This is a letter to editor, signed by over 101 members of our class, that appeared in the RAM on December 16, 1954.

Dear Sir:

We, the undersigned, as members of the Senior Class of Fordham College, protest firmly and strongly against the identification of Catholicism with the cause of Joseph R. McCarthy.

We believe that America has been and is now faced with the problem of resolving the conflict between individual liberty and the right of the state to maintain internal security.

More specifically, the means employed by the Junior Senator from Wisconsin in effecting internal security have been critically analyzed in the light of our tradition of personal rights.

Not only individuals, but also Catholic organizations and publications have thus come to the support of the Senator. While we affirm their right to support whomever they choose, we utterly reject the conclusions that such individuals and groups represent the thinking of the entire Catholic community, or that their Faith is any way increased because of the intensity of the support they give to the Senator.

As students, we oppose this trend, which attempts to replace by a false uniformity the legitimate conclusions of reason, research and conscience. The role of the intellect is being usurped, and in its place there is demanded a deference to authorities who have no specific competence in the field of political endeavor.

As Catholics, we oppose this attempt to yoke our Faith to transient political doctrine. Our Faith is too transcendent and valuable to be limited in this way.

Respectfully...

Walter Josiah, John Mayer, Raymond Schroth, Thomas O'Brien, Leno DeLuca, Arthur Cook, John Knox, Joseph Kelly, Phil Curtin, Ernest Muller, Robert Foy, Henry Jabel, Willian Kennedy, John Dougherty, Charles Brennan, Gerard Canavan, Peter Mullany, Arthur McEwen, William O'Connor, Leonard Moss, Richard Rack, Robert Roche, Edward Reynolds, John Della Ratta, James Alford, Kevin Begos, Gerald Holden, Peter Marinelli, Joseph Peden, William Fitzmaurice, David Donnelly, Michael Batten, Richard Strattner, James Conway, Harry McNamara, Richard Granda, Walter Begos, James Hagan, Robert Rampinelli, Donald Greene, Henry Kapmeyer, Robert Healy, William Condron, James Heffernan, Harold Greer, Joseph Kelleher, Paul Fecteau, Albert Cirillo, Paul Cornelius, Richard Cieciuch, Charles Smith, Alfred Crisci, Anothy Obadal, Frank Carnella, William Flynn, Patrick Manning, Bernard McNulty, Phillip Loree, Arthur LaValle, Anthony LoFrisco, Edard DeFranco, Vincent Guinee, John Valenti, Robert Desmond, John McGovern, Jerome Libassi, Henry Tortora, Nichols Monchak, Henry Kensing, Peter DeMontravel, John Dash, William Rothschild, Nichols O'Neill, Robert Miller, Joseph Rigolio, William Fitzgibbon, William Hanrahan, James Kavaugh, Brendan O'Connell, John McEwen, Richard Garner, Edward Walsh, Emil Moretti, Kenneth Hellwig, Rocco Conticchio, Walter McMorrow, Thomas Kerrigan, Richard Ryan, Neil Hickey, James Horan, John Du Pleix, Dominic DeFriscon, Frank Evangelist, Robert Spelleri, Jack Reynolds, Ralph Bronco, Tara Hunzcak, Charles Lynch, Peter Nolan, Peter Walsh, Joseph Callahan.

Reflections... I can remember the article in the Brooklyn Tablet and sermons in my church criticizing these "Fordham seniors" and attacking our perceptions and even our Catholicism....what do you remember? Bill Rothschild