Ohio University - Athena Yearbook (Athens, OH)

Page 15 text:

After the students had regathered in the lounge, SGB control of the crowd eroded. An increasingly restless group, sensing that the protest was leading nowhere, favored the alternative of facing Crewson. They overruled an SGB plan to end the sit-in and hastily planned a march to the president ' s home on Park Place. About 100 students braved the sub-freezing temperatures and arrived at Crewson ' s house at around 2:30 a.m., only to find the front door ajar and the house apparently empty. One student pulled the door shut and the crowd moved on to Cutler Hall where the lights were suddenly extinguished. The crowd soon dispersed. The next day, 23 referrals were drafted and sent to University Judiciaries. Nine of the 11 SGB members present were referred while other students were chosen on the basis of recognition by residence life staff members who patrolled the halls during the sit-in. Not all of those students referred were active participants in the protest. Only two SGB members, Mitchell and Andy Karp, were found innocent by a three-student hearing board, which every student was given the option to appear before, instead of Director of University Judiciaries Bruce Gaynor. Sentences ranged from one to two quarter probations to disciplinary warnings. No one was suspended from the university. Internal difficulties affecting the cohesion of SGB prevented the board from maintaining their involvement in the FRP issue. With the year more than half over, freshmen apparently lost interest in keeping up the battle for a change in visitation hours. Realizing that they would only be forced to comply with the rules for another few months, most became content to let the issue die. Without the pressure from SGB and the freshman class, university administrators also allowed the issue to fade; no changes in policy were made and the FRP remained intact. 11

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RIGHT: Students cram into the main lounge of Boyd Hall in a protest which ended in a march to Cutler Hall. BELOW; Tyrone Morris, director of residence life, told students to leave Boyd Hall, as they were in violation of university regulations. Harpool declined, assuring Crewson that the demonstration was peaceful and orderly. We are making sure that there are no hazards and that the aisles are open. At 12:15, West Green Coordinator Paul Huntsberger, Director of Residence Life Tyrone Morris and Boyd Hall Resident Director Mary Carper silently toured all four floors, then returned to Huntsberger ' s apartment in Irvine Hall, next door. They repeated the trek at 12:45, shortly after about 200 students dispersed from the lounge and into dorm rooms on request of Harpool and Mitchell. Fifteen minutes later, SGB members walked the halls and requested all non-residents of the dorm to return to the lounge for a meeting to discuss the fate of the protest. Only once did university officials present at the sit-in issue a warning to the students when Morris told the crowd at 1:15, You are in violation of university rules and you are asked to leave the building. 10

Page 16 text:

Decisiveness or Inaction? OU Turns to Crewson for Help Dave Williams ABOVE: Crewson in the President ' s office in Cutler Hall. OPPOSITE PAGE: Crews on takes the oath of office on September 1, 1974 in the president s house. 12