I am in complete disagreement with the Communistic activities of my son Kenneth and I have determined that he will receive no aid from me now or after my death to carry on his activities. I am bitterly opposed to Communism. ... Kenneth seems to have a martyr complex. ... It is just one of those things that may happen to any father. Anyone who has children can understand. For twenty years I've been fighting communism. I have students scattered all over this State who know how I stand on radicalism and communism, so I don't believe anyone will question my position. When I became convinced my son had become an irreconcilable communist I took the only honorable course consistent with my personal views and the position I hold as an executive of the defense council.

I first joined the Communist party as an undergraduate at the University of California because I found by actual experience in student activities that the Communists were consistent and uncompromising fighters for the interests of the students and against reaction within and without the university. I became convinced that the Communists were correct in their analysis of the University administration and the social system of which the University is a part. As a member of the Communist Party I have seen how the Party works everywhere to preserve and extend democracy, protect the living standards of the people, build the trade unions and keep this country out of war. During a stay of two years in Europe I observed the Communist Parties in France and England in action and visited a number of other countries, including the Soviet Union. All these experiences convinced me that the Communist Party is the greatest force for good in the world and that only through Socialism can the people of the United States solve the problem of unemployment, poverty, oppression and war. As a patriotic American I have no other choice but to work for what I consider to be the best interests of my country and the world.

The Regents have shown their disregard for our democratic form of government by denying my right to belong to a legally recognized political party.

In taking an indefinite leave of absence from the University, I wish to make clear that this action is not prompted by any approval of the decision of the Board of Regents in dismissing me. The issue involved in the dismissal is one which must be fought out if this is to be a free University. My reasons for withdrawing are indicated in the following statement: Although my studies at the University of California have been largely in the Department of Mathematics, my interest has turned increasingly to mathematics as a tool for economic analysis, particularly in Marxist political economy and economic planning. It is in mathematical economics and statistics that I have done my graduate work. Economics, because of its proximity to the decisive issues of the day, suffers more than any other subject from the scholasticism, the divorce of theory and practice, and the outright suppression of free inquiry which tend to characterize science in that part of the world still ruled by capitalism. Although I had hoped to write a thesis in mathematical economics, I have come to the conclusion that I cannot make such a thesis an honest part of my work and development at this time. I am too dissatisfied with the theoretical framework within which it would have to be written. To construct an alternative is a task of years, not months. And it is a task which can be done only in closest connection with the daily struggles of the masses. For this reason Communist Party activity is for me not an alternative to, but a necessary part of, scientific work. These are the factors which make it possible for me without regret to leave the University for full participation in the working class movement. I hope in time to do more significant theoretical work than would have been possible within the University. Most scientists who become Marxists find that they can best carry on their work by remaining within the University and by integrating their scientific work with the struggle against scholasticism and suppression on and off campus. In deciding to leave the University, it is good to know that scores of others remain to carry on this task in the academic world.