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Page Four

COLLEGE NEWS

December 11, 1964



Politicking On Berkeley Campus
Erupts Into Free Speech Fight

The festering political activity

controversy at the University of ~

California’s .Berkeley campus

reached a, new level of intensity’
last week as California police ar--

rested hundreds of students for
staging a sit-in in the university’s
(administration building.

Near chaos reigned on the 83,710
student campus a8.state and Berke-
ley police, acting jon orders from
California Gévernor Edmund G.
(Pat) Brown, hauled away 801 stu-
dent demonstrators who | had
*¢seized’’ Sproul Hall in a protest
growing out of the university’s
decision to ban student political
activity from the campus,

‘Most of those arrested have

been released onbondtotalingover °

$72,000, which had been.raised
for the most part by the faculty.

The students, who were joined

by some professors, satttif@y. cre

setting up ‘‘The Free University
of California’ in the building, and
for twelve hours before Brown
ordered some 600 policemen to

‘ disperse the demonstration, they

sang freedom songs and listened
to lectures by student leaders
and professors.

The arrests began shortly after
-8 a.m,, Thursday, December 3,
after Strong urged students to get
out of ‘the building of their own
accord, When only a few got up to
leave, the police moved in and
started arresting demonstrators.

As part of the protest, univer-
sity graduate teaching assistants
and the Free Speech Movement
(FSM) the organization of student
groups protesting the ban, called



”

Letters From Berkeley

The following letters are by
graduate students (one of whom
graduated from Bryn Mawr in
1963) at the University of Cali-
fornia~concerning ~the Berkeley
campus’ Free Speech Movement.
The problem over free speech
and assembly first arose in Sep-
tember. and has continued with
rioting and demonstrations ever
since. The solution does. not yet
‘ appear ‘in. sight.

Help Wanted

I am now sitting along with more
than 3 thousand other students
of the Unizig yzity of California,
at Berkery,’ who have dem-
onstrated silently before a meet-
ing of the State. Regents, You are
‘aware, I’m sure, ofthe free speech
movement initiated here on Sep-
tember 30th, Since that time, there
have beendemonstrations, a period
of negotiation, and dispute over
what regulations the Adminis-
tration of this univefsity should
and ‘could rightfully impose on the
political life and activities of its
students.

Today, on. the date of Decision

’ by the Regents, hopes were high.

Joan’ Baez came at noon and led
a two hour rally, after which
we —_walked_-quietly, six abreast,
to the place of the meeting. We
have just been informed (at about
3:30) that the Regents, upon Pres-
ident Clark Kerr’s recommenda-
tion, voted that certain Hyde Park
areas within the: campus be set
up which university students and
staff could utilize to advocate law-
ful political and social action; to
ask for contributions, and to so-
licit membership. for lawful
activity.

Although this is one step for-
ward .(during the past six weeks
it has been unlawful to do any of
the abové three things at all),
we object to the idea that the
on-campus action must be
“‘lawful,’’ for it implies that the
administration will determine what
is lawful, and that adds up to a
form of prior restraint.

Thousands of students here, un-
der the banner of the Free Speech
Movement, have -urged that the
‘Regents realize that only the courts
.can determine whether a political

action or activity is lawful or
unlawful, They have proclaimed,
futhermore, that political and so-
cial action should be encouraged,
and not restrained, on a univer-
sity campus. Free speech and the
right to assemble cannot stop at
the classroom. Nor can just ana
fair limits be placed on these
rights by the administration ofa
state-supported and therefore po-
litically pressured institution,

I write to inform you of what
is happening, in hopes that you
will tell others about it as well.

And, of course, any and allexpres- ©

sions of support from individuals,
from organizations, or from the
Bryn Mawr community (excluding
administration and faculty) will be
appreciated. They will have most
impact if directed either to: The
Board of.Regents of the State of
California, c/o Mr. Clark Kerr,
President of the University of
California, Berkeley, or to The
Free Speech Movement, c/o Mario
Savio, Box 809, Berkeley, Calif-

I do hope you will take action

on this, It is important not just-

to the U, Cal. students, not just
to all students, but to all citizens.

Sue Gumpert (?63)

Incoherent?

If I be a bit incoherent, please
forgive. I have beén up 48 hours
over the rioting here.

November 14, the Regents in-
stituted a new rule which was
clearly. contrary to the First
Amendment. December 2, the stu-
dents demonstrated and 800 were
arrested by state cops ordered in
by Governor Brown.

Then hell broke out. 18,000 stu-
dents (or so) are refusing to
attend classes. 75% of all Teaching
Assistants and more than half the
faculty are refusing to teach. The
American Association of Univer-
sity Préfessors has asked for the
Chancellor’s resignation. The
faculty is threatening to close the
school.

I am going to bed now for the
first time in days.

James J. Burton

for a teaching strike and -class
“poyeott wn the carpus for Friday,
December 4.

An FSM _ spokesman said he
thought the strike and boycott was
‘tabout 85 percent effective.’’ La-=
‘bor organizations in the Bay Area
seemed to be honoring FSM picket
lines at the university, as food
deliveries to university cafeterias
and construction on university
buildings was suspended,

In Sacramento, Governor Brown
rejected a plea for amnesty for
the 800, saying, ‘‘We’re not going
to have anarchy in the state of
California, and that’s coenene sa
tion) anarchy.’’

The resolution calling for the
implementation of the new regent’s
policies referred to a regent’s
ruling that. granted. students the
right to engage in ahy sort of
‘‘legal’? activity.on campus, but
permitting the university admin-
istration to take disciplinary ac-
tion against students engaged in
activity that would result in viola-
tion of the law -- presumably sit-
ins and other forms. of civil. dis -
obedience.

The Free aneeeh miearnent
termed the ruling unacceptable

Kerr criticized the FSM for
*‘distortion,’’ ‘‘irrationality,’’ and
*¢ill will,’? and, said the issue had

-nothing to do with free speech, but
rather concerned political action.

In past years, students had used
the plaza at the Sather Gate en-
trance to the campus as a ‘‘Hyde
Park’? area for debates, rallies
and political speeches.

This fall, long after the Repub-
lican National Convention, pro-
Goldwater students complained to
school officials about the manner
in which supporters of Governor
William Scranton: had used the area
to recruit backers for the Pennsyi-
vania Governor.

This eventually led the dean of
students, Katherine Towle, to in-
voke a long-ignored regulation
prohibiting the use of the area for
off-campus political purposes.
Students defied the ban and began
the protests.

and Author of TO BE EQUAL

Whitney Young, Executive Brreeter of the Hletionel Urban League



To be Equal Outlines Reform,
New Approach to Race Issue.



By Edna Perkins

' (TO BE EQUAL, by Whitney Young,

McGraw-Hill Company, 254 pages.)

Books on the racial problem run

the gamut from James Baldwin’s
personal and emotional essays to
sociological studies with no pro-
posed solutions. Now, in TO BE
EQUAL, Whitney Young, Executive
Director of the National Urban
League, has written what could

_well serve as a handbook for

reform,

The Urban League has some-
times had an image as a rather
slow-moving organization, too
easily satisfied -with token gains,
This book goes a long way toward
dispelling that image,

Mr. Young proposes a ‘‘domes-
tic Marshall Plan,’’ a program of
‘special effort,’ to. compensate
for centuries of poverty and deg-
radation for Negroes. He argues
that it is not enough to simply
‘topen doors’’ to Negroes, since
the great majority of them are
too far behind to benefit from new
opportunities unless a special ef-
fort is made to recruit them for
jobs and to improve their health,
housing, and education.

Most of Mr. Young’s proposals

The Movement Por trays



Emotion of Rights Battle

By Marcia Young

The latest commentary on the
Civil Rights front is THE-MOVE-
MENT by Lorraine Hansberry,
published ‘by Simon and Schuster

- in cooperation with SNCC.

This is perhaps the most mov-
ing, dramatic and concise pic-
torial documentary yet printed.
The photographs alone tell the
emotional story of the civil rights
battle in a. way far more im-

. pressive than words, The faces of

frustration, misery, dedication and
hatred tell their’ own tale. And,
as seeing is believing, there can
be no question but that this is
reality.

.The book gives the story. of
. the rights movement with a greater
frame of reference and depth than
has’ yet- been done. It begins its







peat ya the. civil dale: atthe baat ‘alae from Lorraine Hansberry’s THE MOVEMENT, pub- .
lished-by — and Schuster in cooperation with SNCC. Photos by’Danny Lyon and Bob Adelman.

¢





a ena eit Ge

story in. the South and shows‘ the
southern environment; black and
white, It shows the despair that
has been beaten into the faces
of the older generation of Negroes
and the anger in the young, Then
there is the hope brought by our
generation in that first Carolina
sit-in. The story then moves North
to the urban ghettos under the
leadership of CORE, the Northern
Student - Movement, and other
groups.

. Lorraine Hansberry increases
her frame of reference by: aug-
menting her own commentary with
quotations from leading authorities
in many fields. She includes John
F, Kennedy, Howard Zinn and
James Baldwin. She does not limit
herself to today’s leaders, but
includes voices from the past, thus

showing that the elements for the -

race crisis have been in existence
for. decades. She does not limit
herself to the positive side of the
Negro leadership, but shows the
negatives-the whys and wherefores
of the Black Muslim movement,

An important emphasis is placed
on youth, The movement is by
today’s youth for those of
tomorrow-black and white. Beside
the picture of a tired but deter-
mined young Negro boy there is
the quote:

**They stand in the hose fire
at Birmingham; they stand in the
rain at. Hattiesburgh. They are
young, they are determined. | It
is for us to create, now, an America
that deserves them.’’

seem directed at the problems of
the urban and suburban North.
Although he has a regrettable tend-
ency to use statistics on Southern
conditions to support these North-
ern solutions, he still paints agrim
picture of the Northern ghettoes, a

“picture that underlines the needfor

haste in making reforms, For
example, he points to a Civil
Rights Commission report which
claims that if all of New York
city were as crowded as parts of
Harlem, the entire population of
the United States would live in
three of New York’s five boroughs.

His specific proposals are re-
forms rather than radical new
ideas, for he seems to want to
work within existing agencies as
much as possible. For example,
he wants the Health Education and
Welfare Department to make a
much greater effort toinsure inte-

gration in federally supported

hospitals; he wants a change in
wage scales to encourage the best
teachers and social workers to
work in the slums; and he wants
more Negroes appointed to city
planning and redevelopment agen-

_ Cies, which all too often end by .
.worsening Negro’s living con-

ditions instead of improving them.

The novelty of Mr, Young’s ap-
proach is not mainly in his specific
suggestions, but in the general
idea of a ‘‘special.effort’’ for
Negroes. He uses official govern-
ment statistics to prove that last
year’s tax cut can not be expected
to create full employment, but only
to stabilize current unemployment
rates, Some writers have sug-
gested more governmental action
such as greater public works ex-
penditures to stimulate the econ-
omy. Mr. Young makes no such
specific suggestions, but thinks
that the civil rights movement may
lead eventually to ‘‘major social
reforms. in the whole society,’’
reforms whieh would benefit poor
whites as well as Negroes. For the
time being, however, Mr. Young
argues for giving Negroes agreat-
er share of whatever jobs are
available. Although this may seem
only just, it also appears to be
where his program runs into prac-
tical difficulty, simply because of
the opposition of white worker's who
see their jobs threatened by equali-
ty.

Actually, Mr. ota s book
seems directed first at the-4¢white
power structure.’’ By appealing
over the heads of the poorer whites,
he may bring parts of his frogram
closer to reality, for the Northern
white power structure has always
kept up its liberal image and has
often made real efforts for racial
justice, But in addressing himself
to the white power structure and
the Negro middle class, he also
appeals over the heads of the
majority of Negroes, the ones his
reforms are supposed to help the
most, It remains aquestion whether
or not all progress can, or will,
come from the middle class in
such a way as to be really ef-
fectiye in the slums.