was the WEB, he said. However, Muste said, any new organization must denounce communism. Muste's plans for a "militant though informal" network took concrete form on May 26, 1929, when 151 union members, labor leaders, and socialists meeting in New York City agreed to form the Conference for Progressive Labor Action (CPLA). At the meeting were several Brookwood directors and faculty, including Budenz, Golden, Hartman, A.J. Kennedy, Lefkowitz, Maurer, and Muste. The CPLA's founders agreed to use the journal Labor Age to advocate for industrial unionism, labor militancy, the five-day work week, and a program of social insurance. The CPLA also advocated a planned economy and government ownership of national resources, and strongly rejected communism. Muste was elected national chairman of the CPLA. On June 3, the Brookwood board of directors approved a resolution supporting the CPLA, demanding more militant labor policies, opposing the two existing political parties, and supporting progressive workers' education. The AFL denounced the CPLA as dual unionism. Despite this action, many of Brookwood's board members did not support Muste or the CPLA, and a majority of the faculty opposed the board's action and what the CPLA was trying to do. Muste's political drift leftward encouraged some Brookwood faculty to take even more radical stands. Veteran faculty member Arthur Calhoun, who had long held communist views, now began advocating that Brookwood formally adopt a communist philosophy to the exclusion of all other views. Deeply alarmed, the rest of the Brookwood faculty unanimously asked the Brookwood board of directors not to rehire Calhoun when his contract expired in early June 1929. Calhoun (who had asked to be released from tenure in 1927 to pursue other jobs) denied he was a member of the Communist Party. But when asked if his communist views would allow him to would continue serving on the Brookwood faculty while also seeking to destroy the institution, Calhoun answered they would. On June 9, the board declined to renew Calhoun's contract, ending his employment by the school. The Brookwood board's strong support for the CPLA and the negative press associated with the public disclosure of Dr. Calhoun's political views led to the loss of support for the college. In August 1929, the New York State Federation of Labor withdrew its financial support for Brookwood after extensive and bitter debate. But delegates felt the evidence against Brookwood was overwhelming, and in the end the resolution implementing