Soc Rel Dept. Votes To Reinstate Stauder

The Social Relations Department yesterday condemned the Joint Committee for its handling of the Stauder case and asked that the Corporation appoint him as a lecturer for two years. Jack R. Stauder '61 was the highest ranking Corporation appointee arrested in University Hall.

In a second resolution, the department asked that the Faculty discuss the procedures used against Stauder, rather than considering his case a fait accompli.

S. Franklin Sampson, lecturer on Social Relations, presented the first resolution on reinstating Stander. It passed by a 13 to 10 vote, and states:

"The full faculty, Department of Social Relations, expresses its strong objection to the methods by which the Joint Committee was established, some procedures by which it operated, and some of the statements used to justify its action in Dr. Stauder's case. We, therefore, request the Corporation to act favorably on the department's original recommendation of appointment as Lecturer for two years, pending establishment of a procedure more appropriate to the administration of justice in an academic community."

Second Resolution

The second and less controversial resolution, asking the Faculty to consider Stauder's case, was presented by Ervin Staub, assistant professor of Clinical Psychology. It passed by an 11 to 6 vote, and states:

"That the Faculty consider the procedures used in the disciplinary proceedings against Jack Stauder, and if they are judged inappropriate, establish procedures to reconsider the decision."

The department's vote to reinstate Stauder challenges directly not only the Joint Committee and the Corporation, butalso the senior members of the Soc Rel Department.

On Sept. 25 the senior members met and asked the Corporation to approve Stauder's appointment on the terms which the Corporation had suggested a few weeks earlier. The Corporation, accepting in full the report of the Joint Committee, favored:

reducing Stauder's term of appointment from two years as lecturer to one year as instructor;

suspending Stauder from all teaching privileges during the first semester;

denying Stauder a $1200 pay raise which he would have otherwise received.

On October 1 the department met to consider Sampson's motion to reinstate Stauder. Sampson's resolution, however, was not on the ballot and was tabled by a two-vote margin after 40 minutes of debate.

Commenting on the department's two resolutions, Roger W. Brown, chairman of the Soc Rel Department, said last night, "My feeling remains that I've studied the procedures and I feel that they've been fair. But I do admit there are several points where it is a matter of judgment, and well-intentioned men can disagree."

Aspects of the Stauder case which irked members of the department include:

that neither the Freund Committee nor the Joint Committee was an elected and solely Faculty committee, as stated in the guidelines of the American Association of University Professors:

that the Corporation and Joint Committee denied Stauder the right to stand mute before them;

that the Corporation and Joint Committee considered Stauder at fault for not actively dissuading students from participating in the University Hall takeover.

Almost every department member spoke during the two and one-half hour meeting and the atmosphere remained calm. Stauder, who was present as a full voting member, spoke for about five minutes.

Roger Rosenblatt, a member of the Committee of 15 and the Joint Committee, attended the meeting to defend the Joint Committee's position and to answer questions. Altogether, he spoke for nearly half an hour.

Stauder, reacting to the department's decision, said last night that "any honest Faculty member who seriously studies what happened in my case is bound to come up with the conclusion that the Administration and Corporation have behaved in a way which shows their essential contempt for the Faculty and students.

"After the Faculty voted as a whole to condemn the Vietnam War," he added. "perhaps they recognize that it is inconsistent with firing one Faculty member who opposed that war in a concrete way."

Asked whether he thinks the department's resolutions will make the Corporation reverse its stand on his case, Stauder replied, "I doubt it."