The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1928-12-05
BOSSES COLLEGE
S MASH
NEARING LECTURE
Militant Students Will
Fight
(By a Student Correspondent

PITTSBURGH, Pa. (By Mail.-
Placards. announcing that Professor
Scott Nearing would give a course
in Economic Conflict" from De-
cember to Z, inclusive, under the
auspices of the Liberal Cuba stu
dent organization of about fifty
members-of the University of
Pittsburgh, were torn down from
the university bulletin boards by or
der of the administration of that
school. The reason that the admin
istration gave to the Scott Near
ing arrangements committee (com-
posed OF Bill Albertson, chairman;
Harry Weiss, president of the club,
and Edith Kline, secretary for this
action, was that Scott Nearing, al
though brilliant and a genius in
some respects was nevertheless
dangerous" to the unframed minds
ct the university students.
Liberals Pretend to Fight.
The membership of the Liberal
Club, feeling "highly indignant"
over this "breach of a right of a
campus organization" by the adj
nlinistration, passed a resolution
condemning in mild words the ac-
ton of the rulers of the university,
in which they also called on the stu
dent body to back them in the fight
that they contemplated with the adj
ADMINISTRATION of the University of
Pittsburgh, But the resolution was
never made public because this was
liberal" club, and because liber-
ais as a rule never carry out their
militant" desires.
Chancellor Bowman of the Uni
versity of Pittsburgh, in explaining
his action to the Pittsburgh Press,
stated that "the university bulletin
boards are only for advertising uni
versity affairs. Anyway, if we al
low the Scott Nearing meetings to
be advertised on our bulletin boards
it might lead to other things that
we do not want" But the liberals
could not see that the administra-
ton was using this technical issue
to hide the real purpose of smash
ing the lectures.
Meanwhile word had come from
the Dean of Men, Armbruster, that
if publicity were given to this whole
affair of the placards, he would
smash the Liberal Club and throw
its leaders out of school. Never
theless, the Scott Nearing arrange
ments committee prepared state
ment for the press which completely
refuted that which had been released
by Chancellor Bowman. The state
ment, in brief, was that the Welfare
Fund of Pittsburgh, fraternity
dances, church forums and sermons,
ETC., were at present being adver-
tised on the university bulletin
boards, although these events were
not part of the university, and
that the Liberal Club was.
Then something happened-some-
thing characteristic Of liberals.
After the committee had presented
this statement to the liberal club
membership for vote, one of the
committee backed out and refused
to stand behind this statement
which he himself had helped to
draw up. As result, the motion
to release this statement to the
press was lost, and Chancellor Bow
man appeared to be the victor of
| the whole affair. These liberals
acted as all liberals do in crisis
they gave up the fight at the most
strategic moment and turned con-
sentative.
Continue Struggle.
The really militant fraction of the
Liberal Club wishes to take this OPP
portunity to state that it will fight
and continue to fight against the
administration in its attempts to
smash the Scott Nearing lectures,
and in any attempts it may make in
the future to keep radical thought
and action from appearing on the
campus of the University of Pitts
burgh. This fraction also condemns
most vehemently the cowardly ac-
ton of the membership of the Lib
eral Club in its refusal to fight the
administration on an issue in which
the club was not only correct, but
also had the upper hand until the
sell-out by this insipid member of