Dr. Strasser |
Otto
Strasser became the fourth president of what would
become The American Freedom College in 1942 and
served for 36 years. Dr. Strasser was educated in
St. Louis, Missouri; his background was in
education. In 1956, a stroke of his pen ended over
half a century of athletic competition at the
school. In 1957, the Board of Governors removed
Strasser, but after some complex events, he
re-assumed the position. Later that year, he refused
enrollment to a black student, but integration had
never been an issue at the school as the college had
ten black graduates. This particular action
embarrassed the college considerably and almost
destroyed an eighty-six year tradition of equal
access to all qualified applicants.
In
1959, he oversaw the renovation of the General
Classroom Building. Dr. Strasser's
ultra-conservative, autocratic style contributed
significantly to faculty attempts to remove the
president in 1961, 1963, 1965, 1970, 1973, and 1976.
Dr.
Strasser retired in 1978 to devote all of his
energies to the election of Ronald Reagan to the
office of President of the United States. Three
years later, President Reagan appointed Strasser to
a position in the Department of Education. In 1988,
Dr. Strasser left Washington and retired to
California with his sixth wife Edna. |
