Howe Will Speak on Loyalty Oath As Conflict Over NDEA Continues

"The Meaning of the Loyalty Oaths in the National Defense Education Act" will be the subject of a lecture to be given tonight by Mark DeWolfe Howe '28, professor of Law. The public talk, sponsored by the Students' Association of the Graduate School of Education, will take place in Emerson D at 8 p.m.

The University, while registering strong opposition to the requirement of loyalty oaths for students, has accepted loan funds under the Act and administered the oath to students. At least twelve other colleges and universities, such as Amherst, Haverford, and Swarthmore, have turned down loan funds rather than administer the oaths.

Howe has already expresesd strong disapproval of the oaths. In a speech to the Law School Democratic Club last April, he is reported to have said that the disclaimer of subversive beliefs and activities contained in the NDEA is clearly unconstitutional.

Howe reportedly went on to indicate that one possible course for the University would be to accept further NDEA grants while refusing to administer the loyalty oath. This would provide a possible test of the oath's legality if government action were to be taken against the University.