memoir dirty rat James Frey, tasty turkey
recipes, a review of Harmon Leon's
Republican Like Me, 4-1-1 on the
political happenings of Brazil, and so
very much more...
(Baggage)
Fall-out Follows Four Dead in Ohio
by Amanda Sledz
For the Athens News, 2001
readers: this
article
originally
appeared in
a 2001
edition of
the Athens
News. When
I
rediscovered
it, I
decided I
had to post
it - after all, I
researched
this beast
the old
fashioned
way. Enjoy!
- Amanda
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summarized the general feeling after two days of rioting forced President Claude Sowle, who took
office in 1969, to close the Athens branch of the Ohio University campus.
The decision to close until summer quarter was made regretfully, after city and university officials failed
to gain control of a chaotic situation. Fifteen hundred National Guardsmen poured into Athens after a
joint decision was reached between Mayor Raymond Shepard and Sowle, who felt desperate after
two nights of violent confrontations between students and police. The official statement was issued at
3:10 AM, in which Sowle admitted, "We tried, but we failed."
Tension had been building all year between the Athens Police, students, and the university
administration. In 1970 the concept of "Athens justice" was far different from the justice of the everyday
world, and students were arrested for what was largely considered relatively trivial offenses.
"There was a lot of tension," recalled Doug McCabe, who was a freshman at OU in 1970, and who now
works as university records manager at Ohio University’s Alden Library. "Tension with 'Athens' included
not only the police department and the courthouses, but also the administration, the mayor and
those kind of people. A lot of the final explosion came down to local issues," McCabe added.
In one such instance, police arrested three male students for indecent exposure after they appeared
on the street shirtless. In another, a noted activist was arrested for not wearing a shirt, and for wearing
his pants too low. He was also charged with desecration of the American flag, due to the flag patch
that covered the rear his pants.
Ruth Phipps, a student at the time and a current OU employee, recalled with a laugh that one police
officer issued a statement about the latter incident, in which he explained "You could see the crack of
his ass, and could even see his 'public hair'."
"There was a bunch of people thrown off the monument for desecration of the monument. The police
thought it was city property, but it wasn't; it was public property," Phipps added. "Sometimes they had
cops directing traffic, and students would throw snowballs at them."
In another instance, a student was spotted observing a "no parking" sign, and was overheard stating
that he might like to steal it. A police officer promptly arrested him for attempted defacement of city
property.
"People were getting arrested left and right for things like jay walking. Another person was arrested for
obscene language, which today is pretty common," Doug McCabe recalled.
McCabe also remembers the January 1970 "Fee Hike" demonstration, in which numerous students
entered Cutler Hall to protest the steadily increasing fees imposed by university administration. When
the police cavalry rolled in, one or two people responded with Nazi salutes.
From the eyes of the students, according to McCabe, "Police were fascist pigs, of an oppressive, fascist
government. Police would pick out leaders in the crowd, and then send flying squads of three or four
(officers) into the crowds, arrest them, handcuff them, and beat them with night sticks." During the Fee
Hike demonstration, a total of 42 people were arrested.
As the year rolled on, polarization between the Athens community and university students became
greater and greater.
"Attitudes like, 'All townies are rednecks', and 'all students are hippies', and 'all faculty are liberal
commies'…people were going to the extreme," McCabe said.
Local ministers attached to United Campus Ministries took it upon themselves to act as mediators in an
effort to keep things peaceful between students and locals. As time went on, it became clear that
their efforts were failing.
"I remember a fall day when we were protesting the war," Phipps said. "We marched across campus
and around Court Street and back, and people in a car drove by. This middle-aged couple was
yelling obscenities at us, and I didn't understand. I assumed she was someone who had somebody
over there (in Vietnam). When you're doing something where you’re saying, 'Give peace a chance,' I
don't understand how anybody could argue with that. I was so naive and so astounded that people
would actually scream obscenities at you for wishing we'd end the war."
Another situation that caused a great deal of distress was the presence of ROTC (Reserve Officers’
Training Corps) recruiters on campus and throughout the community, which many students, according
to McCabe, equated with the U.S. Army. "Since we’re interested in stopping the war, by stopping
ROTC we were stopping war on campus," he explained. The OU yearbook of 1970 reflects this
perception, as one section reads: "ROTC is dying. It should."
"They couldn't teach classes on campus. ROTC Officials here to teach had faculty status and privileges,
and the students wanted that status removed," McCabe said.
Real trouble began on April 22, when eight students entered an ROTC classroom in Carnegie Hall.
According to a statement issued by the Student Union (a student protest group), these students
entered the classroom to “observe the teaching process.” The professor became upset and contacted
the Athens police, who promptly arrested the students for trespassing and resisting arrest. One student
standing outside began shouting at the officers for arresting the protestors, and he was arrested too.
This 9th student was also charged with assault and battery.
In response to these arrests, 50 students broke into an afternoon meeting of the President's Council in
Cutler Hall and protested ROTC and the imprisonment of the group would come to be known as the
Athens Nine. Later, around 2,000 people gathered at Memorial Auditorium to protest the arrests again.
Despite the public outcry, the charges were not dropped.
On May 4, 1970, a large group of protesters gathered on the College Green to sing and protest the U.S.
invasion of Cambodia. Protests and demonstrations against these actions were taking place on
college campuses across the country. When news arrived that four students had been shot and killed,
and nine had been injured when the National Guard fired into the crowd during a similar protest at
Kent State in Northeastern Ohio, the crowd swelled in size.
As more information about what would come to be known as the Kent State Massacre spread, OU
students staged the largest demonstration in the state with 4,000 people filling the College Green to
protest the war and the deaths at Kent. During the protest, students called for a two-day strike, and six
ministers from United Campus Ministries began a fast. Both students and teachers gathered on the
green to sing folk songs and chant, while speakers encouraged them to remain non-violent in the
efforts for peace.
"Up till then it was just sort of flower children. When they (the National Guard) started killing people, it
really brought it home that this was serious," Phipps recalled. "It sobered a lot of people and
radicalized a lot of people. People were kind of naive and thought they could march around town
and make a difference, and then we realized it took a lot more."
On May 5th, 5,000 students gathered at 9 PM for a rally at Grover Center. President Sowle encouraged
the students to continue to protest non-violently, and asked that they not follow in the footsteps of
Ohio State and Kent and allow violent riots to overrun the university. Sowle stated that the other
universities had "caved in to the forces anarchy."
Vocalizing their outrage, the students demanded that OU be closed for one day to express the
university's sympathy for the Kent State victims, and to publicly denounce invasion of Cambodia.
President Sowle refused, though he did allow "teach-ins" to take place on the campus green.
Additionally, each professor had to individually decide whether to penalize students for missing classes.
On May 6, more than 300 students circulated around to local businesses in order to request that their
doors be closed for one day in recognition of the Kent State deaths. Most businesses agreed. Later,
2,500 people participated in the "March Against Death."
Many peaceful protests took place throughout the week following the Kent State Massacre. About 60
protesters staged a march down the middle of Court Street, and sat down at the Court and Carpenter
intersection right in front of the National Guard Armory. Some students and faculty members felt
frustrated that the numerous peaceful protests went unnoticed by the media, while the violent ones
were gaining an ever-increasing amount of attention. From that moment, events accelerated:
May 7th: A firebomb exploded in Peden Stadium, causing substantial damage to equipment.
May 11th: 2,500 students gathered in Grover Center to hear speaker John Froines, member of the
Chicago Conspiracy Eight. Later that evening, more than 150 people poured into the vacant Chubb
library and "liberated" the building until 6 AM Tuesday.
May 12th: Another firebomb exploded, causing $120,000 in damage to Nelson Commons, which was
under construction at the time.
Meanwhile, student supporters of the Athens Nine were able to raise enough money to post bond.
Money was collected by students standing on street corners, requesting spare change from passers-by.
When the judge responded to this development by increasing the bonds, students and community
members gathered in front of the courthouse in protest. Police Capt. Charles Grover said that if the
students would disperse and be peaceful that evening, he’d speak with the judge and see if he could
convince him to lower the bond to the original amount. The judge agreed to Captain Grover’s
conditions, and the Athens Nine were freed.
On May 13, Sowle responded to the student's release by immediately suspending seven of the
students, after contacting several members of the university Board of Trustees for approval. The stated
grounds for the suspensions were that the students "constitute a clear and immediate danger to the
orderly function the university," and therefore their presence could not be tolerated.
Many students and faculty members expressed outrage that the nine students were not processed
through OU's regular disciplinary system. The Faculty Senate voted 13-12 in favor of reinstating the
students and calling an emergency hearing. Sowle refused this request, and tensions continued to
mount.
"He suspended the rules, and he suspended the students. That was, in a lot of ways, the straw that
broke the camel's back," McCabe said.
The students held a mass rally on the second floor of Baker Center at 7:30 PM on Wednesday, and
more than 500 students attended to plan a course of action that would force Sowle to withdraw his
decision. They marched through the residential greens to gather more students, and then back
towards Cutler Hall to begin a demonstration in support of the Athens Nine. Sowle appeared on the
steps of Cutler Hall, but refused to reinstate the students. At this point, about 300 students charged
towards Court and Union, throwing rocks at windows. Cutler Hall was showered with bricks. Another
200 watched, until all were driven back by tear gas. Sowle continued to refuse their demands.
Students fired rocks at police officers, launched firecrackers, and threw debris at local businesses.
Meanwhile, while most students were acting in response to national events, others were using the
chaos as an opportunity to assault other students without fear of arrest. Two African-American females
were beat by members of an all-white fraternity, Phi Delta Theta. In the 1970 yearbook, members of this
fraternity posed with a Confederate flag as a prop. Black students were horrified by these assaults, and
decided to take action to prevent any other black students from being attacked. According to police
reports, students marched through the greens and seized Davis Hall, carrying chains and clubs. Black
women then filled the floor of the building. Students disconnected the elevator, broke lights, and
guarded the stairwells with fire hoses. Once the floor was secure and the students confident that they
were "protecting our black sisters from violence," most of the male students marched uptown to seek
revenge on the fraternity responsible for the beatings.
Arriving at the fraternity house, the students threw bricks through the windows and shouted. Shots were
fired over the heads of the students from a gunman inside of the house, and the crowd scattered.
Students held Davis for the majority of the evening. Members of the National Guard were called in to
negotiate, but the students were terrified of what might happen if they saw their faces.
"The thought was, that if these people (the National Guard) are willing to shoot white students at Kent
State, they would have no problem at all shooting a black student," McCabe explained. Eventually a
compromise was reached, and the students evacuated the hall on Thursday without arrest.
In the aftermath of Wednesday, $650 worth of damage had been done to Logan's Bookstore, and
many of the nearby stores had broken windows. Windows were also broken in Chubb library, Wilson
Hall, and Galbreath Chapel. Students smashed the glass panels of parking meters, and removed them
from their concrete holsters. Police reports reveal that several bomb threats were made, and rumors of
busloads of students coming in from other areas were circulating, along with concerns of coordination
with the Black Panthers. Police from Belpre and other adjacent areas were called in to assist.
On Thursday, 300 students gathered on college green. At the same time, an additional 800 moved at
a steady pace towards Court and Union. Police assembled in a line to prevent the students from
advancing into town. Students responded with bricks and rocks.
At 11:05 PM police fired the first round of what would be a massive amount of tear gas into the crowd.
The target was the 1,000+ students assembled at the College gate.
Students were more prepared that Thursday, with buckets of water and rags to battle tear gas, along
with more bricks, rocks and bottles. This would give them the capability carry on a 90-minute battle
with police. Students would charge the officers, firing rocks, bricks, bottles, and anything else they
could get their hands on. Then police would respond with tear gas, which would drive the students
back. Students picked up the gas cans and hurled them back at police. Police cruisers drove by, firing
tear gas from inside, until the cars were pelted with debris, the windows were broken, and the vehicles
were disabled.
Auxiliary marshals deputized by OU officials broke into fights with protesters when marshals tried to
dissuade students or hold them for police. One student broke into Baker center and stole nearly 500
marshal armbands, and passed them out to students. In an attempt to regain the marshals, the
university issued papers that had to be carried to validate marshal status.
"There were some people who just liked to throw things at cops," McCabe explained, "18,000 students
stayed away from riots - those who don't like to get tear gassed, and don't see the point of battling the
cops.”
“I know there were a lot of people like me who didn't participate in the riot but were still concerned
about the war and participated in sit-ins and protest marches,” he added.
By midnight, members of the State Highway Patrol placed roadblocks at all entrances into Athens.
"We went out to Nelsonville, and were coming home around 11 PM," Ruth Phipps recalled of that
evening. "The cops had roadblocks set up and were stopping anyone trying to drive into town. They
wouldn't let us through. The highway patrolman was really nasty. So we went through another
intersection and managed to get that cop, who seemed a little calmer, to talk with us. We told him
where we lived and the street address, and that we weren't going into town; we were just trying to get
home. So he said that he'd take care of it, and we went back and the (first) cop let us through, but he
had to give us that final nasty parting remark."
A spokesman for the State Highway Patrol said at the time, "We're just trying to keep students out of
town so no one gets hurt, but if they insist on going in, we don't try to stop them." The Athens Police
then announced that no vehicles would be allowed into Athens until early Friday morning.
The rioters were driven down Jeff Hill, and it took another hour to disperse them, following yet another
round of fired and returned gas, rocks, and glass. Then more gas was thrown on West Green in an
attempt to disperse crowds. Nurses from Hudson Health Center moved into the streets to tend to
injured students. Twenty-six students were treated at Hudson for various injuries, and seven hospitalized.
McCabe recalled the atmosphere of chaos -- "Teach-ins, rallies, false fire alarms, bombings; brick
sidewalks had been torn up so people could grab bricks to throw them at the cops; police were
getting calls about three hippie subjects coming down Rt. 33 on motorcycles -- one with a gas can,
the other a gas mask. Some were suspicions, some were not. People were on roofs of buildings, and
people suspected those people had weapons."
After a car was firebombed near Scott Quad, and small fires were extinguished in Clippinger
Laboratory and the engineering building, Mayor Shepard called in the National Guard, who were
standing by at fairgrounds. The Guard would not agree to assist until Sowle closed the university, by
orders issued by Gov. Jim Rhodes. At 3:10 AM Sowle complied. At this point, other state-supported
schools in Ohio had already closed, according to McCabe.
"Before, you would send in the National Guard when you wanted to keep things open," McCabe
added. "Now in order to get their help, you had to close."
When the announcement was made by Sowle, the National Guard moved in to seal off campus.
"The National Guard started rolling in, all these soldiers and their army trucks. They were lined up on
Court Street at every parking meter," Phipps recalled.
Following Sowle’s announcement of the closing of Ohio University, students were given 24 to 32 hours
to evacuate the campus. TA's and instructors would receive their full salaries, grades would stand as
they were, and there would be no graduation that year.
"After one night of rioting, it was kind of serious and scary, and then there was a second night of rioting.
By that time, university administrators, city administrators, and the police had been working double-
shifts and were absolutely worn-out and frazzled," McCabe said.
After the closing of the university, President Sowle received a tremendous amount of mail from alumni,
current students, and concerned citizens. Some expressed remorse over the temporary closing, others
resentment towards the students. According to McCabe, some went so far as to say, "You didn't do
enough, you should have shot them. Shoot them all."
According to a New York Times reporter present at both the Kent State and OU disturbances, the OU
riot was far worse than the events that unfolded at Kent, though no one was seriously injured or killed
in the two nights of rioting in Athens.
Daniel Keyes, a member of the English Department and later the critically acclaimed author of Flowers
for Algernon, had a letter in the final issue of the Post. In it, he asked that students, "Reconsider - you
are fouling your own nest, you are destroying your own base of operations, you are doing the wrong
thing for the right reasons. The means should not be permitted to destroy the ends." He went on to say,
"The University is and must remain a neutral party."
He believed that the riots could have been prevented if Sowle had reinstated the Athens Nine, and if
the media were as inclined to publicize the peaceful protests as they were the violent ones.
An anonymous student was quoted in the Athens Messenger reflecting an opinion shared a majority of
students: "What are we protesting for? To get the government to recognize us. But how much news
coverage have we got? Practically nothing. It looks like bad news is good news."
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