Class Of 1973 TIME LINE

September 1969

History professor Ernest R. May (right) takes over as dean of the College after Fred L. Glimp '50 resigns from the post. Harvard begins the year with an Afro-American Studies Department for the first time, offering 17 courses. On September 25, Harvard announces plans to sponsor low- and moderate-income housing in Cambridge.

In addition, a new Massachusetts law makes it illegal for students to possess firearms on campus without written authorization.

October 1969

Harvard greatly expands the availability of computers on campus--adding 11 machines at a cost of about $100,000. The Faculty votes by a 3 to 1 margin to formally oppose the Vietnam War and recognizes October 15--declared National Moratorium Day by war protesters--as a "day of protest." The 15th is marked by a gathering of 100,000 demonstrators in Boston Common and a cancellation of most Harvard classes.

On October 24, nine Harvard Medical School professors criticize President Nixon's proposed liberalization of marijuana laws--for not going far enough in the "right direction."

November 1969

Harvard members of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) shout down a University press conference to protest what they see as racist discrepancies in Harvard's payroll and later hold a sit-in at the office of Dean May. On November 14, Harvard students leaflet to support a 40,000-person march in Washington that took place the previous day.

December 1969

On December 5, 175 students from the Organization for Black Unity (OBU) take over University Hall for six hours, leaving only after they reach an agreement with administrators. The deal stipulates that at least one black subcontractor work on the Graduate School of Design's Gund Hall, that further negotiations would continue between OBU and the University and that a civil rights worker and two black Harvard professors would serve on a committee to evaluate Harvard's hiring and wage decisions.

On December 10, negotiations between OBU and Harvard collapse. The next day, OBU members once again take over University Hall, this time leaving only after Dean May suspends all students involved and the University obtains a temporary restraining order against the protesters. The suspension simply prohibits OBU members from entering University buildings for non-academic purposes.

January 1970

Students protest the University's decision to force 16 SDS protestors to take a leave of absence after staging the November sit-in.

OBU demands open disciplinary hearings concerning its takeovers of University Hall, and several University officials are invited to attend. The invited officials, however, boycott the open proceedings, and when the University Committee for Rights and Responsibilities (CRR) finally reviews the OBU members' case, it does not ask any students to leave.

February 1970

On February 9, Harvard completes plans for several construction projects which include specific commitments to hire minority workers--one of the first such provisions in the nation.

On February 25, 15,000 people rally in Boston to support the "Chicago 7," arrested on charges of conspiring to incite riots in Chicago. The night ends with mild skirmishes between protestors and police.

March 1970

Harvard refuses to officially involve itself with the Cambridge Project, a Defense Department effort to develop a computer language, in protest of the Defense Department's policies in South-east Asia. However, 42 Harvard Faculty work independently for "Project Cam," receiving a total of $430,000 in Defense Department funds.

On March 26, a Harvard committee to review co-ed housing recommends that two additional Houses become co-ed the next year.

April 1970

The Visiting Committee of the Center of International Affairs (CFIA), which is located on Memorial Drive, is forced to end a meeting when 200 members of the November Action Committee (NAC) enter the building and demonstrate. The following week marks a long-awaited Vietnam War protest week, during which Black Panther Party members speak at a Panther teach-in on campus.

On Wednesday, March 15, a crowd of 3,000 demonstrators marches from a 100,000-person demonstration on Boston Common towards Harvard Square. The crowd becomes violent as it nears the Square, setting fire to two buildings and two police cars, breaking windows and looting stores. Four hours later, police use clubs and tear gas to end the riot, leaving more than 200 people--including 35 Harvard students--in need of hospitalization. Estimated damages to the Square exceed $100,000.

May 1970

On April 30, President Nixon announces the invasion of border regions of Cambodia by South Vietnamese and American troops, inciting student demonstrations and strikes across the nation. On May 3, a mass meeting of students, Faculty and staff votes to hold a University-wide strike.

The next day, the National Guard opens fire on student demonstrators at Kent State University in Ohio, killing four and wounding 11. This event fuels student strikes nationwide, which by May 6 have reached 166 campuses.

On May 7, the Faculty makes a major decision to aid the student strikers by allowing them to skip final exams and be graded solely on the basis of coursework handed in to date, or on a pass-fail basis. On May 8, 35,000 demonstrators rally on Soldier's Field. The same day, police peacefully disperse 650 demonstrators who begin to damage Shannon Hall, the headquarters of Harvard's ROTC program on Francis Ave.

By May 14, 267 campuses are on strike, but 149 others have ceased their protests. Despite Faculty opposition to the war, the CRR begins proceedings against students who demonstrated in the CFIA building and others who picketed around University Hall. By the end of the academic year, 25 students have been disciplined.

Summer 1970

Increasing numbers of wandering youth begin to stay in the area around Harvard Square, and in the wake of spring rioting, stores board up their windows and begin to call for an increased police presence.

But at least good entertainment is available for everyone, as both The Band and Ray Charles perform at the Harvard football stadium that summer.

Four riots result in the use of tear gas by Cambridge police and cause more than $10,000 worth of damages to local stores.

After the speedy shutdown of an August 7 riot, Cambridge police step up their late-night drug arrests and confiscations in the Square. Needless to say, store owners look forward to the return of the Harvard student--rather than a nomad--population in September.

September 1970

When students arrived on campus in 1970, they are greeted by coeducational housing in the River Houses for the first time.

The Afro-American Studies Department, in its second year, claims 22 concentrators and 160 other students.

Students also return to campus amid speculation about who will become Harvard's 25th president. Nixon administration official John W. Gardner and Stanford President S. I. Hayawaka top the 600-person list.

October 1970

As the House Internal Security Committee identifies the college campus speaking circuit as a major source of funds "for promoters of...revolutionary activity among students," Harvard becomes the site of increasing protests against the role of the CFIA in American foreign policy.

On October 14, a bomb goes off on the third-floor library of the CFIA building, but no one is injured. The next day, a women's group called the Proud Eagle Tribe, whose members are unaffiliated with the College, claims responsibility for the bombing, but police are unable to make any arrests. Police believe that other conspirators are involved in the bombing because the bomb is too sophisticated a device for women to construct, according to investigating Cambridge Police Sergeant James A. Roscoe.

October 19 also sees the first recorded rape in Harvard University history, when a Radcliffe student is assaulted at gun point in her dorm room.

November 1970

The Faculty Committee on the Status of Women begins meeting at the end of October, discussing such issues as the lack of women professors at Harvard. At November 7 hearings, the committee listens to criticisms of University Health Services and demands for more daycare services on campus for students and faculty.

November also sees the National Organization for Women demand the resignation of Dean of Freshmen F. Skiddy Von Slade '38, who had written a letter opposing the admission of more women into the University.

December 1970

December 7 marks the culmination of weeks of student petitions and boycotts against the serving of non-union lettuce in Harvard dining halls. The University finally agrees to serve only lettuce produced by United Farm Workers.

In other news, a committee of Harvard and Radcliffe governing board members recommends an expansion of coeducational housing and a revision of Radcliffe's budget but not a merger between Harvard and Radcliffe.

January 1971

On January 10, the Board of Overseers announces that Dean of the Law School Derek C. Bok (right) will replace Harvard President Nathan M. Pusey '28 at the end of the academic year.

While Cambridge Mayor Alfred E. Vellucci lashes out at Harvard for failing to consult the city government about its preference, students protest police brutality against blacks in Cambridge, and Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) criticizes Harvard's minority and female hiring practices.

February 1971

In early February, South Vietnamese troops invade Laos in order to cut off an anticipated North Vietnamese offensive along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. On February 10, Harvard students participate in protests coordinated with Boston and Northeastern Universities. Five thousand demonstrators march from their respective college campuses to Boston Common, where they listen to speeches by a local women's anti-war group.

Later that month, Harvard students hold an "Indochina Teach-In," at which U.S. Senator Eugene McCarthy (D-Minn.), New York Times associate editor Tom Wicker and MIT professor Noam Chomsky speak on behalf of the anti-war cause.

March 1971

Even as President Nixon proposes an end to student draft deferments on March 1, student attention is more closely riveted to events on campus: On March 7--International Women's Day--a group of women activists took over the Architectural Technology Workshop on Memorial Drive, demanding the creation of a permanent women's center on campus.

On March 10, Radcliffe President Mary I. Bunting (left) discusses the women's demands with their leaders and determines that a police bust may be the University's only option in the situation. On March 14, Professor of Law Archibald Cox warn the women that a raid will take place if they do not vacate the building. The next day, the women leave, but they vow to continue pressing for their demands.

April 1971

April sees the beginning of disciplinary proceedings for 24 Harvard students accused of disrupting a pro-war Counter Teach-In at the end of March by shouting down speakers. The University presses charges against three former students in Cambridge courts and bring eight students in front of hearings before the CRR.

In addition, Students for a Just Peace (SJP), who organized the Counter Teach-In, files charges with the CRR against 16 other students.

SJP begins planning a second Counter Teach-In. However, by the end of the month, campus events yield the spotlight to events taking place in the nation's capital.

On April 25, 1971, 250,000 demonstrators marched on the Capitol to protest U.S. military involvement in Southeast Asia. In what are known as the May Day protests, demonstrators attempt to use civil disobedience to shut down the Washington D.C.

May 1971

By May 7, 13,000 protesters had been arrested, and protests disbanded as it became clear that Washington would continue to function.

May also sees the announcement of corporate support for a campus day-care center and plans to build The Garage in Harvard Square.

Summer 1971

The summer of 1971 is more peaceful for Cambridge than the previous summer, but that does not keep Harvard out of the news. In June, Defense Department official Daniel Ellsberg '52 (below), a former Crimson editor, releases a 7,000-page, top-secret government report to the Senate and then The New York Times.

By the time Harvard students return to campus, the government begins preparation for the prosecution of Ellsberg and his associate, Anthony Russo.

The summer of 1971 also marks the inception of the photo identification card at Harvard.

September 1971

When the Class of 1973 returns to Harvard, Bokbecomes the University's 25th President andselects several vice presidents to assist incampus administration.

Senator Edward M. Kennedy '54-'56 (D-Mass.)speaks on campus, urging students to "shake offyour lethargy" and to continue to protest Americaninvolvement in Vietnam.

October 1971

The University continues to take baby steps inthe direction of equal treatment for women andminorities. It releases an Affirmative Action Planon October 4 to comply with Department of Health,Education and Welfare (HEW) regulations. Althoughthe plan increases the number of minorityemployees at Harvard, it draws criticism forkeeping the hiring of women at a constant level.

In his first major move as President, Boklowers the male-female ratio for Harvard'sincoming class from 4:1 to 2.5:1 on October 5.

On October 14, Radcliffe students who hadgraduated before 1963 were granted Harvarddegrees, making them eligible to vote forHarvard's Board of Overseers.

November 1971

On November 1, the FBI begins questioningLaurence H. Tribe '62 and other Harvard Law Schoolprofessors about their criticism of PresidentNixon's list of possible Supreme Court nominees.

Within a month, President Bok and Dean of theLaw School Albert M. Sacks write to the U.S.Attorney General, asking him to call off the FBIprobe.

December 1971

Meanwhile, on December 2, Tribe and 20 lawschool professors write a letter to the Senate,calling into question the competence of Nixonnominee William H. Rehnquist. However, Rehnquistis confirmed by the Senate on December 10.

In other campus news, a semi-secret Bow Streetorganization that was still occasionallypublishing a so-called humor magazine admits itsfirst two women staff members, and student groupsprotest the work of Psychology Professor RichardJ. Herrnstein.

Herrnstein had written an article predictingthe stratification of society along IQ levels dueto the genetic inheritance of intelligence.

January 1972

When President Bok gives his first address tothe University's Board of Overseers on January 11,he claims the campus has become quieter and moreinterested in learning--and points to libraryrecords as evidence of this trend. On January 25,President Nixon shocks the world by announcingsecret negotiations with the North Vietnamese thathad brought the U.S. closer to a peace accorduntil Hanoi ceased sending its representative tothe talks, citing "illness" as an excuse.

February 1972

On February 9, a term paper stolen from thedesk of a Government 229 professor is found byCrimson reporters at Termpapers Anonymous, aBoston term paper supplier.

The paper had been taken along with 40 otherpapers from History, English and Social Relationsclasses at Harvard. Minutemen Research, aN.Y.-area-based term paper firm had sold the paperto Termpapers Anonymous, and 23 other term papersfrom Harvard were found at its offices as well.

March 1972

On March 3, President Bok selects Charles P.Whitlock to become the next Dean of the College inan uncontroversial nomination. Later that month, adecision to discontinue the Staff TuitionScholarship (STS) for teaching fellows (TFs)prompts graduate student TFs to unionize. On March23, the organized union calls a one-day boycott ofclasses, urging TFs not to teach and students notto attend classes. However, the strike nevermaterializes, and the University does notreconsider its elimination of the STS program.

April 1972

After several relatively peaceful months,tensions on campus erupt once again in April. Onthe 18th, anti-war demonstrators in Boston marchto Cambridge and ransack the CFIA building,breaking windows and causing $20,000 to $25,000 indamages. Fifty riot-equipped police use tear gasand sweep the Square in order to end thedisturbance.

Two days later, black students from Afro andthe Pan-African Liberation Committee take overMassachusetts Hall in protest of the University'sinvestment in Gulf Oil. The students object toGulf Oil's practices in Angola and refused torelinquish the building until Harvard sold itsinterests in Gulf Oil.

Not long after the takeover, students formpicket lines around the building. Several dayslater, the occupiers begin an open-ended hungerstrike. After 153 hours of occupation, the blackstudents left the building, saying they fearedlegal action by the University would remove themfrom the campus political scene.

At the same time, other Harvard studentsparticipate in a five-day strike in protest of theVietnam War.

May 1972

The energy of April dissolves into a ratherinert May. On May 16, a trial Committee onUndergraduate Education (CUE) survey asks studentsto evaluate 17 classes, in what is the predecessorto today's CUE guide evaluation.

The eight Ivy League university presidents meetwith Henry A. Kissinger '50 to discuss the war inSoutheast Asia on May 17.

September 1972

September, 1972 marks the beginning of MatinaHorner's presidency of Radcliffe. It also marksthe first time women--200 of them--are allowed tolive in Harvard Yard dorms.

On September 30, HEW gives limited approval toHarvard's Affirmative Action Plan, although itcriticizes the lack of specific hiring goals andwhat it considers an unacceptable maternity leavepolicy.

October 1972

Lawrence P. Largley, a 17-year-old Cambridgeresident, dies of unknown causes in a jail celljust hours after he is arrested and allegedlybeaten by police. This event touches off threedays of rioting and insurrection in the Rooseveltdistrict of Cambridge.

November 1972

Associate Professor of Government Samuel J.Popkin (left) becomes a symbol for academicfreedom in November, 1972. Subpoenaed to testifybefore a Boston grand jury in the case of DanielEllsberg '52, Popkin refuses to answer the jury'squestions. To speak before the grand jury wouldhave compromised his sources and his future inacademia, Popkin says in a defense rejected by theSupreme Court.

Popkin is jailed for his lack of cooperation,leading Professor of Law Alan M. Dershowitz tolead a petition effort on behalf of Popkins.Popkins is eventually freed on November 29 afterthe Boston jury is disbanded.

December 1972

Although Nixon and Kissinger repeatedly assertthat the U.S. and North Vietnam are near a ceasefire, December, 1972 rolls around without thematerialization of a peace accord. It proves to bea month of contradictions in other respects aswell. One day after Kissinger tells the publicthat the two sides have almost reached agreement,President Nixon orders stepped-up bombings ofNorth Vietnam (December 17). A 100-persondemonstration in Boston is held to protest thisdecision, but it does not compare with student-rundemonstrations held a year earlier.

January 1973

January features a number of importantcollege-wide and nationwide events. On January 11,John T. Dunlop resigns his position as Dean of theFaculty to join the Nixon administration. OnJanuary 16, Harvard Coop employees cease theirattempts to unionize due to harassment from Coopmanagement, but the Coop still faces a NationalLabor Relations Board lawsuit concerning unionsurveillance. On January 20, The Crimsoncelebrates its 100th anniversary, and the nextday, President Nixon celebrates his secondinauguration. On January 26, the military draftofficially ends.

February 1973

Franklin L. Ford is appointed acting Dean ofthe Faculty in February, and the search for apermanent dean begins. Four upperclass Housesapprove a plan, proposed by physics professorWilliam Paul, to revise the CRR. However, thereforms are rejected by the Faculty Council.

February also sees a cease fire in Vietnam thatallows for the return of 142 American POWs.

March 1973

Facing the Kraus plan for reduction infinancial aid for graduate students, therecently-formed Graduate Student Union's 639members opt to strike on Monday, March 19, in aneffort to gain recognition as the solerepresentative body for graduate students atHarvard.

The same day, undergraduate class attendancedrops 30 percent, and picketers surroundUniversity buildings. After four days, the unionends its strike, although Bok never recognizes theunion or capitulates to its demands.

Teaching fellows consider withholding gradesfrom undergraduates but never take action.

April 1973

As the Class of 1973 anticipates its upcominggraduation, the University votes on keyreferendums for several of the companies in whichit invests. On April 11, Harvard's AdvisoryCommittee on Shareholder Responsibility votes withshareholders to demand that the CaterpillarTractor Company disclose information on itsoperations in South Africa.

Barely a week later, Harvard votes to have thePhillips Petroleum Company withdraw from Namibiaand for General Electric to disclose informationon its activities in South Africa.

May 1973

On May 1, students are greeted by Crimsonheadlines reading, "Nixon Accepts ResignationsFrom Four Top Aides."

On May 11, the Pentagon Papers trial isdismissed after charges surface against Nixonaides who break into the office of Ellsberg'spsychiatrist.

Over the course of the month, Harvey C.Mansfield '53 becomes chair of the governmentdepartment, Henry Rosovsky becomes Dean of theFaculty and George Putnam '49 is chosen as the newUniversity treasurer.

On May 18, Law School professor Archibald Cox'34 (below) is appointed special Watergateprosecutor by the Justice Department, and severaldays later, President Nixon admits to ignoringwarnings about a Watergate cover-up in the WhiteHouse.