TALK BEFORE GRADUATE STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79M00467A001100020003-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 23, 2005
• Sequence Number: 3
• Publication Date: October 8, 1976
• Content Type: MFR

Approved For F ase 2005/06/06 : CIA-RDP79M00467W1100020003-5
8 October 1976
DD/A Registry
MEMORANDUM FOR THE RECORD
FROM Donald P. Gregg
Deputy Director for Operations Training
SUBJECT: Talk Before Graduate Students at the University
of Texas
1. On 6 October I traveled to Austin to address
two groups of graduate students at the University of
Texas. This been arranged through the good
offices of the Southwestern regional
recruiter, w o felt that a presentation on the Agency
today might be helpful to him in gaining access to a
wider range of potential candidates for Agency employment.
arrived in Austin about 1300 and by 1330; ressing
a group of about 50 graduate students and faculty. The
framework was the Policy Process Course taught by Dr. Dagmar
S. Hamilton at the LBJ School of Public Affairs. The course
itself has about 15 students. Others present were law
students and other interested faculty. (Also present was
a reporter from the Texas University daily paper. I spoke
with him before my talk and told him that I would designate
any comments which should be off the record. Due to the
reporter's presence, I was less specific in naming people
and places than I would have been.)
3. The subject of my talk was "Foreign Policy
Formulation--The Intelligence Input." The seminar
lasted for two hours and was interspersed with questions.
I sought to trace the development of the Agency since its
creation in 1947 and outlined ways in which it contributes
to foreign policy. This was similar to the talk which I
gave at Williams College last May.
Approved For Release 2005/06/06 : CIA-RDP79M00467A001100020003-5
 Approved For R406ase 2005/06/06 : CIA-RDP79M0046T4 01100020003-5
SUBJECT: Talk Before Graduate Students at the University
of Texas
4. About a dozen students participated actively in
questioning me during my talk. Their attitudes ranged
from skepticism to hostility, but all questions were put
to me in a courteous tone. In no case did a question
reflect an unquestioningly supportive attitude toward
the Agency. Quite predictably, the questions centered
on covert action, assassination, and the supposed tendency
of the Agency to act on its own volition. My responses
were listened to quite respectfully, and following the
talk, my most active interrogator came up and thanked me
for my "candor and rational viewpoint." My feeling was
that many of those who asked no questions were more
favorably inclined toward the Agency. I noted several
The student newspaper reporter asked no questions, and
assured me that he would respect our.ground rules. STAT
hearing this, said he expected a noncontroversial
an abbreviated report of my talk to appear in the student
paper.
5. Dr. Sydney Weintraub, the Dean Rusk Professor at
the LBJ School, also attended the talk and introduced me
to the students. He has served as both a Deputy Adminis-
trator for AID and a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State.
Weintraub spoke in generally favorable terms of the
Agency's development, and cited a notable improvement in
its analytical product, particularly in the last five or
six years. Following the talk, Dr. Hamilton told me that
my remarks had been fully pertinent to the structure of her
course, and that the talk had been "worth two or three weeks
of normal. class study."
6. We then shifted to the Texas University Center
for Asian Studies where I addressed a mixed group of
about 20 faculty and graduate students. Dr. F. Tomasson
Jannuzi, the Asian Center Director, introduced me to the
group. The discussion there, which lasted about 90 minutes,
focused more on regional problems, particularly those of
Latin America and South and Southeast Asia. Again, the
questioning from both students and faculty was searching,
and I was impressed by the detailed knowledge which
individual students possessed about recent developments
in Korea, Japan, Chile, and India. At the end of
this talk, I was thanked warmly by Dr. Jannuzi and
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 Approved For lase 2005/06/06 : CIA-RDP79M00467 71100020003-5
SUBJECT: Talk Before Graduate Students at the University
of Texas
several students came up to say that their impression of
the Agency had been changed by what they heard me say.
This basically benevolent reaction carried over to a
small cocktail party at the Faculty Club. I asked
several faculty members and students whether they felt
that this sort of appearance was worth doing. The answer
was very positive in terms of what they had learned about
the function of today's CIA. Two or three of the more
sensitive observers said that they had wondered whether
the Agency had been trying to "propagandize" them, but
that the pertinence of my talk to the structure of
Dr. Hamilton's course had strongly mitigated this feeling.
u ~.. 11 V. 1. 1 V J
saying that he had achieved better access to both the
LBJ School and the Area Studies Department than he had
had before. He agreed that appearances of this sort
should be "apropos of something," such as Dr. Hamilton's
course.
8. I was highly impressed with the quality of both
faculty and students, and was struck by the fact that at
the University of Texas, which I Irates as the
outstanding academic institution in is area, the Agency
is regarded with skepticism and some hostility by a
significant number of students and faculty. I felt,
however, that all minds were open and that a presentation
of this sort was useful in partially countering some
misconceptions which had existed before.
9. has promised to send feedback and
faculty reaction to the Director of Personnel, and
once his report has come in, we will be in a better
position to judge whether future gambits of this sort
are worth undertaking. I thoroughly enjoyed the day
and feel that represents the Agency extremely
well. In the evening he arranged for me to interview a
truly outstanding CT candidate. This interview alone
would have made the trip worthwhile.
Donald P. Greg
cc: DTR
DDO
D///Pers
ApproDediFor Release 2005/06/06 : PIA-RDP79M00467A001100020003-5
 UNCLASSIFIED INTERNAL
SEE Q LY ^ C FIDENTIAL
^ SECRET
-
ROUTING AND RECORD SHEET
SUBJECT: (optional)
Mr. Donald P. Gregg's Talk Before Graduate Students
at h , Viversity of Texas
John F. Blake
EXTENSION NO.
DDA 76-5098
Deputy Director foAdministration
Room 7D-24, Headqu ters
TO: (Officer designation, room number, and
.DDCI
Room
7D-6011
DCI
Room
7D-5607
OFFICER'S COMMENTS (Number each comment to show from whom
INITIALS to whom. Craw o line across column after each comment.)
Att: DDA 76-5098 - Mem for the Redord
--- fr nnnald P -~, a-
8 October 1976
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J- 6 M 61 0 USEDITIO V 5 El
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the attached of interest.
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