Items

• Faculty Referendum Press Release

  This press release summarizes the results of a faculty-wide referendum held on whether the Queens College administration should have granted amnesty to the 39 people arrested on April 1, 1969 for occupying the Social Sciences Building. With 800 of the college's 1,800 eligible faculty partaking in the referendum, faculty rejected 2:1 the dropping of charges against the protestors. The April 1st arrests occurred in the early morning hours and marked the culmination of a five-day sit-in protesting the college's treatment of activists from a separate incident in March 1969.
• "The Last Straw!!!"

  Produced by the W.E.B. DuBois Club of Queens College, a local chapter of a nationwide anti-war group, this flier brings attention to proposed budget cuts and their consequences at the college's School of General Studies. Attributing the slashed funding to the government's spending in the Vietnam War, the club's flier bemoans the impact that the cuts will have on the school's black and Puerto Rican populations. In response, the flier calls for, among other measures, an expansion of daytime classes, steps taken to improve racial equality on campus, student control of academic employment, and an end to required courses.
• Student Representative Meeting Notes

  These handwritten notes were taken during a meeting between Queens College student body representatives and President McMurray and other college administrators. Among those items discussed were the college's options regarding security/police presence on campus and possible solutions to SEEK program protests. The talks came during a period of pronounced unrest on campus with multiple student groups engaged in protest over different matters. As one administrator noted of the college at the time, "we have a gun at our heads."
• Pres. McMurray's Press Conference Notes

  These notes were taken during a press conference with Queens College President Joseph P. McMurray on May 5, 1969. The meeting concerned the ongoing student unrest on campus that forced college officials to close the school on May 2nd.
• Special meeting of the Faculty Council- Agenda

  This agenda from a "special meeting of the Faculty Council" features three proposed "emergency" committees designed to handle the rampant student unrest that ensnared Queens College during its spring 1969 semester. Each of the committees was intended to address different concerns resulting from the disruptions on campus as protests had been a near constant presence from March onward. In fact, at the time this meeting took place, May 5, 1969, the school was still temporarily closed (from May 2nd) on account of student demonstrations.
• Statement by QC SDS

  Created by the Queens College chapter of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), this flier from spring 1969 features the group's demand for the reinstatement of, and dropping of charges against, three students that had forced a General Electric recruiter off campus in March. Additionally, the flier provides support for the students' actions with regards to the recruiter and promise to oppose the presence of a Marine Corps recruiter in April. The students' demands would form the basis for a multi-day sit-in in the school's Social Science Building during the last week of March. During that demonstration, 39 would be arrested on April 1 as police cleared out the building at the administration's behest. Unsurprisingly tensions remained incredibly high between students and administration for the remainder of the school year with increased unrest and multiple closings in April and May.
• Support the Governance Report: Go To Class

  This flier, created in opposition to the student protest efforts that swept Queens College's campus in spring 1969, urges students to attend class instead of participating.
• "Answer Back / Don't Strike"

  Another anti-protest flier, this one again calls for students to attend class instead of striking. It features a quote from an "Ad Hoc 'Sympathizer'," a member of the group largely responsible for much of the ongoing disruption on campus.
• We Need Unity

  Produced by the Ad Hoc Committee, a left-leaning student activist group at Queens College, this flier calls for a rally at the Dome on campus. Additionally, it calls for support at the Social Sciences (S.S.) Building. Just the day before this flier was created, 500 Queens students began a sit-in in the S.S. Building in protest of a faculty member's dismissal and the administration's treatment of student protestors from a March demonstration. By April 1, 39 would be arrested as police cleared out the S.S. Building at the college administration's behest.
• "Political Suppression - You Can't Sit on This One...Strike!"

  Created by the Ad Hoc Committee, a left-wing group comprised of student and faculty activists, this handout advertises an April 22, 1969 protest against the Queens College administration. The flier provides a brief summation of the group's most recent activity and lays out their demands which provided the justification for their protest efforts. From March onward, consistent student unrest on campus came to define Queens College's spring 1969 semester.
• 42 QC Students Arrested on Campus

  This flier calls for a rally on April 1st, 1969 against Queens College's decision to have city police clear a student demonstration on campus. Students from the college's Ad Hoc Committee and Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) chapter had led the occupation of the Social Sciences Building for six days until the early morning hours on April 1st when the building was emptied and 39 were arrested. (This is the number of arrestees that was reported by the New York Times.) Their protest concerned the college's dismissal of an instructor and the administration's treatment of student protestors from an earlier incident in March. The campus remained a hotbed of student unrest until graduation ceremonies in June.
• Forum in the Dome

  Created by the Ad Hoc Committee, a left group of student and faculty activists, this flier promotes a campus forum during Queens College's free hour on April 21, 1969. The group, protesting the administration's treatment of student and faculty activists from earlier incidents in March and April, sought to gain further popular support through the explanation of their motivations and positions. The organization's most notable effort thus far had been the organization of a six day sit-in in the Social Sciences building that culminated on April 1st with the arrest of 39. Such did not deter them, however, as their efforts continued through the end of the semester.
• We Wont Take No For an Answer!!

  Produced by the Ad Hoc Committee, a left group of student and faculty activists, this flier advertises a rally at Queens College's A Building on April 16, 1969. A New York Times article from the following day reported that 150 students took control of four floors of the administrative building and blocked access to the president's office. The group, protesting the administration's treatment of student activists from earlier incidents in March and April, had previously occupied the Social Sciences Building at the start of the month and would continue demonstrations through graduation at the end of the semester.
• Cartoon on College Protest

  This political cartoon, originally from the LA Times and reprinted by the New York Times, reflects on the student unrest on college campuses across the nation in 1969. Depicting the military in charge at and around the desk of the University President, the caption quotes the President saying "They're to prevent any military take-over of this office!" At CUNY, City College, Brooklyn College and Queens College were all forced to  close for several days during the spring semester in the face of widespread student demonstrations. At Queens College, in particular, the issue of police presence on campus was a major concern for protestors and administration alike.
• Student Coalition Rally & Peaceful Walk Through

  Distributed by the Student Coalition, this handout demands that Queens College students be granted access to walk through the Social Sciences Building. The building, housing President McMurray's office, had been the site of student occupation since March 1969. Those efforts, led by members of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and the Ad Hoc Committee were pointedly criticized in this flier distributed on May 16th. Queens College's Student Coalition belonged to the larger New York Regional Coalition of Students and Faculty, an organization of anti-protest groups from campuses across the New York metropolitan area. These students frequently came from varying sides of the political spectrum and stood firmly opposed to campus disruptions brought on by other more radical students.
• "Open Letter to the Students and Faculty (Please Read Carefully)"

  This is an open letter to Queens College students and faculty from the Ad Hoc Committee, a politically active group comprised of concerned faculty and student activists. The group, which held a multi-day sit-in in the Social Sciences Building in March/April 1969, was protesting the administration's dismissal of an instructor and their treatment of student protestors from an incident in March. Their demands totaled five in all and they hoped to garner more popular support on campus by holding the rally advertised on this letter.