Corporation to Weigh Dismissal of Jordan

Lloyd Jordan may be dismissed as football coach at Monday's meeting of the Corporation, but neither alumni pressure nor the team's 1956 record will be significant factors in the decision.

The Faculty Committee on Athletics has recommended his dismissal without officially announcing its reasons. Yet members of the committee yesterday denied published reports that the team's poor record was the cause. Instead, they maintained, Jordan has proved himself a "poor teacher," and failed to hold the confidence of players and other students.

It seemed probable that the question of buying up his contract, with two years yet to run, would come up at Monday's Corporation meeting. That body, the University's ultimate governing board, must reach the final verdict on Jordan's coaching future here.

If the subject were not taken up Monday, recent publicity could be expected to mount, and steps apparently are being taken to prepare to inform Jordan officially of the decision, and to make an announcement public at that time.

All indications were that the Corporation would accept the recommendation of the highly respected Faculty Committee on Athletics, and one member of the committee said he felt it was "inconceivable" that the advice would not be accepted.

Committee Members

Chaired by Thomas D. Bolles, Director of Athletics, the committee also includes:

Dean Bender, Dana L. Farnsworth, Director of the University Health Services, John H. Finley, Jr. '14, Master of Eliot House, George B. Kistiakowsky, Abbott and James Lawrence Professor of Chemistry, Dean Mason of the Public Administration School, Dean Leighton, John U. Monro '34, Director of Financial Aid, Charles H. Taylor, Master of Kirkland House, and Dean Watson.

Boston newspaper stories have implied that alumni pressure was responsible for the Committee action, and there have been rumors that New York alumni had offered to pay Jordan's salary for the next two years, about $25,000. No one on the Committee or in the Administration reached yesterday would substantiate either of these reports.

"There has been no noticeable alumni pressure," declared one, and another important official said flatly that alumni influence had nothing to do with the decision.

Alumni Money Denied

Several officials also denied that any alumni offer had been made to buy up the contract, and one implied that if any such offer were made, it would probably not be accepted.

According to committee members, the feeling that Jordan was a poor teacher was a cumulative one built up over several years, despite the fact that he was given a new contract in the summer of 1955. This was explained as an effort to improve the situation by showing him that the University had confidence in his performance.

The present complaints against Jordan, said this member, specifically include his vehemence against officials' decisions and his criticisms of University admissions policies for failure to bring more athletes here, and extend to a general criticism of attitude, as one that did not "inspire confidence."

Tactics Unassailed

None of these individuals criticized his tactical handling of the team, or its record, and one at least praised his handling of the team in defeat against Yale.

It was understood that the Faculty Committee on Athletics took up the question of Jordan's continuance at its first meeting after Bolles returned from the Olympics in early December, Jordan was informed of its decision by Bolles on Monday, December 31, though the recommendation had probably been agreed on more than a week before that. The story reached the Boston papers on Wednesday, and the "leak" has been attributed to Jordan by some.

Leak Harmful

The leak, with the attendant publicity, seemed to at least one member of the Committee to lessen the chances of Jordan's remaining here in some capacity other than football coach, a possibility that apparently had been considered.

Lloyd Paul Jordan, Harvard's twentieth football coach, was appointed mentor here on March 1, 1950, after 17 years at Amherst. He succeeded Art Valpey, who had coached for just two seasons after replacing Dick Harlow.