In the Shadow of the Bomb by Schweber Silvan S

Author:Schweber, Silvan S.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Published: 2013-07-26T16:00:00+00:00

THE PHILIP MORRISON CASE

On April 5, 1951, Cornell’s acting president, T. P. Wright,57 asked associate professor of physics Philip Morrison to come to his office because he wanted to apprize him “of the numerous letters [he] had received from trustees, alumni and others which have convinced [him] that [Morrison’s off-campus political] activities are bringing great harm to Cornell.”58 Wright took the occasion to read to Morrison some of the sections in the 1940 Statement of Principles of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) dealing with academic freedom. In particular, Wright laid great emphasis on the following passage:

The college or university professor is a citizen, a member of a learned profession, and an officer of an educational institution. When he speaks as a citizen, he should be free from institutional censorship or discipline, but his special position in the community imposes special obligations. As a man of learning and an educational officer, he should remember that the public may judge his profession and his institution by his utterances. Hence he should at all times be accurate, should exercise appropriate restraint, should show respect for the opinions of others, and should make every effort to indicate that he is not an institutional spokesman.59

Taking his cue from another AAUP statement that coupled academic responsibility with academic freedom, Wright tried to convince Morrison that he should alter the character of his extracurricular political activities. Before the meeting, Wright had in fact drafted certain “suggestions,” which he read to Morrison:

1. I urge you favorably to consider refraining from appearing on platforms in a sympathetic role with avowed or proved communists, because such action injures Cornell.

2. I urge and request you specifically to disassociate yourself from Cornell when expressing views in a controversial area outside your professional field.

His third recommendation was more specific. Wright asked Morrison “to refuse accepting sponsorship of any Cornell student group that may propose to organize for support of the Peace Crusade.”60 After he finished reading his “suggestions” to Morrison, Wright voiced the hope that Morrison would abide by them.

As recorded in the letter Wright sent to Morrison following their talk, Morrison had agreed with Wright at the meeting on the need “for associating academic freedom with academic responsibility.” He also promised Wright that he would send him a copy of the principles of the Peace Crusade and copies of letters in which he had expressed his views on matters relevant to the discussion between them.

The meeting between Wright and Morrison was the first of a series of encounters between Morrison and the administration of Cornell University that would take place over the next seven years. Their goal was to try to find a modus vivendi that would accommodate Morrison’s civil liberties, Cornell’s commitment to academic freedom, and the political realities of the McCarthy era. Even though Morrison’s background in physics and politics was similar to that of David Bohm, Frank Oppenheimer, Bernard Peters, and Joseph Weinberg, his experiences at Cornell turned out to be very different from theirs. But in this case, his public political activities became constrained and sharply limited.

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