Address for the Black Mountain College Meeting, June 12, 1940

It may seem frivolous now, when all ears and eyes, when all minds, are occupied with the frightening events abroad, to speak in such a situation about education. It may seem vain to draw your attention to a new and small college down in North Carolina in a moment when the face and the fate of the whole world may be turned upside down by unexpectedly strong forces with which we do not agree.

For years we have hesitated in this part of the world to realize the power and aims of those destructive forces, unfortunately have reacted to them mainly with laughter and ridicule. But the last weeks have awakened us and shown that those events abroad may have a destructive influence upon the Americas too, particularly upon the United States of America, which means upon the existence of each one of us.

If this does not happen through direct attack (invasion), it can happen through a grave change in our relationship to other parts of the world. And this in spite of surrounding oceans, in spite of abundance of space and raw material and gold, in spite of the highest living standard, all of which we like to think of as lasting guarantees of our security.

History may teach us that security is not an inherent quality of material possessions; only spiritual possessions are lasting and worth saving. The greatest and most important spiritual achievement of this country is its guarantee of freedom—no country in the world can compete with the U.S.A. in this respect. We have every reason to be proud of this freedom.

But to be only proud of freedom would be no proof of true understanding of freedom. Freedom, if understood as being free from something, has no positive sense at all. Only being free for something has active and productive meaning, is worthy of consideration. It is urgent now that we understand freedom, and work for its protector: democracy.

Freedom is never a present granted to us. Freedom is a personal quality. Everyone has to conquer it for himself and to reconquer it again and again. It presupposes conviction and integrity as well as respect for the beliefs and abilities of others. It demands protection, and fighting, and sacrifice for it if endangered, either by blind following of partisans, or through suppression and persecution of non-partisans, which is the fate of millions of people now all over the world.

Here we arrive at the most frightening point of the history of today, where self-made human gods impose their own demands upon misled and flattered people—at the expense of humanity. That is the deepest worry of all seeing people today: the abolition of humanity.

Thus to save humanity is the duty of everyone still enjoying the privileges of democracy. More than ever before we must be aware that democratic freedom depends upon recognizing obligations towards it, instead of having claims upon it.

If we compare the influence which the Romans, on the one side, and the Greeks, on the other, have still today, or the Spartans in contrast to the Athenians, then it will become obvious that only cultural achievements, spiritual contributions to mankind, can distinguish which principle of thought and government is the better one: regimented organization or competitive evolution, autocracy or democracy.

As I have stated already at the Black Mountain meeting in December at the Museum of Modern Art: it is certainly no accident that the two most contradictory ideologies, communism and Nazism, the strongest enemies of democracy, have condemned modern art as well as modern education. This should explain clearly enough that those ideologies leave no aspect of cultural evolution, which by necessity is based on unhampered spiritual development. Condemned for the simple reason that a free individual growth must oppose mental leveling through ideological drill, through elimination of writing, reading and listening, through censorship of information and publication. Condemned, because a creative and critical mind cannot belong to the masses, the indispensable pedestal of any kind of dictator; for masses assemble because of uncreativeness.

It should be a matter of course today that each of us has the obligation, not only to protect and defend our democratic freedom against aggression from inside and attack from outside, but to give our people an understanding of what democratic living means and is worth to them, and to build up a conviction that spiritual development under a democratic constitution is on a higher human level, and therefore higher cultural level, than those opposing ideologies, that we must remain on the higher level if human progress is to continue.

But how to achieve this understanding and conviction? Through a democratic education in which qualities of character are considered just as much as intellectual abilities, in which the development of critical thought, of creative ability and social adjustment, are more respected than mere acquisition of knowledge and skill; where being cultured is more highly esteemed than being learned. That is, where the aim is humanity instead of efficiency.

If we understand humanity as a balance between dependence and independence—the two divergent directions in which education is engaged—that is, to create reciprocal relationship between the individual and the group (family, community, state), then it is easy to understand that dictatorship is naturally inimical to personal independence, whereas democracy favors individual freedom and growth.

If I may state in this respect two typical American qualities, I must confess that in this country I have been impressed again and again with a very pronounced need for personal independence, very obvious already in small children; but just as much with an amazing readiness for help and cooperation, aptly stated in the expression "Give him a chance".

I often wondered why these two very valuable human qualities of independence and cooperation are not applied more in American education. I believe the dominating educational methods in this country are not at all typically American with their stereotyped requirements, standardized curricula and mechanized evaluation of achievements. Why do we still have that belief in academic standards while our living reveals variety, youth and freshness, and our planning flexibility and greatness? Why must exploration and inventiveness, two American virtues, too, play such a minor part in our schools? And why is creative development still a pedagogical stepchild?

If our teachers would think less by precedent and more about how to proceed from the human material entrusted to them, our education would soon become more American and more human. If education would aim more at being something instead of at getting something, then our schools would be, maybe, less intellectualistic, but less unjust to the unintellectual types; I mean, for instance, the visual type, the manual type, which are just as important as intellectuals. Our schools will then be more democratic because of giving a chance to many more people.

Then education will value character above skill, ability besides or despite knowledge. If we emphasize the imaginative mind to the administrative one, the productive to the possessive one, the creative one to the imitative one, if we believe more in responsibility than in success and profit, then we can prepare more for citizenship than for jobs, then we will develop personalities able to lead themselves instead of developing leaders longing for followers and masses.

Never before in our life, as today, have we been shown so clearly that education must emphasize human relationship just as much as, if not more, than intellectual training. If we want to change from over-intellectualization to the exercising of the will, then we can learn (not in idea, but in method) from the enemies of democracy, that small educational groups have stronger influence on the individual than have large institutions. Then we have to improve form giving information to giving experience, from judging papers and examinations to judging persons, from impersonal lecturing to the living and working together of students and teachers. Because real education depends on personal contact and is a mutual give and take of experience and insight. Therefore educational factories are necessarily less influential than educational communities.

The larger the group, the more mechanical the measure and organization. The larger the registration and administration, the more complexity. Mechanical measure may be successful in mass production and in war technique, but won’t work with human souls. Because mechanization lasts only as long as its machines last.

Just as medical direction and treatment in health and in illness is applied individually, so education is personal treatment, since it means direction and control of personal action and reaction. This again detracts from the reputation of mass teaching and points to educational communities. Unfortunately only a few of them practice democratic education. One of them is Black Mountain College.

Here I should explain some significant features of Black Mountain College and why it offers democratic education. I believe that my earlier and general remarks on education have indicated already the main tendencies of Black Mountain College. The aforementioned close living and working together of students and faculty are provided for by a large building for the whole community, except families with children. We assemble with the families at meals where we serve each other without any given order. Who is ready first, helps first. Everyone takes care of his own room. No one disappears over week-ends. It is not necessary to disappear; it is interesting enough at the College because of concerts and dancing and singing, or plays and lectures, and parties of students and faculty.

We live in the midst of beautiful mountain woods, in a very healthful climate, and have enough opportunity for outdoor activities. In the earlier afternoon, which is reserved for outdoor work, we do wood-chopping or take care of our roads. At Lake Eden, the new College property, we repair and paint houses; we work on apple trees and on the lake, or do landscaping with farming and gardening.

In our studies, in which we offer courses in most of the liberal arts, we emphasize the cultural fields and consider art, music, dramatics, literature as a central part of our curriculum. Since the participation in any course is voluntary, it seems significant that during the past years, for instance, fifty percent of our students and fifty per cent of the faculty, also of faculty wives, have participated in art courses at least for one semester. It is a good Black Mountain College custom that faculty members visit classes of their colleagues and become students again. The faculty wives share in all important activities, they help with teaching and guiding students as well as in administration work. We evaluate the social adjustment of the community members as much as their work. Doing and being something counts more than knowing and having something.

As to democratic living, I may add that Black Mountain College is co-educational. We select our students from as many different backgrounds as possible. The student fees are on a sliding scale, related to the financial situation of the parents, from the full fee of $1,200 down to $300. The enrollment started with 15 students in 1933 and is at present 70. And we never want to have more than 150. No one works his way through college; everyone is expected to do his share. Only a committee of three knows about the tuition a student pays.

Black Mountain College is governed entirely from within. So, without trustees, we are also without endowment, but also without directions from outside. Each teacher decides for himself what and how to teach. There is no president, but a rector, elected every year from the faculty, by the faculty, as representative of the community and conductor of the meetings. In the weekly faculty meetings, attended by the four student officers, we decide on the policy of the College and other educational matters. The Board of Fellows, also elected by the faculty, from the faculty, includes the chief student officer, and decides on appointments and financial matters. For questions of general interest or importance, the rector calls the whole community for a general meeting. In the committees with special tasks, the students are also represented. Questions concerning discipline are handled mainly by the student officers or in student meetings. You see, the students have comprehensive opportunity to participate in the governing of the College and to exercise responsibility, and thus they conceive of the whole College as their own. We understand it as a sign of cooperation that we refrain from voting.

After this administrative report, it may be more interesting to hear some financial figures, which I’ve gotten from our financial minister, Mr. Dreier. This year we received about $45,000 in student fees; that is, with seventy students, an average fee of some $600, which is half of the full fee. The actual cost of each student is about $1,000. We ran the College this year for about $60,000. It would have cost us more if we had paid the faculty more than 60% salary. And I might add that faculty salaries are based on minimum needs. We granted fee reductions of $41,000. Thus, the faculty salaries were only $15,000—in addition to room and board. You see, the Black Mountain faculty has done its part for a democratic ideal.

Despite the fact that the financial situation of the College has been difficult, particularly last year, we consider this year to have been the best of all the past seven years. The number of student applicants has increased more than ever before, and we have more promising students. From some 80 applicants, we chose some 20. More cooperation and more intensive studies, better guidance and teaching have resulted in better social adjustment and better class work and examinations. On the whole there was a sympathetic and inspiring spirit. Criticisms by and of teachers and students were meant and understood as help. The public interest in and the recognition of our aims and results have grown constantly.

We believe Black Mountain College is growing – not financially, but spiritually. It has grown from a so-called progressive, experimental college to a modern educational institution. It is considered by competent judges to be an example of the democratic education to come. We believe Black Mountain College can prove the validity of its aims and results.

All of this gives us the conviction that we have to do everything to secure the further development of our College. It also gives us the hope that our friends will contribute to support our work. So far we have often presented to our friends and to the public the ideas and status of Black Mountain College, and have left it to the listeners to think it over. Now we feel it our duty to ask directly for help—help, first of all, for student aid. This will improve, indirectly, faculty salaries and enable us to add needed faculty members. We ask for help, secondly, for making our property, Lake Eden, the permanent home of the College, since we can stay in our present location for only one more year. This means that we need substantial help for improving the present buildings there and for the erection of additional, needed buildings, or for the realization of the plans designed by our friends, Gropius and Breuer.

It is very unfortunate, as it is ironic, that the important foundations mainly support institutions which are already financially established. That makes it still more necessary for us to ask for help from individuals. What we are asking for will not be merely for the support of a single college; it should be understood as a support of the general ideas of democratic education in which, I believe, every one of us should share.

It has been said that nations desiring peace have to be stronger than those desiring war. It is true that our desire is peace; but I am not sure that we are the stronger side yet, and we will never, I am sure, be stronger through rearmament alone. We have to think in longer-range terms. More than power is strength. More lasting than organization and mechanization is spirit, is conviction. Be aware and make others aware that democratic education is the most important means of saving democratic freedom, of saving spiritual or cultural development.

You have seen the nation-wide proclamation of yesterday: "Let Us Stop Hitler Now!" Yes, let us really help to stop him! But not only by momentary measures, but with lasting preparations, namely, by the readiness of the minds for the future.

America is the hope of the whole world believing in freedom. We must justify this hope in us of the world believing in freedom.