“Many people will leave Macalester
with memories of conflict.
1969-70 was “The Year of the
Radical.” It is remembered now
primarily for the Spring Strike
against the American invasion of
Cambodia, so much like this
spring’s activities–and yet–
so different.
People came to Macalester to
find freedom. But we were polarized
around various issues and lifestyle
orientations. There was racism
and misunderstanding. There
were hippies and hondos, dope
and sex, and a tense undercurrent
that surfaced in interracial and
interpersonal hassles, in G.R.A.S.P. and Proxies for People, protests and parades. The business office was occupied.
The Kent State and Jackson State, Cambodia, the Strik. Mass Marches. Death Wins All Wars. Out Now Sam. Raps with business people, alumni, church-goers, Mac neighbors, police. Petitions. The U.N. proposal.
Some people stayes and tried to carry the outrage and agony to the greater community. Some went to Washington to lobby with Congress. Some people went home. For a while there was hope that we’d turn things around. But eventually (they were a long three weeks) everyone went home.
When people re-populated the campus, things were quiet. There were attemps to revive the frantic spirit of the previous year, but things had turned inward. Macites looked at themselves and the college with a certain degree of irony. And they mostly looked at their books.
Most of the activity during the past two years has been campus oriented: V.C.S., Save Harlan King, Save the Profs, the Mississippi Project, M.U.C.S. Instead of standing at the barricades, Mac now stands at the crossroads of Grand and Snelling with no clear way to go.”
