Shut It Down! a College in Crisis, San Francisco State College, October
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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 084 943 HE 004 775 AUTHOR Orrick, William H., Jr. TITLE Shut it Down! A College in Crisis, San Francisco State College, October, 1968 to April, 1969.A Staif Report to the National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence. INSTITUTION San Francisco State Coll., Calif. PUB DATE Jun 69 NOTE 184r. "DRS PRICE MF-$0.65 HC-$6.58 DESCRIPTORS *Activism; Case Studies; *College Students; *Higher Education; *School Boycotts; Strikes; Student AttAtudes; *Student College Relationship IDENTIFIERS *San Francisco State College ABSTRACT This document reviews the activities at San Francisco State College, October 1968-April, 1969: why the San Francisco State College strike became the first sustained assault on an institution by its students, embroiling, as it did, not only the faculty, administrators, trustees, students, and alumni, but also the political leaders of the city and the State, and the off-campus community. The first part of the report describes the Califcrnia system of higher education and San Francisco State College, the conditions prior to the strike, and the strike. Because the student strike leadership was centered in the Black Student Union, the second part of the report deals with the black community and some of the reasons underlying the actions of the black student strike leaders. This is followed by a brief comment on the outlook for the future and appendices containing a list of the demands, a comment on th.! police, a list of the trustees of the California State colleges, and a summary of the proposed Black Studies Program. (Author/MJM) FILMED FROM BESTAVAILABLE COPY I .47 .a.au " a if aSif4 4 fl.R 1'i 7 ; e; I a t- I 11,1 1 ft ,,,,,,,., ,f., ... .. h,... 0.4.4. 1,..;} 1e..a.L.:-. t'..*;7tr...'1,,..-,,....-rzr-a ...:zt..4".--7X:-.'",---44."....----- U 5 DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH EDUCATION il. WELFARE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION 415 415o A STAFF REPORT S DCI,.".EN FIEEN tS PECF -FT 41QS PFPSON /A C)% OW 0IS 40,t44 NOT A REPORT A' N5. PC) N` F 14101''. ONS `F I) no No NI I S41W V 415 P45 CI N(', I 1)4 OF THE .4P., tow,' ,)kr Prjk IV I COMMISSION :towei!'st.,.> CPO L'Cll'f'VV The White House Ant' 10. 196.4 EXECUTIVE ORDER #11412 ESTABLISHING A NATIONAL COMMISSION ON THE CAUSES AND PREVENTION OF VIOLENCE By virtue of the authority vested in me as President of the United States, it is ordered as follows: SECTIONI. Establishment of the Commission. (a) There is hereby established a National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence (hereinafter referred to as the "Commission"). (b)The Commission shall be composed of: Dr, Milton Flarnhowec. chairman Corgreurnan 110e Boggs Senator Roman Honks Archbishop Tante 1, Cooke Atbert F...ItnnesJr, he Ambassador Patricia I lanii Congressman William M. McCulloch Senator Philip A. Hart *De. W, Walter Menninger Judge A. Leon Higginbotham *Judge Ern& Waliam McFarland Mc Hoffer *Leon 1awordii SECTION 2. hithethms of the Commission. The Commission shall invest igai c and make recommendstions with respect to: (a)the causes and prevention of lawless acts of violence inOW society, including assassination ,murder and assault: (b)The causes arid prevention of disrespectrot law and order, of disrespect for public officials, and of violent disruptions of public order by individuals and groups', and (c)Such other matters as the President may place hefore the Commis. MA. SECTION 4. Staff of the Commission. SECTION 5. Cr/iv/erasion by Executive Departments and Agencies. (a) The Commission, acting through its Chairman, is autliorindto request from any executive department or agency any informationand assistance deemed necessary to carry our its functions under this Order. Ea:h department or agency is directed, to the extent permitted by law andwithin the limits of available funds, to furnish information andassistance to the Commission. SECTION h. Report and Termination. The Commission shall present Its report and recommendations as soon as practicable, but not later thanone year from the date of this Order. The Commission shall terminate thirty days following the submissions of its final report or one yearlsom the date ofthis Order. whichever is earlier. S./Lyndon B. Johnson *Addedby an Executive Order June 21,1968 The White House May 23, 1969 EXECUTIVE ORDER #11469 EXTENDING THE LIFE OF THE NATIONAL COMMISSION ON THE CAUSES AND PREVENTION OF VIOLENCE By virtue of the authority vested in meas President of the United States, Executive Order No, 11412 of June 10, 1968,en titled "Establishing a National Commission oil the Causes and Prevention of Violence," is herebyamended by substituting for the last sentence thereof the following:"The Commission shall terminate thrity days following the submission of its finalreport or on December 10, 1%9, whichever is earlier." S/ Richard Nixon CT OCC; w SHUT IT DOWN! A College In Crisis San Francisco State College October, 1968April, 1969 A Report to the National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence by WILLIAM H. ORRICK, Jr., Director San Francisco State College Study Team June 1969 Official editions of publications of the National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence may be freely used, duplicated or published, in whole or in part, except to the extent that, where expressly noted in the pub- lications, they contain copyrighted materials reprinted by permission of the copyright holders.Photographs may have been copyrighted by the owners, and permission to reproduce may be required. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 76-602072 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Washington, D.C., 20402 - Price $1.00 STATEMENT ON THE STAFF STUDIES JP- Thp Commission was directed to "go as far as man's knowledge takes" it in searching for the causes of violence and the means of prevention. These studies are reports to the Commission by independent scholars and lawyers who have served as directors of our staff task forces and study teams; they are not reports by the Commission itself. Pub- lication of any of the reports should not be taken to imply endorsement of their contents by the Commission, or by any member of the Commission's staff, including the Exec- utive Director and other staff officers, not directly responsi- ble for the preparation of the particular report.Both the credit and the responsibility for the reports lie in each case with the directors of the task forces and study teams. The Commission is making the reports available at this time as works of scholarship to be judged on their merits, so that the Commission as well as the public may have the benefit of both the reports and informed criticism and comment on their contents. Dr. Milton S. Eisenhower, Chairman \ w SHUT IT DOWN! A College In Crisis WILLIAM H. ORRICK, Jr., Director San Francisco State College Study Team Commission Staff Officers Lloyd N. Cutler, Executive Director Thomas D. Barr, Deputy Director James F. Short, Jr., Marvin E. Wolfgang, Co-Directors of Research James S. Campbell, General Counsel William G. McDonald, Administrative Office Joseph Laitin, Director of Information ,nald Wolk, Special Assistant to the Chairman National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence Dr. Milton S Eisenhower, Chairman iv PREFACE From the earliest days of organization, the Chairman, Commissioners, and Executive Director of the National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence recognized the importance of research in accomplishing the task of analyzing the many facets of violence in America. As a result of this recognition, the Commission has enjoyed the receptivity, encouragement, and cooperation of a large part of the scientific community inthis country. Because of the assistance given in varying degrees by scores of scholars here and abroad, these Task Force reports represent some of the most elaborate work ever done on the major topics they cover. The Commission was formed on June I0, I968. By the end of the month, the Executive Director had gathered together a small cadre of capable young lawyers from various Federal agencies and law firms around the country. That group was later augmented by partners borrowed from some of the Nation's major law firms who served without compensation. Such a professional group can be assembled more quickly than university faculty because the latter are not accustomed to quick institutional shifts after making firm commitments of teaching or research at a particular locus. Moreover, the legal profession has long had a major and traditional role in Federal agencies and commissions. In early July a group of :0 persons from the academic disciplines of sociology, psychology, psychiatry, political science, history, law, and biology were called together on short notice to discuss for 2 days how best the Commission and its staff might proceed to analyze violence. The enthusiastic response of these scientists came at a moment when our Nation was still suffering from the tragedy of Senator Kennedy's assassination. It was clear from that meeting that the scholars were prepared to join research analysis and action, interpretation, and policy. They were eager to present to the American people the best available data, to bring reason to bear where myth had prevailed. They cautioned against simplistic solutions, but urged application of what is known in the service of sane policies for the benefit of the entire society. Shortly thereafter the position of Director of Research was created. We assumed the role as a joint undertaking, with common responsibilities. Our function was to enlist social and other scientists to join the staff, to write papers, act as advisers or consultants, and engage in new research. The decentralized structure of the staff, which at its peak numbered I00, required research coordination to reduce duplication and to fillin gaps among the original seven separate Task Forces.