NEW YALE CHAPLAIN, EX-CIA AGENT, BELIEVES SOFT LIFE HURTING US

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00001R000300020008-5
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 14, 2003
• Sequence Number: 8
• Publication Date: December 7, 1958
• Content Type: NSPR

NEW HAVEN REGISTER OF U
Circ.: e.
S.
Front i ci t ' r ere
Paqe Pagel]i~ e1
ew Yale Chaplain; Ex-CIA Agent
kiievesrS~ft' Life Hurtina
William. 222,n CoffiCoffin Jr., new chaplain of Yale
TJniv rslty, is a for`cefuT young man with a down to earth
ys i o m, wen e Quiet Ilion, he
guage well. I felt that I was
you afraid realize how ua y of us area may be hope that
forced to the govern
.the- needed in-Europe and, hat it was
up fdr what. we ment grant important work.'1--, ie rrnh.f TI-1-4 .-... 1, .. ,7 nnrynla mnro Fr.....7., ,.. r.. ....a __ im r
Russia, ' he insists. "We can't be The only answer I can give is
approach to religion. A formelr?fit who had.elO5e? satisfied with , just mediocrity. that some of the mgst idealistic,
contact with the Russians after World War ~II and again We'll have to decide what. we ',that s fed men `now are work-
in the early 1.950s, he believes that America is being want and be.'willing to sacrifice nigfQ?0 ram Q A It was during the
dangerously weakened by soft living and the reluctance some of.bur comforts. in order to Korean War, a very critical pe.
of most people to take an unpopular stand. attain the` goal." riod in our relations with Russia.
A sturdily-built man of five foot Although Mr; Coffin. sees little I had served as a liaison officer
"It's not so hard to under. chance in the near future of -a with the Russian .;-army after
stand " sa $'l1 C ff' h revolution in th S' U ' World War II and I know the lan-
could easily be mistaken for an
undergraduate, :With close-crop-
ped hair and horn-rimmed glass-
es, he favors Jackets and slacks
and moccasin is shoes. He has demagogues have won wide sup
a deep spealifg voice and is a port and few people have had
the courage to fight for just but
pipe smoker unpopular causes?"
He walks briskly. around the Born in New York in 1924, Mr.
campus making his calls, or, if Coffin i$ the ' son of the late Wil
he is making' finger trips, such Ilan Sloane Coffin, Yale 1~ 00
a3 to the Medical School, he who was president of the Metro.
rides a motor: scooter. Many of presidi. Museum of Art and vice
his close' underg duate associ_ president of. the W. & J. Sloane
Co., New. York furniture firm.
apes are uncertain whether to call. His brother, Edmund Coffin, was
hint Mr. Coffin or,Bill. in the 'Class of 1943. officer, of organized religions .:Wnen lie was -a liaison No conforml and the
William Coffin His family traveled extensively, in first in Germany Czechoslovakia and then 'Value of many church activities.
br F
seems to have carefully avoided when he was young and he has ? It wasn't until my senior year
lived in California, France and At first we had very friendly when I attended a conference at
soy set pabiertT in shaping his relations with them,". he recalls
Switzerland} ,He Union Seminary and saw some of
own career. Before World War at tided Phillips The-soldiers of the two nations :
Andover, 'before entering Yale. the work being done by young
II he planned to be a concert.';; His mother now makes her home celebrated victor y together and -ministers in East Harlem hat I
it
seemed
that we would always re
ianist and
ntered th
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that church pro
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be
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sic School. After the war, in Rock Road. can be relevant to the issues of
which he served as a liaison of-- Mr. Coffin' is married to the
fiver with the French army in former .Eva Rubinstein, daughter
examples in this country where'. to make. economic progress, it
o-1 .3
"We've got to be real tough
with ourselves to keep up with the ministry again" he says.
has been pecessary . to educate
the masses and improve living
.standards.
The Communist leader's face a
dilemma: how to grant economic
freedor~i. without giving up politi-
cal control. The .desire for free-
dom can never be suppressed,
Because of the cloak of secrecy
which covers. CI v,oA pier 3.rrtig, the
T7Te c rap a n does not discuss
this phase of his career. His ex-
periences, however, have left him
with deep concern about the abil-
ity of the West to compete with
Communism.
Coffin is convinced.
He got to.know many Russian WAS A SKEPTIC
officers
to soldiers
War1rt during inr the , "While I was an undergradu-
vears and
FRATERNIZATIQN ,,STOPPED the day."
Coffin 'was graduated from
"But then the Communist Iead-' Yale in 'the class 'tif 1949 and th
e
study political science. In 1949- She is a ballet dancer and , actress ers became alarmed about this; next Fall he entered Union Th
e-
50 he studied for the.ministr at l fraternization and took measures; ological Seminary. But the fol-
Y wlao toured Europe in the musical
Union Theological, Seminary;
rope with the Centx ?jatgl ence
tiijeiic and In 1954 he returned
to ale to complete his prepara-'second child is expected.
titm for the ministry. While an undergraduate at
Although he is the nephew of Yale, Coffin was president of the
the late Rev. Henry Sloane Cof- Yale Glee Club and chairman of
fin,, Yale '97, who was president the Yale` Chapter of the Ameri-
of Union Theological Seminary, can Veterans Committee. He was
up. me communists quickly get could switch from the ministry
things under control and our to intelligence work and back to
friendly relations. were ended.
It was very frustr .ting to see t]i..;
happening -ind be unable to . o
anything about it:h
hi says his family had little to do also a member of the Undergrad- How can a relatively few Com-
with his decision to become a uate Board of Deacons of Yale's iiunists
dedica to iotaliiarian-
,
minister. Church of Christ, of the Eliza- Isin, control ti'' natural inclina-
bethan Club and of Timothy Lion of the Russo people to have
Dwight College. '
OPPOSITE
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While a divinity student he was'
assistant chaplain at Yale and
also served as minister to Pres-
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I
104,169,
"Oklahoma!" and appeared in I " iiearu i icussiarr- eo-; - lowing year he interrupted his
the Broadway production of The lonel, a political officer, tell a nunisterial sttud1'6" o"sertfrhree
41,,.x..... f,~- ,.,._.......r -'- .:.. ... .....
 Approved For Release 2003/12/02 : CIA-RDP75-00001 R000300020008-5
[LARD-hitting yFt:i ti.o,!s on ciintrr)rer.s al subjects are packing chapel.
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cepting dirt." On July 10 a de-
bate was held tc `decide the
"nnne+inn? ''[1VhinN'"ice + `n+wnn .r_
 OR 7 1958
byterian students. A pr WFo edlease 2003/12/02 : CIA-RDP75-00001 R000300020008-5
closely with his predecessor, the i e religious drifters at Yale
Rev. Sidney Lovett, who retired:, and "fill the back rows of Battell
last June, The youthful and ag-i for quite a few days as well."
gressive Bill Coffin made quite a The Chaplain's duties cover a
contrast to soft-spoken and gen- r wide area of activities. There are
ial "Uncle Sid" Lovett who now: daily services at Battell Chapel,
is serving in Hong Kong with Sunday worship, undergraduate
Yale-In-China, but they got alongi courses in religion, counseling of
fine together. While a divinity:
Students
student, Coffin won the Daggett and many undergradu.
ate activities in social work and
Scholarship Prize. religion. The Yale Cha
In 1956-57 he was chaplain at, Plain -
quently is asked to preach at
Andover and last year was chap-, other her fre
lain at Williams College. o campuses.
He believes that - college," stu- Despite his busy schedule, the'
Rev. today are more receptive William Coffin finds time
to religion' than students of less to relax with his family and ~o
troubled times. "They're con- continue his Interest in musiq
cerned, but not. committed," he and the theater. He enjoys sfort
says. "They feel that. the various and plays tennis with 'David
`isms' have failed to solve our Schimmel, the director of thei
problems and that religious 'faith Hillel Foundation at Yale.
may provide the`'unly answer, but "I'm sorry to say he beats
they take a show"-me, no-nonsense me," nays Yale's chaplain,. a
attitude.. We -have to show them keen competitor.
that Christianity' and Judaism
have a great deal to say in every
area of human 'life -- student
problems, man ge, domestic is.
sues and international affairs;"
To stimulate interest in religion
among students, the chaplain is
starting study, groups and forums
in several schools of the univeri
sity. A group at the medical
school is discussing the maraj
and ethical Problems that must
be faced in the medical profes.
sia)n. A similar group at the law
school will consider religion and
the law. One of the student or-
ganizations is sponsoring a talk
by the Rev. Martin Luther King,
Negro leader of Montgomery,
Ala.
In his first few weeks in the
pulpit at Batteli .Chapel the new
chaplain.m'ade it plain that Yale
students will be given something,
to think about in'- the weeks to
come. In his' inaugural sermon he
lashed out at, both Communism
and America-firstisrn, atomic
war, segregation and "phony re-
ligion." At Williams College he
aroused some 'students by his
open criticism of the fraternity
system.
His vigorous sermons on con-
troversial subjects drew atten-
tion in a recent issue of "Ivy
Magazine," an undergraduate
publication which contended `that
Mr. Coffin has '"created some-
thing of a sensation with his rad
ical approach to religion." Ivy
predicted that the new chaplain
will probably succeed in "nail-
ing" quite a few of the non-com-
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