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Campus "Unrest" Demonstrations, 1970

Campus /Capitol Contact Vol. I, No. 5 Page 1

May 1970
Engel File

campus/capitol
CONTACT
Published by
The University of Iowa Alumni Association
To Aid In Communicating the Needs of the Regent Universities
To Members of the General Assembly of Iowa
Vol. I, No. 5       June, 1970

What in the world is happening at Iowa?
That question, asked so frequently turing the tumultuous days of May, really contains its own answer: what's happening on the Iowa campus is what's happening elsewhere in much of today's world. And most especially in the American part of it.
Admittedly, that's not the snappiest answer for Committee members and other friends who find themselves backed into corners by indignant citizens demanding to know what their University is going to do about all those demonstrations etc., etc. But it's the truth--and essential to any real understanding of the situation.
Some pertinent facts and interpretations are offered below, in the hope that they will be helpful in filling in information gaps, in supplementing and providing perspective on reports from students home for summer, and in talking about the subject with legislators and others. Committee members have also received additional information in the form of a Special Report sent to all alumni, and it is hoped that it, too, will prove useful.

FINAL EXAM ON THE EVENTS OF MAY: 
Committee members who can score a passing grade on the following items will be on firm ground in discussing this spring's events with legislators or other individuals in their communities.
Q: (True or False) -- Students who wanted to attend classes were effectively prevented from doing so and actually endangered by the "strike".
A: False. Patrolmen and/or faculty and student monitors assured entrance to all classroom buildings throughout the "strike". Hard stares and inflammatory rhetoric were the only forms of pressure employed by "strikers" to discourage class attendance. The University was prepared to arrest and remove anyone who actually disrupted a classroom, but no such disruptions occurred.
Q: (True or False)--The Iowa campus was alive with rumors throughout the period.
A: True! Most popular were stories anticipating an influx of Black Panthers and/or Weathermen and/or students from (a) Wisconsin, (b) Kent State, (c) The College of Your Choice, who were supposed to be converging upon Iowa City in large numbers in search of the action. While there may have been a few additional college students on the scene (Iowa Citians home from other campuses?), these rumors did not materialize. Other popular rumors involved bomb manufacturing in the dormitories, threatening phone calls, etc. At least two rumor tracing-and-correction centers operated during the period, but--just as in the off-campus society--the rumors ran faster and farther than the truth.

NOT FOR REPRODUCTION--PUBLISHED EXCLUSIVELY FOR MEMBERS OF THE ALUMNI LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEES

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May 1970 Engel File campus/capitol CONTACT Published by The University of Iowa Alumni Association To Aid In Communicating the Needs of the Regent Universities To Members of the General Assembly of Iowa Vol. I, No. 5 June, 1970 What in the world is happening at Iowa? That question, asked so frequently turing the tumultuous days of May, really contains its own answer: what's happening on the Iowa campus is what's happening elsewhere in much of today's world. And most especially in the American part of it. Admittedly, that's not the snappiest answer for Committee members and other friends who find themselves backed into corners by indignant citizens demanding to know what their University is going to do about all those demonstrations etc., etc. But it's the truth--and essential to any real understanding of the situation. Some pertinent facts and interpretations are offered below, in the hope that they will be helpful in filling in information gaps, in supplementing and providing perspective on reports from students home for summer, and in talking about the subject with legislators and others. Committee members have also received additional information in the form of a Special Report sent to all alumni, and it is hoped that it, too, will prove useful. FINAL EXAM ON THE EVENTS OF MAY: Committee members who can score a passing grade on the following items will be on firm ground in discussing this spring's events with legislators or other individuals in their communities. Q: (True or False) -- Students who wanted to attend classes were effectively prevented from doing so and actually endangered by the "strike". A: False. Patrolmen and/or faculty and student monitors assured entrance to all classroom buildings throughout the "strike". Hard stares and inflammatory rhetoric were the only forms of pressure employed by "strikers" to discourage class attendance. The University was prepared to arrest and remove anyone who actually disrupted a classroom, but no such disruptions occurred. Q: (True or False)--The Iowa campus was alive with rumors throughout the period. A: True! Most popular were stories anticipating an influx of Black Panthers and/or Weathermen and/or students from (a) Wisconsin, (b) Kent State, (c) The College of Your Choice, who were supposed to be converging upon Iowa City in large numbers in search of the action. While there may have been a few additional college students on the scene (Iowa Citians home from other campuses?), these rumors did not materialize. Other popular rumors involved bomb manufacturing in the dormitories, threatening phone calls, etc. At least two rumor tracing-and-correction centers operated during the period, but--just as in the off-campus society--the rumors ran faster and farther than the truth. NOT FOR REPRODUCTION--PUBLISHED EXCLUSIVELY FOR MEMBERS OF THE ALUMNI LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEES