respice

Matrix: The Magazine for Leaders in Education, Oct, 2000

To protest the escalation of the Vietnam War and to disrupt what demonstrators believe to be war goods, University of California Davis students block the Southern Pacific railroad tracks for six hours during a weeklong series of sit-ins, rallies, and all-night vigils at the Southern Pacific Depot. Nearly 100 are charged with unlawful assembly.

On May 1, 1970 Kent State University students organized a demonstration to protest the invasion of Cambodia. A copy of the Constitution was buried to symbolize its "murder." A second rally was called for noon, May 4. In the meantime, after crowds had moved toward the center of town and engaged in disruptive behavior, the Kent City mayor and Ohio governor called on the National Guard to prevent further escalation. Over the next few days there were a number of incidents involving, demonstrators, university officials, and National Guardsmen. By noon on May 4, 2,000 people had gathered in the vicinity of the commons even though the rally had been banned. To disperse the crowd, tear gas canisters were fired but had little effect and shortly afterward, 28 guardsmen fired shots into the air and into the crowd, leaving four students dead and injuring nine others.

Since then memorials have sprung up on college campuses. Kent State's own is constructed of granite and is surrounded by 58,175 daffodils, the number of the country's losses during the Vietnam War.

This year marks the beginning of the "Free Speech Movement." University of California Berkeley President Clark Kerr insisted the university wouldn't interfere with students' lives off campus, but he asked that students keep their political activities off campus. But when non-student Jack Weinberg was arrested for distributing political literature on campus, students showed their disapproval by holding a significant demonstration. Mario Savio emerged as a student leader and jumped on the police car that was carrying Weinberg. Other students sat around the car to prevent it from driving away. Protests continued throughout the year and Savio and other students received discipline letters. Savio responded with his own ultimatum, and then led a rally that resulted in the arrest of 814 students.