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November-December 1949
November 1
President Sproul speaks to the national conference of the American
Bankers Association in San Francisco, and addresses the question
of whether academic freedom should permit Communists to be faculty
members. He says no. “No man can be a member of this
subversive organization without taking on the coloration of its
leaders and sharing in their guilt. . .What place in a university
can be given appropriately to such purblind fanatics as those who
use a false and brutal hope to persuade the young and gullible to
sign away their American birthright?” Sproul is careful
not to refer to the oath, but the press paints his speech as a defense
of the oath.
November
At their regular meeting The Regents pass a resolution to notify
Irving David Fox (see September 27) that they would “give consideration
to your status in the University of California in view of the testimony
that you gave, or declined to give, before the House Un-American
Activities Committee. . .”
November 30
The Berkeley non-signers meet to further organize themselves, appointing
an eight member steering committee, headed by Edward Tolman, a respected
Berkeley professor. For the next several months the non-signers
will meet most Friday evenings at the Berkeley Faculty Club.
December 8
Nationalist Chinese leader Chiang Kai Shek
and his his government evacuate mainland China for Taiwan. The Chinese
Communist government has won control of the country.
December 13
The Chairmen of the Academic Senate Conference Committee meet with
Regent Neylan, chairman of the Regents’ Committee. The
faculty representatives argue that there are no known Communists
on the faculty, which should be evidence of the ability of the faculty
to screen out Communists without Regental interference in academic
freedom. Neylan argues that groups of faculty “leftists”
and “dupes” are forcing the confrontation with the Regents,
and that there is serious concern that Communists are University
employees.
December 16
Regents meeting. Irving David Fox appears before the Board,
telling them he refused to answer some questions of the House Un-American
Activities Committee on the advice of his lawyer. He says in
the 1930s he was a member of some organizations that were later
viewed as Communist-front groups, and in 1942 he attended some Communist
Party meetings and participated in discussions, but never formally
joined or signed a membership card. He says “I began to
feel this was not the organization for me” and in 1942 or 1943
he stopped participating because “I decided I did not agree
with them.” (Fox had earlier signed the special oath required
by the Regents, so he was not among the non-signer UC employees). The
Regents vote to fire him on the premise “that he does not meet
the minimum requirements for membership on the faculty”. Fox
is paid a lump sum amount equivalent to his salary for the remainder
of his one year T.A.’s appointment.
This decision leads to considerable debate within
the University and concern about what the Regents meant by “minimum
requirements” for faculty. The action is condemned by
an informal organization at Berkeley, the Non-Senate Academic Employees,
made up of teaching assistants, lecturers, and others not eligible
for Academic Senate membership.
Compiled by Steve Finacom
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