Hansen Hits California's Latest Curtailment of Faculty Freedom

Alvin H. Hansen, Lucius N. Littauer Professor of Political Economy, yesterday expressed concern over the decreasing degree of faculty autonomy at the University of California.

Hansen, who spent last summer as a guest professor at the University of California, told the CRIMSON that "the California faculty acted in a responsible manner in signing the loyalty oath first imposed by its Board of Regents."

"But," he continued, "the action taken by the Board of Regents in its September meeting of this year has set aside the procedure by which a faculty committee provided protection against the arbitrary dismissal of a faculty member.

"This action leaves security of tenure in a precarious position and seriously reduces the measure of faculty autonomy and control which had become traditional at California and in freer American universities."

Hansen said that even if current court action in California falls, the fight will continue until at least security of tenure and reinstatement of the dismissed faculty members are attained.