Although the school remained segregated, and its attempts to hire black faculty failed, locals were concerned that the school was promoting racial equality. In response to the poor relations with surrounding communities, Zeuch, who already exhibited socially conservative tendencies, attempted to implement a strict behavioral policy for students, which prohibited "inappropriate dress, language, interdormitory visits, drinking", and other types of behavior. However, these policies alienated many of the school's students. Divisions between the school's administrators and students were also exacerbated by differences over the school's curriculum. While Commonwealth's founders sought to equip students with a liberal arts education, many of the school's students, and some of their faculty, wanted more practical training, particularly in regards to labor activism. Zeuch quit as director in 1931, when, after a student-led revolt, he accepted a Guggenheim Fellowship to study in Europe for a year and did not return. For the next six years, leadership of Commonwealth passed to Lucien Koch, who oversaw a curriculum shift which focused more on labor activism, journalism, public speaking, and labor law. Under Koch's administration, the school sought to integrate itself with local labor movements and activism, travelling throughout Arkansas, and to Illinois, Iowa, Oklahoma, and Kentucky to engage with local labor movements. Commonwealth College sent a delegation, which included Koch, to Harlan County in 1932, to support striking workers in the Harlan County War. These activities further enraged many locals, but began attracting a wider, and more militant, student body. During this period, a number of students and faculty began turning away from the policies of the Socialist Party of America, and began joining and involving with the Communist Party, resulting in sharp divisions. Increasingly, students began criticizing Koch for refusing to affiliate with any political party, and, at one point, a group of communist students asked the administration to racially integrate. When this was refused, a strike was called by the communists. The strike lasted for a short time until the communist students and a few others left the school en masse for Chicago. This strike resulted in a fatal blow to Commonwealth College. Many students then at Commonwealth believed that bringing a black student into the school would result in serious trouble, if not a lynching, in the then all-white Polk County in which the school was located. Reportedly a black person had not stayed overnight for years. In the early months of 1935, Koch