Board of Trustees of American Dental Association Opposes Racial Quota

The board of trustees of the American Dental Association indicated yesterday that it was opposed to establishment of a quota system in dental schools which would discriminate against prospective students on the basis of their race or religion.

After two days spent in considering the reports by Dr. Harlan H. Horner, head of the ADA’s Council on Dental Education, which criticized the “racial imbalance” in dental schools and advocated limiting the number of Jewish students, the trustees issued the following statement:

“The board of trustees of the American Dental Association is not authorized to speak for the American Dental Association as that authority rests with the house of delegates which is not in session at this time. The board of trustees is of the opinion that the membership of the dental profession and the association are opposed to a quota system which will discriminate against students on the basis of race, religion or on the basis of origin and indicate their adherence to the American principle that all men, regardless of race, creed or color, are entitled to equal opportunities and that their fitness to practice dentistry shall be determined solely by their capacities and attainments.”

The statement followed similar repudiations issued by Dr. Walter H. Scherer, of Houston, Texas, A.D.A. president, and by the nine members of the Council on Dental Education, a standing committee of the A.D.A. charged with grading the thirty-nine dental schools in the country on the basis of facilities, faculties and equipment.

There has been no indication as yet that the Council on Dental Education plans to withdraw the recommendations it submitted to Columbia University. New York University and the House Education Committee, as a result of the opposition which they have aroused. Neither the statement of the trustees nor that issued by the members of the council directly condemned the Horner reports.