Instructor Fired in Kansas For Red Amnesty Appeal

Emporia, Kansas has long been famous as the home of the late William Allen White, ardent Bull Mooser, editor of the Emporia Gazette, and crusader for the rights of free speech. It is now rapidly becoming notorious as the locale of Emporia State Teachers College, whose acting President has recently enunciated the doctrine that a college teacher has no right to engage in political activity.

The acting President, John E. Jacobs, made the statement in connection with the case of W. Lou Tandy, a temporary member of the Emporia faculty who was relieved of his teaching duties after signing the petition for amnesty for the eleven Communist leaders convicted under the Smith act last year. By the grace of the Kansas Board of Regents, Tandy continues on the college's payroll until June, but he cannot teach and will not, of course, be rehired.

Jacob's statement in the case has aroused an official protest from the American Association of University Professors, whose principles of Academic Freedom includes the "freedom of a teacher from institutional censure or discipline in the exercise of his political rights." The AAUP has charged the college with dismissing Tandy for merely exercising his right to petition the government.

Tandy's Statement

Tandy has reportedly stated, "I am not and have never been a member of the Communist Party, have never had a single connection with Soviet Russian in any form, have never been to a Communist meeting, and to my knowledge have never even met or spoken to a Communist. Actually I am utterly opposed to all forms of dictatorship, authoritarianism, and totalitarianism."

Tandy's big mistake was to identify himself as a member of the Emporia staff when signing the petition. Somehow this got into the papers. This was a legislative year in Kansas, the year in which a state-supported college cannot afford to incur the displeasure of the legislators. When he heard of the petition, the Secretary of the State Board of Regents told Tandy he should resign in twenty-four hours or else be fired. Tandy held firm. The Emporia faculty, under Jacobs' urging, voted to support "any action the administration of the college might take against Tandy"--even though none had yet been taken. The threat to the College's public relations was clearly the first thing in the faculty's minds.

But the Board of Regents, refusing to fire Tandy outright, cut the ground from under Jacobs. He then felt obliged to defend his Faculty's action. "Mr. Tandy," he said, "has raised the issue of academic freedom. The faculty and students of this college have been and will be free to learn . . . however, if they engage in political action, the institution will not and cannot protect them from the social consequences of their activity . . . it has long accepted in the teacher's code of ethics that any teacher who wishes to enter the political arena would sever his connection with his institution either by resignation or by leave of absence."