In 1936, the Board of Regents at the University of Minnesota instituted regulations to limit the ability of student groups to distribute pamphlets, post “propaganda,” and invite speakers to campus. According to the new rules, all future posters and speaker invitations would need to be approved by Dean Edward Nicholson and enforced by J.C. Poucher, head of student affairs enterprises. The regulations were the result of ongoing “skirmishes” between left-wing groups and the administration, and were interpreted by student activists as an effort to censor political dissent on campus. Dean Nicholson worked through the 1930s to contain activism on the left, which advanced his own political agenda.