Evening star., 1960-07-22
TEACHING MAIN AIM
Howard u. Head
Takes First Steps
BY ANDREW w. BINGHAM
Star Stan Writer

oLdT Dldu WElteI
DR.. James M. Nabrit, jr.,
went to Europe last month to
serve on the American delega-
ton to an international labor
conference and-so he thought
to take a four-week vacation.
But the conference in &C.
neva had just ended when DR..
Nabrit, a distinguished consti-
tutional lawyer, was named to
succeed DR.. Mordecai w. john
son as president of Howard
University.
That selection, announced
on June %, quashed DR.. Ma
brit'S vacation plans. He re-
turned to Washington at once.
Yesterday, at his first formal
press conference since taking
over the top job at the Nations
largest predominantly Negro
institution of higher learning,
DR.. Nabrit seemed a little rue
full about the abrupt change in
his summer activities.
Instead of touring the con-
tinent, he is spending as much
as Is hours a day in his office
learning the intricacies Of the
new job. Somehow I'm going
to have to stop working that
long a day." he says.
After only three weeks, DR..
Nabrit does not pretend to
know yet all the answers about
Howard's operation or, indeed,
its future course. AS he ex-
planned to reporters, Il went
to Europe having no more no
ton about the presidency than
you have"
Takes Action
Already, however. the new
president has taken two signifi-
cant actions which indicate
fairly clearly his feelings about
his new position and, more
Importantly, about his univer-
Sity.
The first action was to urge
all the institutions admins
traitors with the necessary
qualifications to teach at least
one course.
He feels strongly that teach
ing of the highest possible. cali
ber should be the major aim of
the administration. The ad-
ministrators themselves will get
a better perspective of the uni
versity, he says, from some
teaching experience.
Five officials, he reports with
great pleasure, already have
taken up his suggestion and
made arrangements to teach
next fall. DR.. Nabrit himself, a
member of Howard's faculty
since 1885, plans to give an 8
am. class in constitutional law.
Sees Recognition
Il may not be a good ad-
ministrator," he says, but I
think am a good teacher" !"
He considers the selection of a
teacher for the presidency a
fitting recognition of the cru
cial role teachers must play in
the future development of the
university.
I Although DR.. Nabrit has held
simultaneously as many as
three administrative jobs at
Howard, he always has found
time to teach, too.
The second action of DR..
Nabrit was to establish a spe-
ciSl Office for Foreign Students
at Howard. In strictly prac-
tical sense, this step is simply
a recognition of the fact that
more than TOO foreign students
enroll at Howard each year.
AS one of the leading attor-
neys in school desegregation
litigation, DR.. Nabrit has no il
lusions about a quick end to
the discriminatory practices
throughout the country. He also
insists that real integration in
the schools will never be ac-
complished without the eStab-
lishment of equal rights and
opportunities in all other areas
of American life.
He feels strongly that How
ard, by fulfilling its duty as a
top-f1ight institution of higher
learning, will become more