DIY History | Transcribe | Campus Culture | University of Iowa anti-war protests, January-April 1971 | 1994-11-11 Des Moines Register Article: ""Academic freedom in heyday of radicalism""

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University of Iowa anti-war protests, January-April 1971

1994-11-11 Des Moines Register Article: ""Academic freedom in heyday of radicalism""

DMR 11/11/94
Academic freedom in heyday of radicalism
By Loren Keller
Register Correspondent

Iowa City, Ia. -- The last time David Grant was on the University of Iowa campus, he torched his draft card, took a lot of drugs and marched through the streets dressed as the Grim Reaper, turning over burning plastic dolls with a scythe.
That was more than two decades ago. Wednesday night he returned to Iowa City to moderate a panel of activists, administrators, business owners and law enforcement officers in a discussion of the tumultuous U of I campus during the Vietnam War years.
Grant's activity during the period of protest landed him on the cover of The New York Times Magazine. It also landed him in a St. Louis mental hospital for six months. 
"My convictions were philosophical, not tactical," he said. "When I returned (to Iowa City) in 1971, it was a new ballgame here -- it was a mob. It was trashing, not shouting...It was bricks, not words."
Amid a campus of smashed windows, rioting crowds and frequent violence, the offices of U of I central administration were moved from the Old Capitol to the Oakdale campus in Coralville. Administrators there plotted protest activity on a large map, military-style, and faculty members on watch went by code names such as "Orange" and "Blue," recalled former U of I administrator D.C. Spriestersbach.
"Executive decisions were made in a martial law mode," Spriestersbach said, but former U of I President William Boyd "was adamant about the university not being turned into an armed camp."
Academic freedom during that time meant being able to walk to class. Students concerned about their safety were given the option of leaving school in early May before final exams, Spriestersbach said. About two-thirds did.
"It was a time of enormous polarization, rage and anger," said the Rev. Ron Osborne, a former campus minister. "It happened for all the right reasons, but it wasn't very effective."

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DMR 11/11/94 Academic freedom in heyday of radicalism By Loren Keller Register Correspondent Iowa City, Ia. -- The last time David Grant was on the University of Iowa campus, he torched his draft card, took a lot of drugs and marched through the streets dressed as the Grim Reaper, turning over burning plastic dolls with a scythe. That was more than two decades ago. Wednesday night he returned to Iowa City to moderate a panel of activists, administrators, business owners and law enforcement officers in a discussion of the tumultuous U of I campus during the Vietnam War years. Grant's activity during the period of protest landed him on the cover of The New York Times Magazine. It also landed him in a St. Louis mental hospital for six months. "My convictions were philosophical, not tactical," he said. "When I returned (to Iowa City) in 1971, it was a new ballgame here -- it was a mob. It was trashing, not shouting...It was bricks, not words." Amid a campus of smashed windows, rioting crowds and frequent violence, the offices of U of I central administration were moved from the Old Capitol to the Oakdale campus in Coralville. Administrators there plotted protest activity on a large map, military-style, and faculty members on watch went by code names such as "Orange" and "Blue," recalled former U of I administrator D.C. Spriestersbach. "Executive decisions were made in a martial law mode," Spriestersbach said, but former U of I President William Boyd "was adamant about the university not being turned into an armed camp." Academic freedom during that time meant being able to walk to class. Students concerned about their safety were given the option of leaving school in early May before final exams, Spriestersbach said. About two-thirds did. "It was a time of enormous polarization, rage and anger," said the Rev. Ron Osborne, a former campus minister. "It happened for all the right reasons, but it wasn't very effective."