Academic Freedom and Tenure: Grove City College

Published in the spring 1963 issue of Academe.


Although a faculty member had been criticized by the administration of Grove City College for his grade distribution and for his performance in teaching the Ancient History course, these criticisms apparently had not been presented to him as a warning concerning possible dismissal action. The faculty member was subsequently dismissed for stated cause, but the administration denied this faculty member due process and neither a board committee nor the board announced a formal decision regarding the teacher's dismissal. The absence of due process in this case raised grave doubts regarding the academic security of any persons who may hold appointment at Grove City College under existing administrative practice. 

The dismissal action in this case was accompanied by collateral controversy, disclosure of unusual attendant circumstances, and frequent display of emotion. Many of these elements were reported in the press and by radio and television broadcast.  Therefore, the investigating committee additionally issued  a set of Supplementary Observations and these are included in this report.