Published April 2018
Columbia is a far different place today than it was in the spring of 1968 when protesters took over University buildings amid discontent about the Vietnam War, racism and the University’s proposed expansion into Morningside Park. After a weeklong standoff, New York City Police stormed the campus and arrested more than 700 people. The fallout dogged Columbia for years.
It took decades for the University to recover from those turbulent times. Columbia now has one of the most socio-economically diverse student bodies among its peer institutions. It has added a new campus designed to be open to the community and pursues fields of inquiry unheard of a half-century ago. Columbia is commemorating the 50th anniversary of those long-ago events with a deep dive of scholarship and exhibits chronicling what happened then and its effects today.
Related News Clips
At Columbia, Revisiting the Revolutionary Students of 1968, The New York Times, March 21, 2018
"The Whole World is Watching": An Oral History of the 1968 Columbia Uprising, Vanity Fair, April 2018
Image Carousel with 10 slides
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Slide 1: The Strike Education Committee created and coordinated an alternative “Liberation School” that offered “counter-classes” to replace those being boycotted. Students protesting in front of Low Library hold a sign that states "Please Strike, Support Liberated Class."
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Slide 2: The Bust, April 30, 1968. Courtesy of Paul Cronin, photographer unknown, 1968.
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Slide 3: View of Philosophy Hall as strikers and administrators unsuccessfully attempted to end a standoff with a resolution neither party agreed upon. Photo by Gerald S. Adler, 1968.
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Slide 4: Students occupying President Grayson Kirk's office. Photo courtesy of Columbia College Today, Larry Mulvehill, photographer, 1968.
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Slide 5: University President Grayson Kirk and Provost David Truman at a press conference in the Faculty Room of Low Library, April 25, 1968.
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Slide 6: An anti-Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) protester.
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Slide 7: Mark Rudd and other Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) leaders at a Strike Coordinating Committee press conference, April 26, 1968.
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Slide 8: Faculty wearing white armbands speak with student occupiers sitting on the Low Library ledge outside of President Grayson Kirk's office. Photo courtesy of University Archives.
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Slide 9: Crowds heading to Low Library from the SAS/SDS Sun Dial Rally, April 23, 1968. Gerald S. Adler (GSAS'80), photographer, 1968.
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Slide 10: Students who had occupied Hamilton Hall delivered this list of six demands on the first day of the protests.
