Southern Illinois University - Obelisk Yearbook (Carbondale, IL)

Page 28 text:

1' --in fin 55, if ' f ,Y 'xg VN. ru - 5 fli E is fi' 3 E 5 f is Kal Debris was all that was left at the scene of sev- eral student-oolice confrontations near Schneider Carhondtile residents and some students lound it V - s A N dillieult to cope with the violent events on campus. 5 X-X 3' 1 WT? La' -W L.. xiw 4. x 'Ae'-:x24...m, ' an --5 ,g-T NJ A I -K an , -ii :Q - fi- , S. 4:4 Xi gsm? mf r ifgfw- After the closing of school on Tuesday night, rnany ' U students packed up and lelt on Wednesday. Demonstrators lore ydown the fence In front of Wheeler Hall on Wednesday, May 6. M-7 't ,.i al., 1-XY ' Unix is ' ,...,,, 'l17Y ' 'L ' nu '1 ts ' -f at I

Page 27 text:

Surpass 888,500 Memorial services were held for the Kent State victims on Thursday, May 7 at ll a.m. That night disturbances began when 2,500 stu- dents blocked the intersection of Main and Illi- nois for two hours. Violence resulted when a portion of the crowd, estimated at 75. sat on the railroad tracks and halted two trains. Tear gas was fired into the crowd at the intersection: the small group on the tracks did not resist the police efforts to disburse them. The crowd split into two groups. one of which traveled down Washington and the other down Illinois. Windows were broken along the way back to campus. At ll:l0 the crowd convened around Brush Towers. Scattered gassings and numerous broken win- dows were reported throughout town. On May 8, the mayor set a curfew for the time period 7:30 p.m. through 6 a.m. The sale of liquor was prohibited, liquor stores were closed and gasoline could not be sold in small containers. Friday night was relatively calm. The number of National Guardsmen rose to 850 with the addition of 200 more men overnight. National Guard troops lined the streets of Wash- ington and Walnut and State Policemen patroled the area in search of curfew violaters. That evening's offenders were hauled to the William- son County jail, because no vacancies were available at Carbondale or the Jackson County jails. More than 350 arrests were made over the weekend for curfew violations. On Monday. May ll, the civil emergency was ended although assembly of groups of more than five persons was prohibited. A meeting was set for Tuesday morning between the city and University of- ficials. Late Monday evening fires were reported near University Park and Brush Towers after a trash can barracade had been set up. Sporatic gassings were reported throughout the night. 1 Students risked their physical safety if they violated the police order to evacuate the library premises. During the tearing down of the fence and subsequent seige of Wheeler Hall numerous injuries were reported. W IJ 'Q 2 Students group together to aid one of their own who was hurt in a conflict with the police. 23 nd

Page 29 text:

HW Numerous broken windows could be seen at Woody Hall and other University buildings. Classes Terminated in Mid-Ma Verdict i On Tuesday, Mays l2 at ll:30 pm. Chancellor MacVicar closed the University after consulta- tion with President Morris and the Board of Trustees. The announcement followed the de- mands of a crowd estimated between 4.000 and 5,000 The demonstration began with a rally' of about 700 outside Morris Library. The crowd moved toward Brush Towers. north on Wall Street. past University City and down to City' Hall. Throughout the march people joined the group until it grew to 5,000 The crowd moved to Home Economics where it thinned to about 3,000 participants. The next stop was the President's lawn where two windows of the of- fice were broken. At one time about 30 students occupied the President's Office. before their demand of closing the University' was met. Curfew was re-enacted again on Wednes- day. The National Guard. which had been sent home on Monday' and Tuesday: was mobilized again. A rally' was conducted on Thursday' at the library' in an effort to reopen school with 3,000 students present. President Morris ad- dressed the crowd, If the majority' of students want the University' to remain open it will re- main open. Final confirmation of the state of the University' would occur at a Friday' meeting of the Board of Trustees. A vote of the students was to be conducted on Friday' to help in the Board's decision. The student vote on Friday' showed 3,675 who wished to reopen the University' and 8,22-l to keep it closed. State Policemen and students often found it easy to dislike each other during the disturbances.