Resistance remembered:
UNH observes 40th anniversary of strike
http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100505/GJNEWS_01/705059873/-1/fosnews
By Aaron Sanborn
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
DURHAM It's unlikely that a strike on the University of New
Hampshire today could even come close to matching the strike the
campus experienced in 1970.
At least that's the view of multiple current students.
Still, that didn't stop students from picking the brains of four
former students that had a front-row seat to the tension on campus in
May 1970 during a panel discussion on Tuesday night to commemorate
the 40th anniversary of the strike.
Peter Rivierre, who was then executive editor of the student
newspaper, said all the right ingredients came together prior to the
strike; there was the music, an unpopular war, a draft, and a national tragedy.
On May 4, 1970, Ohio National Guard troops gunned down four college
students at Kent State University, at the same time Congress was
roiling over President Richard Nixon's plans for the Cambodian incursion.
Tensions had already been running high at the university as student
activists wrangled with the administration over a planned visit on
May 5 by anti-war radical activists Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin and
David Dellinger. The trio was part of the Chicago 7, the group
charged with conspiring to incite a riot at the 1968 Democratic
National Convention in Chicago.
"It was in the air," Rivierre said. "All of that stuff collided and
you'd almost have to be a turtle living in a shell to be unaffected by it."
Fast-forward to today and there's still national issues that students
are concerned about but would likely never strike for, according to
Alex Freid of the Peace and Justice League at UNH, who put on the event.
Freid said there's still war troops remain in both Iraq and
Afghanistan and there' still issues of students wanting more power
both within and outside the university. All of these were the key
ingredients that led to the 1970 strike.
A current issue Fried gave as an example was the issue earlier this
year with Smith Hall when students protested in front of President
Mark Huddleston's office to show their displeasure for the
university's decision to turn the international dorm into an office building.
Students said the decision was made with no student feedback. The
protest didn't accomplish anything, according to Freid.
Freid, trying to draw a parallel from now to then, said, "We still
have a Board of Trustees with no student representation on it and a
Student Senate that has issues getting things accomplished."
Money is likely one reason why students would be hesitant to
participate today in a strike on the magnitude of 1970, Freid said.
"Money is a factor because how much it costs to go here," he said.
"We're motivated not to do anything because we're so afraid of
getting kicked out of here and losing that money."
Fellow UNH student Nick Murray added, "We can't do it (strike) now
because not as many people would show up."
About 4,500 students showed in the gymnasium at the Field House in
1970 to hear the three from the Chicago 7 speak, an event that would
later be known as the "strike rally." An addition 3,000 people
gathered outside the gymnasium along with many state troopers and
members of the National Guard.
It's likely the controversy surrounding the event helped the
attendance figures.
The trio was scheduled to take the stage inside the gymnasium at the
Field House at 7 p.m., but university trustees wanted the rally to
take place earlier in the day, between 2 and 5 p.m., out of concern a
nighttime visit would attract "noncampus outside agitators."
Mark Wefers, who was president of the UNH student body at the time of
the strike, had petitioned the U.S. District Court in Concord to
block the university from saying when Hoffman and company could speak.
The court issued a split decision. UNH was "enjoined and restrained
from enforcing their directive," though the three could speak between
3:30 and 6:30 p.m.
At some point before arriving at UNH the trio penned a note on a
napkin that was relayed to Wefers, who was waiting at the field
house. It read: "The conspiracy has come to New Hampshire. We will
speak tonight at 7:30 at the STRIKE rally. We refuse to be duped by
the trustees of the University into compromising the plans by the
strike organizers. There's no such thing as half a free speech. See
you tonight."
Wefers allowed the speech to happen and ignored the court order. He
was later charged with willful violation of a court order in which he
was sentenced to 20 days in jail and had to pay a $500 fine. The
sentence was later reversed on appeal.
After the speech was given, UNH went on strike with over 300 other
campuses in the country.
Current UNH Students Bekah Howley, asked Wefers for advice on how to
get students today more engaged in current issues.
Wefers told Howley to not only focus on engaging UNH students, but to
engage everyone.
"The biggest mistake I made was that I came to believe the university
was the center of the universe," he said. "Get involved, but also
remember that there's a greater community out there. Don't limit
yourself, don't make the mistake of thinking the movement begins and
ends on the campus of the University of New Hampshire."
Rivierre added that 40 years has gone by fast and his best advice
would be to take advantage of the time you have.
"Don't waste your time, get the hell off the Internet and talk to
people, go do stuff," he said.
Also part of Tuesday night's panel discussion was former UNH students
Gary Anderson, who directed a documentary about the strike called
"Mayflowers, and Richard Polonsky.
All four panelists agreed that the fact the strike happened so close
to summer break killed off what ever momentum it had built in the
spring of 1970 and things were never quite the same when students
returned for the fall semester.
.
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