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The Reverend
Walter Welsh, loved by community activists, the poor,
and minorities, once said that, "The Thursday Morning
Roundtable is Lee Smith's church in the community."
I've always treasured Walter's characterization of my
work, which may have been inspired partly by my lack
of involvement in any traditional church, but also by
our objectives for TMR. It has always been our hope
that the project would be good for the community and
that its members would be inspired to do good things
in the community.
The Roundtable, a weekly civic forum, was started at
Syracuse University in March 1965. It followed a similar
forum I conducted at the University of Akron, involving
a mixture of University faculty and community civic
leaders.
The purpose and nature of the Syracuse project was
framed by three remarkable local leaders who participated
in the project's initial planning. Clifford Winters
was the dean of University College, the continuing education
division of Syracuse University. John R. Searles was
head of the Syracuse Metropolitan Development Association,
an organization representing the largest business and
industrial interests of the area. Irving Berman was
head of the largest private foundation in the area,
and was most influential in contacts with social agencies
and programs.
These men envisioned the concept of a weekly civic
forum as a vehicle to bring together a mixture of business,
social agency, educational, and civic leaders to learn
about and discuss community issues and problems. They
saw it as education for community development and problem
solving. It was also viewed as a way to capitalize on
the University's expertise and prestige in the community.
Searles and Berman developed a list of eighty well-known
Syracuse area men who were invited to become members
of the University's Thursday Breakfast Roundtable. The
rationale for this project reads as follows:
"One of the major obstacles to rational and progressive
community development is the lack of effective and continuing
communication among those most directly responsible
for the various phases of the process. This is a fundamental
problem, well recognized in all rapidly growing urban
communities. It is especially critical and basic with
regard to the conduct of local and regional governmental
affairs, and the interrelationships of government to
the unofficial agents and agencies involved in community
decision-making.
"The mushrooming expectations and actual responsibilities
of local government in our urban centers complicate
the traditional problems of communication among governmental
offices and officials, as well as between them and their
various publics. The urgent and hectic work life of
modern governmental officials makes effective intercommunication
almost impossible without the intervention of an artificial
element, an "institutional" break in a routine,
an "excuse" to communicate.
"The University, as "neutral ground"
and as the respected source for bringing reason to the
discussion of public affairs, is the logical social
agent to provide this opportunity for communication
and clarification of issues. As convener and programmer
of an ongoing series of informal discussions on community
and regional problems, University College would be making
a continuing contribution to the improvement of local
government and to the orderly development of the entire
community."
It was expected that the actual membership roster would
ultimately number 50-60 men with an average weekly attendance
of 25. Emphasis was on continuity and regularity of
attendance to establish a sense of group identity and
to encourage the interaction necessary to fulfill the
program's purpose.
The original invitation for membership resulted in
a roster of 76 names during the first season. Of those,
33 attended frequently enough (ten or more of the 27
meetings during the first full year of operation) to
be listed as regular members. They represented a broad
cross-section of leadership within the community. Included
were the head of the local NAACP, the county executive,
several local government department heads, a newspaper
reporter and editor, representatives from several state
offices located in Syracuse, social and cultural agency
executives, business representatives, educators, and
clergymen. The "regulars" included 11 governmental
personnel, 10 from civic agencies, six from business,
four from education, and one each representing religion
and culture.
The structure and routine of the project as established
in 1965 has remained very much the same throughout its
history. Members received a printed schedule of meetings
for the first abbreviated season, March 4-April 29 (nine
programs). Meetings were held in a snack bar room in
the classroom building of University College. That location
proved very important for the future growth of the project.
It provided ample free parking and was situated in downtown
Syracuse, near many participants' offices. Members assembled
around 8 a.m. each Thursday morning, paid for coffee,
tea, donuts, and juice at the snack bar, and socialized
at tables scattered throughout the room.
Programs began about 8:30 with a presentation by a
well-known local person for 20-25 minutes, followed
by questions, comments, and discussion. Sessions ended
promptly at 9:30, when most members left for their offices.
Some stayed to discuss their own agendas, and this practice
grew throughout the years. Programs were determined
by the project director with suggestions from active
members. The first two-month season featured presentations
from the city mayor, county executive, a Syracuse University
vice president, and several leaders of community and
business planning groups. Two subjects discussed which
proved popular in years to come were public welfare
and social action programs.
Other than the individual cost of "breakfast,"
there were no fees for membership or participation.
That policy has remained in effect throughout its history.
TMR (the "Breakfast" misnomer was soon dropped
in favor of Thursday Morning Roundtable) was a community
service provided by Syracuse University.
During its first full year of operation, 1965-66, TMR
began following a function often repeated through the
years. Many new community organizations, social programs,
and planning ideas were first introduced and promoted
at TMR programs. Early examples were the University
Hill Corporation, integration in the public schools,
a new Regional Planning Board, a new cultural center,
the University Regent Theater, and the Canal Museum.
There were 28 weekly sessions that year. Subjects which
were revisited many times in future years included community
planning, the public schools, various arts and cultural
developments, health problems and developments, and
several local governmental departments and activities.
Included in the latter category were the Syracuse Police
Department, the new metropolitan transportation network,
the new Parks and Recreation Department, the city airport,
water and air pollution controls, and community renewal.
Onondaga County Executive John Mulroy gave his annual
report to TMR-a feature every season for 25 years. The
plan for a local educational television station was
introduced, and TMR supported that station, WCNY, in
years to come. Later, WCNY's FM radio component taped
and broadcast TMR programs.
Another feature of that first full year of programming
was a short series of related programs. In this instance,
four sessions were devoted to "How Syracuse Looks
to Me," featuring a labor leader, civil rights
activist, business leader, and government planner. In
later years there were programming themes, usually presented
as one program each month.
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