"Any suggestion that we should employ here a procedure comparable to that required by the necessities of secret government work and investigate the loyalty of our staff is utterly repugnant to my concept of a university," he continued.

Although the statement made it clear that the FBI would not become a fixture on Harvard's campus as it already was on Yale's, some feared the policy clarification would not be enough to undo the damage of the EPC's original report.

For those devoted to intellectual freedom, the report was a warning of the events to come.

Setting an Example

More so than any time before, world events had shaped the political atmosphere at Harvard in the late 1940s. As veterans returned from active duty, the student body as a whole was older and more experienced than prewar and postwar classes.

Harvard professors, many of whom were world-renowned experts on topics like Communism, nuclear weapons and U.S.-Soviet relations, also exposed the Class of '49 to an unusually high level of political debate.

Associate Professor of Government Payton S. Wild gave an alarmist lecture about the nuclear race and the potential for what The Crimson called a "Gestapo situation" in the United States in April 1946.

Meanwhile, Professor of History C. Crane Brinton '19 warned students against a military alliance with England, whose motives in the Cold War he called into question.

Arthur M. Schlesinger '37, then an associate professor of government, wrote and lectured frequently about the dangers of Communism and the need to support the postwar European relief effort.

Harvard students and professors also became involved when Massachusetts Attorney General Clarence A. Barnes proposed a bill that would prohibit Communists from teaching in Massachusetts public schools.

Student groups organized letter-writing campaigns, and in April 1948 Professor of Geology Kirtley F. Mather challenged the attorney general to a debate at Harvard. The bill ultimately passed, albeit in a watered-down form.

A Campus Presence?

Although the conservative Chicago Tribune branded Harvard a "hotbed of Communism" in January 1948, the main Marxist organization for undergraduates in 1949--the John Reed Club--never boasted more than 50 members.

Nevertheless, the society made its presence felt on campus. John Reed members twice played host to the well-known German Communist Gerhard Eisler. On both occasions, capacity crowds turned out to hear Eisler speak.

About 500 students attended a lecture on the "Marxist Theory of Social Change," and an additional 200 were turned away from the door at the second speech in February 1949.

According to former John Reed President Robert Bellah '48, most students attended Eisler's lectures out of curiosity and because he was a notorious national figure--not because they shared his political views.

Bellah says that non-Communists in the student body and Faculty were usually ambivalent toward the John Reed Club. He adds, however, that the administration tried to influence his organization.