UNIVERSITY
Williams defends his decision banning the Dead
Administrator continues to cite drug use as reason
By Daralyn Trappe
t me raid Repoiiei
Dan Williams. University
vice president for administra
tion. said Monday he stands by
his decision to ban the Grateful
Dead from Autzen Stadium, al
though he acknowledged that
certain aspects of the process
have tiecii handled badly.
"I knew it would lie unpopu
lar/' Williams said, streaking
to a group of PPPM majors on
policy-making "So the reac
lion lo I he decision was not en
tirely unanticipated, but I
would Ik* less than candid if I
didn't tell you that the intensi
ty of it has surprised me a little
bit
"I'm not sure that knowing
the intensity wouId have
caused me to come to a differ
ent conclusion, but I would
have worked harder at a couple
of pieces of the process
Williams said he has re
reived about 100 letters and an
equal number of telephone
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Columbia University
in the City of New York
calls with ft out ot HI opposing
his dec ision.
"It's as if we have sort of of
fended the value system of a
particular generation." he said
"I didn't intend to do that if
that's what happened ”
Protesters often complain
that the University has caved
into special interests and that
the dec ision is contrary to free
specs h rights, Williams said
lie added that the comment he
hears most is that the dec.ision
is hypoc ritical based on a com
parison to the alcohol use and
violence that is often associated
w ith University football games.
However. Williams said he
believes people are not ade
quately addressing the issue of
illegal drug use at the concerts
the1 reason he dec icfed not to
allow the hand to return next
summer
PPPM major Phil Nebergall
noted that memliers ot the- l\u
gene police department have
said they would rather work at
a Dead concert than a football
game.
Williams responded that the
police's preference was not
enough to change his mind
Bused on the feedbac k hi1 has
re< eived. there is now a percep
tion that "somehow by saying
'no' to the Dead we've said that
what goes on at those footliall
games is OK — which of c ourse
it's not,” he said "(Games) are
just a much more diffic ult and
complicated issue to deal
with "
Gist summer, Williams said,
the band's promoters recpiested
permission from the Athletic
Department, which benefits
from the concerts to play at
Aulzen Stadium again next
year The des ision yvas referred
to Williams
He said he asked Jan Oliver,
director ol multicultural affairs,
to ask local business owners for
their opinion.
"I'm not suggesting that ail
of them felt this way, but the
general feedbac k from the Uni
versity business community
Photo b* Andre Ranirri
University Vice President Dan Williams defended his decision
to ban the Grateful Dead from A utzen to a group of PPPM
students Monday.
was that they wouldn't be dis
appointed if it didn't happen
again." Williams said
They were not opposed to the
event itself, but to the drug ac
tivity that is associated with it.
he said.
"Given the fact that it’s not
an activity that's important to
the University in terms of its
primary responsibility of teach
ing and instruction, there was
no point in exposing ourselves
to criticism." he said.
"We probably made a real se
rious mistake process wise
It's clear that the nature of the
University's enterprise is one of
consultation and discussion;
decisions are made at the Uni
versity through the committee
process with very wide levels
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of participation.
"That's the way we do busi
ness and people are used to
that." Williams said.
But there are certain deci
sions where that process is not
applicable, he said
"If I believe that continuing
the activity is going to be detri
mental to the University's repu
tation b»H:ause ot the close asso
ciation with illegal drug activi
ty ... then it doesn't matter to
me if the majority of the people
want the concert to go on." he
said
"One of the complaints is
that we're trampling on the
rights of the majority The Uni
versity doesn't have a responsi
bility in these kinds of activi
ties to reflect the will of the
people."
The now infamous "12 let
ters” that he was reported to
have received and based his de
cision on have been misinter
preted by the press. Williams
said
After the announcement was
made, he received a phone call
from a reporter Williams said
he told that person he had re
ceived a certain amount of criti
cism over the concerts, includ
ing several letters. The reporter
asked how many and Williams
answered by saying 10 or 12.
Responding to a student's
question. Williams said he had
not received any threats to cut
off funds from financial backers
or alumni, nor was the decision
tied to federal funding.
"It was based on (a) rather
non-systematic kind of input,"
Williams said.
Williams noted that at this
time no policy exists defining
who may use Autzen Stadium
and how.
After Williams left the dis
cussion. students expressed ap
preciation for the administra
tor's meeting with them, but
said they were still troubled by
inconsistencies in his explana
tion for his decision-making
process.