The union times., 1945-02-24
Rep. Celler Asks
 US. Investigation

NEW YORK; Nazi- like system of unwritten quotas barring Jews, Catholics and Negroes from many American universities, medical and den- tai schools lay exposed to the public this week.
 It was brought to light as prominent educators urged Pres. Roosevelt to establish a National Fair Education Practice Com mittee to help eliminate "quotas and other forms of racial and re- ligious discrimination in the na- tion's colleges"
 DEMOCRACY?
 Boys and girls, qualified in every way to study for a profession, who applied and were refused in school after school because of their race or creed have known about the quotas for many years. But col leges and universities, supposedly operating under a democratic edu- cational system, have never ad- mitted officially to such practices.
 Under the quota system, the num- Der of Jewish students in any class is restricted to the ratio of Jews in the general population, regardless of the qualifications of the individual student. If among the 400 most qualified students applying to medical school, 40 happen to be Jewish, the admission board will accept only five or 10, re- jecting the rest even though they are more qualified than the students final ly selected. The same system often operates against Italian Catholics. Negroes are usually barred entirely, regardless of their ratio to the gen eral population. Officially such dis crimination is disguised as "geogra- phical selection"
 The demand for am investigation was spurred by exposure of a con- fidential report of the American Dental Assn.'s Council on Dental Education recommending admis- sion of students to Columbia Uni versity and New York. dental schools on a strict racial and re- ligious basis. This report, based on survey by the councils secretary, Dr. Harlan Fl. Horner, objected to adding to stthe excessive number of dental students from one or two racial strains," Jewish and Italian
 Another report presented by the council to a Congressional committee recommended that determined effort should be made on national scale to counteract the trend toward marked racial and geographical unbalance in the entire group of dental students. !" Shocked medical dental and civic groups in New York and elsewhere immediately protested.
 Denouncing the ADA reports, the Department of Higher Educa- tiOn and the Commission for the Defense of Democracy through Education of the National Educa- ton Association and the education division of the Independent Com mittee of the Arts Sciences & Pro- fessions wired Pres. Roosevelt that this move demonstrated the need for a national committee to study the entire field of college and uni versity admission practices.
 
 They charged that racial and re- ligious discrimination is now being practiced against veterans returning to free college education under the CT bill of rights. Thousands of re- turning servicemen will be blocked by these quotas, Prof. A1onzo F. Myers of New York University, chairman of the independent committee, warned, unless something is done about it now
 Educators have long known that discrimination in admission to col leges and professional schools is common practice rather than the exception, he said, adding that this exists in some state universities. The quotas are. comparable only with Hitlerian theology" he said.
 In Washington Rep. Emanuel Celler O., MD introduced a resolution calling for a nationwide investigation into. educational dis criminatiOn by the House commit tee to investigate unAmerican activities.