The Midpeninsula Free University

MFU Articles Published by The Stanford Daily
1968

‘Fills Educational Need’: Free U’s Diversity

The Midpeninsula Free University exists because it meets an educational need that the other educational institutions in the San Francisco area, Stanford for one, fail to recognize, according to Robb Crist, the Executive Director of the Free U.

And the only thing responsible for the Free U's existence is the people who participate in it, Crist continued. The Free U started in the spring of 1967 as a direct result of a free speech movement at Berkeley. A similar organization, The Experiment, was already established on the Stanford campus, and the Free U's success was not initially great.

In fact, whether the Free U would survive the first year was a hard-felt question. During this period, the Experiment, ousted from the building they occupied on the Stanford campus after accusing Dr. Sterling and the Board of Trustees for being connected with various war atrocities, combined with the Free U.

Barry Greenberg, who had headed the Experiment, became the Executive Director of the Free U, but later quit, criticizing the organization for not being politically radical enough. It was at this point, Crist reported, that the Free U stood its greatest test.

Lost Enthusiasm

The coordinating committee had lost a lot of the enthusiasm that first characterized it, and was considering giving up the whole idea. Crist became the Executive Director, the coordinating committee decided to stay together. With this 'decision came a renewed enthusiasm, and a great deal of new courses were offered.

The enrollment increased from the first quarter total of 80 to 350 in the 1967 summer quarter, and then continued its upward trend to last quarter's enrollment of 1150.

It is estimated that 50 per cent of this total was comprised by the Stanford Community. This is, however, an arbitrary figure, Crist explained. What, exactly, comprises a member of the Stanford community—a student's brother, an Alumni, a Stanford drop-out?

The Free U makes no distinction between the leader of the course and those attending. The figures, for instance, of 1150 included those teaching the courses. No reliable statistics are available on how many of the courses offered—there were 254 this fall quarter—materialize. Many are intended for only one meeting.

Courses Offered

The diversity of the Free U, one of its main attributes, is witnessed by the 254 courses offered. From auto eroticism, a course to teach people about the mechanics of their automobile, to a study of the aims and techniques of guerrilla warfare in an urban setting, to an I don't know much, but neither do you—come over for a little while and we'll both learn class, the Free U has it.

Obviously, in an environment where there are no requirements to teach a course, there are going to be good courses and bad courses, said one Free U student. I enrolled in this beginning guitar course that was just a flop, a real wipe-out, but then, on the other hand, a crafts course I took was really great. It is this principle of (no course screening that makes the Free U what it is. Everyone can do his own ‘thing’.

Though the Free U started out with an emphasis on courses concerning radical politics and sensory awareness, it experienced a trend to more practical courses—sandal-making, wine-making, electronics, and practical house wiring, etc.

Crist, who is also the curriculum coordinator (and an on-again, off-again graduate student in philosophy at Stanford) reported a recent counter-trend to this.

Radical Trend

With the recent events in the United States, the political courses are becoming very important to people. The courses dealing with candlemaking, etc., are still popular, but the radical courses are coming back stronger than ever.

The Free U is looking for a building to operate out of. But Stanford isn't supplying one, and neither is Palo Alto. As it stands now, the courses are given at individuals' homes, or on the beach, or in the mountains.