I attended Umass beginning in 1969 and graduated in 1973. I hated every minute of it but continued there because it was a low cost option and a business degree would have value, which it did. The Administration and apparently the parents had no concept of expecting young people to rise to a higher standard. Excessive alcohol, drugs, sex, segregationist behavior by black students, and low academic standards were all the normal, every day atmosphere. Never once did I sense that the Administration had any thought of maintaining operational authority over the place. Bottom line is that no parent should ever curse a child they love by sending he or she to Umass.
I graduated high school around that same time and we would go up from time to time to UMass. It always seemed exactly that way to me as well. Those huge 20 or more story dorms were basically like housing projects.
It’s sad when the student body is more mature and sensible than the student body.
The American academy is a disgrace.