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Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Forty Years Ago Today in Brooklyn: May 12, 1970: Brooklyn College reacts to Kent State


From our diary:

Tuesday, May 12, 1970

A hot, humid day. I spent the morning in the back yard and I'm as red as a lobster.

They served an injunction on the strike steering committee last night and they fled Kneller's office. I walked into the
Spigot office and Paul asked me to go around and estimate the percentage of attendance. I figured 20% at most.

I met with most of my teachers, although I couldn't find Miss Glikin. Dr. Bonchek sent a letter saying the class will meet on Friday at Hillel. Dr. D'Avanzo's giving me an A, Benezra and Wachsberger will give A's, B's and P's - I'll probably get the latter.

This afternoon I renewed my friendship with Stan by staying at his house for a couple of hours. Mrs. Wanglund is very nice, like Stan. Two of his friends came over and I recognized one of them, Peter, from junior high. When I drove Stan to the store where he works, he told me he's joining the Reserves.

In the news, the Senate confirmed Blackmun and may cut off funds for the war. The Liberals [New York State Liberal Party] nominated Goldberg and Goodell [Democratic gubernatorial candidate Arthur Goldberg for Governor, Republican U.S. Senator Charles Goodell for Senate].

Sens. Church, Goodell, Hughes, McGovern and Hatfield made a good case fo their bill to cut off war funds in a TV special.


The rest of our diary entry is about our crush on a guy (also gay) we met at our friend's house.

The day's New York Times had a front-page story by Paul L. Montgomery, "ATTENDANCE IS OFF AT COLLEGES HERE; Students Engage in Antiwar Activities--Classes Are Suspended at Hunter," which began
Most colleges and universities in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut officially resumed classes yesterday after a week of protest, but attendance on a number of campuses was marginal as students continued strikes and antiwar activities.

Brooklyn-related excerpts from the article:
Students and faculty members at the Brooklyn center of Long Island University voted to suspend classes for the rest of the semester . . .

Three city high schools were closed early yesterday because of student protests. They were Erasmus Hall in Brooklyn, John Bowne in Queens and Samuel J. Tilden in Brooklyn . . .

At Brooklyn College most students remained on strike yesterday. Abbie Hoffman, one of the defendants in the Chicaqo Seven conspiracy trial, told a crowd of 1,500 at a rally that colleges must remain closed in the fall "and the way to keep them closed in the fall is action during the summer."

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