Communistic Talk Causes Bitter Feeling at College

The Marietta Daily Times, November 9, 1934

Bitter feeling in the student body and among friends of Marietta College was engendered through posters that were nailed on campus trees and utterances that were made during chapel exercises at the institution on Friday morning. Those that offended on this occasion are said to have been members of the group that sought to stir up feeling at a public demonstration in the city park on Memorial Day last spring, plans that were thwarted upon orders of Mayor J. Morton Harper.

Robert Creegan, youthful student at the college, who has boasted on different occasions in the past year that he is a junior communist, and who attained some degree of publicity last May when he boasted that he was to be sent to Russia to study communism during the summer, was one of the speakers at today's meeting. His declarations were not well received, to say the least, and continued during the day to provoke angry feelings in college circles.

Creegan Talks

Authorities at Marietta College said today that it had not been planned for Creegan and his small group of associates to appear on the program at Friday morning's chapel services, and they indicated that he attained his end by "crashing the gate."

Creegan held the platform long enough to declare that "red communism is the only way out for the world" and to renew his declaration of faith in principles that are most unpopular with the average American.

The objectionable posters that were nailed to trees on the campus are published over the signatures of "Student League for Industrial Democracy and the National Student League," and are headed "A Call to Student Action!"

Two members of the college faculty, Professor Clark and Professor Phillips, had been asked to talk. The latter spoke at some length regarding the "student league." Robert Creegan and William Ludwig, unannounced speakers, then were heard and they consumed so much time that Professor Clark could be given but little part in the program.

Statement Issued

Criticism of what took place was offered Friday by Dr. Edward S. Parsons, college president, in the following statement:

"The Times has asked me to say a word about the assembly at the college on Friday morning, November 9. The weekly assembly on Friday is in charge of the students and a singer of note had been engaged for this morning, but she was taken ill, and it was decided to omit the assembly this week. Last evening I was called up by one of the student vice presidents in charge of the Friday assembly and asked if I would permit an assembly in which Professor Clark and Professor Phillips would speak. I saw no objection to this so granted the permission. I knew nothing of the plan to have other speakers than the two named nor of the posters which were put up on the college campus before the meeting."

Freedom of Speech

"The college stands, as every college does, for freedom of opinion but with some of the utterances from the platform and a larger part of the writing on the poster, it is in definite disagreement. I am sure that I speak for the great majority of the college groups when I say that while we absolutely abhor war and think that as an instrument of attempting the settlement of any kind of dispute it should be absolutely outlawed. We know that occasions may arise when the protection of vital national interests is likely to demand war. I know that under such circumstances Marietta College would manifest the same loyalty that has always characterized it in the past."