April Third Movement
Historical Archive
1971–1972
1971–1972
Franklin Firing: Advisory Board
March 15, 1971
Letter to Franklin from the Office of the President
Letter from Acting President William F. Miller, formally allowing Franklin to come on campus “to gather evidence relevant to the charges to be filed against” him at the Advisory Board.
May 18, 1971
Statement of the Advisory Board on Schedule
Statement acknowledging that the administration wants the hearings to begin May 25, 1971; while Professor Franklin wants the hearing to be postponed until the fall. The Advisory Board is “hereby scheduling a meeting on Wednesday, May 26th, 1971, at 1 P.M. …at which the Board will consider written or oral arguments as to the date for the hearing.”
March 26, 1971
Statement of Charges
Statement by Richard Lyman, President of Stanford University charging that H. Bruce Franklin “engaged in activities which have constituted a substantial and manifest neglect of duty and substantial impairment of his performance of his appropriate functions within the University community…"
May 31, 1971
Statement of the Advisory Board on Schedule
Statement announcing the Board’s decision to postpone the hearing until the onset of the Autumn quarter.
April 28, 1971
Petition to the Advisory Board in the Case of Professor Franklin
Statement signed by about 65 members of the faculty asking that they be heard at the hearing.
The Bruce Franklin Case: Chronology
Unsigned, opinionated overview of the case with a brief chronology covering January 11 through April 6.
Also Available in three parts:
Aspects of Complicity of Stanford University in the War
Statement of position on the war in Southeast Asia and on Stanford’s “entanglement in these questionable activities,” ending with questions about university policy “intended to show how deep the issue goes.” Unsigned and tied, by inference, to the Franklin case.
Also Available in two parts:
Stanford and the Nuremberg Principles
Undated statement of the Nuremberg Principles and how they apply to Stanford’s complicity in the war effort
Also Available in three parts:
Tentative Plan for Remaining Testimony
Plan for Franklin’s defense.
Administration Witnesses
Undated list of witnesses regarding the “Lodge incident,” the “Computation Center,” and the “Old Union Courtyard and thereafter,” presumably at the Advisory Board hearing.
September 20, 1971
Memorandum on Procedures
Memorandum from the Advisory Board concerning press coverage for the hearing in the case of Professor H. Bruce Franklin, scheduled to commence on September 28.
September 28, 1971
Stanford Press Release
“Approximately 20-25 faculty and student pickets paraded in protest early Tuesday afternoon, Sept. 28, at the rear of the Physics Building, where public hearings before the faculty Advisory Board began for suspended English Prof. H. Bruce Franklin.” The group included chemistry Prof. Linus Pauling, twice winner of the Nobel Prize. They carried placards reading, ‘Faculty Opposed to Political Firings.’”
September 29, 1971
Stanford Press Release
No testimony placing Franklin near any scenes of campus violence will be admitted in the Advisory Board hearings.
September 30, 1971
Stanford Press Release
Franklin suspects the university was “consciously withholding evidence” and that almost stopped the Advisory Board hearing
October 5, 1971
Stanford Press Release
Witnesses told the Advisory Board hearing that Franklin turned part of a crowd around as it was about to disperse.
October 12, 1971
Stanford Press Release
Text of the Advisory Board decision to deny Franklin’s motion to dismiss charges against him
October 13, 1971
Stanford Press Release
Advisory Board rejected Franklin’s motion to lift his suspension and dismiss charges.
November 5, 1971
Stanford Press Release
“In closing arguments in a six-week hearing, council for Stanford University called for dismissal of … Associate Prof. H. Bruce Franklin…”
November 10, 1971
Stanford Press Release
38 members of the Stanford Academic Council called on the Faculty Advisory Board to “refuse to make political conformity a condition of employment …”
November 11, 1971
Report to Faculty Senate
The text of a report to the Faculty Senate on November 11 by Donald Kennedy, the Advisory Board Chairman, who reported that the Franklin hearing had begun on September 28 and ended on November 5, and that the Advisory Board now faces “the task of winnowing this testimony, examining the arguments, and preparing a recommendation for the President.”
November 16, 1971
Stanford Press Release
ACLU filed a brief with the Advisory Board.
October 7, 1971
Judicial System Questioned
Chaparral article.
October 7, 1971
Opening Statement of Bruce Franklin
Text of Professor H. Bruce Franklin’s opening remarks to the Advisory Board on September 28m reprinted in the Chaparral.
January 5, 1972
Decision of the Advisory Board
The first, cover page of a 14 page, large format, small type document. Even the large format scanner cannot handle pages of the size used here.
Summary of Advisory Board Report
The Advisory Board consisting of members of the faculty heard evidence in the case of Bruce Franklin and advised that he be dismissed from the faculty. This is the summary of their report. Two members opposed dismissal: one wrote an argument against dismissal which is not included.
June 5, 1980
Stanford Press Release
Responding to a court order which remanded the Franklin case to the University on the issue of penalty, the Advisory Board unanimously concluded that dismissal remains the appropriate penalty for former Stanford Prof. H. Bruce Franklin, who is now a tenured professor at Rutgers University.