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Show WINTER 2013 UHQ pp 4-90_UHQ Stories/pp.4-68 12/5/12 9:38 AM Page 72 uTAH HISTORICAL QuARTERLy American thinking, who inspire us to greater heights rather than sow the seeds of disillusionment.”36 In an effort to distance himself from criticism, Wilkinson partially delegated responsibility for the selection of speakers in 1965 to a Speakers Committee, though he retained final approval.37 Under Wilkinson’s eye, committee members adopted a policy of prohibiting speakers who “advocate the overthrow of the government of the United States or of its constituent units by force, or in any other way violate restrictions imposed for public safety”; or who “advocate or espouse ideas inimical to a belief in a divine creator, honesty, morality and individual responsibility, or take advantage of [their] forum in any other way to demean the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or its doctrines or policies.”38 The next year, BYU’s Young Democrats and Young Republicans jointly hosted a discussion on “Political Extremism” featuring faculty from BYU, the University of Utah, and Weber State College.39 During Wilkinson’s 1964 absence, BYU’s Acting President Earl C. Crockett approved the speaking engagements of four alleged communist sympathizers: Louis Untermyer, a consultant in English poetry to the Library of Congress; Max Lerner, a syndicated newspaper columnist; Stringfellow Barr, a historian and political satirist; and musicologist Allan Lomax.40 Upon his return, Wilkinson cancelled the contracts of Barr and Lomax.41 When television journalist Howard K. Smith, who had also been invited during Wilkinson’s absence, spoke favorably of U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson’s New Society, Wilkinson promised critics that Smith would not be invited again. 42 Following the appearance of U.S. 35 See Gary James Bergera, “‘A Sad and Expensive Experience’: Ernest L. Wilkinson’s 1964 Bid for the U.S. Senate,” Utah Historical Quarterly 62 (Fall 1993): 304-24. 36 Wilkinson, Letter to Kenneth McFarland, April 19, 1966, Wilkinson Papers. 37 BYU’s emphasis on politics in speaker selection coincided with a de-emphasis in such areas elsewhere. See, for example, Stanley N. Kinney, “The Speaker Ban and Student Organizations at the University of Michigan, 1914-20,” History of Education Journal 7 (Summer 1956): 133-43; “The Speaker Ban Extended at the University of Michigan, 1920-35,” History of Education Journal 7 (Fall 1956): 1-17; and James E. Watson, “The Place of Controversy on the Campus,” Journal of Higher Education 36 (January 1965); 18-24. 38 Wilkinson, Memorandum to John T. Bernhard, Stephen Covey, Herald R. Clark, H. Smith Broadbent, LaVar Rockwood, D. Kirt Hart, Dale Taylor, and the ASBYU President, April 23, 1965, Wilkinson Papers; “Policy for BYU Speakers Committee,” August 1965, Perry Special Collections. 39 See J. Kenneth Davies, ed., Political Extremism—Under the Spotlight (Privately printed, 1966). The discussion was held on the BYU campus on April 25, 1966, and featured John T. Bernhard (BYU), Victor B. Cline (University of Utah), James T. Duke (BYU), David K. Hart (BYU), and Quinn G. McKay (Weber State College). 40 For criticisms of Untermyer, Lerner, Barr, and Lomax, see E. Eugene Bryce, Letter to David O. McKay, November 30, 1965, Wilkinson Papers; Wilkinson, Diary, October 5, 1965; Wilkinson, Letter to Mrs. Grant E. Mann, January 18, 1966, Wilkinson Papers; and Wilkinson, Letter to Mrs. Newell J. Olsen, January 25, 1966, Wilkinson Papers. 41 Wilkinson, Memorandum to John T. Bernhard, January 31, 1966, Wilkinson, Memorandum to J. LaVar Bateman, February 14, 1966, and Bateman, Memorandum to Wilkinson, February 18, 1966, all in Perry Special Collections. Barr’s and Lomax’s contracts were signed by BYU representatives after Wilkinson’s return. 42 Wilkinson, Letter to Anne Richards Horton, April 2, 1966; and Wilkinson, Letter to Helen Stafford, April 2, 1966, both in Perry Special Collections. 72 |
