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Show THE MISTORY BLAZER I 11' EItTS OF LTTAH'S PAST FROM THE Utah State Historical Society 300 Rio Grande Salt Lake City. I'T 84101 ( 801) 833- 3500 FAX ( 801) 533- 3503 Faculty Firings at the U. Sent Bernard DeVoto Packing Too THEY OUNG BERNARD DEVOTOL; ATER TO BECOME a famed- literary- critic;. historian,.- novelist, and conservationist, could not have chosen a more significant year to leave his home town of Ogden to attend the University of Utah. During spring quarter of his freshman year, in 1915, a controversy erupted that sent the campus into an uproar of political and religious & bate. For DeVoto, the event provided the final push that sent him far away from Utah and to the beginning of his literary career. Born to a Catholic father and a Mormon mother in the mostly Mormon town of Ogden, DeVoto never seemed to agree with Latter- day Saint perspectives, or indeed with most organized religion. The university had represented a place where he could finally voice his opinions and find friends sympathetic to his viewpoint. One such friendship developed with his professor and mentor Charles Wilbert Snow. As a faculty member in the English Department, Snow was considered one of the more radical teachers on campus. He, along with several others, tended to disregard advice from the university administration to avoid any discussions that were politically or religiously offensive. What were the ' issues" in 1915 that represented such a threat to the university administra-tion? As an influential man in the Salt Lake community, Joseph T. Kingsbury, president of the university, wished to eliminate radical viewpoints from the campus as a means of maintaining public support for the institution;-- Professo~ ssu~ e has Snowrwho- seemed out- of the mainstream, threatened that objective in Kingsbury's mind. Those with a reputation for liberal thought were advised not to speak publicly on political matters, such as the currency system debate, or encourage religious discussion in the classroom. Under Kingsbury U. professors were constantly being watched. During the 1915 school year the U. president's paranoia seems to have included the belief that an underground radical movement was developing on campus. On February 28 Kingsbury dismissed four professors from the faculty, including Snow. Nearly a week later, Professor George W. Marshall, head of the English Department, was excused from office. Kingsbury's only explanation of the firings was the vague statement that they were ' for the good of the University." Despite the student protests and media coverage that followed throughout the month of March, he refused to provide further justification for his actions. But small groups of students and faculty had their suspicions about the president's motiva-tions. For them " repression, suspicion, and opportunism " became the catchwords describing the ( more) policies of the university administration. Despite demands from the university faculty, the Ladies' Literary Club, and the Alumni Association to investigate the case, both the Utah State Senate and Board of Regents declined. Kingsbury had too many personal ties with both bodies for strong opposition to form. Dismayed and angered by Kingsbury's firings, fourteen faculty members resigned from the university on March 19. They were not the only ones who left. Freshman Bernard DeVoto, for one, was shocked by the events that had occurred. Not only had the president stifled free speech at the academic institution, but he had also fired the professor who had been the most influential in shaping this young scholar's early ideas. To DeVoto the event represented the culmination of intellectual repression and backwardness that had typified the society of his youth and young adulthood. Determined to find a setting where he could think and express himself freely, DeVoto applied to and was accepted by Harvard University. By the summer of 1915 the controversy at the U. had faded. At the request of the Board of Regents, Kingsbury was on an extendedvacation ' back East,"- new - faeulty members were moving into offices once occupied by more " radical" professors, and students were happily preparing for another school year. By the fall, life seemed back to normal at the University of Utah. For Bernard DeVoto, however, the episode had changed his life. By the summer of 19 15 the young man was on a train heading for Massachusetts. With each mile Utah was fading farther and farther into the distance. THE HISTORYB LAZERis produced by the Utah State Historical Society and funded in part by a grant from the Utah Statehood Centennial Commission. For more information about the Historical Society telephone 533- 3500. -... ..... -. -.- -. r - . - . - d... . I . . I.. . |
