The bill, which was written and pushed through Congress by Representative Paul A. McCarthy, placed the responsbility of enforcement upon all college presidents, according to The Amherst Student. Presidents were to be fined $1,000 to $3,000 for failure to apply these laws on college campuses. The Student explained, "The presidents cannot resist passively because the legislature could demand action and if it was not forthcoming it could set a committee of investigation."
Professor Struik of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was one of the first victims of this legislation and had already been dismissed by the time The Student covered the bill. Boston Representative Charles Ianelle claimed that there were "two more rats at Harvard."
Amherst College faculty members held a wide array of views on this issue. President Emeritus Charles Cole did not object to appointing the president responsible for what goes on in the College, although he recognized limitations to the bill. "But reports of the legislation seem to me to indicate that it is not well designated to achieve the ends for which it is ostensibly introduced," said Cole.
The Student also reported doubts from many other members of the College faculty. Professor of History Laurence B. Packard stated, "I don't think you can make people loyal by legislation." Professor of Philosophy Gail Kennedy worried that the law would put the College president in an unfavorable position by forcing him to continually spy and check in on his faculty. Kennedy related this newly-created tension between administration and faculty to "a man continually suspicious of his wife." Recognizing this bill as a symptom of a dangerous trend in this country, Professor of Economics Colston E. Warne concluded, "You hurt everyone with a law like this."