The Midpeninsula Free University

MFU Articles Published by The Stanford Daily
1967

Over 150 Register for Free University

Over 150 Stanford students have signed up for and paid for membership in the Midpeninsula Free University (MPFU), according to Barry Greenberg, executive director. The MPFU was formed over the summer out of the Free University of Palo Alto and the "Experiment."

The Free University is offering close to 100 seminars and projects, ranging from Japanese pottery making to a seminar on religion and radical politics. Membership is open to all, and anyone can organize or teach a new seminar.

Registration will continue Wednesday through Friday in front of Tresidder Union from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. In addition, Stanford students, faculty, and staff are invited to meet with MPFU officers and seminar leaders on Thursday and Friday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., in room 271 of Tresidder. Activities will culminate with a "be-in" at El Camino Park this Sunday from noon to evening.

Seminars Upgraded

The catalog of course offerings states that a revolution in American education is required to meet today's needs, and a new type of education, a free university, must provide the impetus for change.

Greenberg contends that education should not be a socialization process, a process by which students are guided so as to fit into society, but rather should be part of the total process of living. Hence, seminars in the Free University are upgraded and often deal with very personal subjects.

Among the many seminars which could be cited as examples of the orientation of MPFU toward the individual and his self-awareness is the one entitled If You Want To Know The Taste of Water, emphasizing Zen meditation.

A New Community?

The rising popularity of the Free University has suggested several questions about the nature of this type of education to Greenberg. He wonders where the free university movement is heading. Will the MPFU simply provide interesting diversion to somewhat disenchanted students? Or will it result in the creation of a new community? And what might be the nature of this community?

Greenberg feels that a substantial difference of opinion exists among MPFU members as to the goals of their organization. Some participants believe strongly that thought must be closely linked with political action while others prefer to remain uninvolved with any social questions broader than interpersonal ones.

Opposes Draft and War

The Free University has decided by majority decision to oppose both the draft and the war in Vietnam, though individual sentiments on these and other issues vary widely. Greenberg explained that the Free University had publicly taken these positions so as to create "a sense of identity as a community" among MPFU members.

As a community the MPFU is now engaged in setting up a co-operative store which will be run by members. Additionally, the Free University encourages members to form living groups, with the eventual goal of becoming a residential university in mind.