Lincoln Shafer, History 250: The Historian Craft, Fall 2021

Among the bourgeoisie, no protest has ever come at exactly the right moment, and the actions taken by the student body of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in the summer of 1970, decried by regents, faculty, state legislators, and other members of the general public, were no exception. As part of a nationwide movement, a student-led strike emerged on the University of Nebraska campus as a response to the actions of the Nixon government in Southeast Asia and the deaths of four civilian students at Kent State University. The actions of the United States Government and military led to a schism between young people and previous generations, which was exacerbated by the radical movements of the 1960s, leading to sweeping changes in all areas of American life. Student life and student governance at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln were permanently impacted by the actions taken in May 1970, as well as the lives of thousands of other students and young people across the country.

By the year 1970, the war in Vietnam had been dragging on for years, slowly losing the support of the American people, especially young people. One turning point in the public perception of the American military presence in Vietnam was the My Lai massacre. The My Lai massacre sparked international outrage against the actions of American military personnel following the publication of the events that ended in the deaths of hundreds of Vietnamese civilians. Then in the spring of 1970, President Nixon announced the invasion of Cambodia, which was met with nationwide protests on college campuses. At the University of Nebraska, the student response to this crisis manifested with a peaceful rally on May 4, 1970 at the campus union. A small group of the protesters broke away from the main group and marched to the Draft Board Offices in downtown Lincoln, and refused to leave unless the offices were closed for the day. Thirteen students were arrested after the Lincoln police declared the marchers a part of an unlawful assembly.[1]The arrests were one of the inciting incidents for the larger protests that would occur in the following days at the University.

College students nationwide felt betrayed by the universities that they attended because many had contracts with the military in order to produce weaponry and send soldiers to the frontlines. The link between the military industrial complex and universities was, and still is, massively profitable for all parties involved. Politically involved students are still fighting for these ties to be destroyed, most recently with the Dissenters campaign called Divest from Death, urging universities to cut ties with war profiteers and remove police and recruiters from campus.[2] Another reason for the escalations of protest that led to violence across the nation was the loss of faith in traditional methods of political participation, especially for young people after multiple progressive voices were either treated dismissively by the establishment or, in the cases of Robert F. Kennedy and Martín Luther King Jr., assassinated in the year 1968.

After the announcement of the invasion of Cambodia, protests broke out on college campuses across the United States, with thousands of participants at hundreds of universities. The most famous moment from this wave of protests is the massacre at Kent State, when National Guard members dispersed hundreds of anti-war protesters with tear gas, and when students responded with obscenities and throwing rocks, the Guardsmen opened fire on the unarmed students, murdering four and wounding several others.[3] Because of these events, the students of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln took radical actions, voting for a strike, marching on the Draft Board offices (leading to the arrest of 12 students), and occupying the Military and Naval building, home to the ROTC program on campus. During the occupation, the students managed to come up with a list of demands that would need to be addressed by university administration before they would leave the building. The demands read

1. Amnesty for those arrested at the draft board or who may be arrested at the ROTC Building.
2. University administration to back the National Student Association strike on classes in protest of Nixon’s Indochina Policy
3. ROTC to be suspended until the United States completely withdraws from Indochina
4. The campus police to no longer carry guns at the University of Nebraska campuses in Lincoln and Omaha
5. All Regents’ meetings to be open to the public
6. All Free University classes to receive one hour of credit toward degrees.[4]

State legislators and local business owners reacted with extreme negativity to the protests at the University, with some members of the public calling for the immediate expulsion of students involved and termination of faculty members who seem to encourage that kind of activity.[5]

The Association of Students of the University of Nebraska is the student-led university government on the University of Nebraska campuses that has a large impact on student life and was intimately involved in the negotiations around the occupation of the Military and Naval building. Steve Tiwald, the president of ASUN at the time, was involved in negotiations and discussions with the university administration during the protests, and instrumental in the conclusion of the protest. The strike on campus was the result of a vote at a student meeting in response to the events across the world at the end of April and beginning of May 1970. The protests were much more than just angry students running around with pitchforks and torches, often because of the actions of the student government. Leaders like Tiwald helped to organize an all-university town hall [6] and bring in anti-war speakers for rallies and bring order to a chaotic, emotional response to the heinous actions of the United States military, both abroad and domestically. Not all of the suggestions and demands of the protestors were either realistic or within the power of the student government to change, as pointed out by members of the conservative group Young Americans for Freedom in their response to the demands put forth by the occupants of the Military and Naval building. Board of Regents meetings were already open to the public, and according to Young Americans for Freedom, banning the ROTC program would be unproductive because it is a voluntary activity. [7]

The lasting impact of the occupation of the Military and Naval building and the campus strike can be seen in the career of Professor Stephen Rozman, a young political science professor who supported students and was present at the ROTC building during the occupation, drawing the ire of outraged parents, regents, and legislators. After these events, Rozman’s contract was not renewed by the University, which led to a group of protests and lawsuits, and directly motivated the faculty to unionize.[8] Many of the angry citizens who call in or write letters, demanding that colleges be stripped of funding and prestige because of the progressive actions of the student body have emerged victorious throughout the years, leading to less funding coming from the state, with around 50% of the University budget coming from state appropriations in 1989-90, and only 37% of the budget being state supported in the 2009-10 fiscal year. [9]

Society, both on and off campus, has been shaped by the actions of an engaged populace, through peaceful and occasionally violent actions taken as either revolutionary actions of the brave, or reactionary outrage after the abhorrent actions of those in power. The summer of 1970 is one of the most important and influential times in terms of material change, due to the enormously unpopular invasion of Cambodia and the indefensible murder of unarmed protesters at Kent State University.

 

Endnotes

1. Dvorak, John. “Peace March Ends With Thirteen Arrests.” Daily Nebraskan. May 5, 1970, Vol. 93 edition. https://nebnewspapers.unl.edu/lccn/sn96080312/1970-05-05/ed-1/seq-1/#words=board+board%27s+draft.
2. Camara, Ngakiya, and Kya Chen. 2021. “Students Are Pushing US Colleges to Sever Ties With Military-Industrial Complex.” Truthout. https://truthout.org/articles/students-are-pushing-us-colleges-to-sever-ties-with-military-industrial-complex/
3. Caputo, Philip. 2005. “Chapter 1.” In 13 Seconds. N.p.: Chamberlain Bros.
4. Egger, Michael, David Paas, and Thomas Siedell. Outside The Power. Lincoln, NE: Young Americans for Freedom, 1970.  Box 12, Special Subject Files, Student Demonstration, 1970. Archives & Special Collections, University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
5. Klosterman, John C., May 11, 1970, Letter to Dr. Joseph Soshnik  Box 12, Special Subject Files, Student Demonstration, 1970. Archives & Special Collections, University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
6. Ristau, Reece. 2014. “Throughout the years, ASUN has made changes that affect students' lives.” Daily Nebraskan, March 3, 2014. http://www.dailynebraskan.com/news/throughout-the-years-asun-has-made-changes-that-affect-students-lives/article_fcd3cbf2-a28e-11e3-855a-001a4bcf6878.html.
7.  Egger, Paas, and Siedell 1970
8. “Rozman Affair · 1970-1979: A Decade of Conflict · Nebraska U.” n.d. Nebraska U. Accessed November 11, 2021. https://unlhistory.unl.edu/exhibits/show/1970-1979/faculty/rozman-affair.
9. Young, Laura. n.d. “NU Funding Sources | Strategic Discussions for Nebraska.” Strategic Discussions for Nebraska. Accessed November 18, 2021. https://sdn.unl.edu/funding_sources.

 

Works Cited

Association of Students of the University of Nebraska. 2020. “Association of Students of the University of Nebraska Bylaws and Special Rules.” ASUN at UNL. https://asun.unl.edu/Bylaws%20%26%20Special%20Rules%204.20.21.pdf

Camara, Ngakiya, and Kya Chen. 2021. “Students Are Pushing US Colleges to Sever Ties With Military-Industrial Complex.” Truthout. https://truthout.org/articles/students-are-pushing-us-colleges-to-sever-ties-with-military-industrial-complex/.

Caputo, Philip. 2005. “Chapter 1.” In 13 Seconds. N.p.: Chamberlain Bros.

Dvorak, John. “Peace March Ends With Thirteen Arrests.” Daily Nebraskan. May 5, 1970, Vol. 93 edition. https://nebnewspapers.unl.edu/lccn/sn96080312/1970-05-05/ed-1/seq-1/#words=board+board%27s+draft.

Egger, Michael, David Paas, and Thomas Siedell. Outside The Power. Lincoln, NE: Young Americans for Freedom, 1970.  Box 12, Special Subject Files, Student Demonstration, 1970. Archives & Special Collections, University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Klosterman, John C., May 11, 1970, Letter to Dr. Joseph Soshnik  Box 12, Special Subject Files, Student Demonstration, 1970. Archives & Special Collections, University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Ristau, Reece. 2014. “Throughout the years, ASUN has made changes that affect students' lives.” Daily Nebraskan, March 3, 2014. http://www.dailynebraskan.com/news/throughout-the-years-asun-has-made-changes-that-affect-students-lives/article_fcd3cbf2-a28e-11e3-855a-001a4bcf6878.html.

“Rozman Affair · 1970-1979: A Decade of Conflict · Nebraska U.” n.d. Nebraska U. Accessed November 11, 2021. https://unlhistory.unl.edu/exhibits/show/1970-1979/faculty/rozman-affair.

Tiwald, Steve,  1970, Letter to Mr. Round,  Box 12, Special Subject Files, Student Demonstration, 1970. Archives & Special Collections, University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Young, Laura. n.d. “NU Funding Sources | Strategic Discussions for Nebraska.” Strategic Discussions for Nebraska. Accessed November 18, 2021. https://sdn.unl.edu/funding_sources.