During the Great Depression the "Cardinal" first earned its reputation for radicalism. Disagreeing with a policy of mandatory military training for male undergraduates to prepare for the impending World War II and running a letter to the editor signed by Junior Women discussing free love led U.S. Senate nominee John B. Chapple to declare that the "Cardinal" was controlled by "Reds, Atheists and free love advocates". The UW Board of Regents revoked the "Cardinal"’s title as "official University newspaper" following this discourse and threatened to close the paper down until a compromise added a faculty member and a regent to the "Cardinal" board.