CIA TIES WITH ACADEMICS: DANGEROUS IMPLICATIONS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP81M00980R000600230056-0
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 24, 2004
• Sequence Number: 56
• Publication Date: May 12, 1978
• Content Type: NSPR

Approved For Release 2004/07/08 : CIA-RDP81 M00980R000600230056-0
MICHIGAN DAILY
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
12 May 1978
ties wit h aea yes
angerous implications
By Rene Becker'
The final report of the Senate Select Committee.
on Intelligence Activities renders many startling.
revelations about the operations of U.S. intelligence;
agencies.
In one brief passage, ; the committee reports.
the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is now using several'
hundred American academics, who in addition to providing.
leads and sometimes making introductions , forintelligence
purposes, occasionally write books and other material to- be
used for propaganda purposes abroad.- -
These academics are-located in over 100 American
colleges, universities; and other related institutes. At_the.'
majority:-of institutions, no one other than the individual
academic concerned is aware of'the CIA link.
The above paragraphs appear in a subsection en-
titled "Covert Use of the U.S. Academic Com=
i munity." The section, heavily censored by the CIA,
takes up only one of several thousand pages in the
final report of the Select Committee.
DOCUMENTS RECENTLY released by the -CIA
indicate that this University is among many where 1
the CIA is using academics. Some of the professors,
administrators or graduate students who have CIA
",.ties are fully aware of the extent of their in-
volvement....-Others believe they are cooperating
.with the Agency out of patriotism or civic duty and
are unaware of the implications of their connection
with the CIA...
Whatever the nature of these relationships with
the CIA, either paid or unpaid, witting or unwitting,
they have far-reaching effects on everyone within
the academic world.
:.For example, the recently released CIA documen-
ts concerning the University show that some
:professors were filling "Agency request". for em-
ployees or helped the Agency in-."spotting can-,
didates" for recruitment.-,.
WHEN THE CIA asks a professor to "spot", a
candidate, the Agency is actually asking the
professor to set up a student for an intensive secret
investigation:
Gary Weissman was a student at the University of
Wisconsin in the late 1950s. He served as president
of the Wisconsin Student Association'in 1959 and, af-
ter. graduation, was mildly active in the anti-war-
movement..
Weissman learned recently that he was the.sub
ject of a five-year CIA investigation to determine
his eligibility for the Agency's clandestine service:
The CIA considered using Weissman as a covert
CIA agent' at the Seventh World Youth Festival in
Vienna in 1959.'.
THE MOST NOTEWORTHY aspect. of, this in
vestigation-is the fact that Weissman never applied
for CIA employment and was not aware that he was.-
being investigated. Weissman was never contacted
by the Agency.
Weissman learned of. the CIA's interest in him
through documents' received as a result of a?
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.
Although the CIA has forked over 44 documents
'concerning Weissman it is still withholding 26 ad-
ditional' reports. Weissman is pressing a lawsuit
against the CIA to affect the disclosure of the
remaining documents which the Agency has
refused to release on the .basis of "national
security..Just like countless 'others, Weissman was "spot-
ted" by an Agency contact on the University. of
Wisconsin.campus. The contact gave the name of a
student to the CIA, without the student's knowledge,
-then the CIA investigated the student's past and
followed the student or -as long as two or. three
.years. AFTER EXTENSIVE files were created on the
student and after his movements had been recorded
and analyzed by Agency personnel, a decision',
-would be finally made by the cia to approach the
student or move on to someone else. .
But recruiting agents for either the research or
clandestine offices of the.CIA is only one aspect of
the Agencysrelationship with academics.
The CIA documents which have been released to
boththiq4Universityand the-University of California
and helpful to a small, privileged group of scholars.-:
THESE SCHOLARS received among other 1iimgs)
reference materials usually concerning China or
the USSR from the government and perhaps the
world's best intelligence source.
The CIA also' held closed seminars where a few
select scholars were invited to discuss international
relations'.'with Agency analystys and other top
government officials. The groups were generally
not larger than 15 including Agency personnel. But
.if the CIA is the world's leading intelligence
:organization questions arise about who benefitted
,most from these seminars...--'
In a. May 9, 1974 memorandum; VIA Coordinator
=for Academic Relations Harold Ford wrote that
:these seminars profitted the Agency immensely: He
rote that the Agency also picked up some new per-
spectives on "key questions of U.S.-Soviet detente,
and of the interplay of Soviet-Chinese-U $. relation-
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BUT FORD also described in length the third
benefit the` CIA derived from the seminars. He
summerzed by writing that "these outings depend,
on friendships with existing contacts.and expanded)
Through documents released just three weeks ago
violent anti-war years on college campuses.
counterintelligence program during . the most
years the CIA ran PROJECT RESISTANCE-a-
between 1967 and 1973. Precisely between those
seminars-most of the CIA seminars were held
AN INTERESTING note about the
.cy, they said.
friendships to, additional professors- whom we had
not previously met."
Several professors who have admitted to atten-
ding these seminars, have said. they were in-
valuable learning experiences- These professors,
who attended the seminars also received the CIA
reference materials which, although. not officially
classified, were not available to all scholars.
These professors interviewed, who said they
received CIA reference materials were surprised to
learn they were part of a small group of American
scholars-no more than 100--earmarked for CIA
benefits.
How the CIA selected scholars for seminars or for
other research benefits os not clear .from the
'documents received thus far. But it is-generally
believed that those scholars who cooperated with
the Agency in other respects-spotting candidates,
writing propaganda, spying for the Agency on trips
abroad, and making introductions for intelligency
purposes-were held in the Agency's favor.:
One professor who although' approached by the
`CIA but did not cooperate; expressed concern about
the Agency's influence-on academic competition
and the genuine search for truth in the-,scholarly
world.
The professor said those few scholars- who are
cooperating with the CIA have an unfair advantage
over those who don't. Once privy to such - infor-
mation the scholar would think twice before doing
anything which might stop the flow from the Agen-
;tIj' ideals,.independence and integrity ofAmericanwniver-
StI1teS. - -i./,.:.c.,..- --,;...p..?rtw~ir?f -,: tJtl6 ;
academics involved in such activities may undermine public
confidence that those who train our youth arrupholding
agencies.?=. s _;~=a
deciding on guidelines with respect to intelligency~
ping from the Senate Select. Committee before
government repression for political thoughts.
political thoughts.'-