National Defense Education Act - Controversy

Controversy

Included in the NDEA—Title X, Section 1001 (f)--is a mandate that all beneficiaries of the act complete an affidavit disclaiming belief in the overthrow of the U.S. government. Some in higher education opposed the disclaimer affidavit, as it came to be called, because they said it attempted to control beliefs and as such violated academic freedom. Initially, a small number of institutions (Barnard College, Yale University, Princeton University) refused to accept funding under the student loan program established by the act because of the affidavit requirement. By 1962, when the act was repealed, the number of schools protesting the clause was 153.

After four years of seemingly ineffective protest, the disclaimer requirement was finally repealed. Repeal in Fall 1962 by President John F. Kennedy was spurred by an incident extraneous to universities' protests. Repeal followed the public disclosure of the case of an individual who had run into trouble with the House Un-American Activities Committee, then had been convicted of contempt of Congress, and then of all things, had received a National Science Foundation Fellowship. Under these circumstances, a case where the affidavit was proved ineffective emerged in 1961 and in spite of—rather than because of—protest prior to 1961, the disclaimer requirement was excised.