 | The Cavalier daily Thursday, October 16, 1969 |  |
Vietnam Moratorium: That Was The Day That Was
By Barry Levine
"It's all right," remarked one of
the workers as he watched the
Rally on the steps of the Rotunda.
"It's all right." Another worker
near the first shook his head, and
said in a low voice. "It stinks."
The Moratorium came to Mr.
Jefferson's University yesterday,
and it became the political litmus
for the campus and the country.
The reactions were as varied as the
reasons. In one day, the sum of the
parts that is known as the University
divided into its constituents
and reassociated itself into a new
substance, centered around the
only issue that could include the
IFC and the Radical Students'
Union, the YAF and the Student
Council in a time of consideration
and contemplation. The Moratorium
brought the War to the
University.
It was Steve Squire saying to a
crowd of over 2,000 at the
Rotunda: "This is the beginning of
the largest peace movement this
country has ever seen." It was Karl
Hess calling President Nixon's statement
refusing to be affected by the
Moratorium the most ridiculous
statement since "Let them cut
cake."
It was black and red buttons Photo By Dulaney Hall
symbols scratched in chalk on the
bricks on the ancient sidewalks. It
was two students listening to the
rally from the statue of Mr.
Jefferson.
It was students boycotting
classes to participate in contemporary
education, from 60 to 80 per
cent, according to Moratorium
Committee figures. It was "No
More War" signs on trees on the
Lawn, and Time Magazine, with the
peace sign and "At War with War"
cover lying on the doorsteps of the
Lawn residents, and "Stop the
War" signs on the statue in front of
Cabell Hall.
It was nervous laughter in an
Open Forum/Teach-in seminar
when someone remarked that body
counts are probably exaggerated
because parts of bodies are counted
as whole bodies.
It was the electricity going off at
Monroe Hill residences, causing
several teaching assistants to oversleep
and boycott classes whether
they wanted to or not.
It was six dollars lifted from the
contribution plate for the Moratorium
at Newcomb Hall. It was the
business school having business as
usual. One business student estimated
that less than 10 per cent of
his school boycotted classes,
adding. "They hardly know a
Moratorium is going on."
It was more than half of the
medical students wearing black
armbands to protest maiming and
killing.
"The Cavalier is liberated from
being stereotyped," said Bud Ogle.
Student Council president, as he
admitted that the results surpassed
his expectations.
The war is the catalyst of the
nation's campuses and the Moratorium
has provided the greatest
measure of the disagreement and
anger. Its scenarios are the University
in condensed form, uncluttered
by "the academical village" myth
and lectures on the history of the
myth. It has been the culmination
of a peace movement that lies just
under the surface of the Cavalier
attitude, and it unites the University
with other universities in much
more than a common language and
similar ends.
It brought reality to the University.
As one student noted, "When
that Charlottesville had a peace
march?::
Said Student Councilman Tom
Gardner, "Virginia is now more a
part of the national movement than
ever before."
It was the American flag in front
of the Rotunda being lowered to
half-mast to honor war dead, and
the Dean of Student Affairs, Alan
Williams, demanding that the flag
be raised to full mast. When
students wanted the flag to be at
half-mast, the dean conceded that
he could only raise the flag, not
lower it.
It was a security guard standing
watch over the flag at full mast,
saying that he did not see all of the
Moratorium.
A law professor argued with a
group of students the necessity to
get out of Vietnam was a political
decision, not a moral one; that
domestic priorities made the war
unwise politically.
Students at lunch discussed the
War and the President, and students
in a biology lecture hall considered
ROTC and chemical-biological
warfare.
It was a cool breeze carrying Photo By Dulaney Hall
"Where Have All The Flowers
Gone" over the Lawn. It was a
student listening for the World
Series game on his radio at the
rally, and students watching the
Mets and Orioles on television
before reconvening their Vietnam
seminar. It was students carrying
Confederate flags in the biggest
joke of their lives into the concluding
It was a member of the faculty,
Alexander Sedgewick: "I followed
democratic procedure in asking
students whether or not to have
class today." And Bob Rolfe, a
first-year man in the college: "I saw
no reason to skip classes. I did not
think I would be opposing the war
by skipping classes."
And Karl Hess saying that it was
the war that changed him from Old
Right to New Left, that it polarized
his views as it did thousands of
American students. And John
Israel: "I do not want the lesson to
be taught that any government can
save itself by calling in American
planes."
It was Captain Wagner of
Army ROTC saying, "I feel President
Nixon has asked the support
of the country for his poles. I
feel the country has been more
right than wrong over the course of
150 years. I feel there is nothing
wrong with peaceful and legal
dissent...People who are elected by
the American people have a right to
place others who are experts in
their fields around them for
guidance...I would have followed
my department policy of giving
demerits for unexcused absences."
But not Captain Hubbard: "I
would not have taken any action
against students who did not attend
(ROTC) classes because of strong
convictions about participation in
the Moratorium."
Said Captain Perry: "(The
Moratorium) is interfering with
what the President has planned, and
I think we should back him up."
It was no interviewed Army
officer making a personal comment
on the Vietnam War without
quickly adding, "But don't quote
me."
The University now returns to
Saturday afternoon pageantry,
fraternity parties, and English
themes groping for a meaningful
subject.
The October Moratorium is
over.
The War is not.
| The Cavalier daily Thursday, October 16, 1969 | |