American Jewish Congress Asks Public Hearing on Anti-semitic Bias at City College

Charges of anti-Semitic discrimination and defamation in the Romance Languages Department of City College, which were made officially to the Board of Higher Education by the American Jewish Congress over a year ago, must be brought “to a satisfactory conclusion for all concerned” by a full and public hearing before the Mayor’s Committee on Unity, the American Jewish Congress wrote yesterday to the Committee.

Rabbi Irving Miller, chairman of the executive committee of the Congress wrote that “if Prof. Knickerbocker, chairman, and other members of the Romance Languages Department are guilty of anti-Semitic remarks and attitudes, if a clique in the department has discriminated against students or teachers because of their racial permission, action should be taken to remove or retire the ‘educators’ guilty of such conduct. Our municipally supported institutions of higher learning have no place for bigotry or anti-Semitism. If Prof. Knickerbocker is not guilty of prejudicial and discriminatory conduct, his reputation should be cleared.”