Academic Freedom Imperiled: The McCarthy Era at the University of Nevada (Wilbur S. Shepperson Series in Nevada History) (Wilber S. Shepperson Series in Nevada History)

The "Red scare" of the 1950s created a national crisis that challenged concepts of loyalty and freedom of speech in every corner of American society. The crisis was especially problematic in American universities, where traditions of academic freedom found themselves at odds with political issues stemming from the cold war. The University of Nevada in Reno was no exception. The university before and during World War II was a small (fewer than 2,000 students) school offering basic programs to a largely Nevada-based student body in the nation’s least-populated state. The campus was quiet, secure, traditional, and generally conservative. The postwar years brought booming enrollments and new faculty members, many from outside Nevada, imbued with a sense of the importance of research and of shared academic governance. Soon, the university found itself embroiled in an intense controversy that threatened its academic integrity and even raised concerns about its future as a viable institution. The 1952 appointment of Minard W. Stout as president triggered the crisis. Mandated by a conservative Board of Regents to "clean up" the university, Stout brought to his new job a keen sense of mission and a strident commitment to an authoritarian, top-down chain of command. His subsequent battles with faculty and students over their role in university governance and over the very nature of higher education soon degenerated into angry accusations of faculty Communist sympathies and bitter confrontations over academic free speech, academic freedom, and loyalty. The storm brought the university national notoriety and made the administration of higher education a major issue within Nevada, ultimately involving the state legislature and the courts in an effort to resolve the conflict. J. Dee Kille’s lively and insightful account of the crisis "on the hill" rests on a wide range of archival sources, interviews and oral histories, university records, and published sources. Of vital interest to readers interested in 1950s Nevada, the book also serves as a powerful case study of the devastating impact of McCarthyism, suspicion, and repression on an American university during this turbulent era in the nation’s history. The Red scare of the 1950s created a national crisis that challenged concepts of loyalty and freedom of speech in every corner of American society. The crisis was especially problematic in American universities, where traditions of academic freedom were at odds with political issues growing out of the Cold War. The University of Nevada in Reno was no exception.

The University before and during World War II was a small school offering basic programs to a largely Nevada-based student body in the nation's least-populated state. The campus was quiet and generally conservative. The postwar years brought booming enrollments, new faculty members with liberal views, and growing disputes over the practice and purpose of higher education. The 1952 appointment of Minard W. Stout as president triggered the crisis. Mandated by a conservative Board of Regents to clean up the University, Stout brought to his new job a keen sense of mission and a strident commitment to an authoritarian chain of command. His subsequent battles with faculty and students quickly degenerated into angry accusations of faculty Communist sympathies and bitter confrontations over academic free speech, university governance, and loyalty. Soon, the university found itself embroiled in an intense controversy that threatened its academic integrity and even raised concerns about its future as a viable institution. Before Stout's resignation in 1957, the storm had brought the university national notoriety and made the administration of higher education a major political issue within Nevada, ultimately involving the state legislature and the courts in an effort to resolve the conflict. J. Dee Kille's lively account of the crisis on the hill records a critical period in Nevada's recent history and serves as a powerful case study of the devastating impact of McCarthyism and its atmosphere of suspicion and repression on one American-university campus during this turbulent era in the nation's history.

"The "Red scare" of the 1950s created a national crisis that challenged concepts of loyalty and freedom of speech in every corner of American society. The crisis was especially problematic in American universities, where traditions of academic freedom were at odds with political issues growing out of the Cold War. The University of Nevada in Reno was no exception." "J. Dee Kille's account of the crisis "on the hill" records a critical period in Nevada's recent history and serves as a powerful case study of the devastating impact of McCarthyism and its atmosphere of suspicion and repression on one American-university campus during this turbulent era in the nation's history."--Jacket. Contents......Page 8 List of Illustrations......Page 10 Acknowledgments......Page 12 Introduction......Page 16 1: Dictators and "Reducators"......Page 22 2: Who Is the Boss, Anyway?......Page 47 3: Let the Investigations Begin......Page 74 4: Out with Stout......Page 98 Epilogue......Page 121 Notes......Page 126 Bibliography......Page 142 A......Page 148 B......Page 149 D......Page 150 F......Page 151 H......Page 152 M......Page 153 P......Page 154 R......Page 155 S......Page 156 U......Page 157 Y......Page 158 Throughout its first six decades in Reno as the only institution of higher learning in the stare, the University of Nevada (UN) had experienced a relatively placid existence.