February 1953

Declaring that she spoke for herself and not for the college, President Blanding released a statement of her views about the current Congressional investigations of subversive influences in education. Colleges, she said, should be responsible for “weeding out the incompetents and misfits,” adding that the Congressional committees might open a “wedge for Federal control of our educational system.”

“I think,” she continued, “that the effect of a Congressional inquiry would be to increase the pressure and the fears that have already narrowed freedom of inquiry and expression in our academic life.

“As much as I regret the plans for a Congressional investigation, I do not question the right of the committee of Congress to conduct such an investigation.”

The New York Times