Montana labor news., 1937-08-26
BRENNAN 5p0IL5 CASE
FOR ADMINISTRATION
Continued from Page u

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that the Board of Education follow
its own rules and regulations and
grant Keeney a fair and open hear
ing The unions would not be sat
isfied until this was done. Mr.. Bren-
nan came back with the retort that
the board gave Keeney a hearing on
April IL. This caused a big laugh
because organized labor knew that
Keeney had been subjected to a
s~tar-chamber session on April II.
Mr.. Brennan was next asked to
explain the punishment meted out
to Professor Rowe. His evasive an
swers satisfied no one, though he
admitted very candidly that Presi-
dent Simmons knew far more about
administrative matters than Rowe
which brought forth a hearty laugh.
Earlier in the evening Mr.. Brennan
had made the flat statement that no
one in his audience knew the mean
ing of Academic Freedom. This
challenge had been too much for
members of Local ACT who were
present and they proceeded to de-
molish the house of cards that Mr..
Brennan had built around the adj
m%inistration.
1t was clear that some of Mr.. Bren-
mans denunciation of the activity of
the Missoula unions in behalf of
Professors Keeney and Rowe was
based on information Mr.. Brennan
had received from union sources. On
several occasions he was asked who
had furnished him with such and
such a fact, but each time he refused
to give a direct answer and denied
emphatically that any members of
organized labor kept him informed
of what went on at various council
meetings. If Mr.. Brennan had any
friends in the hall when he entered,
it was evident that he had not added
to their number when he left.
President James D. Graham, who
had been present during the fac
tual' talk of Mr.. Brennan, was the
next speaker. If members of the
Council had been confused by Mr..
Brennan, they must have appre-
ciated the clear tone of Brother Ora
ham. Organized labor had been
grossly insulted at the board meet
ing on April u when it had been
refused the floor of a public body.
This first insult had been increased
when the board on July IL voted to
expunge from the record the min
utes of the executive session of April
II. This was a clear indication that
the board wished to conceal some
thing from the voters and taxpayers
of Montana. Why had the Board of
Education refused to give Keeney a
free and open" hearing based upon
written charges, if his dismissal was
due to causes not based upon his
union activity? Why was Professor
Rowe severely penalized after 81
years of fine service to the state and
university, if it was not for his wish
to see his brother professors united
with labor? Who is holding up the
ALLEGATION of funds for the Phar-
macy Chemistry building? Certain
ly not labor in Montana which has
always wanted to see the University
grow and prosper provided students
receive a proper education based
upon Academic Freedom. That is
a free and fearless presentation of
all the facts of modern life, thereby
enabling students to face life with
a spirit of independent and not of
subservience to the vested interests
that now control the state and the
appointive members of the Board of
Education. In reality these board
members hold up further ALLEGATION
of federal funds by denying Keeney
and Rowe the hearing they are en-
titled to, not only because both are
professors of M. S. U. but because
they r citizens of a democracy and
possess civil rights.