kittens wearing mittens 77: A Reflection on the Vietnam Protests at the 5Cs

A Reflection on the Vietnam Protests at the 5Cs

In light of Pomona’s authorization of the arrests of 20 students by the Claremont Police Department (CPD) on April 5 for protesting the removal of a mock apartheid wall, it is a particularly opportune time to revisit some examples of student activism that took place within the 5Cs during the Vietnam War. In compiling this history, I hope to provide some resources to help better contextualize Pomona’s radical response on April 5th, 2024.

Following America’s initial military occupation of Vietnam in 1965, Pomona students and local residents marched in unity to express their avid disapproval of the war. While counter-protesters were also keen to make themselves apparent on campus, the anti-war sentiment spread throughout the student body.

Much of the tension arose around the recruitment policies for on-campus military drafts. CMC’s ROTC (Reserve Officers' Training Corps) program had enlisted “some 191 students” into training, resulting in dozens of graduates serving in the Vietnam War. Anti-war outrage amongst students culminated in 1968 when roughly 79 students occupied and refused to exit Sumner Hall while Air Force recruiters were conducting interviews inside the building. As the protestors occupied Sumner, an additional 125 students circled the perimeter of the building with posters and placards. The demonstration successfully canceled all remaining interviews, but all 79 protestors were required to give up their names or risk suspension or even expulsion.

Students continued to protest the ROTC program for its complacency in the war, prompting Pomona to announce that ROTC would no longer count as a course credit, though they ultimately decided to continue the program.

In October of 1969, the 5Cs participated in the “Moratorium to End the Vietnam War,” a nationwide demonstration rooted in education and a call for peace. All across the country, people took part in marches, teach-ins, and vigils to once again demand an end to the war.

Back in Claremont, approximately 2,000 people (students, residents, and even students from Chaffey College and the Claremont School of Theology) peacefully rallied through the campuses singing and chanting. The crowd was ushered by 12 CPD officers to guarantee their safety.

When put in contrast to Pomona’s militarized response to April 5’s Pomona Divest from Apartheid protest, a correlation is revealed in what 5C administrators believe is “reasonable protest”. A protest, or rather the larger social movement it is tied to, will face a response from the 5C administration that reacts according to the degree in which the protesting and consequent amends (if any) will impact the schools financially. The current BDS protests are exactly what they do not want. As stated by Pomona Vice President Jeff Roth, the college has an index fund in the S&P 500, a stock market index of the 500 largest companies in the United States, many of whom have deep-rooted, transactional histories with the Israeli government. For example, Microsoft has continually supplied Israel with advanced software to fortify their military. Google and Amazon are both working directly with Israel on the 1.2 billion dollar Project Nimbus, a cloud service allowing for new levels of mass surveillance. Pomona continues to invest in and benefit from these companies. We do not know the degree to which Pomona is financially involved with Israel, but we objectively know that multiple companies benefitting from our endowment money have direct involvement in Israel’s occupation of Palestine. If these companies are benefiting from the profits of occupation and we are benefitting from the profits of the companies, Pomona’s involvement in genocide is far more direct than admin would like to admit, posing a serious financial risk to Pomona should they ever have to pull their investments. The frantic and situational enforcement of the demonstration policy in regards to the demonstration on April 5th, 2024 were never the issue, but rather the severe monetary risk the movement poses to Pomona admin.

For months, the Pomona student body has been repeatedly reprimanded in emails by Pomona President G. Gabrielle Starr for violating the school’s demonstration policy.

Any demonstration deemed disruptive, non-peaceful, threatening to public safety, or an impediment to 5C business by administrators become violations of student policy. What then are expectations for a student protest? What is the point of protest in the first place if not to disrupt?

On April 13th, Pitzer’s Vice President & Interim Dean of Students Jan Barker Alexander sent an email to students condemning “campus vandalism” by students who had glued pro-Palestine posters to buildings around the school’s campus following Strom Thacker’s announcement he would veto the College Council’s vote for an academic boycott of Israeli universities.

“While freedom of expression is valued and expected at Pitzer, these actions fall into the category of campus vandalism. As I shared with students in a message yesterday, our policies exist to ‘ensure that all members of our community can exercise their right to express themselves freely, while maintaining a safe and inclusive environment for all’ The Wall on the north side of Mead Hall is the location for this type of expression”.

This is the ethos of the administration’s perspective on student protest. While the protest wall is a helpful outlet for student expression, there is such blatant irony in a designated protest spot provided and sanctioned by the administration.

In a TSL article from 2015, student Julian Jacobs interviewed Noam Chomsky to discuss Israel’s occupation of Palestine. Discussing the contentiousness of the conflict, Chomsky notes that while at many colleges “[Students for Justice in Palestine] is commonly under attack, at many colleges the attacks have been resisted and it’s flourishing … By now Palestinian solidarity is a major issue on campuses, with enormous student support.”

He further described the shift in response to these protests.

“Meetings, which used to draw a small and mostly hostile audience, and were sometimes broken up by angry protestors, now tend to be overflowing, with audiences that are engaged and committed even at institutions where security measures were extreme not many years ago, some not far from you,” Chomsky said.

Chomsky also recalled his own parallels to Vietnam War protests.

“It’s also well to remember that confrontation with state policy is rarely easy,” Chomsky said. “Take Boston, one of the most liberal cities in the country … In October 1965, we tried to have the first public demonstration against the war. It was broken up violently, with bitter condemnation of the demonstrators in the liberal press … The forces that are seeking to suppress advocates of Palestinian rights are fighting a losing battle, and their leadership at least is well aware of it.”

As Chomsky illustrates, Pomona’s suppressive tactics and militarization of campus are signs that the institution is very aware that it is “fighting a losing battle.” The myth of Israel has dissolved, and the youth have seen it for the horrific colonial project it is. The police involvement in response to a peaceful protest has shown the insecurity of the admin.

Anyway, I would like to applaud Gabi Starr for her absent-mindedness because I truthfully can’t think of any better way to get students to support the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement. I highly recommend reading the full interview with Noam Chomsky if you are interested in learning more about anti-occupational movements on college campuses.