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Across The Us: Students Back In Action

Across The Us: Students Back In Action image Across The Us: Students Back In Action image
Parent Issue
Month
September
Year
1975
OCR Text

Contrary to what the establishment media would like us to believe, student activism is not a thing of the past. The tumultuous sixties gave way to the passive seventies, --but not for too long. During the past year, significant political activity occured on campuses all around the country in what may well be the first stirrings of a revitalized student movement.

Ann Arbor is a case in point. Last fall over 150 vocal demonstrators made their presence felt at a Washtenaw County Commissioners meeting, resulting in the rejection of a request by the Environmental Research Institute of Michigan (ERIM -contracted in large part by the Defense Department) for county subsidy. In February 2,000 students demonstrated in support of a strike by the Graduate Employees Organization (GEO), which culminated in the Administration's less than enthusiastic recognition of GEO as a legitimate union. During the GEO strike, over 200 Third World students occupied the administration building for four days in an effort to force the University to fulfill its obligations to minority students. The possibility of Henry Kissinger appearing as speaker at commencement generated a mobilization of forces far greater than had been expected. The year concluded on a positive note with the election of a radical-oriented Student Government Council.

But many of us in Ann Arbor did not realize that the events which took place in our community were part of a nation-wide trend. Major protests occured in over twenty schools, centering on a wide range of issues including rapidly rising tuition costs and the modification of academic and service programs -- particularly those geared toward minority students-due to budget cuts. To mention but a few:

-70% of the students at Brown University boycotted classes for four days, while 50 angry black students seized the administration building protesting budget cuts which would make the University both "richer and whiter."

- About 600 students at Howard University in Washington, D.C. rallied against an impending tuition hike, while 200 others held a daylong sit-in at the administration building.

-500 black students at the University of Maryland marched on the administration building to protest tuition increases and budget cuts.

-Accusing the University of "structured, institutionalized racism," a group of black students at Boston College staged a protest in front of the home of President Monan.

-At Brandeis University about 100 students took over a University building, as another 1 00 students picketed to express their discontent n the face of proposed budget cuts for minority programs.

-About 4,000 students f rom the University of Massachusetts travelled to the state capital in Boston for a rally against expected budget cuts. Similar grievances motivated 500 students at Hunter College n NYC to occupy the Dean's office.

-In Buffalo over 2,000 students marched in support of the Attica Brothers. As in Ann Arbor, for the first time in a few years, a radical student

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government was elected.

-Over 600 persons picketed the appearance of William Shockley at Yale University. Demonstrators attacked the car Shockley left in and spat on the Windows.

-23 people were arrested at the University of California in Santa Barbara for seizing the computer center, while 900 students protested the phasing out of black and chicano study programs. Rallies, boycotts and building takeovers were also reported at San José State University, Berkeley, the University of Illinois, Florida State University at Tallahassee, Rutgers University, and Princeton.

Moreover, it is likely that this new wave of student activism will continue to grow during the coming year. Large scale organizing teach-ins focusing on the Central Intelligence Agency, domestic political assassinations, and corporate misjustice, are planned for this fall at over a dozen campuses, including a statewide conference that will occur simultaneously in Ann Arbor, Lansing and Detroit during the first week of November. In addition, it is quite likely that the possibility of a viable presidential candidate, such as Fred Harris, will stir up considerable support among the student population all across the country.