While the topic of premarital sex among college students may seem blas茅 today, openly expressing an opinion on it in a student newspaper in 1960 was so offensive that it abruptly ended one university professor鈥檚 career.
Although biology professor听听would never work in higher education again, his legacy was a reevaluation of First Amendment and academic freedom protections for scholars at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, an Illinois professor wrote in a new book. These changes would benefit classics professor听鈥攁n anticommunist, white nationalist firebrand鈥攅nabling him to withstand the tidal waves of outrage that his provocative language and ideas incited to keep his job in academia.
In 听(University of Illinois Press), author听Matthew C. Ehrlich, a professor emeritus of听journalism, examined the intersections of sex, politics, and academic freedom in higher education by revisiting the cases of these controversial scholars.
鈥淭he Koch and Oliver cases marked a significant shift in the understanding of academic freedom,鈥� Ehrlich said. 鈥淭hrough them, we can see the context for the ongoing battle over beliefs and values that continues to divide our society as well as various groups鈥� efforts to ignite, spread, contain, or extinguish explosive ideas.鈥�
Ehrlich鈥檚 analysis examines the prevailing Christian beliefs and moral values of the time that attempted to control student sexuality and set standards for discourse, as well as the political climate that was rife with anticommunist suspicion in the wake of the Red Scare of the 1950s.
鈥淲hile people sometimes wax nostalgic about a supposed Golden Age when universities faced fewer political and economic pressures than they do today, that wasn鈥檛 really the case,鈥� Ehrlich said. 鈥淯niversities, especially public universities like the U听of I, have always been under enormous economic and political pressure.鈥�
Although polar opposites in their political views, Koch and Oliver were in many ways mirror images of each other in their roles as 鈥渃ampus gadflies and public provocateurs,鈥� Ehrlich wrote. The outspoken and unconventional Koch had long been a source of consternation for campus administrators, and his unit already had decided not to renew his contract when it expired.
But Koch鈥檚 exit from the University was expedited when he wrote a letter to the editor of The Daily Illini student newspaper in March 1960 critiquing a column titled 鈥淪ex Ritualized.鈥� Written by two male students to promote an upcoming lecture series on sexuality and Christian values, the column lamented how sexual expectations and campus dating culture interfered with the development of healthy relationships between men and women.
According to Ehrlich, Koch鈥檚 response took 鈥渁 light poke at (the student authors鈥�) 鈥榥arrow-minded, if not entirely ignorant perspective鈥� on student sex.鈥� Koch suggested that with 鈥渕odern contraceptives and medical advice readily available 鈥� there is no valid reason why sexual intercourse should not be condoned among those sufficiently mature to engage in it.鈥�
Outraged parents, two of the University trustees, and a Baptist minister named Ira Latimer鈥攚ho suspected Koch of being a communist鈥攃lamored for Koch鈥檚 dismissal. Within days, University president David Dodds Henry鈥攚ho called the letter 鈥渙ffensive and repugnant鈥濃�攔elieved Koch of his duties, and the University announced that he would be out at the end of that academic year.
After a formal hearing, the trustees concurred with firing Koch. However, the Academic Freedom Committee of the faculty senate investigated the incident and issued a report recommending that Koch be disciplined for writing the letter but not fired.
Koch鈥檚 dismissal and fight for reinstatement would become a cause c茅l猫bre, stoking vigorous debate in the national media and in higher education about the limits of academic freedom and faculty members鈥� First Amendment rights to extramural speech as private citizens.
In 1963, the American Association of University Professors censured the U听of I听for violating Koch鈥檚 due process rights. In response to the AAUP鈥檚 censure, U听of I听officials began reexamining and revising the University statutes, bolstering the academic freedom provisions for scholars on campus, Ehrlich wrote.
Thus, the University鈥檚 response would be very different a few years later when Oliver created a similar uproar by penning a seething op-ed titled 鈥淢arxmanship in Dallas鈥� that made startling allegations about the late President John F. Kennedy and other high-ranking officials.
Published in the far-right John Birch Society magazine American Opinion in February 1964, just weeks after Kennedy鈥檚 death, Oliver鈥檚 column鈥攊nfused with invectives such as 鈥渃ockroaches鈥� and 鈥渧ermin鈥濃�攁lleged that JFK was a traitorous agent for an international communist conspiracy intent on overthrowing the U.S. According to Oliver, JFK was killed by his co-conspirators after he became a political liability.
Despite Oliver鈥檚 explosive claims, the University defended his right to express them, Ehrlich wrote. Oliver stayed on the faculty and continued as a public speaker and political writer.
鈥淭he U听of I听was clearly wrong to fire Koch and equally right to defer to the professional judgment of faculty and not discipline Oliver. That principle must be adhered to today even in the face of severe challenges to faculty autonomy,鈥� Ehrlich said. 鈥淔ar from protecting only liberal faculty, academic freedom also protects faculty on the other end of the political spectrum. Revilo Oliver is a prime example of that.鈥�
Ehrlich also touched upon the more recent case of Steven Salaita, a scholar whose offer of a tenured faculty position at the U听of I听was rescinded after he posted angry tweets about Israel.
Ehrlich concluded that imposing strict civility standards will only backfire, stifling the free exchange of ideas critical to scholarly inquiry vital to universities.
Instead, Ehrlich urged readers to keep faith in the ideal that former U听of I听dean of students and dean of women 鈥淢iriam A. Shelden called 鈥榓 university of all of us鈥欌�攁 鈥榮tirring place where ideas fight for the supremacy of truth.鈥欌��
鈥擲harita Forrest, Education Editor, University of Illinois News Bureau
Editor鈥檚 notes:听To reach Matthew C. Ehrlich, call 217-333-1365; email听mehrlich@illinois.edu.
A press kit with photos of the author and the book cover is available by request from the听News Bureau.