Press enter after choosing selection

Ruthven Says "U" Will Tolerate No Subversive Activities By Students

Ruthven Says "U" Will Tolerate No Subversive Activities By Students image
Parent Issue
Day
17
Month
June
Year
1940
Copyright
Copyright Protected
Rights Held By
Donated by the Ann Arbor News. © The Ann Arbor News.
OCR Text

Ruthven Says ‘U’ Will Tolerate No Subversive Activities By Students

Dr. Alexander G. Ruthven, president of the University, dealt a vigorous warning in his Commencement address Saturday night that “fifth column” activities will not be tolerated at the University.

The University graduating class, made up of 2,262 students, and visiting alumni and other commencement guests heard the University president assert that "Michigan does not welcome students who are not convinced that democracy is the ideal form of government for a civilized people.”

He declared that the University "will not be confused by sophistries built around high-sounding phrases such as ‘freedom of the press’ and 'freedom of speech,’ but will deal firmly without fear or favor, with subversive, or so-called ‘fifth-column’ activities.”

"True freedom consists with the observance of law,” he asserted, "and unlawful acts cannot be justified by difference in ideologies.

“Honest discussion is a valuable method of education, but is to be clearly distinguished from propaganda," Dr. Ruthven added.

He said the University is “an institution of the people, and its staff must continue to insist that Americans who prefer to live under other forms of government are at heart unfriendly aliens who have no right to the benefits provided by our schools.”

In that part of his speech addressed directly to the graduating class, Dr. Ruthven warned, "Unless all signs fail, a world-wide outbreak of an ancient struggle is impending—a conflict between two ideologies—individual freedom and regimentation.

“If this is true,” he said, “it scarcely needs to be argued that the safety of the democracy in America requires not only an immediate tightening of its defenses, but more importantly, a vigorous offensive, involving an improvement of practices.”

The concept of "social and moral neutrality” must be rejected by schools and other social agencies, Dr. Ruthven asserted, stating that they must "both teach and exemplify the principles of self-government.”

He contended that “individually our people must have a spiritual revival. They must abandon their attitude of laissez-faire, their belief that conditions of life in our country are as good as can be expected, their confidence that we can exist in splendid isolation. They must become intolerant of ignorance, greed and injustice.” Cautioning the graduates that as they grew older they would tend to become "too myopic” to see far beyond their own interests, he said the main obstacle to greater service on the part of the schools has been and "bids fair to continue to be” the "lack of support of adults who have abandoned their youthful convictions and refuse to be bothered about the state of the nation, except to complain about it."

"Our failure to improve our attempts at self-government,” he said, "is in important part attributable to our lack of success in carrying over the valuable attributes of youth and the benefits of education beyond Commencement day —with a consequent unlovely narrowing of the mind and a depressing spiritual backsliding.”

He advised that “a democracy cannot be static. When it ceases to improve, it begins to break down. Its improvement is possible only as its citizens become increasingly worthy to govern themselves.”