Washington State Uuniversity Student Protests Ephemera, 1970-1972

In May, 1970 Washington State University students organized a university-wide student strike, making a list of eleven demands with the goal of “eliminating racism from our institution.” Involved student organizations included the Black Student Union (BSU), Chicano student organization (MeCHA), Women’s Liberation Front (WLF), and Young Socialist Alliance (YSA). President Glenn Terrell initially rejected the demands, but eventually published a response which included a mandatory ten day workshop for the fall to heighten faculty awareness of racism; 3,000 students protested that decision on May 21, 1970. On May 28, 1970, the Resident Instructional Staff (RIS) approved of two racism workshops, one for the fall of 1970 and one for the spring of 1971 (For materials from and about the racism workshops, see UA 277). The first racism workshop took place on October 7-8, 1970 and attracted 20,000 people. Protests continued in the spring of 1971, when the Graduate Student Association (GSA) initiated a referendum to protest a rise in student fees to pay for the rebuilding of Rogers Stadium. Additionally, the campus group Citizen's Mobilization Committee to End the War began organizing demonstrations against U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War during the spring of 1970, and led events like “Project Marshmallow,” peace marches, bread boycotts, and a campus-wide student moratorium against the conflict in Southeast Asia in the spring semester, 1972.