During his tenure, students and faculty briefly occupied the university's executive offices to protest against the Vietnam War despite the fact that Gordon had expressed opposition to the Vietnam War. He also took part in a campus-wide discussion over military recruiting on campus and whether ROTC should have a place at Johns Hopkins. During his tenure, the university was suffering a financial crisis, with an operating deficit of more than $4 million. The crisis caused Gordon to order budget cuts, which in turn caused faculty protests. Faculty were angered because while Gordon was cutting teaching positions, he was increasing the size of the University's administration. He also incurred student wrath when he re-wrote the student conduct code.