Columbia University protests of 1968

Contents

Columbia University protests of 1968 were a series of student-led protests at Columbia University that took place in April and May of 1968, involving Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), Student Afro-American Society (SAS), and other student groups, including Mark Rudd, Tom Hayden, and Daniel Bell. The protests were part of a larger wave of student activism in the United States during the 1960s, inspired by events such as the Free Speech Movement at University of California, Berkeley and the Vietnam War protests at University of Michigan and New York University. Key figures like Noam Chomsky, Herbert Marcuse, and C. Wright Mills influenced the intellectual climate of the time, shaping the thoughts of students at Harvard University, Yale University, and University of Chicago.

Background

The protests at Columbia University were preceded by a period of growing tension between students and the administration, fueled by issues such as the university's plans to build a Gymnasium in Morningside Park, which was seen as an example of the university's disregard for the surrounding Harlem community, and its connections to the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA), a research organization involved in the development of anti-ballistic missile systems, which was seen as a symbol of the university's complicity in the Vietnam War. Students at Columbia University were also influenced by the ideas of Frantz Fanon, Che Guevara, and Mao Zedong, and were inspired by the examples of student activism at University of Paris, Sorbonne, and Free University of Berlin. The protests were also influenced by the Civil Rights Movement, with leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Stokely Carmichael playing important roles in shaping the thoughts and actions of students at Columbia University and other institutions, including Howard University and Tuskegee University.

The immediate causes of the protests were the university's plans to build the Gymnasium in Morningside Park and its connections to the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA), as well as the administration's response to student demands for greater representation and participation in university decision-making, which was seen as inadequate by students at Columbia University and other institutions, including University of California, Los Angeles and University of Wisconsin–Madison. The protests were also motivated by a desire to challenge the university's role in the Vietnam War and to promote social justice and equality, inspired by the examples of Berkeley Free Speech Movement and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and influenced by the ideas of Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, and Leon Trotsky. Key figures such as Bayard Rustin, A. Philip Randolph, and Whitney Young played important roles in shaping the thoughts and actions of students at Columbia University and other institutions, including Morehouse College and Spelman College.

The protests at Columbia University began on April 23, 1968, with a rally and march against the university's plans to build the Gymnasium in Morningside Park, led by students from Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and Student Afro-American Society (SAS), and involving students from other institutions, including New York University, City College of New York, and Brooklyn College. The protests escalated over the next few days, with students occupying several university buildings, including Low Library and Fayerweather Hall, and clashing with police and university administrators, who were influenced by the ideas of Nikita Khrushchev and Leonid Brezhnev. The protests were marked by a sense of solidarity and cooperation among students from different backgrounds and institutions, including University of California, Berkeley, University of Michigan, and Harvard University, and were influenced by the examples of Paris student riots and the Prague Spring.

The protests at Columbia University ended on April 30, 1968, with the police clearing the occupied buildings and arresting over 700 students, including Mark Rudd and other leaders of the protests, who were influenced by the ideas of Fidel Castro and Ho Chi Minh. The aftermath of the protests saw a period of reflection and re-evaluation at Columbia University, with the administration agreeing to establish a University Senate to give students and faculty a greater voice in university decision-making, and to withdraw from the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA), which was seen as a major victory for the student movement, and was influenced by the examples of University of Chicago and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The protests also had a lasting impact on the student movement in the United States, inspiring similar protests and activism at other institutions, including Yale University, Princeton University, and Stanford University, and influencing the thoughts and actions of students at University of Texas at Austin and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

The protests at Columbia University in 1968 are remembered as a pivotal moment in the student movement in the United States, marking a turning point in the struggle for social justice and equality, and influencing the thoughts and actions of students at University of California, Los Angeles and New York University. The protests also had a lasting impact on Columbia University itself, leading to significant changes in the university's policies and practices, including the establishment of a University Senate and the withdrawal from the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA), which was seen as a major victory for the student movement, and was influenced by the examples of Harvard University and Yale University. The legacy of the protests can be seen in the continued activism and engagement of students at Columbia University and other institutions, including University of Michigan and University of Wisconsin–Madison, and in the ongoing struggle for social justice and equality, inspired by the examples of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, and influenced by the ideas of W.E.B. Du Bois and Langston Hughes.

Category:1968 protests