UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON ARCHIVES
ORAL HISTORY PROGRAM

Interview #1090
MATHEWS, BLAIR

MATHEWS, BLAIR (1931-)
Undergraduate; Associate Dean of Students
At UW: 1949-1953 [as undergraduate]; 1960-1993 [as administrator]

Interviewed: 	January 6, 2010 
Interviewer: 	Joe Corry
Index by: 	Stephen A. Pierce
Length: 	1 hour, 20 minutes

Abstract: In his January 2010 interviews with Joe Corry, Blair Mathews provides a brief overview of his work with student services at the University of Wisconsin-Madison from the 1960s to the 2000s. He outlined the major shift in how student services were conceived on the Madison campus, beginning with Martha Peterson’s investigative committee and culminating in such programs as the McBurney Resource Center. He also offers his perspectives on the turmoil of the 1960s, major UW administrative figures, and the utility of cross-college cooperation. This interview was conducted for inclusion into the UW-Madison Oral History Program.

Key Words: University of Wisconsin-Madison; Slichter Hall; Carson Gulley; Ft. Levinworth; Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI); Martha Peterson; F. Chandler “Chan” Young; student protest; 1960s; Vietnam; Associate Administrative Council; Cross-College Advising Service (CCAS); Paul Ginsberg; students with disabilities; adult students; McBurney Disability Resource Center; Lakeshore Nature Preserve; Bill Cronon.

First Interview Session (January 6, 2010): Digital File

Time	Keywords
00:00:00	Start of Interview/Interviewer’s Introduction

00:00:22	Question: Talk about your background. Answer: A native of Green Bay WI, Mathews recalled always wanting to go to UW, having watched his cousins grow up in Madison and go to UW. He discussed not knowing at first what he wanted to major in, but having time to develop his interests through a liberal arts education.  In his junior year, he entered the School of Education and graduated with a license to teach history, English, and biology. He explained why he decided to go on to get his MA.

00:03:03	Question: Influential professors? Answer: As a history major, he talked about Harrington and others. He described Harrington as a great teacher, very available to his students.

00:04:40	Question: Life in residence halls? Answer: He said he lived in Slichter Hall for several years, describing the post-war presence of many veterans on campus and being a resident assistant. He talked about living just above Carson Gulley. He also shared some anecdotes about “shenanigans” along the lake during the spring

00:08:18	Question: Your tour in the US Army? Answer: He recalled spending his entire two year tour at Ft. Levinworth federal prison, which left him with deep recollections, but from which he learned a lot.

00:09:57	Question: Your PhD? Answer: He noted that Leroy Luberg had been something of a mentor to him at UW, and after his US Army service offered him a position with the University of Florida residence hall program. There he began taking graduate courses in counseling and became active with teacher training in the state of FL.

00:12:01	[no question] He briefly chronicled how he was invited (again by Luberg) to return to UW in counseling services, from which he moved to the dean of students office reviewing all student services on campus. 

01:13:15	[no question] By the end of this activity, he was completing his dissertation based on research he was doing in Madison. He explained his research interests, looking at freshmen men with a certain profile on the Minnesota multiphasic inventory (MMPI). At the time, all incoming freshmen were required to take the MMPI.

00:16:06	[no question] Through contacts from Peterson’s cross-college student services committee, he was invited to be assistant dean in L&S for counseling. He described his role and work there, trying to establish more complete interaction with WI HSs.

00:18:22	Follow up: When did Chan Young become Vice Chancellor for Student Services? Answer: He said he always thought of Young as dean of students, though the titles changed. He explained the structural changes and how he became associate dean at this point.

00:20:23	Follow up: Associate Administrative Council (AAC)? Answer: He remembered if function-ing as long as he had been there; composed of each of the colleges’ associate deans for student academic affairs and some other staff, it tried to coordinate common policies, communicate across college lines, and establish collegiality. He quipped about the “underground railroad” between several colleges to illustrate how cross-college cooperation was essential for the smooth running of the university.

00:25:16	Follow up: Did students need special permission to be part-time? Answer: Through the early 1960s, policy was strongly geared toward full-time students, but this changed as educational policy was reevaluated in the 1960s and programming frameworks became more open.

00:27:04	Question: How did the new Student Affairs structure affect offices like yours? Answer: He thought it was helpful, since they were talking about the whole student and it was easier to communicate with individual support units.

00:28:31	Question: It was created just as student protest was peaking. Answer: Mathews noted in relation to this that while Vietnam was front and center on the national stage, it was preceded by other events that “set the tone” for people protesting for their rights—the Black Student strike of 1968-69. He saw these periods of conflict, however, as opportunities to make significant and meaningful changes that help all students.

00:34:45	Question: Was there still an orientation when you came as an undergraduate? Answer: Yes; though there were still services and counseling available even then. He explained how, in the 1960s, however, his office tried to reach out to high schools and make the experience more positive for incoming freshmen while keeping standards high.

00:37:43	Prompted to restate his point by the interviewer, Mathews reiterated how in the TA strike, a similar thing happened—administrators had to keep the campus functioning and keep a big picture view. He explained the positive outcomes of the strike, especially as regarded grading and course programming

00:40:17	Follow up: General observations about the protest years? Answer: He remarked that “we all grew up . . . fast.” He talked about learning to communicate more openly and completely, and the changes that resulted from this communication. He listed some of the major educational reforms that were born (if not always implemented) during the tumultuous 1960s and early 70s.

00:43:40	Question: “Special” students? Answer: He observed that as people reevaluated the notion of access to undergraduate education (whether it was a privilege or a right), the AAC discussed the growing population of adult students who had difficulty getting into UW. The Council created the special students program in order to serve this disenfranchised group of potential students. He explained how these students were graded on the same scale as their degree-candidate counterparts, and even demonstrated greater motivation and direction many times.

00:50:00	Question: The Writing Lab? Answer: He discussed this as an outgrowth of a committee on undergraduate education that worked hard to bring HS students up to university-level performance in basic quantitative and writing skills. He told a story about getting a brief hearing for a complete English-placement system for Wisconsin, which they sold the Regents in a matter of minutes.

00:56:35	Question: Academic advising? Answer: He recounted how they realized that the advising system, in which an faculty member would be assigned to a certain number of students, was simply not working. They reconceptualized  the system to included well-trained advisor who would take over the faculty role and also developed an advising service that pooled the expertise of selected faculty members.

01:01:30	[no question] He discussed “spinoffs” of the changes UW-Madison were making to their advising services. Quickly, they were invited to help with changes at UW-Milwaukee, and eventually the Big-10 created a new organization to help reconcep-tualize advising across the conference.

01:03:41	Question: Your work with disabilities on campus? Answer: He traced this interest back to his work at Florida, where he got involved in a project investigating disability issues. When he arrived at UW, he and Paul Ginsberg quickly agreed that a center for students with disabilities needed to be implemented. He talked about setting up facilities, hiring staff, and creating programs all before the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed in 1972. He related the implementation of these plans to the “extremes” and the “solid middle” of administrative personnel.

01:09:16	[no question] Continuing to talk about the McBurney Disability Resource Center, he shared examples of accomplishments students with disabilities had achieved as well as the comprehensive nature of the implementation and McBurney Center.  He also discussed how they developed the adapted physical education program simultaneously

01:13:40	Question: Lakeshore Nature Preserve? Answer: He identified the Preserve as a “treasure for the campus,” discussing the different ecosystems within it as a unique urban natural area. He related the initiation of a Friends of Campus Natural Areas group, which nominated Bill Cronon as its head and developed a master plan for conservation around campus (in places like Picnic Point and Muir Knoll).

01:20:27	End of First Interview Session

End of Oral History #1090