(2 of 2)
Lyman arranged for a quasi-judicial hearing, probably the most elaborate ever held for a controversial teacher. A seven-member faculty board worked full time for six weeks, listening to more than 100 witnesses, as well as tapes of Franklin's various speeches. Last week it delivered its verdict. It dismissed the Lodge episode, but it decided unanimously that "Professor Franklin did intentionally incite and urge persons at the White Plaza rally to occupy the Computation Center illegally." More generally, the board said: "Professor Franklin engages in a pattern of conduct that constitutes a continual challenge to the institution." By a 5-to-2 majority, the board declared that Franklin should be dismissed forthwith, just as President Lyman had pro posed. The minority filed a dissenting opinion that Franklin should remain as "a part of what this university or any university is meant to be."
Franklin's reaction was melodramatic. He called a press conference and brought along his blonde wife Jane, who carried an unloaded carbine to demonstrate that "that's where political power comes from" (a variation on one of Chairman Mao's favorite sayings). Franklin declared that the hearing had been "a roaring success" because it had "brought this fascism out from under the rocks." Would there be violence on the campus? "I hope so," said Franklin.
By week's end, Franklin's hope had not been realized. But a group of 75 professors expressed "outrage," and Nobel-prizewinning Chemist Linus Pauling denounced "a great blow to freedom of speech." Daniel Ellsberg of "Pentagon Papers" fame drew a crowd of 2,000 to Stanford's Memorial Church, where he defended Franklin's politics and admitted his own "bafflement" at the problem of ending the Viet Nam War. Later, some 200 students marched to President Lyman's office and nailed an ultimatum to his door: "Rehire Bruce by Tuesday noon." With Defense Department recruiters scheduled to visit Palo Alto before the ultimatum runs out. Franklin still had reason to hold to his hopes.