Professors, Politicians Split At Forum on Red Teachers

A four-man panel split down the middle at Rindge Tech last night--two university professors defending and two prominent local politicians opposing the right of Communists to teach in American schools. The discussion launched the current season of the Law School Forum.

John Ciardi, Briggs-Copeland assistant professor of English Composition, and Theodore Brameld, professor of educational philosophy at New York University, disagreed with Ralph W. Sullivan, author of last year's controversial bill to remove tax exemption privileges from schools employing Communist teachers, and Isadore H. Y. Muchnick'28, formerly on the Boston City Council and at present a member of the city's School Board. The Forum was moderated by Francis Keppel'38, Dean of the Faculty of Education.

Ban Asked on Red Teaching

Speaking first, Muchnick asserted that "avowed or proven" members of the Communist Party should be prohibited from teaching in American schools. Drawing an analogy between moral corruption and the beliefs of the Communist Party, Muchnick said it was the duty of American legislators to defend the nation's youth against what he termed the "political immorality" of those who advocate the revolutionary overthrow of the government.

Ciardi, speaking next, answered Muchnick by denying the need or advisability of laws barring Communists from faculties, and said that such legislation would place a restriction on "the basic principle of the educational process--a mind free to observe data without outside influence."

He presented as an alternative to legislation against Communists the principle of "administrative discretion" by the heads of the schools themselves.

Sullivan Disagrees

Sullivan cited Oliver Wendell Holmes' dictum that "no man is free to shout 'fire' in a crowded theater" in defense of his thesis that Communist Party tactics are a "present threat" to American freedom and should be opposed by whatever legislation is needed. Emphasizing the implications of the present international situation, he said, "There are only two contestants in the world scene today--the United States and Russia. We have no alternative but to consider Russia as an enemy."

Speaking last, Professor Brameld upheld the right of teachers, as citizens, to the full benefits of the Bill of Rights, no matter what their membership in legal political parties. "The Communist Party is legal in the United States until the Supreme Court decides otherwise," he declared. "And I should prefer to take the Court's word."