A playground for people to think.

  In 1931, Slim Brundage opened the doors to the College of Complexes. A place for radical minds to express themselves completely uncensored, the goal of the college was to be a center of free speech. The college was not a college in the traditional sense. There were no classrooms, teachers, or graduation requirements. Instead it was an organized weekly gathering that hosted debates and lectures known as the Curriculum that anyone was welcome to attend and speak at. Three months after its 1931 opening, the College closed down due to a lack of funds.

On January 6, 1951, Brundage reopened the school using a worker’s compensation check he received from a work incident. With $6,000, he rented out a tavern at 1651 N. Wells and began to host lectures once more. The College of Complexes never stayed in one place for long as the police were constantly targeting the school and shutting it down, classifying the people there as far too radical and secretly working for the Russians. His school moved from place to place, but the heart of it was never lost. Though he was the founder and technical dean of the school, Brundage preferred the title of “The Janitor.” He worked odd day jobs while running the school and preferred to be active as a student rather than a manager. Speakers and students have both attested to seeing Brundage live up to his title as janitor, mopping and cleaning up the rooms before and after lectures were over.

The College of Complexes remained open until 1961, running for ten years until it was forced to close once more due to unpaid taxes. Though the school never officially reopened, lectures began once again in 1970 and people continued to gather even after Brundage left the USA. The groundwork of the college as a place of complete free speech has confirmed its place as a sanctuary for the radical.