{"id":44,"date":"2022-04-29T03:25:23","date_gmt":"2022-04-29T03:25:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digitalexhibits.syr.edu\/studentstrike\/?page_id=44"},"modified":"2022-04-29T03:25:23","modified_gmt":"2022-04-29T03:25:23","slug":"the-strike-begins","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/digitalexhibits.syr.edu\/studentstrike\/the-strike-begins\/","title":{"rendered":"The Strike Begins"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The Strike Begins<\/h1>\n\n

On April 30, 1970, John E. Corbally, Jr. was formally inaugurated as the eighth Chancellor and President of Syracuse University in an elaborate ceremony that took place as part of the University\u2019s centennial celebrations. That same evening, United States President Richard M. Nixon announced on national television that he had ordered an incursion of American troops into Cambodia. The following day, Nixon would comment to the press about \u201cthese bums\u2026blowing up the campuses.\u201d By May 1, college students across the country were developing plans for a new and larger wave of direct action and protest against government and college administrations they felt were continuing to ignore their voices and demands. Among these students were former Syracuse University Student Government president David Ifshin and a group of his peers, who at the time were attending a nationwide meeting at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut to plan the next phase of the anti-Vietnam War movement and what would become the National Student Strike. Returning to campus, Ifshin and the others found that plans for a rally on May 4 were already underway at Syracuse University. Amidst the celebrations marking the University\u2019s 100th<\/sup> anniversary, the stage was set for the largest protest in its history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\nMay 4 Coalition<\/span><\/h2>\n\n

At 2:00 pm on May 4, 1970, a crowd of over 3,000 students and campus community members gathered on the Quad in front of Hendricks Chapel. The assembled crowd heard from student and faculty speakers advocating for a strike and enumerating three demands: an immediate end to American involvement in all of Southeast Asia and the unconditional withdrawal of American troops; an immediate end to the repression of the Black Panther Party and the release of Panther leader Bobby Seale; and an immediate end to University complicity with the military-industrial complex. \u201cWe, the students of Syracuse University, hereby declare ourselves on strike through finals this spring in solidarity with the national Student Strike,\u201d a statement from Strike leadership read. The ensuing week of the Strike would be led by the Strike Committee of the May 4 Coalition and coordinated by \u201caction groups\u201d with specific areas of responsibility.<\/p>\n

In the middle of the May 4 rally, attendees learned that four students at Kent State University had been shot and killed by members of the Ohio National Guard during an anti-war demonstration there. The Kent State killings would heighten strike activity at Syracuse University and on campuses across the country.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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