It was the Spring of 1970; The War in Vietnam was in full force and U.S. troops were going into Cambodia. American college students went full bore into protest mode, and four students at Kent State (as well as students at Jackson State) were murdered by National Guard Troops.
NU went on strike, the iron fence around the campus was turned into a barricade and Sheridan Road was closed to traffic, in my memory, for something like a week. No police action, and the involvement of the National Guard was never necessitated.
I was there, often spoke, and eventually got arrested for an event that can be described as illegal and adventurous. I was prominent in Students for a Democratic Society, the radical student organization that helped build that protest. I was where I was supposed to be, doing what I was supposed to be doing.
Two years earlier, Black students had sat in at the Bursar’s Office demanding equal rights on campus and no police were called in. The end of the sit-in was negotiated by the then-Dean of Students and the Black Students. Both of these events figure prominently in the official history of NU and Eva Jefferson Paterson,who participated in the sit-in, was president of ASG in 1970 and is now a heralded alum.
A few years after that, during the height of the anti-apartheid movement, NU Students built a shanty town on Rebecca Crown Center and no one was arrested. The police were only called once it was moved to the driveway blocking access to the Crown garage.
Today, we have something that threatens this tradition. Students created a tent city on Deering Meadow, long the locus of protest. A public space — home of Dillo Day before it was called Dillo. Demonstrations, concerts, Naval ROTC marching drills, studying, dating and whatever else. A public space not directly near a classroom.
Today was different. The University introduced a new behavioral code after the fact, and they held the students responsible for obeying this previously unknown code. In the name of safety, the interim addendum specified that non-University approved events are limited to one tent, which can only be located at The Rock for guarding purposes. (Yes, one — I guess they are not thinking of a 200 person wedding reception tent).
I watched while police removed some tents and even got close to a struggle with faculty who put themselves in the middle of officers and students. I saw no disruption on the part of the students, and while I did not agree with all the positions and slogans etc., I felt they were peacefully demonstrating their free speech and political activism rights — if not their obligations.
As thrilled as I was, and am, to see political commitment, I am depressed by the intimidation employed by these new sets of rules. I hope the administration takes a peak at the history of Coxey’s Army in 1894 to see a tent city at work.
Some will say many Jewish students feel threatened by those who advocate for a Palestinian victory. For complicated reasons, I would prefer all advocates of Palestinian statehood alter the slogans to grow the movement and make fewer people nervous that they have to choose between Palestine and Israel. I didn’t see that intention on the Meadow today or on campus. People of all races, religions, gender and gender preferences were in solidarity.
However, sometimes the rhetoric is easily misunderstood. I offer this in solidarity, not hostility — and I do so willing to debate this stance at any time.
There are now multiple issues: Gaza, antisemitism and free speech.
Negotiating these is fraught with danger. I seek an independent Palestine, a safe Israel, an end to both terrorism and the abuse of Gaza, the maintenance of robust political debate and free speech on American college campuses. I like and respect President Schill. We have spoken — he even came to my class, and I bear him no ill will. But sanctioning policies which diminish the robustness I described above is not good for this or any other campus.
We cannot fix Gaza or antisemitism or terrorism, but we can make our campus more like the ideals we espouse.
Jeff Rice (WCAS ’72) is a Senior Lecturer in Political Science and African Studies. He can be contacted at [email protected]. If you would like to respond publicly to this op-ed, send a Letter to the Editor to [email protected]. The views expressed in this piece do not necessarily reflect the views of all staff members of The Daily Northwestern.
