingle) was
more advanced in years than some had
expected. Was he energetic enough to win
new support? The Washington office was
opened in June of 1964, and another significant episode was begun.
The leadership still represented the old
order, thus: the annual fall meeting (plus a
spring meeting which had been developed)
was the focus. Those attending the meeting
were known as " delegates, " and a quasi-legislative tone prevailed. A new element had
recently been added, called the " School for
Regents. " It in effect became the program of
the annual meetings, with a business session
added. The program for the " school " was
responsible for establishing the theme and
procuring the speakers.
In the meantime, the solicitation of new
members continued to rely on " applications "
from prospective members. After the change
in the constitution, privately endowed institutions were invited to submit applications
for membership-including the entire roster
of the Ivy League. The invitation was greeted
with official silence by most non-members,
not alone the Ivy League.

Problems, Problems
The new executive discovered that he
was faced with multiple problems: the
procedures governing the predecessor
organization were in effect but were contrary to the expectations of institutions in
the private sector. The assumed independence of the trustee organization was seen
as a potential threat to some presidents.
The absence of a declared and accepted
program left a void into which the presidents (and trustees) in the private sector
were reluctant to venture. Therefore, it
was clearly necessary to allay suspicions
on both sides, and to develop a program
acceptable all around. At the same time,
the established and presidentially con-

22 AGB: A CENTENNIAL HISTORY | March 2021

trolled organization already functioning in
Washington shared the doubts and misgivings of everyone else.
In retrospect, the ensuing period could
be called " death watch. " Again in retrospect,
a certain ghoulish humor can be seen in the
course of events.
The first annual meeting under the new
administration almost did not occur. The
president of the host institution was President William Friday of the University of
North Carolina, whose trustee Roy Rowe
was president of AGB. The chairman of the
" School for Regents " was Wales Madden of
the University of Texas.
A major goal of the new executive was
to establish strong relationships with other
associations in higher education. Somewhat
over-eagerly, he pressed invitations upon
the officers of those associations to visit the
first AGB meeting after the opening of the
Washington office. Too soon. Those who
did not attend found little to indicate directions to be set for AGB, and result was not
good. In the same line, efforts were made
to formulate joint programs with the other
educational groups. Too soon. Again, direct
approaches were made to institutional presidents forming the volunteer leadership of
the older groups. But it is hard to establish
common cause with another group when
prospective benefits are not clear to the
other party. And so, presentation was made
to no avail: silence.
In private, some presidents were outspoken: (1) " You are building an employers' union.
Don't need that. (2) " If any trustee has
time to spare, I want it. " (3) " So you want
me to tell my trustees what to do! I prefer
to have them get the word from me. "
Yet, there were some presidents who
put in a good word, who even helped solicit
funds, and who responded when asked.
They ultimately made the difference.
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