Politically Active Campuses

[BetteDavisEyes]

I've never really noticed or thought of my campus as really politically active yet s I was walking to campus earlier today, I noticed something different. On my brief walk from the Student Union to the library, there were 4 separate voter registration drives going on. One was by the Associated Students, an independant one, Republicans for Bush & Cheney, and a Kerry/Edwards booth. In addition, Senator Hillary Clinton will be at the Pyramid this Friday. We once had Governor Schwarzeneggar (sp?) speak here when he was running for governor. He got egged as I recall by an unidentified student.

I never really thought of Long Beach as a real political school but it looks like with this election, they are really pushing politics & the election. Are or were any of your campuses like this?

[Rudey]

I would probably put Berkeley and UMich at the very top for political campuses.

-Rudey

[DeltAlum]

Wisconsin at least used to be pretty active -- many would say radical. Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio also was.

[Rudey]

Originally posted by DeltAlum
Wisconsin at least used to be pretty active -- many would say radical. Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio also was.

Didn't they firebomb a building a kill a phd student there?

-Rudey

[DeltAlum]

Originally posted by Rudey
Didn't they firebomb a building a kill a phd student there?
-Rudey

I do remember a firebombing -- but I'm not sure where it was.

[Rudey]

Originally posted by DeltAlum
I do remember a firebombing -- but I'm not sure where it was.

After the August 1970 explosion at the University of Wisconsin, which killed a post-graduate student and did $6 million worth of damage, underground newspapers all over the country gleefully reported that another blow had been struck against the "pig nation." Students at Madison expressed regret at the death of the young researcher --but some refused to condemn the bombing of the Army Mathematics Center which caused it.

Increasingly, the argument was heard that the use of violence is justified, whether to promote social change, or to suppress campus unrest.

http://dept.kent.edu/may4/Campus_Unr..._chapter1e.htm

-Rudey

[AnchorAlum]

If you are speaking in historical terms from the 60's and 70's, then certainly Berkley and UM would be up there, as would Wisconsin, where the SDS was founded.

The Weathermen did blow up a building at the UW, and an innocent professor died. One of the perpetrators went on to assume a new life. She was caught several years ago - she'd become a PTA mom, a homemaker, all the "right stuff" - whatever that is.

The truth is, those campuses may not be the most active today. Times and student bodies change, and the issues which may serve as a flash point also change at different campuses. Berkley had a set of students who did not get along with the chancellor, who overreacted to their sit-in in '64 I believe. It snowballed, obviously.

Some of the biggest activists like Jerry Rubin have certainly become huge mainstreamers. He's a big Wall Street guy now.

P.S. Believe it or not, campus unrest and disobedience (the term used, which is quaint now) in the 60's and 70's was overblown. Not nearly as much of it as you might think.

It was like Animal House versus Big Chill. Blutarski and Co. won that one.

[PhiPsiRuss]

Columbia had the 1968 student takeover of school buildings, so they were not just politically active, but rather radical.

[Rudey]

Originally posted by AnchorAlum


Some of the biggest activists like Jerry Rubin have certainly become huge mainstreamers. He's a big Wall Street guy now.

I don't know what he did but whatever it was, it didn't amount to much before he started selling vitamins or whatever it was he did. "Wall Street" is one of those things thrown around a lot. Anyway he died 6 years ago in an accident I think.

-Rudey

[AnchorAlum]

Originally posted by Rudey
I don't know what he did but whatever it was, it didn't amount to much before he started selling vitamins or whatever it was he did. "Wall Street" is one of those things thrown around a lot. Anyway he died 6 years ago in an accident I think.

-Rudey

He was a stockbroker, if I recall. Very successful too.
I don't think it was an accident, but instead a heart attack. I'm going to check that one out.

[breathesgelatin]

W&L is very very very politically active.

But not in the way you normally think. We aren't a school that important candidates ever visit because there aren't big enough. Nor are we like a protest school or anything. But there are a ridiculous number of voter drives and people tend to be very passionate and and outspoken on their political beliefs.

The school is probably like 60-70% Republican though.

[Munchkin03]

Originally posted by AnchorAlum
He was a stockbroker, if I recall. Very successful too.
I don't think it was an accident, but instead a heart attack. I'm going to check that one out.

It was an accident. 10 years ago, he was hit by a car in LA.

[sugar and spice]

Wisconsin was highly politically active back in the 60s and 70s when my dad went here (I see you guys have noted the bombing story). It's cooled off quite a bit, but there is still a lot of political stuff going on. Madison is a relatively liberal city, and of course being the capital city and home to a huge university only increase the liberalism -- but we have a small-but-vocal faction of conservatives too. The liberals dominate in numbers, but the conservatives are a pretty cohesive group which makes them seem stronger than they are. As a member of the Greek system, I get to witness a lot of these clashes up close -- the Greek system is more conservative than the overall student body, probably split about half and half on each side, so the debates can rage pretty intensely.

It is nothing like it was in the 1960s/1970s though, and I'd guess Berkeley and UMich aren't either. Looking at the yearbooks from that time period is intense -- the anti-war demonstrations, the protests. My dad's told me that sometimes he couldn't even make it to class because the sidewalks were so clogged with protesters, police and tear gas. I think it would have been interesting to be in college back then.

[DeltAlum]

Originally posted by sugar and spice
I think it would have been interesting to be in college back then.

Yes, it was. Mrs. DA's graduating class (1970) did not have an commencement ceremony because the university was closed after riots following the Kent State Shootings. I think (not completely sure) that all of the state supported colleges in Ohio were closed.

I was directing TV news in Columbus and remember our crews getting tear gassed by the police who weren't crazy about the students or the media. Then, for the rest of the summer, National Guard surrounding the Ohio State campus allowing only those with OSU ID cards through the picket lines.

In Athens, there were Naitonal Guardsmen at every other parking meter throughout town. There had been a number of anti-war demonstrations -- some turning into riots over the years I was on campus.

The most impressive one I remember, though, was totally peaceful. It started as a silent vigil on the College Green, then a silent march (students and faculty) two by two from the Green to the local Draft Board (about 10 city blocks) and then back to the Green. As the first pair of marchers arrived back at the Green, there were still people waiting to begin the march.

There was a special "Moratorium Day" radio network of college stations from across the country put together, and our student run station was part of it. The only ugly thing that marred the silent march was "townie" hecklers.

There are a lot more stories, but that's the one I remember best. It was perhaps the most exciting and at the same time the most scary time to be a student that I can imagine.

[Private I]

Both FSU and FAMU, combining all sorts of student groups on campus (including many Greeks) participated last night in Sleeping Out to Vote. Overnight consisted of students and otherwise proving that it will be the 18-25 year olds that will swing the election, to show that young people really do care to vote, and made a line in the morning as soon as the courthouse was opened to be the first ones to vote. There is also a rally towards the capitol being planned next week.
Interestingly enough, John Edwards spoke in Tallahassee last night, and Dick Cheney did last week.
Also FSU students have been registering people to vote for the past year and a half. Apparently even after being bombarded with people with clipboards, a lot of students still waited until the last minute-700 people got registered the very last day.

As far as affiliations go, I think there is a relatively good mix of Republicans and Democrats. Personally I cannot bring myself to put my name on either one.

No firebombings that I can think of, though.