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An Iowa-born Rhodes Scholar, Courtney Smith was teaching English at Princeton and serving as head of the American Rhodes Scholarship Committee (directly succeeding former Swarthmore president Frank Aydelotte in the position) when selected as the college's ninth president in 1953. Outspoken against McCarthyism, he led other colleges in attacking the loyalty "disclaimer oath" in the National Defense Education Act. Passed by Congress in 1958, the Act required not only a loyalty oath but what came to be known as "the disclaimer affidavit of belief," which required students who received federal loans to file an affidavit stating "that he does not believe in, and is not a member of and does not support any organization that believes in or teaches, the overthrow of the United States government by force or violence or by any illegal or unconstitutional methods." A few months later, in 1959, Smith denounced the requirement and announced the college's decision not to participate in the loan program. His statement read in part: "It is discriminatory, for one thing, to require of young and needy students what is not required of others - businessmen, farmers, and dependent persons - who receive financial benefits from the federal government.Smith also recruited other leaders of higher eductaion to the cause and ultimately testified before Congress for the elimination of the oath. After President John F. Kennedy signed legislation that repealed that portion of the Act almost four years later, Smith announced that the college would resume participation in the program. Smith's principled stands on this and other issues drew the attention of Time magazine, which wrote in 1964: "When his students invited Communist Gus Hall to speak on campus, President Smith ignored public outcries. Hall spoke. As Smith tells old grads: 'Your college has guts. There are a lot of colleges that don't. Be proud of it.'" After announcing in the fall of 1968 his intention to resign after the academic year, Smith suffered a fatal heart attack in his office in January, coincidentally during the occupation of the admissions office by members of the Swarthmore Afro-American Students Society. Students had gathered primarily to urge the school to accept more black students. Quotes "What it's all about is how to get a student and a teacher together and ensure that something exciting happens." |
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