University Denies Walsh, Sweezy Dismissed for Political Reasons

By giving two year concluding appointments, University officials last week dismissed Alan R. Sweezy and J. Raymond Walsh, instructors in Economics. In answer to widespread question that the discharges might have been based on the outstanding liberal activities of the two men, a statement was issued explaining that the move had been made "solely on the grounds of teaching capacity and scholarly ability."

It was learned authoritatively last night that the decision to advance the men rested solely with the Economics Department. When this body chose not to promote them, they were dismissed in accordance with the University policy of not keeping instructors with no chance for advancement for more than a reasonable length of time. Walsh has been an instructor since 1929 and Sweezy since 1931.

Petitions To Be Circulated

At an undergraduate meeting Friday afternoon under the chairmanship of Richard T. Davis '38, it was voted that petitions for further investigation of the affair be circulated. Garrett Birkhoff, instructor in Mathematics, presented the faculty viewpoint at the meeting, which was held in the Leverett House Common room.

The petitions, which will be circulated today, take exception to any slur on the "teaching capacity and scholarly ability" of the men. They point out the fact that Walsh's course on Labor Problems has grown in enrollment from 44 to 127, and that last year's students in Sweezy's half-year course in Economic Theory approved the course so much that they voted to continue for another term with no extra credit.