READER COMMENTARY: 1970 Spingold gathering not a sit-in
Reader Commentary | 8/25/09
Posted online at 11:51 PM EST on 8/24/09
/ Last updated at 2:35 AM EST on 8/24/09
In response to your article "Idealism gone wrong"?(Features, May 19): The black-and-white photo printed with this article was taken in Spingold Theater on the evening of Feb. 25, 1970 in response to Morris Abram's resignation as Brandeis president and the University-wide interest in choosing his replacement. The banner hanging from the balcony refers to then-Chairman of the Board Lawrence Wien, who owned the Empire State Building. The banner depicts a gorilla and reads, "King Kong died for our sins on your building." A balcony-long banner reads, "be realistic-demand the impossible."
Sorry, Ms. Klein and Ms. Moran, but this event was not a sit-in. It was, in fact, a called convocation of the entire Brandeis community to hear the latest news on the Brandeis presidency. Yes, it reflected student activism, but it occurred two months before the Kent State University shootings that resulted in the establishment of the national student strike center on campus.
How do I know this? Well, I didn't cross the Alps with Hannibal or man an oar on a Titanic lifeboat, but I was at that Spingold meeting and in that photo. I'm in the orchestra somewhere. The previous September, when I entered Brandeis, the University held a welcome dinner in the Shapiro gym for incoming freshmen. One of the speakers was the president of the Student Council, a woman who, as I recall my impression, conducted herself with grace and savvy. I remember thinking, "no wonder she is student council president." Her name was Kathy Power '71, one of the five people suspected of murder and robbery.
-Paul Trusten, R.Ph. '73
Sorry, Ms. Klein and Ms. Moran, but this event was not a sit-in. It was, in fact, a called convocation of the entire Brandeis community to hear the latest news on the Brandeis presidency. Yes, it reflected student activism, but it occurred two months before the Kent State University shootings that resulted in the establishment of the national student strike center on campus.
How do I know this? Well, I didn't cross the Alps with Hannibal or man an oar on a Titanic lifeboat, but I was at that Spingold meeting and in that photo. I'm in the orchestra somewhere. The previous September, when I entered Brandeis, the University held a welcome dinner in the Shapiro gym for incoming freshmen. One of the speakers was the president of the Student Council, a woman who, as I recall my impression, conducted herself with grace and savvy. I remember thinking, "no wonder she is student council president." Her name was Kathy Power '71, one of the five people suspected of murder and robbery.
-Paul Trusten, R.Ph. '73
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