DEPARTMENT OF BACTERIOLOGY
BERKELEY 4, CALIFORNIA

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA

]!arch 29, 1950

T SkOL7ld bve rrittw %fore 170~r, 3ut 1-177 stomcZi 'le-.ms --

%e+-~ to think Ft120u-t -%?At ow kculty IF.~ done,  Trll condonse

ms cnrefully sidestepped by the fmulty, because it has almys been
obvious tb-t the faculty wouL4. split on this, Of course the mfiical
non-signers realized clearly that the policy tms the p.rm.~~ouurt issue, and that
the oath m-s principally if not errrclusively objectionable because it
constituted an hplementation of tkt poligy, but for tactical reasons they

talking about the policy to a-void ,just vhat has noF hanpened. Unf~rt~mrtel?,~
the %gents vere also a.w.re of the rels.tive significance of oath and policy,
end 8- few houas before the last senate meeting
vlielning pressures (both direct and indirect) to bear on the faculty big-
shots to get a statement of support for t\3 anti-comnist policy.4ccordin@y,
sevem-1 anticommunist resolutions vere uneqectedly presented in the semte,
and the most influential members of the faculty rose one after arot'-er to
urq3 favom3le action as "the only my to nreverrt destruction of the university".
I tbinl: if t'ne issue h~d been threshed out in deMte earlier, re'd heve mde
i? ~033 fmorn3719 shoving: but the sere.te t7in-t 3~7 -9s in ni noad to debq-te
t%e uolic-7 on its Eerits (tFe "si9 by Rnr.  ?P or 39 fired" ultim.tur! -2s
_"resh in mny minds) ?.nd opponents vere actuallzr s%,outsd ?om on the floor.
It ns one of the ugliest exhibitions of mss hysteria that  I've ever seen.
J-s you knot-r, the Sem,te h:s no:7 voted 4 to 1 to support the mticomunisf
policy, ?ere& I'eylp-n (L'ni?rst's attormy! !+ailed. it as an event of natloml
irqortance, ?nd T ayree. In effect 73 heave opened the   r for sinilc3r rimes
in every v.nlvsrsit:r Ln 5'6s country.  "'-e mttsr -S sumeii UD -5th E-ohoristk
terseness (if not eIep-nce) by 0. Thiloso73err t5e fp-cultg di.dn'-t i~nt to
be cmymd on by th? r-yents, so thy decided to cmn on t'-emselvc?s.

  T3e issue of the oat3 is stX!. unsettled, and t'm big-shots --3o Dut
OV~T the policy 9x9 no7-7 r?obilized. ?or 7. nock-Wttle on it L having Riven
~m.g ths su5stmce the-* are noy- P-pBr-ntlg  illin^ in^ to fi@t to the last
non-signer (consPicuousl-7 9.bsea.t from +heir ranks! to save t 7:e slm-d-orr.
Froyeves, i full7 expsct the regents to rescind the oath or provide t3e
suggested alternative (a ststement of their policy on the Mck, or anus, of
the oeT:r contklnuct forns), Actually I iFrould now not obisct to siqning t?ae oath,
since there's nothing in it to vhic'l? T cm*t pnrsonally subscribe, T'd lmve
held off forever if T'd thought that ?e could thereby defent ths introduction
of E. politic?-l test into the university, but norr tkt the faculty ha.s
e.nproved of a discrimiretory policy,  don't relly see hov they can object
to zny nstkod, ho-ever silly or ineffective, of implementinq it,

   Tor days -fter the senate neetin3 T felt bruised: it 1g-d z rezllg
profound effect on mc?. In the sast 1% af77~).~~ been orou? to be an
irrtellectu9-1 because although T realized tht as a sock1 grouy 778 bd
mxiy obvious ve~knesses - "'e niqht 30 '2opelessIy inefficient in the ordinwy
aSf%irs of life, thoroughly at nrience Tith ths superfic?.l mora.1 tsnets of
our society, even oftqn physic21 cow??rcis -

o '-1-1 t'-rouc$ %'?e y-s*, months, t:ie issue of the %gents* policy

didn't van+ to clerify this. '?e hoped, by>e Ir '%b & rid of the oath v3.thou-t

suddenly brought over-

thou?ht tb-t ve did at 123.s-k

7ossess th9 cnnR2cj-tg to see 0- b-.sic issue vksn it nrow md hit h-rd in such
8 sitnatiol1. ~17j3, .to ne, ~xp,~ the sa~iq-1 justifice '3- on on I -'' , in intsllectim Is

w-lU.es, -.loxgsidAe of T,-r;:ich therir -.ctuz-l cre? tivs conkriktions "'ere seconds r:T,
since these contri3Litior,s on1:-
stmcture of the culture. Tt 's mortifying to kB3.m bmn so grossly in error,
and my esprit de clEtsse (or intellectua.1 snobbery, if you prerer it) is
thoroughly crushed.
  Spea!*ing as an expert on oaths, it seems to me th8t everything Seyond
clause 1 in your state oath is redundant, but I ?onvt find anythinq basic-
ally objectionable in it. L enclose my letter from Snroul mith oath attache?
for you to compare. I've marked on the oath the extent of the State Cath,
which the Regents incorporated as clause 1, Please return, as I ~mrt it for
a keepsake.

  About my own future Ism 3rofoundlg undecided and confused. The battle
nith the regents is no longer important, snd I won't leave for that alone.
This year 1% at last assembled nearly all the equipment we need fa?
research, and in the surmer we are getting the needed space for it upstairs,
as a result of the transfer to mval quarters of Kruegers 01?3 met dream,
Rorrever, we'ro still as far as ever from getting a microbiology curriculum,
and I've come to feel that this can never develop in the existing deprtnwt,
vhere the s&l.iuation is already tsnse and nil1 becomo emlosive on Ptike's return.
This means that ve ca.n*t -train students decently. TIm imdequ3Ae training
nouldnt matter is ve vere content to tackle easy things, but I tmnt no-r to
explore the hard problems, 8-nd for this mst 30 the emerinexrts myself if
vere to get on. Vnfortumtely   can see less find less ch.ap1ce for tkls. I'm
-n ineTficient '-rorkery and aoademic duties, though certainly not ov9m7he1d.Eg
by ordinmy stnndarqs, tnke about 311 tho time T can aim to --~o~k*  -0 do
any research rme3.f on the %rd nroblnns, I'd med. one senoster somplete1:r
Yree of tep-chinq t 7 ~.ste    rroductively tI.,iy$c.nZ s%oi& thinRs.  In vie'*
o-r" p11 t'?Ss, the sensible -I;tiins to 40 --oi11?. '39 to LerVe, '?ut  I +,ill- c-n't
%,r!.ny nyself to ?me i+, T 1iq-L~ ths t501-1;?~ 3-F Sxc'-Fcnginy the %.y are- for
n mss of cornfiiolds, ?.nd in 88dition T?q, v9r-r -* ,and or      Trho *:rou.ld '39
con~letely stmn4ed if T 7~m-t. In oSFor ---oras, if thoro's thg kintest C'nncs
of doing mything contructim 8-t Gsl,  T -,~rrt to stay. TXs lnd ire a coupls
of \-reeks sqo to shovs in an npqlication to +,he '%.new Soc for a long-term
lells-shiD, to 39 spnt princitmlly vorlting full tine here on OUT jyogmia.
I'd hqve to resign from the faculty if tt?e;r ,p.ve it to ne, but at 1w.st 7;
e0~13- s~P~" for 8. .-Wile T-Tith ~-4-m-t ':?e 'vn got. 7'o~rever, my agplicztion can
3e d-isqualified on mmy grounds an' the-- moP-bl_tJ -ant q~prove it* The onlgJ
alt;erw.tive bore vould b4 drastic concsssions from th9 administration on the
future develoyxent oP microbiology, with RS a mimimum the es5sblishnsnt of
a sm~l separate department (m could do -venders dth a fen good people),
I hesitate to play this gam%it, hovevsr, sinc? it rould entail eqosf-ny tF?

3eFHmen-b.l coni"licts 2nd f?-i.lure vould 19avs me vithout an exit,  Z c8-n
get pretty no:7erful support fro3 such outside neoDl3 8.5 3arkor s.nr3 :'nk,
but of course there t-'ould be bitter opposition from Ilruegsr et 3-1, Yefore
venturing, I'd like to hrrve one or t~o Tmmessive offers from slssnhere,
apld of course the Lilly atmrd T-rould be m.nm from hgaven, "'buld vou be
Ydlling to make me a xoo3 offer, ??.ith ",le understanding tllat TfJ lis? it z.s
a crowbar for gettin.: microbiology elrta5lisE29d ~t Czl?  If both these outs
failed, T tE3ink 1 could tskq the cornfields, Tt*s obvious t3at yo'1'~r: ~ot
the 3es5 dov-rtasnt in the country no7, 7i:rl ttls yospect of vor1cing --.it11

in F~ culture, n

11. tl1ei-r p...~i~.~tJr to fiunct:on RS W?.rdi-ils of i$? %-.sic

significo nce in rsletion to fhe 7-:ho1e