University of South Carolina Libraries
The following is reprinted fr University of South Carolina A the events which led to the riot Ba< The first major confrontatic law enforcement ageficies toc prehended while attempting tc two faculty members who figt attacked their homes with br the library. Militia from the to The second major confro students baited town police. T worst of the ante-bellum peri students and the militia of Cc minute.' The most recent confroni began physically on.May 7, 19 Emergency was officially lif In retrospect it has been del external issues effectively F student body during the Fall year. Among the internal qu4 among different groups of stu (1) curriculum revision; (2) troversy (more than 2,000 University not to include th building priorities of the Unih effective rebuttal to the build University's future in the visitation; (6) quality of foo House; (6) concern over allec (7) announced student fee inc refrigerators in resident hall External issues included Carolina State College incide three students; (2) the Indiar the Lamar public school in( turned; (4) a suggestion in t1 state students be limited at thi UFO Coffeehouse, Its operatic Sunday, February 8 AWARE. a registered student organization, sponsored a rally in I)rayton Hall on campus. The rally was titled "A Day in People's Politics" and concerned itself with an agenda of four items: (i) the Ilack Liberation Movement; (2) the Women's Liberation Movement-. :o the UFO Cof leehouse-e and (4) what was ter med "The Orangeburg Massacre" the I!N8 incident at South Carolina State College). More than :100 people attended the rally, creating an SRO STUD DISC4 CARPF MAY 6 -. he0o )NT] om the "Months of May" publ 4agazine. It is a chronological ; last spring. :kground n between students of the Uni >k place in 1814. Three studer i steal the school bell. In their i ired in the apprehension, the s ickbats, destroyed the bell ar wn came on campus to restore ntation occured in 1856 wh he two-day riot has been desc od and .. . armed conflict I lumbia was narrowly avertec ation in the University's 1 70 and ended on May 19 when red. ermined that at least twenty I oliticized a substantial maj< and Winter months of the 1965 stions which stimulated unus dents at different times of the the Green Street Methodist I students signed a petition e Church in redevelopment Fersity (Law School students ings priority list); (4) the qu( Atlantic Coast Conference I and food service particular led false "busting" on drug-u :reases for 1970-'71; and (8) a rooms. (1) emotional residue from nt of 1968 which resulted in ti i Freedom School at Ridgevill :ident in which school buses ie Legislature that the numb m University; (5) the entire qu >n, Its closing by City officials, situation in Drayton Hall. It was a peaceful rally but AWARE was in violation o a prerally agreement limiting the number of outside participants to fifty. The matter w referred to the Student Affairs Committee for possible disciplinary action. Saturday, March 7 in anticipation of the solar eclipse. St. Mark's Universal Life Church (not conventional denomination but one which has considerable student par ticipation ischeduled a "Blot Out the Sun" march through downtown ENT I)UNT NTEBS flTh o 3:30 PM iLsC ished in the of the operai laccount of operators anc controversy; and (8) Unite Fully awar4 versity and students shou ts were ap- University, t tnger at the Trustees, esti tudent body created a Stuc tu damaged of the Studer order. Trustees and en restless including one ribed as the However, it )etween the they were des I at the last were not ful dissatisfactior )ng history On every m the State of dedicated peol or social beli nternal and ticularly dang )rity of the kept within th -1970 school the Nation an ual Interest regulations. uar wteres When these r year were: broken, the L hurch con- frontation in urging the The followir plans); (3) University of mounted an reader a "feel ;stion of the committee re ; (5) coed member of th ly at Bates events descrit se charges; to calm a vol question of A very sinc the South report to be a ie deaths of the informati e, S. C.; (3) preventing fu Obviously, were over- tions of Univ er of out-of- hr sto estion of the here Is from , the arres .ts events from c law enforcerr Columbia to City Hall. The march was designed to show support for the padlocked UFO Coffeehouse and its operators who were under arrest and awaiting trial. Sunday, March 8 An anti-establishment, antiwar lestival was held at the P"airgrounds less than two miles Irom the center of the campus. IEstimates of the crowd vary but press reports put the figure at 2,500 students and others. The event was peaceful. Tuesday, March 10 The Hoard of Governors of the University Union adopted a new set of rules and regulations governing the use of Russell [House, the physical location of the Union. (See Appendix A.) The new policy statement said in part: - The use of the Russell House and its facilities is restricted to students, faculty, staff, and invited guests except on such occasions when all or part of the building is open to the general public." T'he policy statement went on to say that the University''..reserves the right to require a currently vailid evidence of qualification to use the Union Huilding by student lI) cards, faculty or staff ID card, .or evidence of invitation as an invited guest or other suitable evidence of qualifications for such us..." Tlhe statement concluded by saying that the use of Russell Hlouse by an invited guest".. .is limited to the specific occasion to which he is invited..." and con cluded by stating that guests are subjiect to University rules and regulations governing the use of Rtussell House. T'his new policy governing the IF M ,ors, the trial, conviction er I post-trial statements by pub (7) the change in the draft stai d States involvement in Indc that many student grievanc Id have a more substantial v ie Administration, with the 3blished in 1969 an Ombudsrr lent-Trustee Liasion Committe it Body became a non-votinc students became working m having to do with curricului must be admitted these polic igned to be and the Faculty, 1 Ily aware of the degree I. 3jor campus in the United Sta pie who can be termed "radicz ffs, their dress or their lifest lerous to society or to the Un e boundaries of the laws of th d within the framework of ey ules and regulations were viola Jniversity of South Carolina its long history. ig chronological report of ev South Carolina in the Spring o I" for the situation as it devel presenting administration, f is committee was an eye wil ed or was an active participar atile and traumatic situation :ere attempt has been made s objective and as compreheri on contained in this report ture confrontations on this ci the material in this report w rsity people and from Unive within and does not presum4 ther view points, particularly ient agencies and the Nationi under discussion by University Union officials and the Ad ministration for nearly a year. The adoption of this policy came after responsible University officials had studied the experiences at other student union facilities across the country. Many elements ol the student body were unhappy with the new rules. Friday, March 20 I)uring a meeting of the Student At lairs Commitee, called to review charges against AWA RE (see Feb. n i, law enforcement personnel entered the meeting room and arrested two members of AWARE in connection with an incident at the of fices of the local Draft Board. l)isciplinary Action against A W ARE was postponed a t this point by the Committee. Wednesday, March 25 T'he Board of Trustees of the University met on campus. Among other items, the Board authorized an increase in student fees and approved the policy statement of the University Union Board of Governors with one minor change. At that same meeting, in closed session, the Board heard statements from local and State law enforcement personnel con cerning alleged drug problems on campus and in the community. The Tlrustees took no action on a resolution submitted by a Trustee which would have suspended any student charged with a drug law violation or a crime that carries a sail sentence of1 more than 90 days. TIhe TIrustee who submitted the resolution released it to the press and it received wide coverage. Thursday, April 9 -One-student and two ex-stndents id 6-year sentences of the lic officials; (6) the ecology us from selection to lottery; ichina. es were legitimate and that Dice In the governing of the consent of the Board of ian service on campus and .e. In addition, the president I member of the Board of embers of key committees, n reform. les were not as effective as .rustees and Administration of student agitation and tes there is a small group of Wl" because of their political yle. None of these are par iversity so long as they are e community, the State and isting University rules and ted and when the laws were had the third major con ents on the campus of the f 1970 is designed to give the Dped. It was compiled by a 3culty and students. Each ness to most if not all the t in the hour-by-hour moves by all participants to this sive as possible. It is hoped will be of some help in 3mpus. 3s drawn from the recollec brsity files. The perspective to describe decisions and those of state government, 31 Guard. were arrested off campus on drug charges. A student organization called FREAK (Freedom to Research Every Aspect of Knowledge) became increasingly agitated and vocal. A meeting of approximately 154 people was held in Russell House to protest the arrests and plans were made to hold a protest rally. Monday, April 13 More than 250 people converged on the home of President Jones Monday night. The crowd was nois.v and potentially volatile. 'There was agitation, including pounding on the front door of the residence, for Dr. Jones to ap pear. He refused but through an intermediary indicated he would meet with a delegation -of con cerned students the next day. Tuesday, April 14 Six representatives of FREAK met during the afternoon in the o1llice of the President to discuss the issues. That evening a crowd estimated at 250 by Campus Security assembled in front of the President's home on campus. Tlhe group then moved to Russell House and indicated it would "take over'' the facility. With the con currence of the Governor and the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, the President authorized oft icials of the University Union to keep the facility open throughout the night, thus averting a possible conf rontation. leaving the Russell H ouse open to students past posted closing hours was not something new. Authoriza tion had been given in the past for student elections and other special events. E *tOntined'e n'MandayV'i