Carl Frederick Hovde (pronounced HUV-dee; October 11, 1926 – September 5, 2009) was an American educator who from 1968 until 1972 was the Dean of Columbia College, the undergraduate division of

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

. In that position, he served an important role in restoring order and calm on the campus after the six-week-long student protests in spring 1968 that had been led by the

Students for a Democratic Society Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) was a national student activist organization in the United States during the 1960s, and was one of the principal representations of the New Left. Disdaining permanent leaders, hierarchical relationships ...

Early life and education

Hovde was born in

Meadville, Pennsylvania Meadville is a city in and the county seat of Crawford County, Pennsylvania. The city is within of Erie and within of Pittsburgh. It was the first permanent settlement in Northwestern Pennsylvania. The population was 13,388 at the 2010 censu ...

on October 11, 1926. His father, Bryn Hovde, was president of the

New School for Social Research The New School for Social Research (NSSR) is a graduate-level educational institution that is one of the divisions of The New School in New York City, United States. The university was founded in 1919 as a home for progressive era thinkers. NSSR ...

from 1945 to 1950. He enlisted in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

in 1944 after graduating from high school and served in the

European Theater of Operations The European Theater of Operations, United States Army (ETOUSA) was a Theater of Operations responsible for directing United States Army operations throughout the European theatre of World War II, from 1942 to 1945. It commanded Army Ground For ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. After completing his military service, he attended Columbia College, graduating with a bachelor's degree in philosophy in 1950. He received a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

in English from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

in 1955 after completing a doctoral dissertation titled "The writing of Henry D. Thoreau's

A week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers ''A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers'' (1849) is a book by American writer Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862). It recounts his experience on a boat trip with his brother on the Concord River and Merrimack River. Overview ''A Week on the ...

: a study in textual materials and technique." He began his academic career with a position at

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

.Hevesi, Dennis
"Carl F. Hovde, Former Columbia Dean, Dies at 82"
''

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'', September 10, 2009. Accessed September 11, 2009.

Columbia University

Hovde joined the Columbia University faculty in 1960 as a professor of comparative English literature. He was appointed as the dean of Columbia College in July 1968 under a process designed to assuage students in the wake of the recent protests, in which he was approved by Columbia President

Grayson L. Kirk Grayson Louis Kirk (October 12, 1903 – November 21, 1997) was an American political scientist who served as president of Columbia University during the Columbia University protests of 1968. He was also an advisor to the State Department an ...

after being nominated by a committee composed of administrators and faculty members. The students protests had begun in April 1968 in response to plans by Columbia to construct a gym in Morningside Park that was opposed by

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...

residents and by disclosures of university ties to the

Institute for Defense Analyses The Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA) is an American non-profit corporation that administers three federally funded research and development centers (FFRDCs) – the Systems and Analyses Center (SAC), the Science and Technology Policy Institute ...

, a weapons research think-tank connected with the

United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national secu ...

. Several buildings on the campus were taken over, with windows damaged and files destroyed by student protesters. Police cleared out and arrested on charges of criminal trespassing a group of 700 students, but the protests persisted for weeks. At the start of the protests, Hovde served on a faculty group that established a joint committee composed of administrators, faculty and students that established recommendations for addressing disciplinary action for the students involved in the protests. Once he was appointed as dean, Hovde stated that he felt that the "sit-ins and the demonstrations were not without cause" and opposed criminal charges being filed against the students by the university, though he did agree that the protesters "were acting with insufficient cause". Hovde served as dean when the

core curriculum In education, a curriculum (; : curricula or curriculums) is broadly defined as the totality of student experiences that occur in the educational process. The term often refers specifically to a planned sequence of instruction, or to a view ...

underwent fundamental changes. Following his tenure as dean, the ''

Columbia Daily Spectator The ''Columbia Daily Spectator'' (known colloquially as the ''Spec'') is the student newspaper of Columbia University. Founded in 1877, it is the oldest continuously operating college news daily in the nation after ''The Harvard Crimson'', and has ...

'' credited Hovde with having "sought to quietly guide the college, not to rule it; to use the force of persuasion and reason, not the blunt power of authority". He later was a professor of

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

emeritus after a career as a longtime teacher of literature humanities. He received the Great Teacher Award from the Society of Columbia Graduates in 1975. After his retirement in 1995 he served as chair of the Friends of the Heyman Center and also is a member of the Society of Senior Scholars. Professor Hovde received the Award for Distinguished Service to the Core Curriculum in 1997–1998.Carl Hovde
a
WikiCU
under the terms of the

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. Accessed September 11, 2009.

Death

Hovde died at age 82 of lung cancer on September 5, 2009, at his wife's home in

New Canaan, Connecticut New Canaan () is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 20,622 according to the 2020 census. About an hour from Manhattan by train, the town is considered part of Connecticut's Gold Coast. The town is bounde ...

. He was survived by his wife, Bertha Betts, two daughters, a son and four grandchildren. He had divorced his first wife, the former Jane Norris.

References

;Sources *''This article incorporates text fro
Carl Hovde
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WikiCU
under the terms of the

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External links

What Columbia College is Known For
an essay by Hovde in '' Columbia Magazine'' praising John Erskine and the

Core Curriculum In education, a curriculum (; : curricula or curriculums) is broadly defined as the totality of student experiences that occur in the educational process. The term often refers specifically to a planned sequence of instruction, or to a view ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hovde, Carl 1926 births 2009 deaths People from Meadville, Pennsylvania United States Army personnel of World War II American academics of English literature Deaths from cancer in Connecticut Columbia College (New York) alumni Columbia University faculty Deaths from lung cancer People from New Canaan, Connecticut Princeton University alumni Ohio State University faculty United States Army soldiers Journalists from Pennsylvania 20th-century American journalists American male journalists