Campus Unrest Essays - Counterculture Of The 1960s,

Campus Unrest In response to great opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War, the antiwar movement of the 1960s sprung forth. A vast majority of involvement in this movement was represented on college campuses across the nation. Many college students wholeheartedly believed that the war in Vietnam served no point. America was simply once again sticking its nose in business that was not our own. As a result of the war, universities nationwide in the sixties were in uproar as students attempted to express their opinions through both violent and nonviolent means. Anti-Vietnam protests were first displayed through teach-ins that took place during the fall and spring semesters (Campus Unrest 1). These events were large discussions held on college campuses where students, faculty and administration met to openly learn about and discuss issues relating to the war. Teach-ins were efforts for Americans in relation to universities to voice their opinions and get the attention of government officials with the prayer that United States involvement in the war would not continue to increase at such a rapid rate. They stressed the importance of peace, not violence. Such teach-ins first took place in March of 1965 at the University of Michigan. This set a precedent for other colleges and universities as these rallies began to take place more and more frequently (Campus Unrest 1). One example of a teach-in that occurred during the anti-Vietnam war movement was discussed in the Rutgers Daily TARGUM. In April of 1965, students and faculty at Rutgers in New Jersey staged a Teach-in on Vietnam. Professors William Fitzpatrick, Lloyd Gardner, and Warren Susman had taken the podium to debate their stances on the war in Vietnam. Gardner felt that [w]estern civilization was greatest when isolated to the size of Greek city-states, and failed most miserable when it reached out to take lands it was not entitled to take (Hochman 1). Fitzpatrick on the other hand expressed a very different opinion: We are fighting in Vietnam not to save our little brown brother, but to save ourselves...we live in a world today of civilizational struggle (Hochman 1).The third professor, Susman, suddenly became extremely angry and bolted towards the two, banging on the podium when he approached. The crowd witnessing the event went wild and stood to applaud Susman, and the remainder of the tea ch-in proved to be just as out of control. Eleven speeches were given in all discussing U.S. involvement in Vietnam and other pertinent issues. This teach-in at Rutgers was similar to many others nationwide that took place on college campuses in opposition to the war (Hochman 2). Another teach-in took place at the University of California Berkely. It was the largest teach-in yet and it lasted for thirty-six hours and over thirty thousand people participated in it. There were also marches on Washington Avenue in which twenty-five thousand people attended. These marches became popular when the college students went home for the summer (Wells 25). Also, in the early 1960s drastic social change was being pushed from another direction at universities. An organization known as Students for a Democratic Society sprung forth in order to instigate this type of reform (Vietnam 2). Leaders of the SDS realized that many college students were becoming restless with the way many aspects of society were operating, especially the United States action in the Vietnam War. They were sick of sitting back indifferently while the aspects of society they valued were falling apart (Port 8). The SDS believed that colleges and universities were the ideal places to initiate such social transitions in America. There were four main reasons these students felt convicted in this way. One was because these schools were places of education that had great influences on the opinions of students attending. A second reason was because colleges were the most principal establishments for utilizing information. Another was the way skills of persuasion and exploitation learned in classes could be used. A fourth reason was the great socioeconomic diversity present on every college campus. Universities were optimal locations for nearly every thought and opinion from across the country to be expressed (Port 12). For these grounds, Students for a Democratic Society came together to ensure that universities stepped out of