Reed Harris

Read Harris was the editor of the Columbia Spectator from 1931 to 1932. His tenure was perhaps the most controversial editorship in the daily's history. Harris launched an aggressive campaign again the Columbia administration. Most notably, he went after excess profit in Columbia's dining halls and attacked college athletics for corrupting academics. Following his assault on the dining halls, he was called in by Dean Herbert Hawkes, brought before an administrative committee, and summarily expelled.

Harris's expulsion prompted mass student revolt. The Spectator altered their design to boldly protest and, more notably, the there was a giant student strike. His case was taken up by the ACLU and ultimately he was permitted to return. Harris, however, opted to sever his ties with the university and turn his work against athletics into the book King Football.

Harris ended up becoming something of a cold war technocrat, holding a post involved with disseminating pro-US propaganda. He was later called before the HUAC.