President Ralph McDonald Controversy Collection

The President McDonald Controversy collection consists of several folders of minutes and reports of university and non-university entities, including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), subject files on key players in the controversy, correspondence authored or received by secondary faculty, trustee, and elected officials, and literary productions on the sequence of events that occurred on campus during the period covered. A sampling of campus, local and regional newspaper clippings, ranging in dates from September 1960 to May 1968, are included, as well as opposing campus publications disputing the events and motivations of the demonstrators.

Most unique to the collection are the literary productions, ranging from essays written as history course assignments to student and faculty protest material and statements, handwritten timelines and investigative queries made by key players in summation of the events of the 1961 “Easter riots” and its aftermath, and personal recollections and testimonies regarding issues that contributed to the disturbances.

A separate major focus of the material gathered in this collection is on President McDonald’s handling of the termination of Dr. Sherman Stanage from his position in the Philosophy Department following the riots. The response of the faculty, both in organized and individual commentary, is provided. Communications, recollections, and notes on the political and social struggles on campus by faculty, elected leaders, and press outlets, are also prominent.

The collection covers the time period leading up to and through the resignation of Dr. McDonald, the interim and subsequent Presidency of Ralph Harshman, and into the administration of President William Jerome III. The collection provides a sense of the turmoil that existed on campus during this time of transition in BGSU’s history.