University of Virginia Library

Mayday Group Marches
With ROTC Drill Units

About 60 Mayday protesters curtailed
their meeting in Newcomb Hall yesterday
afternoon to demonstrate against
University ROTC drill units in the Dell.

The protesters started marching with
the troops at Maury Hall and followed
them down McCormick Road for a
confrontation on the steps leading from
Bonny castle Circle into the Dell.

As the ROTC units approached the
steps, the demonstrators turned around
and ran up the steps into the cadets. The troops
marched through the protesters and proceeded
into the Dell for maneuvers.

The demonstrators staged a mock battle in
the Dell, dividing into two groups. One group,
garbed predominately in army clothes, played
the role of policemen while the other group sat
down and heckled the would-be police. The
mock police-protesters then began dragging
away the other protesters as D. Alan Williams,
Vice President for Student Affairs, interceded.

Contending that the demonstrators were
infringing upon the rights of the ROTC units to
drill in the Dell and citing University space
regulations, Mr. Williams ordered the protesters
to the west end of the Dell and commanded
them not to further interfere with the ROTC
operations.

The demonstrators dragged each other to
the west end of the Dell, regrouped, and
continued their protests as they walked toward
the steps of the previous confrontation. There
on the steps, Ken Lewis, of the
Virginia Mobilization Committee and various
other protesters related to some fifty spectators
who had gathered at the top of the steps, some
of their experiences from their anti-war
activities in Washington, D.C., giving their
versions of the plights of some of the
demonstrators there who had been arrested and
needed help.

Photo By Roy Alson

Protesters Disrupt ROTC Exercises

About 60 Students Were Present At Demonstration