anti-communism or Mike as the Last of the Mohicans

[Tom Lehman]

Going back into the 1930's, I think Pitt always had kind of a left-labor
reputation and I think this drove the super-rich in the Pittsburgh area
to distraction.  The poor western PA super-rich couldn't get a lot of
aide and comfort from the local intellectual yokels at Pitt who were
rumored to be communists and they had to suffer a lot of dubious advice
from their standpoint.

I think this all started to change in the 60's when a local super-rich
family bought a former trade school for Steelworkers and put their money
into turning the place into a university.  This put pressure on Pitt to
shape up to super-rich standards.  Then Pitt wanted new buildings too
and Pitt had financial problems.  So naturally keeping the super-rich
patrons happy became more of a priority.

I also think that when one of the super-rich Pitt graduates, from the
same family who owned the other University, turned reactionary in the
60's after the suicide of his political runnin' buddy didn't help
matters any either.

As you may remember some of my union friends and acquaintances were
getting arrested protesting our South African policies around the time
you wrote this story.  Some were and are big names in our union and they
got to spend the obligatory night in jail for their good efforts for
social and economic justice.

One of the big problems as I see it, and this goes for around the nation
too, is that schools like Pitt and the former trade school turned
university, spend too much of their time trying to please their
patrons.  Rather than giving sound if unwelcome advice from a super-rich
or corporate standpoint.

Tom