In April 1966, Ramparts magazine published a scathing article critiquing MSU’s involvement in South Vietnam. Among the charges in the article was that MSU was acting as a front for the Central Intelligence Agency.

MSU Assistant Professor Wesley Fishel was a good friend of South Vietnamese President Ngô Đình Diệm. Their friendship allowed Fishel to exert great power in South Vietnam in the mid-1950s.

South Vietnamese President Ngô Đình Diệm greets 4,000 faculty members and students at spring commencement on May 15, 1957. The day was declared Ngô Đình Diệm Day by Michigan Governor G. Mennen Williams.

MSU Assistant Professor Wesley Fishel and his family took up permanent residence in Vietnam after Fishel became head of the Michigan State University Vietnam Advisory Group. The family is seen here at the Saigon Airport on March 12, 1956.