University, 1947-1988

Scope and content:

The third series, University, documents Watson's involvement and service on numerous faculty and university committees, councils, and task forces. Watson served as vice chair of the University Council from 1961-62; Chairman of the Academic Council from 1964-66, as well as 1975-77; and vice chair of the Academic Council from 1973-74. Materials relating to the University Council document discussion about tuition benefits for faculty children, by-laws, faculty qualification and improvements, and the role of University Council. His long service on the Undergraduate Faculty Council (UFC) and Undergraduate Faculty Council of Arts and Sciences (UFCAS) is reflected in this series. He chaired the UFC Faculty Committee on Admissions and the minutes and report are contained in these files. He also was appointed to the review committee on the structure of UFCAS. In addition, in the early 1970s Watson was on the executive committee of the Undergraduate Faculty Committee of Arts and Sciences. These files include a proposal on Afro-American studies.

Watson was appointed to numerous university committees formed in response to the period of student protest and unrest of the late 1960s. This series contains minutes, reports, correspondence, and background material from said committees. The Committee on Judicial Procedures, also called the "Watson Committee", was created to define and implement judicial procedures and address the pickets and protests regulations. The files contain committee reports, meeting minutes, background materials and correspondence. They also include information on the existing judicial structures and procedures of the Men's Student Government Association, the Women's Student Government Association, and the Nursing and Medical Schools. There is also information on honor codes as embedded in the judicial structures. The materials from the Faculty Committee on Student Concerns relate to the Allen Building takeover, Afro-American studies program, and the Afro-American society. The Student-Faculty-Administration Committee files contain information relating to university drug policy, military recruitment on campus, and pickets and protest policies.

In 1981, Duke President Terry Sanford proposed Duke as a possible site for the Richard M. Nixon presidential library. Watson played a central role in faculty debate over the appropriateness of placing the library at Duke. This series contains news clippings, correspondence, academic council material, and his own diary and notes on the controversy.

Materials in this series relating to the Committee on Social Implications of Duke's Investment Policy all appear to be originals from committee co-chair William A. Reppy and chairman James D. Cox's files. The committee consisted of twelve members appointed by the President and included four administrators, four faculty members, and four students. The committee was allowed to make specific recommendations or general guidelines to the Board of Trustees. It primarily dealt with issues relating to investments with companies doing business with South Africa. This collection of materials includes news articles, church shareholder resolutions, correspondence, and minutes.

Other committees and subjects addressed in this series include the Task Force on Yearly Operations, the Institute of Policy Studies and Public Affairs, the library council and the George Washington Flowers Collection, the Forest History Society, Phi Beta Kappa, the South Atlantic Quarterly, and the YMCA.

Contents

Using These Materials