Dorgan States Furry Broke Teacher Oath

In a telegram to President Pusey, Thomas Dorgan, clerk of the Suffolk Superior Court, this week charged that Wendell H. Furry, associate professor of Physics, has "willfully and deliberately" violated the Massachusetts Teachers Oath and should be dismissed from the University.

Replying yesterday, President Pusey supplied some information requested by Dorgan but did not reply to the charge.

The Teachers Oath, passed in 1935, requires all teachers in universities, colleges and schools in the State to wear to defend and protect the constitutions of the United States and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. A fine of up to $1,000 for violation was added in 1948.

In his telegram Monday, Dorgan asked Pusey to explain the statement, contained in the President's telegram to Senator Joseph R. McCarthy last week, that Furry has not been connected with the Communist Party "recently." "If he has been a member of the party anytime since June 6, 1935, when the Massachusetts Oath was signed into law, then he should be fired immediately," Dorgan said.

In his reply, Pusey quoted the Corporation's statement of May 20, 1953, which said that Furry joined a small group of the Communist Party in 1938 and remained a member until 1947 when he dropped out. Furry, who began teaching here in 1934, signed the Oath in July, 1935.

Legal opinion has been split on the application of the Teacher's Oath. Some lawyers believe that the Teacher's Oath is "promisory," binding the signer in his future actions, while others say it is simply an expression of present feeling and has no reference 'to subsequent actions.