Education: Case of the Unearned M.Ed.

When Otis Freeman, 62, was appointed president of little (750 students) Eastern Washington College of Education at Cheney two years ago, no one on the faculty wanted to complain. After all, Freeman had been a teacher of geology and geography since 1924, and his colleagues felt he deserved a quick stint in the presidency as a climax to his career. But once in office, Freeman seemed to change—and so did the attitude of his campus.

Backed by his ambitious and unpopular vice president, Clark Frasier, Geographer Freeman ordered his professors around as they had never been ordered around before. A gruff, stubborn...