Turmoil on Campus
UWEC administration and faculty responses with student sentiments
President Haas’s Response
“The dignity and preciousness of life lead me, personally, to deplore any actions that lead to any unnecessary loss… of life”
What is His Opinion?
Throughout the tumultuous years of the Vietnam War, UWEC President Leonard Haas supported the students’ right to protest and express their views. During the massive mobilization on campus in response to the Kent State shootings, Haas spoke directly to the students, saying “In political matters the institution can not have a position, but, morally, every member of the faculty, the administration, and the student body and all others who have any role in the university community can register a personal position.” (The Spectator May 7, 1970)
“That whole week was a week of turmoil on the campus.”
Portrait from UWEC website of Leonard Haas
Portrait from UWEC website of Leonard Haas
Photo from The Spectator of UWEC President Leonard Haas speaking to crowd of students on May 6th, 1970, about the strike of classes in respond to the Kent State Shootings
Photo from The Spectator of UWEC President Leonard Haas speaking to crowd of students on May 6th, 1970, about the strike of classes in respond to the Kent State Shootings
Haas's Priorities
While Haas supported the students right to free speech and to assemble, he underscored that classes would proceed as usual, and students and professors absent would be penalized. Haas warned faculty in a letter sent on October 11th, 1969, in regard to the October 15th Moratorium, "With respect to students, the absence policies of the University will obtain. . . In effect, each member of the faculty has the responsibility to see that his instructional obligations are satisfied".
Faculty Voices
For the Students
Compared to Chancellor Haas, the WSU-EC faculty expressed strong opinions, largely in support of students and the demonstrations on and off campus.
Some professors, such as Martin Farrell, went further in their support by speaking at events and aiding the students in their event planning process. As an adviser of the Moratorium committee, which was a student-led organization that planned the October 15, 1969 activities, Farrell stated that “no one connected to the Moratorium is willing to give up,” when action slowed down in February of 1970. Similarly, history professor Howard Lutz gave a speech on nonviolent action in the face of oppression during the landmark May 8, 1970, protest. Although the professors were required to hold classes during the protest, they were given the option to discuss any topic of their choosing, allowing students to talk to each other and their professors about the tragedy that took place four days prior.
"You may want to be an innocent bystander, but can you?”
A conversation with Englsih Professor Dr. Helen Sampson from May 14, 1970 The Spectator
A conversation with Englsih Professor Dr. Helen Sampson from May 14, 1970 The Spectator
Dr. Helen Sampson, an English Professor at WSU-EC, was disturbed and distraught, afraid of the polarization that would come from the shootings. When talking about one of the victims who was not actively protesting, she said, “You may want to be an innocent bystander, but can you?”
And For Themselves
Faculty voiced their concerns not only to help students, but also because as US Americans, they had personal views on the long running Vietnam War. In 1965, the WSU-EC history department wrote a letter to President Nixon expressing their protest of the continued US involvement in the Vietnam War. Signed by five faculty, including Howard Lutz, they say that “the costs of the war in men, money, material, and most important, in the internal dissension it creates justify a drastic re-evaluation of our commitment in Viet-Nam.”
WSU-EC 1965 Letter to President Nixon signed by five members of the history department UWEC McIntyre Library Special Collections and Archives
WSU-EC 1965 Letter to President Nixon signed by five members of the history department UWEC McIntyre Library Special Collections and Archives
WSU-EC 1965 Letter to President Nixon signed by five members of the history department UWEC McIntyre Library Special Collections and Archives
WSU-EC 1965 Letter to President Nixon signed by five members of the history department UWEC McIntyre Library Special Collections and Archives
Student Response
Throughout the anti-war movement, UWEC student protestors received support from both faculty and administration and expressed gratitude to both. Faculty and administration were strong advocates for student voices.
“A few campus radicals might have seen President Haas as the problem, but far more students, faculty, and staff saw him as someone trying to work toward peaceful solutions.”
UWEC History Emeritus Professors Robert J. Gough and James W. Oberly, 2016, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Building Excellence.
Response to Haas
Chancellor Haas managed the intense atmosphere of campus and displayed support for students through addresses. In a letter written to Chancellor Haas, Student body president Robert Jauch, and vice president Randy Surbaugh conveyed the student body’s sentiments towards Haas’s actions of support: “You showed a great deal of respect and sympathy toward the students, which was felt and appreciated by all.” (The Spectator, 1970).
Response to Faculty
Students valued the faculty contribution and involvement alongside them for the support of the anti-war movement. Student Jack Zeman, one of Eau Claire’s moratorium directors, exclaimed in The Spectator of the importance of faculty involvement: “so that the moratorium will be recognized as more than just a group of dissident students making noise.”
Student protestors also spoke out against the faculty who did not display actions of support and participation. In The Spectator’s May 14th, 1970 edition of a letter to the editor, UWEC student S. Olson wrote about the active protestor’s disagreement with non-participating faculty: “To the faculty who did not support the strike: I offer not anger nor indifference, but I extend an invitation to discuss the issues, at any time, rationally and open mindedly.”
“To the members of the faculty who aided the strike and especially to those who took an active part: Stay with us until this senseless slaughter is ended.”
UWEC Student, S. Olson in a letter to the editor addressing the on-campus Kent State protests. The Spectator, 1970.
UWEC students holding up signs in support of the on-campus protests regarding the recent Kent State shootings. The Spectator, 1970.
UWEC students holding up signs in support of the on-campus protests regarding the recent Kent State shootings. The Spectator, 1970.
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