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University of Iowa anti-war protests, 1970

1970-12-10 Daily Iowan Photo: ""DIA Displaced"" Page 2

Di Dec. 10, 1970 2( of 2)

Students Protest DIA Visit In Placement Office Sit-IN
By JUDY SCHULTZ
Daily Iowan Reporter

About 100 students staged a two-hour sit-in outside the University of Iowa Placement Office in the Union Wednesday afternoon to protest the presence of a recruiter from the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA).
The demonstrators left the Union shortly after Robert Engel, assistant to university Pres. Willard Boyd, told the group that the DIA recruiter had cancelled the interviews. A small group of the protestors then marched to Boyd's office to inquire about Placement Office policy, and not finding Boyd, confronted liberal arts Dean Dewey Stuit, who postponed talks until his debate with former student president Jim Sutton tonight. 
Engle told reporters that the recruiter has been in Iowa City but left when he saw the crowd. Earlier Engel had said to the crowd that the recruiter was not on campus or in the city. 
The demonstration against DIA began at noon in the Gold Feather Lobby of the Union with a rally and skit by the Radical Arts Theater of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), the sponsor of the rally. 
Various speakers at the rally pointed out the DIA's role in military intelligence and claimed that one job of the DIA is to gather and maintain information dosiers on individuals that might be labeled politically dangerous by the government. 
About 200 students watched as six students dressed in black robes carried a coffin draped with a United States flag and the skit showing the Indochina War as a "boss's war" took place. 
Norton Wheeler, A4, Iowa City, told the group that DIA is responsible for the intelligence maps and reconnaissance flights for the bombings in Vietnam. 
" I question whether the DIA recruiter has the right to be here. He's coming here to recruit people to make the plans to kill people . . . we have the right to deny warmakers the right to fight that war," Wheeler said. 
Elaine Johnson, a non-student, said " This is a concrete thing that's going to hurt the war in Vietnam, but we need an on-going fight against the war, oppression and racism."
The group then moved to the Placement Office on the third floor of the Union. Students sat in the hallway chanting, " One, two, three,four, Vietnam's a boss's war."
Three young men claiming to be students who had interviews with other companies attempted to get through the crowd to the Placement office door at various times. 
Anticipating the railroad workers' strike set for midnight, students shouted " No scabs" at one student who said he came for an interview with the Chicago Northwestern Railroad. He declined to comment on the demonstration.
Engel said later that the demonstration possibly violated the Board of Regents' Uniform Rules of Personal Conduct. " We'll have to deal with that later," he said. 
At one point, the students asked Engel why he allowed the DIA recruiter to come on campus. " So eight people could see him," Engel replied. 
Elizabeth Erickson of the Placement Office said the office has not yet made arrangements for rescheduling the interviews. The office will send the DIA recruiter information concerning the students who had scheduled interviews.

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Di Dec. 10, 1970 2( of 2) Students Protest DIA Visit In Placement Office Sit-IN By JUDY SCHULTZ Daily Iowan Reporter About 100 students staged a two-hour sit-in outside the University of Iowa Placement Office in the Union Wednesday afternoon to protest the presence of a recruiter from the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). The demonstrators left the Union shortly after Robert Engel, assistant to university Pres. Willard Boyd, told the group that the DIA recruiter had cancelled the interviews. A small group of the protestors then marched to Boyd's office to inquire about Placement Office policy, and not finding Boyd, confronted liberal arts Dean Dewey Stuit, who postponed talks until his debate with former student president Jim Sutton tonight. Engle told reporters that the recruiter has been in Iowa City but left when he saw the crowd. Earlier Engel had said to the crowd that the recruiter was not on campus or in the city. The demonstration against DIA began at noon in the Gold Feather Lobby of the Union with a rally and skit by the Radical Arts Theater of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), the sponsor of the rally. Various speakers at the rally pointed out the DIA's role in military intelligence and claimed that one job of the DIA is to gather and maintain information dosiers on individuals that might be labeled politically dangerous by the government. About 200 students watched as six students dressed in black robes carried a coffin draped with a United States flag and the skit showing the Indochina War as a "boss's war" took place. Norton Wheeler, A4, Iowa City, told the group that DIA is responsible for the intelligence maps and reconnaissance flights for the bombings in Vietnam. " I question whether the DIA recruiter has the right to be here. He's coming here to recruit people to make the plans to kill people . . . we have the right to deny warmakers the right to fight that war," Wheeler said. Elaine Johnson, a non-student, said " This is a concrete thing that's going to hurt the war in Vietnam, but we need an on-going fight against the war, oppression and racism." The group then moved to the Placement Office on the third floor of the Union. Students sat in the hallway chanting, " One, two, three,four, Vietnam's a boss's war." Three young men claiming to be students who had interviews with other companies attempted to get through the crowd to the Placement office door at various times. Anticipating the railroad workers' strike set for midnight, students shouted " No scabs" at one student who said he came for an interview with the Chicago Northwestern Railroad. He declined to comment on the demonstration. Engel said later that the demonstration possibly violated the Board of Regents' Uniform Rules of Personal Conduct. " We'll have to deal with that later," he said. At one point, the students asked Engel why he allowed the DIA recruiter to come on campus. " So eight people could see him," Engel replied. Elizabeth Erickson of the Placement Office said the office has not yet made arrangements for rescheduling the interviews. The office will send the DIA recruiter information concerning the students who had scheduled interviews.