A Faculty Committee of Review of Rutgers University School of Law in Newark, with Law professor Arthur R. Lewis named chairman, was appointed by University President Lewis Webster Jones on April 29, 1953, to act in an advisory capacity providing reivew and recommendation concerning Jones' questions as to whether Abraham Glasser, Associate Professor of Law, had violated the fixed policy of the University Board of Trustees' December 12, 1952 resolution requiring immediate dismissal of any member of the faculty or staff who invoked the Fifth Amendment in refusal to answer questions concerning Communist Party affiliation, and if so, whether any unsuual circumstances mitigated this violation. On March 19, 1953, Glasser.
Was suspended by Jones following his refusal to answer questions before the House of Representatives Committee on Un-American Activities. Jones pronounced in his March 19, 1953 statement that Glasser's conduct raised serious doubts concerning his ability to teach. In the conservative political climate of the time, colleges and universities nationwide were under a great deal of pressure to prevent Communist infiltration, and this was one of several similar cases at Rutgers at this time, namely those of Simon W. Heimlich, Associate Professor of Physics and Mathematics, College of Pharmacy in Newark, and Moses I. Finley, Assistant Professor of History, Newark College of Arts and Sciences, who were dismissed after refusing to testify in 1952 before the Senate SubCommittee on Internal Security. Rutgers became a model for other institutions in handling Fifth Amendment cases. Communism was considered antithetical to academic freedom, and faculty were held to a high standard in both their public and private lives, reflecting their influence as important models for students.
From the description of Transcripts of hearings regarding the suspension of Abraham Glasser records, May-June 39, 1953. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122418713
