The Scarlet & Black, November 4, 1977—page fl

 

Protest mixes defiance, stress, unity at Kent

, The ioilouing is an account oi the
Oct. 22 demonstration at Kent
State. It is written by Dan Blunl.
one of the Grinnellians who took
part.

Our preconception oi the course
that events would take at the Kent
State demonstration on Oct, 22 was
relatively undramatic compared to
what took place there. Just before
hitting the road we heard that the
President and the Board of
Trustees oi Kent State were filing
for a court injunction against the
rally, but we really didn't know
what to make of it. By this time our
plans had solidified to the point
Where no one elected to stay
behind.

We stopped in Iowa City the night
of Oct. 21 to meet more cars and
people. The RSB (Revolutionary
Student Brigade) contact there
was optimistic. Apparently, the
court order was not binding on
anyone who had not been served a
copy by the police. So, it was
merely a matter of avoiding the
cops and of travelling in small
groups, as a body of five or more
could be charged with “inciting to
riot."

SOMEWHAT frazzled. our troop
arrived at a pancake joint in Kent
at 10:00 a in. After breakfast we
split up into small groups to renr
dezvous later at the commons-
field. the site where rallies at Kent
traditionally begin. My particular
group ran into trouble immediately
as a police car pulled into the
parking lot. A cop climbed out
holding several of those dreaded
sheets of paper. It was time to run.
Across the parking lot, through an
alley and over a fence, and we
were out on the street several
blocks away just in time to meet
the police car turning off the main
road. .

Some of us took off at a fast walk
in the opposite direction. A glance
hack showed some of the others
being sewed. On a long circuitous

Police horsemen try to force a persistent group of prutestors to retreat. (Photo by Fred Collins).

route to the Commons field we had
time to agree that police were
using excellent dispersal tactics.

AT THE COMMONS field.
paranoia and disturbance were
intensified. There seemed to he
almost as many photographers as
protesters. Were they press, spies,
or tourists? At the opposite end of
the field the riot police were
arriving with Vans, riﬂes, horses,
came prods, clubs, and gas masks.
One dropped a pile of papers on the
ground near the crowd, while
others set up a loudspeaker to read
off the injunction.

More and more protesters
streamed onto the field, and the
chanting drowned out the loud-
speakers. RSB and May 4th
Coalition marshalls with white
armbands urged the crowd to iorm
rows of six, Soon after the column
formed, lines of riot police mars
ched on us with a menacing
goose step suggestive of medieval
pikemen. But they were too late.
The column moved up the rim of

 

the field to the dorms shouting,
“Out of the dorms! Into the

Alcohol becomes
major campus issue

(Continucd‘lrom page I)
college’s position more clear.
preventing any encouragement of
alcohol abuse and deciding
whether using money payed by all
studean for the benefit of a few
was fair and desirable. The
Committee ultimately proposed a
total ban on open, hard alcohol
bars on campus. That proposal
eventually went to the Student
Government Association where it
was voted down. The proposal was
then sent to President Turner and
he postponed judgement until the
action of this year was completed.

In many ways, the James Hall
Gang Bang will be a test for
handling this alcohol situation. The
Committee on Student Life sup—
ports the ticket method and hopes

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the students will help make the
James Hall venture work. it the
James Gang Bang 'venture is
successful, the student life com-
‘mittee will probably submit a
similar proposal to the Student
Government Association, 36*
cording to Neiderbach. It the
proposal is passed by the SGA,
which is uncertain according to the
SGA President, it will be con-
sidered by Turner. ii the proposal
is voted down, Turner will then
decide between the proposals of the
two committees working together
on the issue, the Student Life
Committee and the SGA Alcohol
Committee. In any case, the James
Hall Gang Bang will play an ims
pdrtant role in the ultimate
decision on procedure,

9

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streets! Join us now!”
THERE WAS a long halt to hear

speeches ranging from such
diverse topics as the current
situation in South Africa to leftist
rhetoric against the ”oppressors"
involved with the Kent State

massacre and today’s demon-

stration. Until then, some of us had
not realized exactly how radical
the leadership of the protest was,
But we got into the spirit of things
and joined in some protest songs.

Twice more the police attempted
to disperse the rally, once with
horses and clubs, once with tear
gas and smoke bombs. The second
time they were partially sues
cessful, and the somewhat subdued
column moved to a field just off-
campus where we sat to take stock.
R513 and May Aith Coalition runners
brought news that more protesters
were at the Commons field and
that some Kent students had been
sufficiently aroused by the heavy
handed police tactics to gather and
begin shouting, “Pigs off cam»
pus!"

THE DEBATE now became an
exercise in grassroots par-
ticipatory democracy Many
people took the opportunity to
speak, and some negative opinions

were expressed. But the consensus

seemed to be that we were out here
to attract national publicity and
that no one will take us seriously if
we don‘t continue the march and
possibly try to occupy the gym site.

We marched to the Commons
field. There were many students
and olfrcampus protesters. After
being harried and chased by the
police all aftemoon, it seemed as if
two army contingents were
reuniting. Hoarsevvoiced in-
ﬂammatory speeches echoed from
the loudspeakers, to be succeeded
by chanting. Enthusiasm roscto an
incredible pitch and a feeling of

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solidarity swept through the
crowd. We marched on the cons
troversial gym site.

[HOT POLICE were lined up
inside the fence, As the crowd
closed to within fifteen yards, it
was greeted by a barrage of tear
gas canisters, Some were hurled
back at the fence in a heroic
gesture of defiance, but the crowd
fell back in disorder. An unexs
pected attack from the rear bv the
riot police on the Commons field
threatened to trap the crowd
between the fence and the field.

Panicking, the crowd tied down

the hill pursued by driiting clouds
oi tear gas Although the column
reformed. this was the effective
end of the rally.

When all was said and done, the
main question was: Did the rally
succeed? To date, it seems that it
did Student sentiment at Kent
State was stirred by the rally, and
they recently held a tree speech
protest at which all seven speakers
were arrested. Also, our demon-
stration mode the national news,
although the extent of media
coverage varied from area to area,

ANOTHER question: was this a
positive or negative experience for
the Gl‘innell students who par-
ticipated’Y On the negative side. it
Could be said the the whole affair
was much ado about nothing, or
very little at any rate. One might
also argue that the gym issue was
exploited by RSB so that it could
stage a general protest against all
oppression.

But on the positive side, most of
our group ielt the experience was
very educational. Many of us had
never had the opportunity to
participate in a serious demon-
stration. Our firsthand experience
of mass consciousness in stress
situations proved extremely
relevant to the study of
revolutionary movement and
social disturbances in history or
sociology classes.

A student demonstrator is grabbed by a policeman. some arrests
were made during the protests. (Photo by Fred Collins)

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