SHAKER HEIGHTS, Ohio -- In the afternoon of April 9, 1969, word spread virally that University Hall in Harvard Yard was being occupied by students in protest of the Vietnam War and the alleged complicity by Harvard. The occupying students were a rather small group of radicals numbering about 200 out of a student body of about 6,500. In addition, there were another 200 students, of which I was one, who supported the issues being protested, but not the tactics, and who were naively thinking their presence would protect the occupiers from police violence when they were removed.
After an all-night vigil, state troopers amassed at the gates of Harvard Yard and conducted a brutal pre-dawn assault that dispersed everyone and arrested the occupiers in a matter of minutes. The troopers used tear gas and beat the “uppity” students with their batons as they cleared the area. The shock of the unexpected violence led to an eruption of anger and heightened determination, which resulted in a weeklong student strike.