DIY History | Transcribe | Campus Culture | University of Iowa anti-war protests, 1970 | 1970-06-03 Report: ""Campus Tensions -- A Report on Iowa and Elsewhere"" Page 6

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University of Iowa anti-war protests, 1970

1970-06-03 Report: ""Campus Tensions -- A Report on Iowa and Elsewhere"" Page 6

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The Bar Association report explores the relationship between campus authority and civil authority. Various techniques such as injunctions, criminal sanctions, civil actions for damages, planning, denial of aid are discussed. This is an  important report which deserves reading by anyone who wishes to gain an understanding of the complexity of the problem of deciding matters of legal and illegal methods of dissent and what to do to halt definable illegal methods. 

3. Final Staff Report State of Michigan Senate Committee to Investigate Campus Disorders and Student Unrest

In January, 1969, the Michigan Senate by resolution authorized the Senate Committee on State Affairs, augmented by three members of the majority party, one from the Educational Committee, one from the Judiciary Committee and one from the Committee on Health, Social Services and Retirement to study breaches of the peace and disorders on college and university campuses. 

The specific objectives of the study were at least threefold: 1) to ascertain the influence of any subversive groups or illegal interference by indivuals and groups on the normal usage of Michigan educational facilities, 2) to strengthen state criminal laws relating to breaches of the peace and disorders on campus, and 3) to determine the role of SDS in campus disorders and breaches of the peace. 

The Committee was authorized to subpoena witnesses, administer oaths, examine books and records, employ consultants, aides and assistants, call upon the Legislative Service Bureau and request information from state departments and agencies. It was originally credited for a life span of eleven months and was provided with initial operating funds of $25,000. The Committee hired Higher Education Executive Associates, a private, Detroit-based, educational consulting firm, to carry our the study. To supplement the consultants' work, an education advisory committee of thirty members was organized. With extensive research and interviews with almost every educational leader within the entire state of Michigan, the first report was made to the special Senate committee in February 1970.

The Committee attempted to answer the question: Are the issues which students protest about in Michigan significantly different than is true for the nation? And a second question was: What are the institutional characteristics of high-protest institutions in Michigan and how do they differ from the national norm? using Harold Hodgkinson's data deveoped for the Carnegie Commission, the consulting firm noted that out of a national sample of 1,230 institutions, 335 or 28.9%., reported an increase in student protesters and/or demonstrations. Hodgkinson's sample included 25 institutions in the state of Iowa of which 12 reported increased protests, 7 reported no change and 6 institutions reported no protests. 

Hodgkison's survey also shows that as the institution grows in size there is a greater probability for institutional protest; also, the higher the degree offered in the institution the greater the likelihood of institutional protest. Protest prone institutions are also characterized by greater diversity within the student body than is true for other institutions. The high level of participation in community volunteer work and the large number of underground publications and films in "high protest" institutions suggest a rather swinging, fluid campus. Such campuses typically have a large number of transient students with few local ties and loyalties to serve as a deterrent to protest.

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- 6 - The Bar Association report explores the relationship between campus authority and civil authority. Various techniques such as injunctions, criminal sanctions, civil actions for damages, planning, denial of aid are discussed. This is an important report which deserves reading by anyone who wishes to gain an understanding of the complexity of the problem of deciding matters of legal and illegal methods of dissent and what to do to halt definable illegal methods. 3. Final Staff Report State of Michigan Senate Committee to Investigate Campus Disorders and Student Unrest In January, 1969, the Michigan Senate by resolution authorized the Senate Committee on State Affairs, augmented by three members of the majority party, one from the Educational Committee, one from the Judiciary Committee and one from the Committee on Health, Social Services and Retirement to study breaches of the peace and disorders on college and university campuses. The specific objectives of the study were at least threefold: 1) to ascertain the influence of any subversive groups or illegal interference by indivuals and groups on the normal usage of Michigan educational facilities, 2) to strengthen state criminal laws relating to breaches of the peace and disorders on campus, and 3) to determine the role of SDS in campus disorders and breaches of the peace. The Committee was authorized to subpoena witnesses, administer oaths, examine books and records, employ consultants, aides and assistants, call upon the Legislative Service Bureau and request information from state departments and agencies. It was originally credited for a life span of eleven months and was provided with initial operating funds of $25,000. The Committee hired Higher Education Executive Associates, a private, Detroit-based, educational consulting firm, to carry our the study. To supplement the consultants' work, an education advisory committee of thirty members was organized. With extensive research and interviews with almost every educational leader within the entire state of Michigan, the first report was made to the special Senate committee in February 1970. The Committee attempted to answer the question: Are the issues which students protest about in Michigan significantly different than is true for the nation? And a second question was: What are the institutional characteristics of high-protest institutions in Michigan and how do they differ from the national norm? using Harold Hodgkinson's data deveoped for the Carnegie Commission, the consulting firm noted that out of a national sample of 1,230 institutions, 335 or 28.9%., reported an increase in student protesters and/or demonstrations. Hodgkinson's sample included 25 institutions in the state of Iowa of which 12 reported increased protests, 7 reported no change and 6 institutions reported no protests. Hodgkison's survey also shows that as the institution grows in size there is a greater probability for institutional protest; also, the higher the degree offered in the institution the greater the likelihood of institutional protest. Protest prone institutions are also characterized by greater diversity within the student body than is true for other institutions. The high level of participation in community volunteer work and the large number of underground publications and films in "high protest" institutions suggest a rather swinging, fluid campus. Such campuses typically have a large number of transient students with few local ties and loyalties to serve as a deterrent to protest.