The Rollins Row (Cont'd)

The bitter row at Florida's little Rollins College had gotten to the point where emotion on both sides had hardened into righteous indignation, and the original facts were buried under pride & prejudice. To a vocal majority, deposed President Paul Wagner, the young whirlwind who came triumphantly on the scene two years ago, was now the self-seeking villain of the piece who had richly earned his comeuppance. To a dwindling minority who still supported Wagner, he was the scapegoat in a situation he had worsened but not made. On orders from an economy-minded board of trustees, Wagner had abruptly fired one-third of the faculty this spring (TIME, March 9). But in the heat of debate, there was now no agreement even on the primary question of whether Rollins was actually operating in the red or not.

One Last Try. Last month Paul Wagner's supporters made one last try to resolve the dispute in his favor. They persuaded a state legislator to push through a bill to limit the Rollins board of trustees to citizens of Florida, a measure which would automatically oust most of the anti-Wagner trustees. But before Governor Fuller Warren got around to signing the bill, the legislator was persuaded to withdraw it. Then 15 trustees met at the college at Winter Park, reaffirmed their decision to drop Wagner and to appoint Art Professor Hugh F. McKean acting president in his place.

The decision came just in time for Rollins' 66th commencement. After the traditional Festival of Lights, senior awards were passed out on Class Day, and 128 candidates for degrees marched in procession to Knowles Memorial Chapel. There the graduates listened to an address by S. Kendrick Guernsey, past president of Rotary International, and received their diplomas--all signed by Acting President McKean--while Dr. Wagner remained quietly at home with his family.

Reassuring Words. But the dispute was not over yet. Paul Wagner, who had given up the keys to his office under protest, was still pressing his $500,000 damage suit against eleven of the trustees who fired him. The McKean administration cut off the light and water in Wagner's college-owned residence, forced Wagner to promise that he would leave the house by the end of the month. Last week Acting President McKean asked the Rollins undergraduates to carry a few reassuring words home with them: all the dismissed faculty members have been reinstated, intercollegiate athletics will continue, "everything is quiet and running well." Everyone was asked to pass the word to prospective students.

There was little doubt that Wagner had lost--and little sympathy for the bad grace with which he had taken his defeat. Those more interested in the survival of the college than in the conflict of personalities could only hope that time and a better spirit would knit raveled Rollins together again.

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