Items

• Queens College Dean's Report

  Produced by the office of Queens College Dean George A. Pierson, this report summarizes campus events from March 1969 that resulted in student unrest and protest that would continue into May. As the report describes, the initial cause of the protests—which would culminate in 39 arrests following the student takeover of the Social Sciences Building on April 1st—was student outrage over the suspension of three students charged with forcing a General Electric recruiter off campus on March 11th. While the college administration would eventually lift the suspensions, they refused to drop the criminal charges filed against the students. The result was continued protests on campus led by the student-led Ad Hoc Committee to End Political Suppression.
• "6th Day Bust Rally"

  Created by the Ad Hoc Committee (to End Political Suppression), an activist student group at Queens College, this flier calls for a rally at 1pm on April 1, 1969 where the group would issue its reply to Queens College President McMurray's statement from the prior night. At the time of the flier's publication, the Ad Hoc Committee was leading a protest on campus that included the takeover of the Social Sciences building. In fact, in the early morning of April 1, 38 were arrested after police were tasked with clearing out the building. Student protest would continue, however, through April into May. The flier also reiterates several of the group's other positions, including a set of four demands that would shortly expand to six in response to the police action taken early that morning. The group's initial protests were held in response to the suspension of three students following a March 11th incident on campus with a General Electric recruiter and the administration's steadfast efforts to press charges against them.
• Statement by President Joseph P. McMurray

  This is a statement issued by Joseph P. McMurray, president of Queens College, in regards to the student occupation of the Social Sciences Building and his decision to request police action in the early morning hours of April 1, 1969. Students, numbering sometimes as high as 700, had taken over the building on March 27th in response to the administration's treatment of three students following a March 11th protest on campus. While the administration dropped the students' suspensions, as demanded by protestors, they steadfastly refused to drop the criminal charges filed against them. The continuing protests were only temporarily delayed by the arrest of 38 in the morning of April 1st. Tensions would remain high on campus for the remainder of the school year with regular student demonstrations on campus through that year's graduation.
• President's Newsletter

  This newsletter, issued by the Office of Queens College President Joseph P. McMurray, offers the administration's reaction to the continued student protests on campus. In addition to McMurray's letter is a response to five of the demands called for by the Ad Hoc Committee, the student group organizing the campus demonstrations which began in the final week of March 1969.
• Supplementary Fact Sheet

  This is a fact sheet that was prepared by the Ad Hoc Committee in attempt to correct, what they perceived to be, a distorted version of events presented by Queens College President John P. McMurray and other college administration in the preceding days. The events in question involved the particulars of student protests and demonstrations on campus in March and April 1969. This sheet covers the timeframe of March 27 to April 1, during which time students occupied the Social Sciences Building on campus in protest of the college's treatment of three students from a separate incident earlier in March.
• "Concerned Faculty Statement"

  This is a statement presented by concerned Queens College faculty at a meeting of the college's Personnel and Budget Committee. Agreed upon by approximately 150 faculty members, the paper expresses concern over the college's handling of ongoing student demonstrations in March/April 1969. Many of the points enumerated in the document echo the assertions and demands made by student activists in the Ad Hoc Committee.
• "A Procedure suggested for coping with the Present Emergency"

  This notice, created by Queens College's Biology Caucus, proposed the creation of an interdepartmental, college-wide committee comprised of full-time faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates. As the document notes, it was the hope that this committee might arrive at a satisfactory decision to resolve the college's ongoing crisis between students and the administration. Student demonstrations and sit-ins were regularly planned between March and May 1969, with tensions on campus remaining particularly acute during that period.
• Letter to Queens College Professional Staff

  This letter was issued to the professional staff in the Paul Klapper Library at Queens College on April 15, 1969. Three days earlier, the college's Biology Caucus proposed the creation of an inter-departmental committee composed of faculty and students from each department in the college. As the notice states, however, the library department did not have students and so it was requested they provide additional staff representation. The committee, it was hoped, was to be convened in effort to rectify the ongoing student showdown with campus administration that saw regular demonstrations on campus between March and May 1969.
• Statement by the Department Chairmen, the Dean of Faculty, and the President

  This statement was prepared by Queens College administration in regards to persistent student unrest on campus in March/April 1969. The document details some of the steps the college had taken to rectify the issue, including their convening of representatives from the faculty and student populations, a measure taken in effort to show the school able to "police itself." Earlier in the month, student protest groups occupied the college's Social Sciences Building in protest of the administration's treatment of earlier activists. After several days, the administration requested police clear the building and nearly 40 students were arrested in the process on April 1. Tensions between students and administration remained high in the weeks that followed.
• Resolution Meeting Notes-First Session

  These handwritten notes, taken by an unknown faculty member, are from the first session of the Personnel and Budget (P&B) meeting held on April 17, 1969. They give an account of the happenings of the meeting, beginning with summarized statements from members of the "Concerned Faculty" group. As evident from the document, the meeting's agenda was largely informed by the continuing student unrest on Queens College's campus and the administration's continued inability to satisfy the demands of the student protestors. The protestors, arguing in favor of dismissed faculty and other previously punished student activists, were a regular presence on campus in March/April 1969.
• Resolution Meeting Notes-Second Session

  These handwritten notes, taken by an unknown faculty member, are from the second session of the Personnel and Budget (P&B) meeting held on April 17, 1969. They give an account of the happenings of the meeting, beginning with summarized statements from right-leaning members of the student population including the president of the college's Young Republicans club. As evident from the document, the meeting's agenda was largely informed by the continuing student unrest on Queens College's campus and the administration's continued inability to satisfy the demands of the student protestors. The protestors, arguing in favor of dismissed faculty and other previously punished student activists, were a regular presence on campus in March/April 1969.
• Responses to the Nine Points

  This position paper was presented by Queens College's Department Chairmen, the Dean of Faculty and the President in response to the concerns shared by a group of "Concerned Faculty" on April 13. The document provides a response to each of the nine points brought up by the faculty concerned with the college's handling of ongoing student demonstrations in March/April 1969.
• "To the Faculty: 'If You Don't Read This, Don't Complain About Anything That Happens at Queens College'"

  Sent to all of Queens College's faculty from the Ad Hoc Faculty Committee, this letter attempts to collect a general consensus from faculty on the ongoing campus unrest in order to present a unified front to the college's President James P. McMurray. The letter includes several proposals previously issued to the president. The group responsible for this letter should not be confused with the Ad Hoc Committee (to End Political Suppression), a left student and faculty activist group largely responsible for the prolonged demonstrations at the college. In reference to them, the letter offers: "most faculty members believe that the demonstrators' tactics established dangerous precedents and that these tactics were disproportionate to the grievances."
• Then We go to Academic II

  Produced by the Ad-Hoc Committee in late-April 1969, this flier calls for student support for the takeover of the Academic II building. In March, the same group organized the occupation of the Social Sciences Building in protest of the college's treatment of two student activists arrested and suspended in early March. That sit-in, which led to the arrest of more than thirty, failed to force consensus between protestors and administration as intended. As a result, students organized again to take over the campus' main administrative building, blocking access for all staff and prompting at least six faculty members to lock themselves in their offices without food or electricity. The takeover lasted from mid-day Monday April 28 until Friday May 2 when the police where called to campus at the request of college president Joseph McMurray.
• Support "A" Bldg Sit In!

  Created by the Ad Hoc Committee, a student activist group at Queens College, this flier requests support for the Academic II building sit-in. In addition to providing justification for the students' occupation of the building, the flier gives additional info on the protest and details on an afternoon rally on April 29, 1969.
• Draft of Campus Referendum

  This memo, sent to Queens College's librarians from delegates to the Campus Caucus, invites comments on a proposed campus referendum that had been crafted by representatives from several academic departments. The memo lays out the procedures for the vote as well as a rough draft of the referendum which includes several questions—including ones about protest permissibility and disciplinary measures—that speak to the concerns surrounding student unrest on campus in March/April 1969.
• "Support the 5 Demands"

  Despite being printed on official Queens College letterhead, this handout was created by student activists in the Ad Hoc Committee. The flier calls for support of the five demands put forth by the group to the school's administration. Those five demands, laid out in the beginning of April 1969, included the reinstatement of a dismissed professor and the dropping of charges against student protestors involved in incidents in the prior weeks, amongst other things. Printed during a student takeover of an administrative building, the handout was just one of many created during particularly turbulent weeks on campus in March and April 1969 with high tensions between students and administrative.
• Faculty Committee Meeting Notes

  These handwritten notes were taken during a Faculty Committee meeting held on May 3, 1969. A large segment of the meeting was devoted to handling issues with Queens College's SEEK program. Short for "Search for Education, Elevation, and Knowledge," SEEK was established in 1966 as a CUNY-wide program to assist disadvantaged students who might otherwise lack the opportunity to study at a four-year college. At Queens, much debate surrounded the program by 1969 as many black students in the program argued for greater autonomy and demanded significant changes to the program structure including student control of faculty hiring. At one point, students smashed windows and overturned card catalogues. Their actions, which contributed to the temporary closure of the college, made the front page of the New York Times on May 3 including a large photograph above the centerfold.Occuring simultaneously with the SEEK protests were additional unrelated efforts taken by the Ad Hoc Committee that saw the student occupation of administrative buildings and offices. In choosing to close the school for the second time in 1969, President Joseph P. McMurray declared, "No meaningful educational program can go on in this kind of atmosphere." Queens joined City College and Brooklyn College in temporarily shutting down because of student unrest. By May 3, of the four major CUNY schools, only Hunter remained open.
• 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.