Kerr, Meyerson Resignation Due To Feud With Board Chairman Carter

A feud with Edward Carter, Chairman of the University's Board of Regents, caused the resignations of Clark Kerr, president of the University of California, and Acting Chancellor Martin Meyerson on Tuesday, informed sources said yesterday.

The dispute concerns the university's handling of five students who were arrested in the "obscenity" demonstrations at Berkeley last week. The students called themselves the FSM--the filthy speech movement.

Kerr and Meyerson felt that disciplinary action should be taken by the faculty committee which usually deals with undergraduate affairs.

Carter, however, called for a special meeting of the Board of Regents after the faculty committee claimed that the political overtones of the case had "taken it out of our bounds."

Students Want Kerr

The Berkeley Student Council this morning passed two resolutions asking that Kerr and Meyerson withdraw their resignations. Both men indicated that they had resigned in a parliamentary move. Kerr said "I have resigned to stop the continuing and destructive degradation of freedom into license and to avoid a new confrontation at Berkeley which could only damage the campus even more."

Governor Edmund G. Brown said that he deplored the resignations and hoped that the Board of Regents would refuse to accept them. Speculation is that if the Regents voted today, Kerr would be asked to remain.

Murphy A Candidate

Franklin Murphy, Chancellor of the UCLA campus, is the leading candidate to become the new president of the university system if Kerr's resignation is accepted. His candidacy is supported by Mrs. Dorothy Chandler, John Canady, and Mrs. Catherine Hearst, all influential conservative Californians.

In past Regent splits, political factors have determined the result of many debates. The Board at this time is basically liberal and this leads observers to believe that they would refuse Kerr's resignation.