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Chicago Tribune Reporter Hedges on Mission to Hub

By Alex C. Hoagland jr.

Eugene Griflln, Communist-hunting correspondent of the Chicago Daily Tribune, last night refused either to deny or to affirm that he is in Boston to write another expose of the Red influence at Harvard.

"I think it's more fun being mysterious..." he said when asked whether he will investigate Harvard, "... it amuses Louis more."

He was referring to Louis Lyons, Curator of the Nieman Foundation and author of "Libeling our Colleges," a sharp criticism of Griffin's college crusades. The article appears in the January issue of the Atlantic.

Interviewed in Boston

Interviewed at the Statler Hotel in Boston, Griffin asserted he may "stop out for a visit" at Harvard, but said he had a number of other tasks to do first.

Griffin explained that his January 1948 stories revealing the prevalence of Communists, Socialists, World Federalists, and Auglo-Americans at Harvard were not primarily condemnations of the school, but rather of some of the teachers in the school.

Praises Harvard

Favorable remarks about the University outweighed criticism in the "Red Poison Tinges Ivy of Harvard" series, Griffin added.

He denied that he had labeled anyone a Communist in his Harvard stories.

Griffin stated last night that Professors Shapley and Mather "let themselves be used by Leftist organizations."

Asked how he determines whether a person is a Leftist or not (he declined to discuss anyone in terms of Communism), Griffin explained he reads the person's works, discusses the person with others, and looks up articles about whomever he is studying.

He gave as an example the Harvard Alumni Bulletin of Nov. 20, which he said describes Professor Schlesinger as "spokesman for the Leftists at Harvard.

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