Student Activism at RPI During the Protest Era

As you probably recall, last month I informed you that there was going to be a Protest Era Alumni Panel Discussion taking place during Reunion & Homecoming 2011.  As it turned out, the panel consisted of nine RPI alumni and one former dean (Friends Board member Carl Westerdahl, who came to Rensselaer in 1969 as an assistant dean of students).  The group discussed student activism at RPI in the mid-to-late 60s and early 70s and took turns ruminating on this challenging time in the Institute’s history and their involvement.

The discussion was well-attended by alumni, staff, students, and Friends, and the accounts related were interesting and thought-provoking.  The two hours allotted zipped by.  I would gladly have stayed longer to hear more anecdotes.

Friends Board members had been hoping for quite a while to have this topic touched on in a Lunch & Learn or other program.  We just had to wait for Rick Hartt '70, former director of the Rensselaer Union, to retire and clear some time on his still-busy schedule!  The wait was worth it, though; not only was the presentation excellent, but the topic was timely in light of the spread of Occupy Wall Street encampments across othe nation. 

A big thank you to Rick for assembling the panel and acting as moderator! He also gave me copies of student-produced documents from the era to duplicate and make available to attendees.  Friends Board member Meg Gallien, who's the Alumni News Editor, also gave me reprints of the article, "The Class of '70: Voices of a Generation," that she wrote for the March 1995 issue of Rensselaer.  I still have some copies of Rick's documents and Meg's article, so let me know if you'd like me to send copies to you. My e-mail address is bircha@rpi.edu.

If you'd like to view the two-hour video of the event filmed by RPI TV, Rensselaer's student-run television station, here's the link:
http://www.rpitv.org/productions/413-student-activism-at-rpi-during-the-protest-era .

Adrienne Birchler
Coordinator
Friends of the Folsom Library