`Race Pamphleteering' on WSU Campus, Board's
'Inaction' Are Severely Criticized in Community

was incorrect. "There is no ticipated in Cuban-planned activi-
(Continued from Page 1)
ties; that: "The Young Socialists
stated emphatically that there was abuse, and we work together for
expressed their solidarity with the
no desire for censorship, or to stop civil rights," Prof. Wineman
struggles of the Vietnamese and
publication of the student paper, said.
relayed to them the plans for the
The
situation
assumed
a
new
but that there is a demand for an
in the form of an "Open April 6 international anti-war dem-
end to spreading hate and to giv- aspect
onstrations").
ing a platform to foreign elements Letter to Keast and Community"
While the WSU paper is treat-
signed
by
Lonnie Peek, president,
who have introduced on the cam-
ed with contempt by the stu-
pus a spirit of bias that stems Association of Black Students,
dents,
The Jewish News learned
from Cuba, Red China, North published in South End Tuesday,
this week that it is being dis-
in which it is charged that:
Vietnam and Cairo.
tributed
in the Jeffries Project
"Reactionary racism is the
The resolution adopted by the
where, in the West Compound,
WSU board was introduced by greatest disorder that has ever
residents found copies of the
warped the minds of men . . . Our
Rose. It states:
PaPer stuck under their doors.
"The board of governors of position is one of complete and
This, it is said, accounts for the
Wayne State University strongly continued support with views as
way some of the papers are dis-
endorses the position expressed by they are expressed by the present
posed of while they serve the
President Wm. R. Keast in his let- editors . . . Reactionary racism
purpose as a hate sheet in
ter of Feb. 4, to John Watson, has been manifested with increas-
spreading anti-Jewish prejudices
ing intensification by various news
editor of South End.
among Negroes.
"The board believes that the media . . . Let us say we would
Right-wing Breakthrough Tues-
South End under its present editor- regret any actions that the univer- day produced a petition signed by
ial direction has failed to carry sity would feel compelled to make 2,000 students asking for the dis-
out properly its responsibilities to because of a lack of news items on charge of the South End editor. A
students and other members of the student disruptions on campuses rally arranged by Breakthrough
university community, and in fact in the city."
was addressed by two faculty
In the WSU controversy it be- members who said 70 professors
is doing a disservice not only to
the university community but to came apparent that tax money had signed a statement supporting
has financed the spread of hatred; editor Watson. (One of the pro-
society.
"We recognize that the policies that faculty advisers who are re- fessors who addressed the Jewish
and procedures established for sponsible for guiding student action students' rally at the Center Tues-
supervision of this publication by were indifferent to their duties; day was among these 70 profes-
the Student Faculty Council and that the newspaper in question had sors.)
its Student Publication Committee dropped in circulation to less than
(With regard to a showcase with
should be followed. The board of 12,000 and while it is a free cir- Arab propaganda and El Fatah
governors calls upon these student culation paper students refuse to stamps in the WSU Library, it is
organizations to expedite their in- pick up what they call "garbage." now "explained" that the collec-
vestigation of the conduct of the The $14,000-a-year adviser to the tion is not anti-Semitic but merely
South End and requests the presi- paper Stanley Putnam is being call- anti-Israel. Librarian Purdy in-
dent to make an early report on ed indifferent to the developing sists on retaining the exhibit. until
efforts to give effect to the posi- situation and as having failed to the end of February. He is accused
tion expressed in the Feb. 4 direct the publication journalistic- of supporting thereby the crude
of supporting thereby — even if
letter." ally.
President Keast met with editor unintentionally — the crude cam-
Schmier stated emphatically that
it is vitally necessary that student Watson Tuesday, and after their paign against "Zionism."
An evaluation of the meeting of
elections of editors should be con- conference a member of the board
ducted without intimidation, in sec- of governors was quoted as saying the WSU board of governors was
provided
by one of the protesting
ret ballots, legitimately, in demo- that the issue is "too hot to
cratic fashion. He charged that handle," that "the real fight will citizens, Attorney Arthur B. Green-
hitherto elections were not fairly be over selection of the next stone, who has sent us this report:
editor." Applications now are be-
pursued.
In addition to Schmier, among ing welcomed for editorial posi-
those who registered protests tions, selections to be made in
against the new editorial trends on May. There will be a new editor
By ARTHUR B. GREENSTONE
the WSU campus were Mrs. Robert when the paper resumes publica-
I was one of five persons who
(Sylvia) Barnard, Arthur Green- tion in the fall.
Frank R. Gill, who for many addressed the Wayne State Univ-
stone and others.
ersity
board of governors on Feb.
years
was
adviser
to
the
Collegian
Mrs. Barnard, 46, a senior
(mother of three children who staff, first was completely ignored 13, concerning the abuses of the
have university degrees) who by the new staff and then was college newspaper, South End. I
returned to WSU at the age of forced out. He regretted "molly- introduced articles of raw anti-
46, protested against permission coddlin g" and "pussyfooting" Semitism such as the one on Jan.
given to the WSU publication to about the issue by administration 20, which, among other things,
publish the hate articles and and board of WSU and said he was suggested that the Jews give up
charged that by financing the pessimistic about a quick change their hold on their portion of the
paper the university permitted because the handful of radical re- power at Wayne State University;
"taxation without representation volutionaries have leadership while that our students should not attend
for any person aiming at the the overwhelming majority of stu- Wayne State University; and that
the Jewish community has lost its
annihilation of another." She dents are "not activists."
Gill has another viewpoint. He soul. In addition, I exhibited arti-
charged that she was being
said there now is a question of cles of slanted, lying commentary
threatened with danger, as a
Jew, by what is being printed in the new phase in journalism, of on the Israeli-Arab dispute; pro-
fanity; and inflammatory anti-
the name of the university and the "never mind facts" attitude,
white racism and anti-American-
announced that she had register- of "race pamphleteering" that
ed a complaint with the Civil has undermined morale and has ism; and showed that these arti-
cles
were violations of the publica-
Rights Commission, charging caused damage in universities
that she was being restricted in and now is invading even the tions rules of the school paper. I
cited the lack of any action by the
army.
her civil rights, as a Jewish
citizen. Unless there is redress, One evaluation of the WSU board, and referred to the Mich-
she said she would press the paper—certainly not a compliment igan Constitution which gives it
charges. to a great university—is that it is supervision over the university and
At the WSU board meeting a such "garbage" that students re- control over all university funds.
South-\End staff member, William fuse to pick it up, that the papers I suggested remedies which they
Leac1b, admitted that the college pile up on the tables on which they could use to rid the paper of the
paper\ did not speak for the major- are distributed free and that stu- hateful trash, if the present editors
ity of the students, but in response dents are appalled as well as dis- refused to do it themselves. In-
to charges that of the $95,000 gusted by it. One explanation for cluded among my proposed reme-
needed to publish the paper two- some 10,000 still being "picked up" dies were a campus-wide election,
thirds of the funds are tax monies, is the interest among Jewish stu- the ballot for which would include
stated "My mama pays taxes and dents in the developing anti-Semi- the present editors; or the discon-
her views aren't expressed in any tism, and this week it was reported tinuance of funds to the paper,
other newspapers." But it was in- that even the Jewish students have which amount currently received
dicated that the issue was not one lost interest in the common refer- is in excess of $90,000 per annum.
The other four speakers against
of views of blacks on issues in- ence to the sheet: "garbage."
volving this community or the But it has been acknowledged South End were Mrs. Sylvia Bar-
university but that the ultra-leftist that among those who give coin- nard, Jack Rose, Martin Sloban
campus sheet publishes only the fort to the paper are Jewish New and Leslie Schmier. All were well
slanted news against Israel, Jews Leftists, members of the Young prepared, and expressed them-
and the American government. Socialist Alliance (An announce- selves very well. I was particular-
Jewish members of the WSU ment was released by the Socialist ly gratified by Mr. Schmier's elo-
faculty and a large segment of Alliance Tuesday that Evelyn quent presentation on behalf of the
the Jewish student body are Kirsch, a staff member of South college alumni fund.
I am dismayed' by the inaction
_active in the civil rights move- End, has just returned from a
merit. These activities continue month's stay in Cuba as guest of of the board of governors, especial-
ly
President Keast. When I at-
unabated, and it was indicated the Cuban government; that she
this week that the reference to was one of 13 such Socialist Alli- tempted to cross-examine one of
the
paper's editors concerning cer-
"abuse" of Dr. David Wineman ance invitees to Cuba; that she par-
tain lies which he had just uttered
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS to the board, President Keast for-
48 Friday, February 21, 1969

`I Am Dismayed
by Inaction'

—

bade me to do so. At the conclusion
of the hearing, the board merely
referred the matter to the Student
Faculty Committee for its inves-
tigation. To be sure, no investiga-
tion was necessary. All the evid-
ence the board needed to justify
action against South End was
clearly presented to it at the hear-
ing. This "passing the buck" by
the board of governors reflected
fear of the supporters of South
End. The board showed cowardice
in the line of duty, and violated its
responsibility to the people to deal
effectively with a problem at the
university, especially one of this
magnitude. Had the board, for the
first time been exposed to the
abuses of South End, the delay
would be forgivable. But, the
members have been aware of the
problem for several months, and
the avoidance of it now is abso-
lutely unpardonable.
The inaction of President Keast
and the Wayne State University
board of governors is a sorrowful
reminder of the failure to act by
those German people who were
opposed to the "final solution."
Unquestionably, each member of
the board, and President Keast,
disagree with the paper's abuses.
But, disagreement is not enough.
Action is needed, and if it is not
provided by our friends in the com-
munity at large, we must supply
it ourselves. To my "patient"
and/or apathetic friends who are
secure in their assimilation, I refer
you to the "Dreyfus Affair," and
to the Third Reich. The Jews in
France and Germany were as
"assimilated" there as we are
here. Put your shoes on, my
friends—it's time to move!
Following, in more detail, are
the legal arguments which I sub-
mitted to the board of governors
which I believe support its right
to take remedial action against
South End newspaper:
1. Does the first amendment to
the U.S. Constitution require
Wayne State University to subsi-
dize its school paper?
Presently the board of governors
grants in excess of $90,000.00 to
the paper for publishing purposes
per annum.
The first amendment to the con-
stitution says that, "(government)
shall make no law . . . abridging
the freedom . . . of the press."
I believe that this language
means only that government may

not prevent people from express.
ing themselves. It does not require
government to subsidize people
who wish to do so. If it did, every-
body would be entitled to financial
assistance from the government
every time they desired to expound
their views, and every publication
would rightfully demand govern-
mental subsidies. There are infini-
tesimal examples of the conse-
quences if the First Amendment
were interpreted to require affirm-
ative action by the government.
However, without a doubt, the first
amendment is only a restraint
upon government, and in no way
does it require government subsidy
for its exercise. Thus, the first
amendment does not demand that
the Wayne State University Board
of Governors subsidize the school
paper.
2. If one disagrees with my
above viewpoint, and claims that
the first amendment does require
the Wayne State University Board
of Governors to continue to sub-
sidize South End, I answer this as
follows:
A First Amendment right can be
held in abeyance if its exercise
presents a clear and present dan-
ger to an institution which govern-
ment wishes to preserve. There
exists a very real danger to the
continued prosperous existence of
Wayne State University as a result
of its sponsorship and subsidizing
of the abusive and destructive
South End newspaper. The Alumni
Committee, and many individual
alumni, have threatened to with-
hold badly needed funds from the
university, and many members of
the. State Legislature are similarly
inclined. In addition, there exists,
as a result of ' the hate-filled
school-sponsored newspaper, a de-
cline in the number of suburban
students who desire to attend the
school, which students would nor-
mally contribute both tuition and
intelligence to the school. The na-
tional coverage which South End
has received has undoubtedly dis-
couraged outstate students and pro-
fessors from coming to a univer-
sity which sponsors such a paper.
These adverse reactions clearly
present enough of a clear and
present danger to the school that
it has a right and a duty to attempt
to alleviate the cause of these dan-
gers, which cause is its continued
sponsorship and subsidizing of
South End.

WSU Students Form New Group;
Plan 'Jewish Voice on Campus'

Stirred by anti-Semitism in their
campus newspaper and by attacks
on Israel, Wayne State University
students met at the Jewish Center
Tuesday night and resolved to
form an organization "to serve as
the Jewish voice on the campus."
More than 500 were present—
two-thirds of them WSU students
and many of the rest being from
the ranks of Et-Gar (etgar — the
Hebrew word for challenge), the
new youth organization that has
already enrolled several hundred
high school students here.
Conducted under the chairman-
ship of Prof.- Otto Feinstein, the
meeting heard addresses by Profs.
George Barahal, Stanley Kirsch-
ner, Arthur Gelfand and Esther
Broner, and a number of students.
The meeting was organized by
Dr. Max Kapustin, WSU Hillel
Foundation director; but the stu-
dents expressed a desire to form
an independent organization.
Nevertheless, Dr. Kapustin said
the group will be welcome at Hil-
lel and to use its new facilities.
Discussion was on a general
basis, regarding Israel, anti: Semi-
tism, the duty of the Jewish com-
munity to work closely with the
black community, etc.
The students decided to meet
regularly, to begin planning edu-

cational programs to keep the
young people fully informed on
developments on the world scene,
in Israel, in the black community
and regarding any attempts to in-
ject anti-Semitism in this country.
Jewish students were urged to
let themselves be heard in matters
involving the university, in the
election of members of the Stu-
dent-Faculty Council at WSU, and
those with qualifications were urg-
ed to apply for editorial jobs on
the student newspaper.
Dr. Barahal joined with other
faculty members in urging that
students should assert them-
selves, that they should exercise
the democratic right to vote and
that those who aspire for
careers in -journalism should
apply for editorial posts and be-
come active in professional plan-
ning while preparing for careers.
Prof. David Wineman joined
with Dr. Barahal and other faculty
associates in their support of the
students' expressions in support of
every opportunity to share in the
battle against poverty, in support
of civil rights, while adhering to
the responsibilities of defending
Jewish rights and of protecting
Israel's role as a sovereign state
—thereby fusing their efforts with
the larger community.

