The Ecole Libre at the New School 1941-1946

Social Research, Winter, 1998 by Aristide R. Zolberg

Organizationally, the Ecole Libre was somewhat of a hybrid. In keeping with the Parisian Ecole des Hautes Etudes model, the programs were drawn up "with a certain flexibility, by the professors themselves," rather than in accordance with ministerial prescriptions, as in the extremely centralized university system (Aglion, 1984, p. 131). However, it replicated the traditional faculties of the French and Belgian university system, each headed by a dean and vice dean who, to reflect the institution's binational character, were drawn alternatively from the two national groups. Thus, the faculty of letters was headed by the Sorbonne's Gustave Cohen, with the Belgian Henri Gregoire as vice dean; and the faculty of law and political science was headed by Belgian Paul Van Zeeland, with Boris Mirkine-Guetzevitch, representing France, as vice dean. Initially, there was to be also a faculty of sciences, headed by Jean Perrin; but because of its limited scope, this was downgraded to a "section," headed after Jean Perrin's death by Jacques Hadamard. Overall, the school was governed by a council, which comprised, in addition to the officers indicated, some ten additional members, including Raoul Aglion, the film director and critic Jean Benoit-Levy, the sociologist Georges Gurvitch, and Claude Levi-Strauss.

The institution's administrative seat was at 21 West 12 Street, but classes were held at the New School, 66 West 12 Street, beginning on February 3, 1942. The formal inauguration took place on Saturday, February 14, 1942, in the presence of some two thousand guests. For lack of adequate space downtown, the ceremony was held in the assembly hall of Hunter College, where Maritain was teaching at the time, with Alvin Johnson presiding. In his opening statement, the president of the New School stressed "the world oppression that exist today," and pointed to the new university as an expression of "free nations in which individualism has continued to assert itself' (New York Times, February 15, 1942). In addition to sending a message of greeting, General de Gaulle also issued an official decree certifying that diplomas granted by the free university would be "recognized as the full equivalent of French universities" and provided a small subsidy (NSA, Decree no. 142, February 9, 1942). Since Paul Van Zeeland, the most illustrious of the Ecole's Belgian professors, was on a mission in London, his speech was delivered by colleague Henri Rolin, former president of the Belgian Supreme Court. Congratulatory messages were read from among others Secretary of State Cordell Hull, Russian ambassador Maxim Litvinoff, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, and Jan Masaryk, foreign minister of the Czechoslovakian government in exile. On the academic side, there were greetings from leading universities in Latin America as well as from London and Oxford. In its editorial, the New York Times congratulated the New School and welcomed the exiled scholars, reminding its readers that

   When Rome fell, the scholars fled to Constantinople. When Constantinople
   fell ... the scholars returned to Italy. Barbarian rule in various
   countries at various times has always benefited other countries to which
   the wise and thoughtful were exiled. So in our own day.