Mr. Dunlap '~elieved': Students Prote~t On Monday. April 17. at about 11:45a.m. , one ofthe most dramatic incidents in MPA history occurred. Approximately onc third oCthe Upper School student population walked off campus in protest over an administration decision relieving Mr. Niel Dunlap, a music and history teacher of cleven yea r s standing at MPA, of his teaching duties.
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The protest began after lunch with a rally on the steps of the Art Center in Jones Bowl, with approximatel y 140- students in attendance. The Dunlap issue was associated with other current issues. such as communication with administrators. dress code, and the dismissal of Mike Sims. Soon thereafter. a parade of
90 to 9 5 students was l ed off camp~s' to Bohn Park on liith and Longwood. Some Ci(te~n students returned to school shortly . After some speech making and a few feeble attempts at folk singing , a squad car and two policemen arrived . The officers had evi dently been summoned by l oca l residents. The g r 0 u p li s t ened quietly as the group l eaders ex-
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APRIL 28. 1972
MPA 4 - Red Tape 1 MPA pf\rticipants in the YMCA sponsored Youth and Government program spent April 2 1-23 in Spr ingCie l d attending mock le gis 1ative sess ion s. This trip culminated several months of preparatbn by those stuoonts in terms of redaying bills and becoming fam il iar with le gis lativ e procedures. Five ofthe bills, amo n g those in Springfiel d, had MPA students as sponsors . The quality and rel evancy dthese b ill s n canparison to the other bills might be shown in the fact that two of these bills received a number one priority in committee, two bills received a number two priority , and onl; received a number three priorlty . Bill priorities extablish the importance of a bill, as this dec16ion determine .. the order in which a bill will be considered by its re spective House-a bill of a number one priority is considered first, that of ten is considered last. Four of the MPA bills actually came up f or con sideration dur1ng the two days of legislative aesaiona . Two bills. one regarding the es tabli s hm ent of a CO .. 1 mission to channel funds for increased railroad se rvice, and the o ther advocating the binding
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of del egates to the Democratic and Republican nominating conventions to the i r candidates fo r the fir s t few vot es. passed both House s and was signed by the Ywth Governor . Two other bills. one changing s tatue s regarding p r esent policy in granting servicemen special driving privileges , and one advocating op en pre s idential primaries, passes both Houses but word is still a-
waited as to whether or not they were signed by the Youth Gove r n or . The fifth bill , which asked for the conve rsion o f the Illinois and Mich igan Canal Zone to a s t ste park was not consi dered by either House due to l ack of Ume . MPA advisors received seve ral canplime nt s as to the superior preparation and conduct demons trated by the MPA parti cipants.
plained their cause. The policemen seemed sYTnpathetic, and suggested the gro up move to a p.rivate residence , as assem bling in a public park was illegal. The group consented, and moved to the Spurgin residence, 11323 S . Lothair. Mr. Jones was contacted , and he was agreeable to meetlng wlth J po k e s men from the protest group . So, Brent Grossmann, George Ivancevich, and Mark Schneider left the rapidly dimin ishing group (numerous students were on their way home ) to talk with Mr. Jones and Mr. Lints . For nearly two hours, the five discussed the Mr. Dunlap issue. Atthe end of the discussion , a ll that ahd been res.olved wa's as follows: students would come to classes as normal on Tuesday, talks would continue , and pun ish men t (0 r a ll students who wa 1 ked out would be uniform , regardless of previous records . Mr. Jones refused to consider allowing M~. Dunlap .t o r etlKrn . Mr . Dunlap was contacted , and h ewaswilling to drop the issue . Mr. Jones soon sent a s t a t ement to the Student Counc il President to the effect that any student with a specific grievance may go with the Council President down to Mr. Jones w ithout appointment to review the p r obl em . Punishment for the protestors cunsisted of a l e tter sent home to parents, and the l etter being included in the student's file. The letter will bt; removed at the end of the year if the student causes no further such disruption. Mr. Dunlap, although relieved from his teaching duties, will remain on the Academy payroll for the remainder of the school year , and his children will be allowed to finish out the year. Hi s Music I and II cla sses are now being taught by Mrs. Gus t afson . Mr. Dunlap 1 s relieffrom duty was brought about by many reasons: his r eluctance to in clude certain aspects of music in his program, many differences of opinion between Mr. Dunl ap and the administration, the pro pagation of many rumors from many sou r ces with varying de gress oft ruth in them, and finally a d is 0 bed i e n c e of one of Mr. Jones 1 0rders.
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