For many years, Governor's Day was the occasion for honoring ROTC cadets, with the Nevada governor in attendance. In 1970, the event was held coincidentally in the same week President Richard Nixon ordered American troops into Cambodia, and four students were shot to death by National Guard troops at Kent State University in Ohio.

The same day Governor's Day was held, May 5, 1970, a peace rally was held by students opposing the war and the military policies of the federal government when the rally became a march toward the Governor's Day ceremony. The marchers walked around the field where military exercises were being held, and while some demonstrators filed into the stands, shouting antiwar slogans, others went onto the field and threatened to disrupt the ROTC cadet drill. University president N. Edd Miller asked for calm and courtesy, and some faculty members and students joined the ranks of the protestors urging restraint. The episode ended without violence, but in the following week, there were two instances of fire-bombings on or near the campus.

Paul S. Adamian was a teacher of English who joined the faculty as a lecturer in 1966, became an assistant professor in 1968, and was granted tenure in the 1969/70 school year. As student dissent increased in the late 1960s, Adamian was identified with the more outspoken protesters. He was a familiar figure at protest meetings, and was one of the most conspicuous participants in the Governor's Day disruption. The Board of Regents, meeting a few days after the demonstration, filed charges of misconduct and ordered an investigation of Adamian and one teaching assistant. Charges were dropped against the teaching assistant, but the Adamian case was heard by a faculty board that decided that while his conduct warranted censure, there were no grounds for dismissal. Unsatisfied with the hearing board's findings, and after several months of formal proceedings, the Board of Regents discharged Adamian from the faculty.

Adamian brought suit in federal court that his termination by the regents was a violation of his civil rights, claiming the University had deprived him of his first amendment rights of speech and assembly. A Federal District Judge subsequently held that the University rule upon which the board relied was constitutionally vague and over-broad, and ordered the professor reinstated with back pay. The order was stayed while the regents appealed the ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit at San Francisco, which reversed the judgement and ruled in favor of the regents. Subsequent appeals were dismissed, and eventually an appeal was submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which denied to hear it. Representing Adamian was attorney Charles E. Springer.

The records in the collection include general correspondence, copies of appeals, flyers and ephemera, and newspaper clippings.

Also included are records, 1965-1966, concerning his teaching appointment at Southern Oregon College, Ashland, Oregon. Adamian would not sign the teacher's oath, he agreed to be a faculty adviser for a new student group, the Committee for Social Action, and questioned an implementation of merit awards in a faculty meeting. Complaining to the state chairman of the American Association of University Professors about claimed infringement of academic freedom, his contract was not renewed. Adamian appealed to the AAUP, which forwarded his letter to the American Civil Liberties Union. After an investigation, the ACLU recommended that the services of the ACLU of Oregon be made available to Adamian in relation to this case, but by then he had accepted a position at Nevada.

Restriction: During his lifetime, no more than 100 words from these materials may be quoted for publication (print, electronic, or otherwise) without his express, written consent.

1/2 cubic ft.

Folder:

1. Correspondence, 1970-1978.
2. Findings and Decision of the ad hoc Faculty Senate Hearing Committee in the matter of Dr. Paul S. Adamian. Oct. 28, 1970.
3. Decision of the Board of Regents concerning Dr. Paul Adamian. December 1970.
4. Paul S. Adamian vs. The University of Nevada, the Board of Regents...Complaint. 1971.
5. U.S. District Judge Bruce Thompson disqualified; case assigned to Chief Judge Roger D. Foley. April 1972.
6. Memorandum Opinion. April 1973.
7. Order granting summary judgement and partial summary judgement [in favor of plaintiff, reinstating Adamian.] 1973.
8. U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit [appeal by Board; reverse and remand order.]
   September 1975.
9. Defendants' motion to dismiss denied. April 1976.
10. Statement of Contentions of Law And Fact [submitted by Charles E. Springer.] 1976.
11. Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada [Court holds that plaintiff was not denied equal protection of the laws.] June 1976.
12. Appellant's Opening Brief, Appeal from the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada, to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Jan. 11, 1977.
13. Judges Duniway and Choy disqualify from hearing case, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. March 1979.
14. Opinion, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. [Second appeal; hold that Adamian was not denied freedom of speech, nor of assembly, nor equal protection.] October 16, 1979.
15. Petition for Rehearing and Suggestion of Appropriateness of a Hearing In Banc. October 29, 1979.
16. Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, October Term, 1979. [Requesting the record of the case for review; denied.]
17. Chronology of events, 1966-1970.
18. ACLU, Northern Chapter, list of Washoe county cooperating attorneys, 1970.
19. Col. Robert H. Hill, Statement to the University of Nevada police department concerning Governor's Day.
20. Nevada AAUP concerning Paul Adamian Defense Fund, ca. 1970.
21. Speech given by Paul Adamian, Sept. 1970.
22. Hand-written notes.
23. Flyer. Statement of fact on why...Adamian has been illegally suspended... ca. 1970.
24. 1968 Recommended Institutional Regulations on Academic Freedom and Tenure, reprinted from the AAUP Bulletin, Winter, 1968, and The University of Nevada System Interim Rules and Disciplinary Procedures for Members of the University Community, 1970.
25. Preamble to the Nevada Free University, ca. 1970.
26. Copy of poem, Listen.
27. Resume, ca. 1967; 1982.
28. Southern Oregon College, 1965-1966.
29. Southern Oregon College, 1965-1966.
30. Photocopies of news clippings, 1968-1974.

University Archives

Please direct questions to James Bantin
Updated August 17, 2008