![\"1970_OSU_Demonstrations_Flyers_Ad](\"http:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/files\/2015\/03\/flyer_ad_hoc_com2-742x1024.jpg\")
Ad-Hoc Committee of Ohio State University. “Time to Act!” Flyer, April 28, 1970. from the Ohio State University Library Archives<\/p><\/div>\n
In addition to the Vietnam War, racism, and student rights, police brutality became a key concern of Ohio State students. When demands were not met, students fought back through both violent and non-violent protest. For example, Weinberg recalls a protest in April of 1970 in which students expressed their concerns: \u201cTo show that we believed in a closed campus, we decided that we would literally close the gates of the campus. And I was in that group, of course\u2026the police came and said \u2018Open those gates, dammit, or else.\u2019 We didn\u2019t open the gates, and they came busting through those gates, and that was the first time that I ever saw a police riot. They went ape\u2026they were catching people and beating them over the head with their sticks. It was nasty and it was bad\u2026From that moment on, that campus was in complete and absolute turmoil. [12] Due to the \u201cturmoil,\u201d administration put a dawn to dusk curfew on the campus [13]. Weinberg recalls, \u201cI had no freedom\u2026The police were running around in police cars with the police numbers taped black. They took off their badges and any identification. They had helicopters so if anybody gathered anywhere they dropped teargas from the helicopters.\u201d [14] Historian Melvin Small further emphasizes the role of police on college campuses when he states, \u201cduring the academic year 1969-70, 7,200 young people were arrested on campuses.\u201d [15] Weinberg\u2019s story of police retaliation to student activism combined with Small\u2019s statistic of general police involvement demonstrates the intensity and violence that arose from anti-war protests on college campuses.<\/p>\n
In regards to police brutality on college campuses, Brands focuses on the shootings at Kent State. \u00a0He writes, \u201cAt Kent State University in Ohio, protesters clashed with National Guard troops, who fired on the crowd and killed four students. Days later a similar tragedy occurred at Jackson State in Mississippi, where two students were killed by police fire.\u201d [16] When the shootings at Kent State occurred, Weinberg and his peers were in the midst of a protest on their own campus. As news of the student deaths spread through the crowd, Weinberg remembers, \u201cWe were just shocked. They\u2019re killing us. They\u2019re killing us. It was very sobering. My friends and I, we were all gathered around and thought, \u2018Is this the time to take up arms?\u2019 I mean, it\u2019s the army. How can you fight the army? You can\u2019t do it\u2026It felt like we were at war.\u201d [17] As evident through Weinberg\u2019s recollection, the shootings at Kent State represented a larger issue in which students and police forces were \u201cat war\u201d with one another. Weinberg even remembers that, when police forces charged the students, they shouted \u201ckill, kill, kill, kill, kill.\u201d [18]. As students resisted oppressive actions and beliefs, police forces, along with the National Guard, retaliated with force and intimidation. A Ohio State University peer, Don T. Martin, also remembers police activity during the 1970 campus protests: \u201cThroughout the student Anti-Vietnam War Movement much was said about the \u2018theatrics\u2019 displayed by student protesters in their resistance to authority; yet what was not appreciated was the fact that the authorities in their counter-resistance efforts possessed and utilized far more theatrical resources than did the student resisters. For example, to walk through the night emptied by curfew and patrolled by carloads of policemen armed with shotguns and gas-grenade launchers, to be hit with searchlights from overhead helicopters, to see tanks and armed authorities putting on their gas masks with some jeeringly gesturing at students with hippie-type dress and demeanor created a surreal setting.\u201d [19] Although Brands mentions shootings at Kent State and Jackson State, police and National Guard occupation, intimidation, and violence occurred on various college campuses, including the Ohio State University, ultimately resulting in a \u201cwar\u201d between students and authorities.<\/p>\n
Eventually, overwhelmed by the growing number of student protesters, increased violence, and mass boycotts of class, the President of the Ohio State University made an announcement on May 6th<\/sup>, 1970 that the University would shut down for a short period of time. [20] Students disbanded with demands unmet as they were forced to leave their campus. When students returned on May 19th<\/sup>, security measures tightened, but activists continued to rally, establishing a 2,000-person protest on the day of return. [21] Despite this continuation of activism, graduation commenced and momentum eventually waned. [22] According to Weinberg, \u201cWe wanted to change the world\u2026but\u00a0we failed\u201d [23] Although student activists at Ohio State University may not have achieved most of their goals as documented through their demands of the administration, they experienced some victories. For example, an Afro-American Studies department was established and efforts were made to start a daycare service free to University women. [24] In order to understand the experiences of student protesters at Ohio State University and elsewhere, their efforts must be viewed outside of the context of anti-Vietnam War boycotts. Although the anti-war effort was certainly important to people such as Weinberg, students also advocated for the rights of African Americans, women, and the general student body in the wake of immense resistance\u00a0from university administration and police forces.<\/p>\n Clip from Marc Weinberg’s interview:<\/em><\/p>\n