Communist Teachers: A Dilemma

To the Editors of the CRIMSON:

I cannot answer the questions on your postcard about Communist teachers properly by a simple "yes" or "no." I do not see how we could enforce a ban on all Communist teachers, unless all teachers are to be investigated by the FBI; this seems to me impossible, and it would be intolerable if it were possible. Making all teachers take an oath of loyalty would be most objectionable, from my point of view, and it will not keep out the Communists, who will swear falsely without batting an eye-lash.

Certainly Communists, if they really follow the party line, sacrifice their intellectual freedom; if they do not follow it, they are not Communists. This sacrifice of freedom extends to all branches of knowledge: no good Communist can teach the objective facts about genetics today; and the party line dictates one's approval or disapproval in literature, art, music, and philosophy.

Communists are shifty, and treacherous colleagues, and I do not wish to collaborate with them in any program of political or social action; even when they profess to be working with you on this or that issue, their actions reveal that they have different and incompatible ends in view. Hence I think university presidents are justified in not hiring known Communists, and are justified in firing them in cases where a teacher has clearly sacrificed his freedom to use his own independent judgment. Use of this latter power, however, threatens a flood of abuses; it can only be held in check by an aroused and vigorous public opinion, among faculty and students and (so far as possible) among the public at large.

This whole problem raises a grave dilemma, as my letter doubtless indicates; I cannot find any simple answer. I should like to see Marxist doctrine vigorously and clearly expounded in our universities; we must understand the strength of Communism, and the power of its appeal to many people, if we are to act wisely in the world today. But a frank clear exposition of Marxist doctrine is the last thing to be expected from men trained to work by undercover methods. The usual formulas by which one attempts to guarantee freedom of speech and teaching are all, I fear, inadequate guides in the extreme complexity of the present situation. John T. Edsail '23   Associate Professor of   Biological Chemistry