Hugh Halton, O.P. and the Princeton Controversy Archive

Fr. Hugh Halton, O.P., a Dominican priest who had a degree from Oxford, is best known as the Catholic college chaplain at Princeton University who became embroiled in a controversy from 1955 to 1958 surrounding the teaching of Catholic theology by professors on campus. Fr. Halton held that the professors in the religion department at Princeton did not interpret Catholic teaching in an acceptable manner. At Princeton, Fr. Halton served as director of the Aquinas Foundation. In 1955, Fr. Halton preached four sermons criticizing Princeton philosophy professor Walter Stace for his teaching about St. Thomas Aquinas. Fr. Halton then criticized the religion department. The controversy engulfed the campus. Fr. Halton urged Princeton to hire an effective instructor of Catholicism. Professor emeritus George W. Elderkin entered the fray, publishing four pamphlets about the controversy which are preserved in this collection. In the fall of 1957, Princeton President Robert Goheen fired Fr. Halton, who actually continued his duties as head of the Aquinas Center for one more year.

[Sources: "Father Halton: The Stormy Petrel." "Harvard Crimson." 1956 November 9; "God and Man at Princeton." "Princeton Alumni Weekly." 2014 April 2].