Hicks Leaves Communist Party; Resigns Post on "New Masses"

Granville Hicks '23, who as the first avowed Communist on the Harvard Faculty was the center of a stormy controversy, has resigned from the Communist Party, it was learned last night by the CRIMSON from a high party official.

Hicks has also resigned as an editor of the New Masses, the leftist publication admitted last night in an exclusive confirmation. Hicks, who could not be reached by telephone, was reportedly antagonized by the attitude of the Communist organization towards the recent Russo-German alliance as expressed in its official press.

While not disavowing his Communist beliefs, Hicks resigned following the Russian aggression on Poland and more directly because of the party's idealization of the "Red Army of Liberation."

As a Counsellor in American History in Adams House last year, Hicks was the brunt of numerous attacks by alumni, local politicians, and the metropolitan press. The University's refusal to give Hicks a permanent appointment following his one year term caused an equally intense stir in undergraduate circles.

Strong Party Defender

Hicks has always been a strong defender of Communist principles, his best known work being "I Like America". While in Boston he engaged in several public debates espousing Communist doctrines. He is now residing on a farm in Grafton, N. Y. and is engaged in literary work.

First rumors reached the CRIMSON through Hick's friends and members of the Young Communist League. A New York official of the Communist Party confirmed the rumor, and later in the day it was learned from the New Masses that Hicks had broken with the publication.

In its next edition on Thursday the editors of the New Masses will comment editorially on the resignation of one of the party's foremost exponents. Hicks could not be reached at Grafton for a statement, but it is understood that his reasons will be disclosed in an article in the forthcoming issue of the New Republic.