Loyalty can be shown in many ways; traveling across the country
to settle at a school with which you have an immeasurable working
relationship is one.
Almost everyday, just east of campus, a retired, spry
83-year-old walks from his Westwood home to his Knudsen Hall
office. He does some reading and research, grabs some food, and
sometimes meets with students and faculty who just drop by.
“I just don’t like golf,” said David Saxon
jokingly, “and this keeps me off the streets.”
David Saxon. Students may have lived in “his”
residential suites as undergraduates, may be living in them now, or
may be looking forward to living in them if they survive their
first year in the high-rise halls.
But Saxon’s presence on campus is more than just a
suite.
Meet Professor Emeritus David Saxon, a Massachusetts Institute
of Technology graduate and esteemed member of UCLA’s physics
and astronomy department since 1947. Saxon served as UCLA’s
executive vice chancellor for seven years, and before a stint as
chairman of the board at MIT, Saxon was the 14th person named
president of the University of California.
When Saxon was chairman of the physics department, Joseph
Rudnick ““ a UCLA physics professor whose family has been
close with Saxon since Rudnick’s childhood ““ recalls a
period of significant growth.
“David’s scientific and educational contributions
are so immense: his acclaimed quantum mechanics textbook among
others and his influence on large-scale computing, all the way up
to the configuration of physics courses our school offers,”
Rudnick said.
A loyalty to all things educational prompted Saxon to make each
of his career moves, and a penchant for UCLA brought Saxon back to
Westwood upon retiring.
“My wife of 63 years and I have spent the majority of our
lives here; UCLA recognized that I belong here, granted me my
office and welcomed us fully,” Saxon said.
But the campus wasn’t always so welcoming.
In 1949, just before McCarthyism spread, the Board of Regents,
acting on a proposal made by then UC President Robert Sproul,
imposed a requirement that all UC employees sign an oath affirming
loyalty to the state constitution and denying membership or belief
in any Communist-affiliated organizations.
According to the UC History Project Center for Studies in Higher
Education, many UC faculty and students resisted the oath charging
that it violated the principles of shared governance, academic
freedom and tenure, but the majority of UC employees did not want
to put their jobs in jeopardy.
Saxon was among the resistors.
By the summer of 1950, the 31 UC professors who refused to sign,
along with others, were dismissed from their jobs, although they
were not charged with disloyalty.
“David’s decision was actually proof of his loyalty
to the faculty and his belief in their integrity as a group,”
said John Sandbrook, assistant provost at the College of Letters
& Science.
Sandbrook first met Saxon while working for the Daily Bruin as a
student. Saxon was executive vice chancellor at the time.
“There’s a pantheon of greats at UCLA, John Wooden
among them and probably most recognized. Like Wooden though, David
came to UCLA before it had a reputation, improving its quality as
an institution,” Sandbrook said.
The university had an intellectual obligation they weren’t
upholding when enforcing the oath; they had a responsibility to not
succumb to irrational external pressure, Saxon said.
In 1952, some non-signers sued, and the state Supreme Court
ruled that all dismissed employees be reinstated.
Though he was briefly bounced from UCLA, natural physicist that
he is, Saxon found it easy and necessary to spring back into
action.
“Just because I didn’t want to sign some loyalty
formality doesn’t mean I wasn’t already loyal to
UCLA,” Saxon said.
Saxon likens this event to his criticism of the Bush
administration’s war on terrorism, scare techniques and their
misuse of language.
“I’m skeptical of the United States’ notion
that they can win the minds and hearts of the the Iraqi people, or
else,” Saxon said.
“The administration feeds off keeping people frightened
and just like with the regents’ oath affirming loyalty,
that’s not the right thing to do to a rational group of
people,” he said.