For those of us who were not privileged enough to live during America's rebellious times, the Sixties, we are told of the times that changed and shaped American history. We are told of the Woodstocks, the summers of free love, and of course we hear all about the Beatles.
The one thing that we are told over and over again is of the protests; the two biggest types regarding equal treatment and against the Vietnam War. Time and time again we hear how the nation was fed up with Lyndon B. Johnson and his war in Asia, sending our troops overseas to die. We're told of the colleges and protesters who aimed to make a statement during this turbulent time aimed to make a statement.
But what if there was an area in the country that remained neutral, for the most part? What if there was an area that had more important values than the War, instead, focused on the treatment of the students than they did about the country's wartime endeavors? I am here to tell you that such a place did exist, and that I am an alumnus from such an institution, Slippery Rock University (called Slippery Rock State College at the time).
During my senior year at Slippery Rock University I enrolled in a class called "Historian's Craft," which prepared us to research and write like professional historians. It was during this class that the research paper topics were left up to us, as long as they related to the university or the town of Slippery Rock in some way. My topic choice started out as how the SRU community responded to national tragedies. During that research I found a new angle that interested me: how Slippery Rock State College reacted during the troubling times of the Vietnam War.
Now I know what some of you are going to say, "how can you justify the ideals of a nation from a small sample size like Slippery Rock?" Thank you for raising that question dear reader! The subject of this topic is not to argue that the entire story that we heard regarding this time period is wrong, but that if such a case was possible in a small area such as Slippery Rock, then the possibility of more cases like it exist in one way or another.
Now that you are introduced to the subject now comes the product of my research. Below this paragraph is my research paper from my "Historian's Craft" class. Enjoy and hope you have some discussion questions and comments afterwards!
Edit: Made an edit to the second sentence in the second paragraph of the paper. Simple error that should have been fixed beforehand. Fixed it now.
SLIPPERY
ROCK STATE COLLEGE:
LOCAL
WORRIES DURING A NATIONAL PHENOMENON
Bryan
Brown
History
205: Historian’s Craft
December
13, 2012
Living on a college campus in the United States in the
1960s was an eventful time in American history, but there is one campus in
Northwestern Pennsylvania that was sheltered compared to other colleges,
Slippery Rock State College. As the Vietnam War dragged on, as well as the
Civil Rights Movement took place, Americans protested in a variety of different
ways: through the music industry, articles in the newspapers, and the popular
demonstrations. These are just a few ways Americans took a stand against the
war and injustice.
As Americans throughout the nation protested, Slippery Rock
State College on the other hand unevenly divided its attention between the
Vietnam War and the Civil Rights Movement. On the issue of the war Slippery
Rock had a much more conservative approach, but when it came to aspects of
Civil Rights the students made it a priority. Slippery Rock’s political
viewpoint played a role in the students’ perspective on the war, but had a
limited role in their perspective towards civil rights on campus. Because of President Carter’s leadership,
continued by President Watrel, and the Slippery Rock area’s political viewpoint
the student body’s involvement in demonstrations focused on student rights on
campus, and remained relatively conservative compared to other protests
throughout the nation.
To understand student activism and political perspectives
Slippery Rock University’s archives made the most contribution. Many of the
Board of the Trustees Minutes reports, which provide immense amounts of
information on the process the Slippery Rock faculty and staff used to deal
with student activism and other issues. Newspapers such as The Rocket and the Butler Eagle were crucial for understanding
student activism and political opinions on campus and in the area. Remarkably
the school had very few demonstrations and remained quiet on a number of
issues, therefore the student newspaper did not have a lot of articles
regarding protests. Still, the newspaper offered insight into other issues like
the rights for African-American and women students.
Scholars in the past looked at similar situations in
schools with similar conditions like Slippery Rock: small school in a
relatively conservative area. Historian Gregg L. Michel examined the same type
of activities Slippery Rock State College experienced in a small Baptist
college called Furman University. The title of Michel’s article was It Even Happened Here: Student Activism at
Furman University, 1967-1970. Michel argued that Furman’s students
demonstrated in an orderly manner because they had the support to demonstrate
from their president. Furman’s students’ method of demonstrating provides other
scholars that schools had unique methods of demonstrating for student rights
and other issues that students dealt with.
As America continued its war in Vietnam a war at home
over civil rights developed as well. City streets filled with protestors
voicing their opinions in regards to both issues. Rights of both
African-Americans and women became a big issue in this time. Slippery Rock State
College, now called Slippery Rock University, had a very unique role in the
string of protests that swept the nation.
Following the Civil Rights Act of 1964 Slippery Rock
State College students involved themselves in movements for equality of students
throughout campus. The Civil Rights Act made it illegal for discrimination of
any person regardless of race, gender, or religious creed. Because of this,
women’s rights became a frontrunner of activism alongside African-American
rights. The battle for African-American and women rights certainly impacted the
Slippery Rock State College campus.
In
the midst of nation-wide protests, Slippery Rock officials made a decision to
hire rental policemen to help with security on campus. Slippery Rock hired the
rental police from the United Detective Agency of Pittsburgh.
The decision came from Carter to ensure that campus life would be a safer place
for students and property of the school. The installment of the rental police
represented oppression in the minds of the students. The Butler Eagle reported that the students thought that Slippery Rock
hired the agency to spy on them.
The
students protested the rental police following an assembly where the rental
police went through the crowd of students and demanded for their identification
cards. 2800 students protested by “marching around buildings,” during this
demonstration 318 students were injured. President Carter met with the
disgruntled students in the field house to inform them that he would not talk
to a mob and would only speak to “duly elected representatives.”
Following the meeting with the student elected leaders
Carter explained in the monthly meeting with the trustees of the college that
the students “didn’t really have any” grievances, that it was a
misunderstanding regarding the Security Police. Carter also exclaimed that the
problem with the security police was still a work in progress, but quick to
reiterate that “we are better off with the Security Police than we were
before.”
The
Butler Eagle reported that the
elected leader of the students’ main grievance came from “student
administration control over dress and appearance and ‘unreasonable search and
seizure.’”
The Butler Eagle also reported that
the reason that the students protested the way they did, while they followed
Carter’s process, was to have actions taken then and not during the next school
year when the issues would have blown away. This moment truly defined Slippery
Rock State College’s method of demonstrating against unfair policies and key
issues.
The student demonstration against the Security Police
achieved one goal in the following school year: it got rid of the student dress
codes, but only for the male students, the female students’ dress code remained
the same.
The dress code for women remained in effect until the following school year,
1968-1969 school year. As long as the female students thought their appearance
appropriate, it passed. According to this version of the Green and White, no specifics on clothing restricted the students.
The
main grievance of the students, after the issue of the Security Police
diminished, came from the student dress codes. According the student handbook,
the Green and White, students had
different set of rules based on gender. These separate rules focused on
appropriate dress code at certain points of the day and on certain occasions. Key
differences between the rules imply a difference of treatment between the two
groups of students. In the student handbook, both male and female students were
subject to specific dress codes that differed depending on where the student
was. One example, according to the student handbook, female students were
forbidden from wearing “thongs,” or flip flop sandals, in the cafeteria.
Female students also faced the restriction of dress in the classroom by the
professor of their class. The professor had the power to deem appropriate dress
for the women. These restrictions on dress hindered the freedom of women
students in the college.
Although the dress codes restricted more heavily on women,
male students also faced restricting dress code rules. For instance, male
students who wore shirts without collars, blue jeans, shorts, and “thongs”
violated the code. Day assemblies required the male students to wear “class
dress,” what men wore during class: shirts with collars, slacks, sweaters, while
for night assemblies required a “coat, dress slacks or suit.” Another form of
restriction came in the form of a ban on any “extreme apparel,” things like
offensive shirts and over-revealing clothing, and beards.
Although the dress code for male students differed from female students, they
restricted student freedom the same.
Following the demonstration against the Security Police,
Slippery Rock State College remained relatively calm until the 1970s. This
holds true even though in 1969 when a “National Moratorium Day” on October 15
was held, The Rocket reported on the
story. According to The Rocket, the
event took place to call for an end to the Vietnam War. The article also stated
that Slippery Rock State College and the new president, President Watrel, took
no stance on the issue. The plea, orchestrated by college presidents in schools
such as the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University, Chatam
University, and seventy-four other schools nationwide. Slippery Rock’s no
stance on the national moratorium signifies Slippery Rock’s refusal to take
part in efforts to protest the Vietnam War.
As the student newspaper, The Rocket represented what students held high in their priorities
and what they wanted to discuss on campus. In the early years of the war, the
newspaper staff took a more sympathetic opinion. The editor of The Rocket, Judy Lagnese, wrote an
editorial in 1967 that begged the Slippery Rock community to make sure they
opened up their eyes and see the world issues that the school shunned before.
The newspaper staff seemed to be the ones who viewed the situation in Vietnam
as one that needed to end.
Another
newspaper writer Becky Wilson also wrote about the situation in Southeast Asia
in a sympathetic view in her article “A Different ‘Slant’ on the ‘Gooks.’”
Wilson reported that the United States bombed Hanoi 527 times, and explained
the hardships the Vietnamese people suffered because the United States dragged
the war on. Wilson wanted her audience to make a decision on the issue that
would have an effect on the war. The choices included that if the people were
good and willing the war would end, but if not “the future is very bleak for
the Vietnamese.”
The sharp twist in the article really emphasizes the newspaper staff’s
frustration with the lack of activism outside The Rocket staff.
As the war continued The Rocket developed a different
attitude towards the war. In 1969, the editor believed that the students held
the key to a better life to live in, a life that “will not resort to
demonstrations or violence to accomplish this end.” The
editor’s opinion reflects Carter’s want for organized protests rather than mob
demonstrations. As the war in Vietnam progressed and other schools and
universities across America protested the war, Slippery Rock remained in their
ways, unwilling to physically protest the war.
A
reason for the Slippery Rock students’ refusal to protest the Vietnam War stemmed
from the political standpoint of the Slippery Rock are. The area prior to and
during the war remained a relatively conservative one that voted Republican in 1952,
1956, 1960, 1968 and 1972, the only exception came from the 1964 election which
the area voted Democratic. This relatively conservative area had an effect on
the political viewpoints of the majority of the students attending Slippery
Rock State College. This reason was why the majority of the student population refused
to physically protest the war.
According to America
Votes, a governmental book series that recorded the results in political
elections by state, Butler County, where Slippery Rock is located, in the 1952
election 25,243 voted Republican compared to the 15,295 who voted Democrat.
Butler County among other counties in Pennsylvania outnumbered the Democratic
counties in Pennsylvania, only nine counties of the sixty-seven in Pennsylvania
voted Democratic in 1952.
In the following election, 1956, Butler County remained
Republican. Of the 39,989 total voters 26,238 voted Republican, roughly
sixty-five point six percent of the vote.
Other counties relatively close to Slippery Rock, like Mercer and Allegheny
Counties, also voted Republican. Scammon recorded that all but five counties in
Pennsylvania voted Republican in the 1956 election. Butler
County continued its Republican voting ways in 1960. In that year Pennsylvania
became a Democratic state for the election despite only having fifteen counties
vote Democrat.
The 1964 election year, brought change to Butler County. Among
the 44,722 total voters in Butler County, only 17,360 voted Republican. The
1964 election marked a change not only in Butler County but also other counties
in Pennsylvania. Out of the sixty-seven counties in Pennsylvania, only three
voted for the Republican candidate.
This election became the exception to the steady Republican voting in Butler
County during this time period.
In the 1968 election year, Butler County
returned to its Republican ways. Among the 45,291 voters, 21,618 people voted
Republican compared to the 19,415 voters who voted Democrat.
In the following election, 1972, Slippery Rock again voted Republican in an
even more decisive manner. According to America
Votes, Butler County voters voted Republican 29,665 times compared to the
14,695 Democrat votes, more than double the votes.
These statistics indicate the county that a majority of Slippery Rock students
hailed from voted Republican for many years, one can assume that the area’s
political sphere played a role in the decision of the students not to protest
the war.
Even though the American offensive in Vietnam continued
throughout the 1970s and advanced into Cambodia, Slippery Rock students
continued their focus on the local issues on campus. Following the May 4, 1970
Kent State shooting, Slippery Rock maintained their stance of refusing to fight
the war cause. The Kent State shooting developed because the students rallied
to protest the United States invasion of Cambodia. The author of “Bullets vs
Bottles at Kent State Rally” in The
Rocket explained how the student rally developed into a hostile shooting by
the National Guard. The author also provided insight on what Kent State should
have done instead of using the National Guard. The author suggests that to
counteract the student protest the college officials should have used “REASONING
RATHER THAN MILITARY INTERVENTION.”
The author used all capital letters at the end of the
article to make their point known, especially to Slippery Rock students and
faculty alike. This article clearly demonstrates how the Slippery Rock State
College community talked out their grievances: through writing with President
Watrel rather than the use of violence. This article further demonstrates
Slippery Rock’s belief in Carter’s system, that Watrel continued, that
established a method for the students for their demonstrations and protests.
In that same issue of The
Rocket, the newspaper staff also wrote about the United States involvement
in Cambodia. The article titled “First Vietnam – Now Add Cambodia” examined the
United States’ decision to invade Cambodia. The article also provided Nixon’s
promise for peace by the withdraw of troops out of Vietnam. The author provided
their own insight on the issue that fighting in Cambodia would result in United
States defeat, similar to Vietnam. The author stated that because Cambodia was
the new battleground with the Viet Cong “it is illogical to expect anything except the same result.”
This author’s opinion on the war provides insight on how the newspaper
developed into a stance against the war, but only protest through dialogue.
During this time of political unrest, African-American
and women students continued their fight for their rights on campus.
African-American students formed the Black Action Society in 1969 with the goal
to advance the rights and treatment of black students and ensure “better race
relations in the best interest to all concerned.”
Women students formed the Association for Women’s Rights on campus, to ensure
that the women student body was guaranteed their rights. In 1971 the Black
Action Society gave a list of demands focused mainly on equal treatment for
black students at Slippery Rock, they also demanded more black students and
culture courses. Their reasoning for this stemmed from the “increase in Black
student enrollment on campus.”
Black students on campus indeed increased throughout the
years because of the administrations actions to follow the Equal Educational
Opportunity Program. In a press release in 1971 the administration met the
demands of black students the previous year to recruit more black students.
Because of the recruitment 110 Black students were added to the student body of
5000, representing two-point-two percent of the student population.
The Campus Equal Educational Opportunity Program made it
a priority to ensure that more African-American students enrolled to Slippery
Rock State College. But the program faced several hurdles for instance, “Black
students [were] reluctant to enroll at Slippery Rock because of poor social
life [and] small enrollment at the present time.”
The program eventually became successful following the 1969 school year because
of the “recruitment of the Admissions Committee ninety-eight students applied
for admission…ninety-four Blacks.”
Slippery Rock State College students achieved their local goals through a form
of protest that did not use violence and followed Carter’s model for organized
formal protesting.
While African-American students fought for their rights
on campus, women students did the same. Women did not have the same kind of
grievances that the African-American students had, but faced challenges of their
own. Alongside the previously mentioned dress code restrictions, the women
students at Slippery Rock faced invasive housing regulations on campus. Among
the restrictions on housing was, prior to 1972, the mandatory sign-out sheet
for female students leaving their dorms past a certain hour, infamously known
as “No Hour Policy.” The Slippery Rock Women’s Liberation group fought for the
repeal of the policy on female students and for the equal treatment of men and
women on campus. The article claimed that the Civil Rights Act made it illegal
to discriminate against students on race, creed, and religion. The Slippery
Rock Women’s Liberation argued that women and freshmen fell into that category.
The group gave the Trustees the issue, who gave it to Dr. Watrel.
The following year another article posted in The Rocket by the Association for
Women’s Rights, (AWR), which again called for the equal treatment of women
students for housing. The article state that the men never had the same housing
restrictions that the women had. Some restrictions included signing in after
certain hours and only living off campus based on class. The AWR wanted to have
the same rules as the men had on campus living.
Female equality in housing policies became reality in
1972 following a decision ruling in favor of the Equal Rights Act. The
Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission ruled that the discrimination was
illegal in regards to the Equal Rights Act. Because the law made it illegal for
women to be discriminated against it enabled women students to have the same
opportunities that men had at Slippery Rock State College for housing. This
protest, like the others, used the type of protest that followed Carter’s
guidelines for demonstrations.
Throughout the duration of the Vietnam War, colleges
nationwide broke out in protest, while Slippery Rock State College refrained
from such activities. The Slippery Rock community filled other agendas with
their time rather than joining the nationwide protest against the war. A
variety of reasons caused this outcome. The first reason came from the
students’ focus on local issues on campus like the dress code. Women on campus
fought for their rights on campus and off-campus living. Black students fought
for their advancement of fellow black students on campus. Slippery Rock’s
conservative basis played a role in the politics of the students. With all of
these reasons the Slippery Rock students pushed the issue of Vietnam to the
side and made way for their rights on campus.
Slippery Rock State College, students and staff including
President Watrel, followed President Carter’s guidelines for formal and
organized protests to ensure that the students’ voices were heard. This form of
organized demonstrations, not uncommon in America and conservative areas, made
Slippery Rock one of few places that did not resort to violence or mob
demonstrations. President Carter’s guidelines, continued by Watrel, enabled
Slippery Rock students to fight for their rights, but in a peaceful and
organized manner.
Appendix 1
Pennsylvania Presidential Elections by County: 1952
|
County
|
Total Population
|
Total Vote
|
Republican Votes
|
Democratic Votes
|
R-D Plurality
|
% of Winning Party
|
Allegheny
|
1,515,237
|
733,072
|
359,224
|
370,945
|
9948 R
|
50.6% D
|
Butler
|
97,320
|
40,723
|
25,243
|
15,295
|
11,721 D
|
62% R
|
Mercer
|
111,954
|
47,537
|
26,424
|
20,770
|
5,654 R
|
55.6% R
|
Pennsylvania Presidential Elections by County: 1956
|
County
|
Total Population
|
Total Vote
|
Republican Votes
|
Democratic Votes
|
R-D Plurality
|
% of Winning Party
|
Allegheny
|
1,515,237
|
702,030
|
384,939
|
315,989
|
68,950 R
|
65.6% R
|
Butler
|
97,320
|
39,989
|
26,238
|
13,672
|
12,566 R
|
54.8% R
|
Mercer
|
111,954
|
48,674
|
28,785
|
19,769
|
9,016 R
|
59.1% R
|
Pennsylvania Presidential Elections by County: 1960
|
County
|
Total Population
|
Total Vote
|
Republican Votes
|
Democratic Votes
|
R-D Plurality
|
% of Winning Party
|
Allegheny
|
1,628,587
|
750,718
|
320,970
|
428,455
|
107,485 D
|
57.1% D
|
Butler
|
114,639
|
46,305
|
28,348
|
17,805
|
10,543 R
|
61.2% R
|
Mercer
|
127,519
|
53,480
|
29,109
|
24,243
|
4,866 R
|
54.4% R
|
Pennsylvania Presidential Elections by County: 1964
|
County
|
Total Population
|
Total Vote
|
Republican Votes
|
Democratic Votes
|
R-D Plurality
|
% of Winning Party
|
Allegheny
|
1,628,587
|
719,725
|
241,707
|
475,207
|
233,500 D
|
66% D
|
Butler
|
114,639
|
44,722
|
17,360
|
27,267
|
9,907 D
|
61% D
|
Mercer
|
127,519
|
50,563
|
18,153
|
32,199
|
14,046 D
|
63.7% D
|
Pennsylvania Presidential Elections by County: 1968
|
County
|
Total Population
|
Total Vote
|
Republican Votes
|
Democratic Votes
|
R-D Plurality
|
% of Winning Party
|
Allegheny
|
1,628,587
|
713,817
|
264,790
|
364,906
|
100,116 D
|
51.1% D
|
Butler
|
114,639
|
45,291
|
21,618
|
19,415
|
2,203 R
|
47.7% R
|
Mercer
|
127,519
|
49,105
|
23,131
|
22,814
|
2,452 R
|
47.1% R
|
Appendix 2
Pennsylvania Presidential Elections by County: 1972
|
County
|
Total Population
|
Total Vote
|
Republican Votes
|
Democratic Votes
|
R-D Plurality
|
% of Winning Party
|
Allegheny
|
1,605,016
|
668,535
|
371,737
|
282,496
|
89,241 R
|
55.6% R
|
Butler
|
127,941
|
45,574
|
29,665
|
14,695
|
14,970 R
|
65.1% R
|
Mercer
|
127,125
|
47,100
|
27,961
|
18,087
|
6,322 R
|
59.4% R
|
Pennsylvania Presidential Elections
by County: 1976
|
County
|
Total
Population
|
Total
Vote
|
Republican
Votes
|
Democratic
Votes
|
R-D
Plurality
|
%
of Winning Party
|
Allegheny
|
1,605,016
|
647,857
|
303,127
|
328,343
|
25,216 D
|
50.7% D
|
Butler
|
127,941
|
50,198
|
26,366
|
22,611
|
3,755 R
|
52.5% R
|
Mercer
|
127,125
|
48,235
|
22,469
|
25,041
|
2,572 D
|
51.9% D
|
Bibliography
Green
and White Handbook. Bailey Library Archives, Slippery Rock University. Slippery
Rock, PA.
Scammon,
Richard M. America Votes: A Handbook of
Contemporary American Election Statistics. Governmental Affairs Institute
Series on American voting. (New York: MacMillan Company, 1956).
---.,
America Votes: A Handbook of Contemporary
American Election Statistics. Governmental Affairs Institute Series on
American voting. (New York: MacMillan Company, 1958).
---.,
America Votes: A Handbook of Contemporary
American Election Statistics. Governmental Affairs Institute Series on
American voting. (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1962).
---.,
America Votes: A Handbook of Contemporary
American Election Statistics. Governmental Affairs Institute Series on
American voting. (Washington DC: Governmental Affairs Institute, 1966).
---.,
America Votes: A Handbook of Contemporary
American Election Statistics. Governmental Affairs Institute Series on
American voting. (Washington DC:
Governmental Affairs Institute, 1970).
---.,
America Votes: A Handbook of Contemporary
American Election Statistics. Governmental Affairs Institute Series on
American voting. (Washington DC: Governmental Affairs Institute, 1973).
---.,
America Votes: A Handbook of Contemporary
American Election Statistics. Governmental Affairs Institute Series on
American voting. (Washington DC: Congressional Quarterly Inc., 1977).
Social
Equity Office Collection. Bailey Library Archives, Slippery Rock University.
Slippery Rock, PA.
“AWR On Men’s Response to Locked
Dorms,” The Rocket (PA.), March 7,
1972, p. 5, http://digital.klnpa.org/ (accessed on October 18, 2012).
Thank you again for reading through this long and tedious research paper, if you have any comments on the subject or my viewpoint/angle, feel free to leave a comment. Thanks again dear reader, until next time!
