Collection MC373 - Norman Strax affair

Title proper

Norman Strax affair

General material designation

  • Textual record

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Title notes

  • Source of title proper: The title reflects the popular name by which the case was known.

Level of description

Collection

Reference code

CA PANB MC373

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Physical description

7 cm of textual records

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Name of creator

(fl. 20th c.)

Biographical history

In 1968 and 1969, Norman Strax, a senior professor of Physics in the Faculty of Science at the University of New Brunswick, was suspended and threatened with dismissal for supporting student protesters upset about the implementation of an identification card system for students and professors using campus facilities and the library. Several students formed a protest group to contest the University's decision. The case was eventually taken to court to determine the legality of the suspension and the authority of the administration over student rights to self-expression. A settlement was reached before the case came up for trial.

Custodial history

Information about the custody of these records prior to acquisition is incomplete.

Scope and content

This collection consists of two parts. One folder contains collected press clippings and newspaper articles published about the case in the local newspapers of New Brunswick during the period 1968-1969. It consists mostly of letters to the editor in support of Professor Norman Strax and articles that followed the course of the case, from its inception to the student occupation of his office in support of his fight to be reinstated. Further letters to the editor record the position of the student groups fighting the University executive and council on the issue of identification cards and the power to censure professors for the free expression of ideas and public support of the students' position.

The second part is a bound volume of the 1968-1969 editions of the MacKenzie House, University of New Brunswick, fraternity house newsletter, "The Stag", and its reports on the Norman Strax affair. In addition there are numerous internal memos and letters from the University administration and the student groups involved in the case. As well, there are copies of reports and public statements of position from the Student Defense Society (SDS).

Physical condition

Immediate source of acquisition

The material was donated to the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick on 8 July 1980 by an anonymous member of the University of New Brunswick Student Defense Society.

Arrangement

Language of material

  • English

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No restrictions

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An inventory is available.

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