The board of trustees of the American Dental Association will meet in Chicago tomorrow to consider the confidential reports of Dr. Harlan H. Horner, secretary of the Council on Dental Education of the A.D.A., recommending the limitation of the number of Jewish students admitted to New York dental colleges, it was learned here today.
The trustees plan to make a thorough investigation of the Horner reports and the circumstances of their submission to Columbia and New York Universities and the Committee on Education of the House of Representatives, it was indicated by the Dental Information Bureau here. A bureau executive said that, in the opinion of the trustees, neither Dr. Horner, nor the council had the power or authority to submit these reports without the knowledge or consent of the A.D.A. It was indicated, too, that unless Dr. Horner had some unequivocal explanation for his action, he would be relieved of his post.
A statement issued by the Dental Information Bureau, which speaks for the various A.D.A. affiliates in the New York and New Jersey areas, reads: “The Dental Information Bureau is reliably informed by an American Dental Association trustee that the Council on Education had no power or authority to submit the Dr. Harlan H. Horner reports to any institutions without the consent of the A.D.A. The bureau deplores the acute embarrassment laid on the A.D.A. by what appears to have been an unauthorized and unwarranted action by the Council on Dental Education. This is the first time in the long and meritorious history of the A.D.A. that such a situation has arisen. It may be safely presumed that effective steps toward forestalling similar future situations will be taken by the board of trustees.”
STUDENTS ASK REMOVAL OF DR. HORNER; DENTAL GROUPS CRITICIZE HIS REPORT
A petition describing the reports of Dr. Horner as an “affront to the overwhelming majority of the A.D.A. membership” was being circulated today among the students and faculty of the New York Dental College. Removal of Dr. Horner from his position is demanded by the student council, headed by Michael Uris. Among the dental societies associated with the A.D.A. directly or through their membership, which have adopted resolutions attacking the Horner reports are the Dental Society of the State of New York, the First and Second District Dental Societies of the State of New York and several groups of the New Jersey State Dental Society.
Dr. Williard C. Rappelye, dean of the Columbia Medical School, denied any discrimination there. He pointed out that in accordance with the original charter of the King’s College, Columbia University has always selected students on the basis of merit alone, without reference to race, color or creed. “We have no quota, never had one and never intend to have one,” he declared in a statement to the press, adding that Columbia’s policy has not been swayed by Dr. Horner’s recommendations concerning racial unbalance. A similar statement was issued yesterday by Chancellor Harry W. Chase of the New York University.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
