PSU Magazine Spring 1995

Back to the barricades J \ ' n emotional, loud , but mo tly peaceful week of protests on the Portland State campus ended in 30 second of vio lence on May 11 , 1970. Protesters barricaded the Park Blocks for speeches, demonstrations, and a general suspen ion of campu life. PSU President Gregory Wolfe clo ed the University for two clay and threatened to quit if Gov. Tom McCall em in the National Guard. But eventually the Portland Police riot squad wa ordered in by Mayor T erry Schrunk. Billy clubs and bottle th rowing injured 3 1 demon tra to r and four police officers. The event 25 years ago was a protest against the Vi mam war, the hipping of nerve gas through O regon, the imprison– ment of Black Panther Bobby Seale, and most notably, the infamous hooting deaths of four tudents at Kent State by memhers of the Ohio National G uard. Today, in ta lking with fa ulty and alumni invo lved in that protes t or with communi ty member who obse rved it, it is evic.lenr that fee lings sti ll run deep for anc.l aga inst the events of th e day. "Many people at the time agreed with the issues but not with the actions taken," ays Dory Hylton, a profe sor of intercli plinary studies at Marylhurst Co llege, who wrote her dissertation on the PSU 1970 tuclent protest. The issues and actions of thi pivoral confrontation will be th e subj ect of a week-long retrospective checlu led for May 8- 13 on the PSU campus. Hylton, along with PSU students, faculty, and alumni have formed a Seventh Day Committee to plan the event. eventh Day refers to the violence that ended a If you were on campu in May 1970, the Seventh Day Committee would like to hear from ynu. enc.l them a desc ription of what you experienced, how you fe lt, anc.l how it affected your life. Or drop by campus; the committee meet every Saturday from 1 to3 p.m. in 23 Smith Center. Comments may be sent ro Susan Haye.Jen A PSU, Portlanc.l State University, P.O. Box 751 , Portl and, OR 97207, (503) 725-5675, fax (503) 72 5-56 ' O, e-mai l sevenrhday@aol.com, or w n tact L\wid Homwtt:, Department ofhbtory, same address, 725-3993. ix clay vigil held on campus and in the nation fo llowing the Kent State killings. The committee has checlulecl a showing of the PSU documentary "The Seventh Day," panel cliscu sions by participants on all ides, and a reconstruction of the barricade in the Park Blocks. "The retrospective will be an illumination of that time in hi tory, rather than a reunion, or a commemo– rati on ," says Hylton who was a student at Columbia University in New York in 1970. he researched the PSU prote t for her di serration comp leted in 1993 at the University of Oregon. "The po int is not just to remember the strike, but to ask why it occurred," ays Hylton . "We want the generation of tudents on campus today to understand how what happened leads right to where they are today. " As Hylton conducted re earch for her dissertation she interviewed more than 200 people and fo und that, fo r many, the May protest is unfinished business. S tudents were dedica ted to non-v iolence, but after the assault by the T actical O perations Platoon (TO P) , letter to the edi tor in the Portland paper ran 10 to one in favo r of the TO P's actions. For many students, th e clo ing of classes for two day was a personal affront. Whatever perspective a participant or ob erver has of the May 1970 protest, it is welcomed by th e Seventh Day Committee. D PRI NG 1995 2 1