Extended Commentary

George M. Heymann, BA ’71

Municipal Housing Court Judge, Brooklyn, New York

As the nation was hemorrhaging from the still-unresolved war in Vietnam and the polarizing presidency of Richard M. Nixon, UB’s crowning achievement of a new campus began to pale as student and faculty unrest started seeping its way into the daily routine of university life. As SA president, my office was located on the second floor of Norton Hall, which, being the student union, was the hub of all non-academic life on campus.

In February 1970, campus life erupted when riots broke out in and around Norton. Tension had been building for months prior thereto as students, faculty and outside agitators were protesting not only the war, but also the existence of ROTC on campus, as well as a military funded project known as “Themis.”

’70 - George Heymann, BA ’71 - Municipal Housing Court Judge, Brooklyn, New York

’70 - George Heymann, BA ’71 - Municipal Housing Court Judge, Brooklyn, New York

It all came to a head in March 1970 when Acting President Peter F. Regan (President Meyerson had left UB to become president of the University of Pennsylvania)—in an unsuccessful attempt to quell the violence and destruction of campus property that had already occurred—deployed 400 armed police and K-9 dog units to surround the entire campus.

I remember the incident well, as it was about 6 a.m. on a Sunday when I was awakened by the phone ringing in my dorm room. Half asleep, I picked up the receiver at which point I was directed by the assistant to the president to hurry over to the engineering building on the other end of the campus to attend a secret emergency meeting with the president, so he could explain why he had “deployed” 400 armed police on campus. Not yet focused on the impact of what I had just heard, I responded, “I, too, ‘deplore’ having 400 armed police on campus” and hung up as I fell back asleep. A few moments later, I was roused out of bed, once again, this time to a stern reprimand informing me that the speaker did not use the word “deplore,” but rather “deployed,” and that I had better get my you know what over to that meeting immediately.

At that time, I was residing in Goodyear Hall, the first year in the university’s history that a dormitory was coed. As the elevator reached the lobby and the doors opened, I was shocked and somewhat shaken by what confronted me: a bevy of armed police in riot gear that reminded me of all the things I had read about, heard about and observed in pictures and movies regarding the Gestapo in Nazi Germany. I was stopped and interrogated as to who I was and where I was going and was finally allowed to exit the building.

As the hours passed and students residing on campus began to awake, fear and anger started to permeate the dormitories. Needless to say, the intended purpose of having the police on campus to secure tranquility ironically became the lightning rod for the violence, sit-ins and strikes among students and faculty that ultimately led to the complete shutdown of the university for the balance of the academic year. While I made my position clear that I was very much opposed to the disruptive conduct of my fellow students, I was definitely in the minority at that juncture.

In retrospect, it is difficult to ascertain whether there were any positive achievements derived from the campus disobedience across the country, which resulted in injuries to and the loss of life of students à la Kent State, while the war itself continued for several more years. What we did see thereafter, however, was a turning of the tide in student activism. As things began to quiet down, and campus life returned to “normal” pre-Vietnam, many of the “radicals” and “hippies” of the late ’60s became the “conservative” business and political leaders of the last three decades.

My experience as student president was certainly unique because of the political divisiveness that confronted our national populace during that time. Notwithstanding America’s current status in world affairs, with yet another foreign war that many Americans now believe is Vietnam déjà vu, I am glad to see that the opinions being expressed by today’s students and educators are being voiced in a nonviolent, non-destructive manner, especially as the parent of a daughter in college and a son who will be attending college in the fall.

See our Winter 2005 issue for a report on the campus unrest of 1970 at UB: http://www.buffalo.edu/UBT/UBT-archives/28_ubtw05/features. (Note: “A Stormy Spring” won the gold for best article in the CASE District II 2006 Accolades Awards.)