Evening star., 1953-03-13
Two Speakers Warn
OF PeriIs in Probes
OF Reds in Schools

OF Reds in SChO0Is
Fears that the congressional
Investigations of communism in
education might transform to-
days students into a generation
OF intellectual SiSsies" and
make teachers professional
towards" were expressed by two
members of the f1ve-man panel
participating in the conference
on Academic Freedom in the
United States at Howard Univer-
sity last night.
They were DR.. A. Powell Da-
vies, minister of All Souls Uni
tartan Church. and Nathaniel
Weyl. economist and author. The
other members of last nights
panel. the second session of the
four-day conference, were Rich
ard Kennan, executive secretary,
Defense Committee, National
Education Association; Repre-
sentative Gwinn, Republican, of
New York, and Representative
Boiling, Democrat, of Missouri.
DR.. Davies. who has repeatedly
taken the congressional commit
tees to task for their methods
of investigation, attributed his
fear to "the atmosphere created
by these committees.
ANY one who believes in ira
ditional American principles is
viewed with suspicion" he said,
"but to be considered a patriot,
one only has to shout that he is
anti-Communist. It's even bet
ter if he's an eX-Communist and
has a good memory for names"
Percentage Called Small.
Mr.. Weyl, who commended
the work of the Jenner Commit
tee, said that there are fewer
Communists in education than
many people realize.
He said that of the 1926, 900
teachers in America, studies
have shown that only $50 to 700
are Communists. He added that
only about 100 of the 100000
college faculty members are
actually Communists.
Mr.. Weyl said that the Com
munists in education are not en-
titled to academic freedom and
should be driven out because
they are not in a "dispassionate
search for the truth"
Mr.. Kennan, who opened last
nights program with an address
on Current Restrictions on
Academic Freedom" listed five
such restrictions which have
come about because of what he
called "a successful attempt to
prepare Segments of our popu-
lation to accept the most ar
rogant methods and concepts of
the Facists."
They were restriction on sui
ject matter and topics of dis
Cussion, limitations on tech
niques and methods of instruc-
ton, banning of textbooks, fading
of participation in extra-curricu-
lar activities of the slightest
controversial nature and the i'm
position of loyalty oaths.
Gwinn ASSailS Red Teachers.
Representative GWinn said
that the very fact that a teacher
is a Communist means that he
has renounced academic free
dom.
The college professor has
contract with the student and
the trustee which cannot be kept
if he teaches willy-nilly, refuses
to answer questions about his
loyalty, and uses his position as
a cover-up for his affiliations"
he said.
FaciSm, communism and Nc
Carthyism were Jumped into the
same category by Representative
Boiling. THE three have achieved
the same result" he said, "and
that is confusion"
Declaring that many liberal
and radical teachers had proved
easy prey for the Communists,
the Congressman said: These
propagandists should not be al
lowed to function under the guise
of scholars.
THE colleges may not do a good
Job of cleaning them out" he
added, "but they can do far
better job than the McCarthys,
JennerS and Veldes."
The third session of the four
day conference, which is being
sponsored by the Howard
University Division of Social
Sciences, gets underway at 8 pm.
tonight at Rankin Chapel on the