TALK BEFORE GRADUATE STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS

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Collection: 
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
Case Number: 
Publication Date: 
October 8, 1976
Content Type: 
MFR
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PDF icon CIA-RDP79M00467A001100020003-5.pdf265.31 KB
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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 Approved For Release 2005/06/06 : 6IA-RDP79M00467A001100020003-5 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 Approved For Relea e 2005/0 /06 : CIAL-RDP79M J- 6 M 61 0 USEDITIO V 5 El SECRET the attached of interest. I believe you will.-find Distribution; Orig RS -- DDCI/DCI w/Orig of Att ER w/att I DDA Subject w/att 1 DDA Chrono w/o att 1 JFB Chrono w/o att DDA:JFBla ke:d er (18 Oct 1976) Ca EIDENTIAI IIT1141 L.1 USF ONILY UNCLASSIFIED