Southern Illinois University - Obelisk Yearbook (Carbondale, IL)

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Leaders ol' the Student Mobilization Committee were among key speakers at each demonstration. Crowds ol' students gathered around the site of construction near Woody Hall's cast side. Q rf! u Qu' f ' 'lawii Q' 1 , YV F -my - l fb 'f Z 1 i 'W' 4- -fi' 5 umpnn 5,3338 as eawww A group of about 75 blocked the lllinois Central tracks on Thursday until they were forced off by police. The first demonstration at the library pro- tested the killing of four Kent State students.

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Kent State Crisis Provokes uSeven Da s in aya' As a result of the Kent State killings of four students, SIU erupted in seven days of confrontation. The news of the Kent State crisis reached the SIU campus on Monday. May -lg Dwight Campbell, student body president at the time. called for a special student senate meet- ing on Tuesday night. The possibility of a cam- pus strike on classes was to be the topic of dis- cussion. On Tuesday afternoon. Chancellor Robert W. MacVicar issued a statement sus- pending classes for Thursday, May 7. Approximately 3,000 students gathered for a rally outside Morris Library on Wednesday, May 6, the first of the days of confrontation. After the demonstration, a group of students traveled through the halls of Lawson Hall and Wham sounding fire alarms and disrupting classes. The next target was Woody Hall, where the offices of the Vietnamese Studies Center are located. Objects were thrown at the windows of Woody. At this point, about 1.000 demon- strators moved to Wheeler Hall, location for AFROTC, and threw bricks at the windows. Subsequent retreats and attacks were made on the Bursar's and Registrars ,offices and Wheeler Hall. The demonstrators demanded that the security police withdraw from the areal soon after the retreat, a group of students oc- cupied Wheeler. They made several demands including a request for the removal of the Vietnamese Studies Center and AFROTC from campus, a statement from the administration opposing U.S. involvement in Cambodia and the disarming of the police. Sometime during these disturbances, the National Guard was called out and arrived that evening. At 6:30 students broke into Woody Hall rampaging the offices. At 7:30 the police charged the crowd which disbursed and regrouped near Grand and Illinois. At 9:15 the crowd lined Illinois Avenue, shouted at the guardsmen and policemen, but refrained from throwing any- thing at them. A group of students entered and occupied Wheeler Hall for a limited time on May 6. Nik! Y 5... 'Cv'- President Morris answered students re- quests to reopen the University at a rally.

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iot amages to S U Properties L 'L '44 Mx, ...rf v, U Biff we , W M . . , ,, A ,Ao- M .4141 Preparations for the May Fest to be held on May 9 were terminated by court order just one week before the planned celebrations. Most arrests were made for curfew violations, un- lawful assembly or destruction to public property.