In April, 1937, Dean Nicholson agreed to permit temporary recognition of a student group formed “for the purpose of promoting intellectual consideration of Marxian principals” as long as it remained a place of academic discussion and free from outside political control. Nicholson also required that the group submit a list of its student membership, which students had feared because of possible retribution. Nicholson authorized this group after organized protests from students and faculty for at least four years, because of his persistent denial of their right to exchange ideas freely. Nicholson continued to pass the names of student radicals to Ray Chase and the FBI.