May 12, 1969
Dear Professor Crick:
I was very pleased to hear about your interest in Greek Science.  But, as you well know, neither science nor any other organized body of knowledge can prosper when there is no academic freedom.
I am enclosing a copy of documents passed by the Council of Ministers of the Greek dictatorship pertaining to the complete abridgment of freedom at the Greek universities. You will also find the names of many professors, some of them scientists, who have been fired from their positions.  I know that most Greeks who are interested in and working towards the establishment of democratic institutions in Greece, do not want the dictators to be able to talk about the well-known scientists who will be visiting Greece and thus, by innuendo, attempt to create an aura of respectability.  My suggestion about the tangible influence on the Greek Government would be to postpone this Fourth Advanced Study Institute of Molecular Biology until academic freedom has been established in the Greek universities.
Sincerely yours,
George D. Pappas
Professor of Anatomy
Chairman
American Committee for Freedom and Democracy in Greece
P.S. Do you think that we should send our letters to "Science" for publication in order that our scientific colleagues can become aware of and think about these important issues?  Of course, I will not proceed with this idea, until I have your permission.