UNIVERSITY RECORD VICTOR H. HENDERSON While in New York at the end of December, on his way back to the University after a half year spent in Germany, Italy, Greece, and Egypt, President Wheeler completed the arrangements for the inauguration of the work of the George Williams Hooper School of Medical Research and for the laying of the cornerstone for the new $600,000 teaching hospital for the Medical Department. The plan is that the eastern members of the advisory board for the Hooper Foundation, Dr. Henry Smith Pritchett, President of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Dr. Simon Flexner, Director of the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, and Dr. William Henry Welch, Baxley Professor of Pathology in the Johns Hopkins Medical School, shall come to San Francisco in February. Plans will then be completed for the inauguration of the work of research in the medical sciences to endow whica Mrs. Sophronia T. Hooper has given redwood lands in Humboldt County, California, valued at between $1,000,000 and $2,000,000. At the same time there will be exercises in connection with the laying of the cornerstone of the new teaching hospital, given by a group of generous donors. Regent William H. Crocker reported to the Regents at their November meeting that the $600,000 necessary for the erection of the new hospital had now been fully subscribed. A committee of five was appointed, including Regent Crocker as chairman, Regents Taussig and Moffitt, Regent Britton, as chairman of the Committee on Grounds and Buildings, and Regent Earl, as chairman of the Finance Committee, with full power to act in the matter of the erection of the new hospital. Plans for the hospital have been prepared by Lewis P. Hobart, ex-'98. Dr. Winford H. Smith, Superintendent of the Johns Hopkins Hospital of Baltimore, is to come to San Francisco to advise as to all the details of the hospital and its equipment. Construction will begin early in the year. The hospital building will adjoin the present Medical Department buildings at the "Affiliated College" site on Parnassus avenue, San Francisco, overlooking Golden Gate Park. The donors whose munificence has provided the moneys for the erection of the new University Hospital are as follows: Members of the Crocker family, in memory of George (The individual donors of this $150,000 are as fol- John M. Keith, in memory of his wife A friend of the Children's Department Gordon Blanding Mrs. Elise A. Drexler Mrs. James Moffitt Selah Chamberlain C. Frederick Kohl W. B. Bourn Mrs. Jeanette Jordan $150,000 150,000 125,000 25,000 25,000 25,000 10,000 10,000 10,000 10,000 10,000 10,000 5,000 George H. Roos, Leon L. Roos, and Robert A. Roos, in ACADEMIC FREEDOM SUSTAINED During a meeting of a class in Political Science one of the students asked Professor David P. Barrows a question as to the existing status of affairs in Mexico. The answer made by Dr. Barrows, in which he expressed the opinion that American intervention in Mexico would be for the best interests of the world, was made the subject of a news article written by a member of the class, who was also a reporter for a San Francisco paper. This newspaper article, together with newspaper accounts of subsequent discussions by Professor Barrows of problems of Mexican affairs in the course of public addresses before the Chamber of Commerce of Berkeley, etc., led to the adoption of resolutions by the San Francisco Democratic Club, presented to the Regents on November 11 and by the Regents ordered placed on file, which were as follows: "WHEREAS, There appears in the San Francisco Chronicle of the 16th of October, 1913, an article containing extracts and quotations from an address made by Dr. David P. Barrows, Acting President of the University of California and head of the Department of Political Science, before his class, on the topic, 'International Relations,' in which he criticized the policy of President Wilson now being pursued in the Mexican situation, denouncing the policy as useless and undiplomatic and saying: “'President Wilson's present policy can never solve the situation in Mexico. It gets us nowhere and its continuance simply antagonizes the Mexican people. I should like to see in the President's chair this morning a man who is prepared and willing to mobilize the armed forces of the United States on the Mexican border, send warships to the Mexican waters, make known our demands in plain language and take whatever immediate action is necessary to see that they are acceded to. Intervention in Mexico might be called war. Call it what you like. We have a right to intervene because our interests are now in jeopardy. "A brigade of American troops, properly supported by rapidfire guns, could march through the whole Mexican army into Mexico City. Not that the Mexicans are not brave, but they are entirely unorganized, not under capable leaders, and are poorly equipped. They could thus offer no effective resistance to a regular army.' "AND WHEREAS, The delivery of such an address at the time and under the conditions at present existing in the relationship between this country and Mexico stamps Dr. Barrows as lacking in judgment and devoid of patriotic instincts. "AND WHEREAS, The delivery of such an address by an instructor to a class of American students is calculated to lower their moral standard, lessen their respect for constituted authority and destroy their patriotism, and when given as part of a course of instruction by accredited authority is improper and destructive of high ideals. "AND WHEREAS, It is provided in the Constitution of the State of California, Section 9, Article IX, 'The University of California shall constitute a public trust. . . It shall be entirely independent of all political or sectarian influences, and kept free therefrom in the appointment of its regents, and in the administration of its affairs. . . .' Therefore, be it "RESOLVED, That this Club condemns Dr. David P. Barrows, Acting President of the University of California, as being incompetent and unsafe to instruct students in the University. "RESOLVED, That this Club declares that Dr. Barrows, in delivering such address, made use of his high office for political purposes in an effort to direct the minds of the students in political affairs and control their future political action, and has by his attack upon the President of the United States openly insulted many thousands of the taxpayers of California, whose taxes are apportioned to the support of the University. "RESOLVED, That this Club demands that the Governor of the State of California and the Regents of the University take action to correct the evil already done by Dr. Barrows and prevent in the future the delivery of ill-advised lectures, especially when such declarations would tend to embarrass the Government of the United States in the effort to solve a great international problem without bloodshed and tremendous sacrifice of human life. "RESOLVED, That C. W. Eastin, O. C. Wilson and D. I. Mahoney be appointed a committee and are hereby instructed to transmit these resolutions to the Governor of the State of California, to the Regents of the University, to President Wilson and the members of his Cabinet, to the Democratic County Committees, and publishers of Democratic newspapers throughout this State, and to the press of San Francisco.' Upon the receipt of these resolutions by Governor Hiram W. Johnson, as President of the Board of Regents, Governor Johnson made the following reply to the San Francisco Democratic Club: "Messrs. C. W. Eastin, O. C. Wilson, and D. I. Mahoney, Committee, "San Francisco Democratic Club, San Francisco. "Gentlemen: "I have only just this day received your communication of October 16, containing the preamble and resolutions relating to the utterances by Dr. David P. Barrows, Acting President of the University of California, concerning the present Mexican situation. I observe that you state that the address of Dr. Barrows stamps him as lacking in judgment and devoid of patriotic instincts and is calculated to lower the moral standard of students, lessen their respect for constituted authority, destroy their patriotism, and is destructive of higher ideals, and because of these recitals you condemn the address and you state that Dr. Barrows in delivering it made use of his office for political purposes, and therefore you demand that action be taken by the Governor and the Regents to correct the evil. "First, my knowledge of Dr. Barrows is such that I feel perfectly safe in saying that the particular address to which you refer was not delivered for political purposes at all. This portion, therefore, of your communication may be eliminated. "I do not at all agree with you that the expression by any person connected with the State University of his views upon any current topic can possibly have the effect you suggest. I insist upon the right of every man connected with the State Government to speak freely his views upon every subject, whether these views accord with yours or mine, or with the views that may be most commonly held by our people. I insist upon the like right of every man connected with the University of California publicly to express himself as he sees fit upon any current topic. I do not think the time has come when any man connected with the government of the United States or of the State should be immune from what any other may consider just criticism. This is entirely apart from whether I agree with the views of Dr. Barrows or not. That the views of Dr. Barrows may be at variance with your views or with my views is of no consequence. Because he is connected with the University of California, he does not in my opinion forfeit his right as an American citizen to express his views, and I believe that an attempted suppression of the right freely to speak by any Professor in the University would do more harm incalculably than the expression of views that we might think erroneous. If the time ever comes when the men who constitute the faculty of our University are unable to express themselves upon public questions freely, the time will have arrived when the greatest usefulness of our College will be at an end. "Your demand, I observe, is made on me as Governor of the State, and upon the Regents of the University of California, and so far as I am concerned, I would not in any degree curtail or attempt to suppress the views that any man connected with the University may see fit to utter upon any subject that may be of importance to our people, or any part of our people." |