Extended Commentary

Mark Huddleston, BA ’72

President, Ohio Wesleyan University

I was elected SA president in the spring of 1970 on the eve of the Kent State shootings. The campus was in turmoil. Antiwar protests were near-everyday events. I don’t remember all the slates of candidates that contested the elections, but there were many that were far, far to the left. Our campaign—and I say “our” because we had a full slate up for election—was pitched to those who passed at the time for liberals/moderates. Environmentalism, a new idea at the time, was one of our main themes.

’71 - Mark Huddleston, BA ’72 (right) - President, Ohio Wesleyan University

’71 - Mark Huddleston, BA ’72 (right) - President, Ohio Wesleyan University

I suppose the big issues had to do with the antiwar protests—trying to find a middle path between those who wanted to throw rocks, literally and figuratively, and to shut the campus down, on the one hand; and those folks, especially in the broader Buffalo community, who were happy to see baton-wielding police on campus, on the other.

Specific memories include founding SASU (the Student Association of the State University) with other college SA presidents; filing an injunction against President [Robert L.] Ketter; being forced to testify in grand jury proceedings initiated by a candidate for DA; bailing students out of jail through the SA-funded bail program; funding the production of environmental public service announcements and seeing them air on local television; operating the “polity,” which was the crazy anyone-who-showed-up-could-vote legislative system we operated, instead of a student senate.

Today, I get to interact with student body presidents sitting in a different seat. Issues seem far less charged, focusing on quality of life in residence halls, smoking policy, parking, etc. I appreciate the relative calm!

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.)