During the fifties, several American university campuses became the object of searches for all forms of real and imagined disloyalty due to the McCarthy Era. In 1952, a member of American Legion Post No. 1 in Omaha charged that A Certain Professor was using a certain textbook and the students can't swallow the stuff." (Knoll, page 114) The professor was E.N Anderson of the history department and the book, The State of Asian, contained an essay by Owen and Aleanor Lattimore. The professor was not accused by the legionnaire of personal disloyalty but his wisdom in selecting instructional materials for the course was questioned.

Within days, the Student Council adopted a resolution expressing its confidence in the intergrity and loyalty of Dr. Anderson. The entire university - students, falculty and administration were entirely in support of Dr. Anderson. By early spring the American Legion had in effect backed away and adopted a program of "citizenship in education" written by a professor in the University, but the whole affair left a cloud over the University and a defensiveness within the faculty. Freedom of expression and research was not restricted at the University.