quarta-feira, 25 de julho de 2012

1968 - Protests in Columbia change the American university! For ever!


It was the end of April (1968, you bet) when the traditional Columbia University, one of the most famous in the world, was shut down by student protests.  It started in April 23, with a invasion of a university building, and remained till April 27. In these six days of disorders one thousand policemen invaded the campus to try to remove the students from five Columbia buildings.


The protests spread for many other American universities, with students demanding new structure for the schools, the end of Vietna war, the racism and liberation as a whole, among other things.


After the presence of the police and a lot of shocks, the movement stopped in Columbia. But the university was never the same.


Columbia became more liberal, with the creation of a “University Senate”, a council with representation of the administration and of students. This entity changed Columbia creating a dialogue between students and authorities.


On the other hand the donation support declined a lot in the following years. And the relationship with the US Army were never the same as well.


America had never seen such a protest in a University. But we were in 1968, remember?

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