Who Said That?

Here is a famous quote:

Clark Kerr

 "I find the three major administrative problems on a campus are sex for the students, athletics for the alumni, and parking for the faculty."

Clark Kerr, president of the University of California,

according to allgreatquotes.com

Robert M. Hutchins

                                                                                                                     


"The three major administrative problems on a campus are sex for the students, athletics for the alumni, and parking for the faculty."                    

Robert M. Hutchins, president and chancellor of the University of Chicago

according to brainyquote.com

     

It's a mystery who the clever commenter is. I would note that each of these websites has made at least one mistake:

     --Clark Kerr was the chancellor (not president) of the University of California, Berkeley, at the time he was said to have made this statement.  He later become president of the UC system.

     --Robert M. Hutchins was the president (not the president and chancellor) of the University of Chicago.

If I had to choose the likelier candidate, I would go with Kerr.  His 2003 UC obituary states that he said the above at a 1957 faculty meeting and that it was picked up by both TIME and Playboy magazines, which suggests the writer had access to a fair amount of information.  I am not in a position to track down those citations, however.

Hutchins, on the other hand, could be tetchy about placating his constituencies.  He abolished Chicago's intercollegiate football program in 1939 (after Jay Berwanger of the school won the first Heisman [then Downtown Athletic Club] Trophy in 1935) because he considered the sport at odds with the goals of the university.  Someone who would take such a move might well be the sort of person to make the quoted comment, and with some asperity.

Sadly, you can't believe everything you read on the internet.