Milford chronicle., 1954-09-03
THE CASE AGAINST COMMUNIST
TEACHERS

Wnat should be the attitude of university
administrations and the teaching fraternity
as group toward communist teachers 2
mat has long been a big question in this
country, and endless words have been writ
ten In an attempt to answer it. An impress
slVe contribution to that literature has now
Oeen MADE by DR.. Frank Munk, Professor
Of OF !Polltlcal Science at Reed College, in an
arlcle printed in the Portland Oregonian
Reed is small institution in point Of num-
Ders put 1t has a national reputation. DR.
Munk s discussion is made the more signifi-
cant by the fact that three members Of the
reed FACULTY, cited for alleged Communist
party membership, refused to testify before
a Velde Committee hearing on constitutional
grounds, and one Of them has since been sus-
pended by the trustees.
Dr. Munk has more than a theoretical
knowledge of Dictatorship Czechoslovak-
ian 0y birth, he has lived under both Nazism
ana communism. He stands sOlidIv for aca-
demlc freedom, which means. amOno other
things, the freedom to take an unpopular DO
sluon.l lie believes that the congressional in
yestl lgatlons are justly subject to criticism.
but ne also says: is it not true though that
many lntellectuals are only playing into the
nands OF congressional investigators bv their|
deiDerate blindness to the existence of con-
splratOflal Communist groups on the cam
puses OF some of our best colleges and mi
VerslGles! Would the Investigators have
naa Jhelr held day had the academic profess
sion Deen more sensitive to infiltratiOn and
more cognlzant of the threat from the ex-
IRENE leftI Does liberalism always have to
be e-eyed-seeing the enemy on the righf
but not the one on the left?D
DR.. Munk points out that the real oues-
uon IS what degree of academic freedom Is
pOsSlDle-Whether 1t should be unlimited or
not-and asks: docs academic freedom nro-
tect teachers who espouse and propagate
communism, fascism or any other totalitar-
ian ldeology-of which this century probably
Will see few mOre2"
He clearly thinks the answer here is No
ana ne quotes with evident approval from
Ine Harvard University report on Commun
lst professors, which said. in mart "We
think membership in the Communist party
Dy FACULTY member today, with its usual
ceOhcomltant OF secret domination by the par
!ty, goes beyond the realm of his political be-
ileIs and associations. 1t cuts to the care of
ms ability to perform his duties with indie
pendence Of thought and judgment. 1t isl
beyond the scope of academic freedom"
Then DR.. Munk explains why the Com
nunlsJ party IS fundamentally different from
all oJner political movements extant in this
country. Its members acts as agents of an II
-4r-aeAJ AOACABn power lb provides the /
apparatus for an underground conspiratorial
movement which would destroy our system
OF government and replace it with a dictator
snlp-a dictatorship which Dr.. Munk de-
scrlbes as that "of the oligarchy ruling the
communist party" On top of that, Commun- !
ISIS Ieei no obligation to the truth which in /
ltselI, 10 his words, is a denial of 'the very
foundation of academic freedom"
Dr. Munk goes into considerable detail
and summons much factual and historical
evidence in making his case against Com
munlst teachers, and it is a powerful case
indeed. Finally, he believes the solution lies
with the teaching fraternity To quote him
once more, ultimately academic freedom
viii only survive if it viii be equilibrated bv
academic responsibility to the profession it.
self and to the larger community"