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Vol. LXXX, No. 20 Ann Arbor, Michigan-Friday, September 26, 1969 Free Issue
Four Pages
6
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An Editorial .. .
jJAST NIGHT'S takeover of the LSA Bldg. and the sub-
sequent police action ordered by the University
administration must be seen as a great tragedy for all
members of the University community.
We believe the responsibility for this tragedy lies
squarely on the shoulders of Robben Fleming.
Through his reliance on police action, his unwilling-
ness to seriously negotiate student demands and his
blatant, baseless threats to students and faculty, he has
destroyed the peace that this campus has lived in for the
past three years.
FLEMING'S actions yesterday are graphic examples of
the kind of tactics and positions that force us to
condemn him.
At the rally in front of the Ad. Bldg. he refused to
give straight answers to students expressing their indig-
nation over administration and Regental handling of the
proposed student bookstore.
At an arranged meeting between himself and a rep-
resentative of the students holding the building, Fleming
said that he refused "to negotiate under coercion" and
walked out.
University attorneys, presumably acting on Flem-
ing's orders, refused to extend even the simplest legal
courtesies .to attorneys representing the students.
Within hours after students moved into the LSA
Bldg., Fleming was in consultation with the police to
have them moved out. Never before in the history of the
University have police been called in to make mass
arrests-- -and Fleming didn't even stop to think about it
for a while.
[LEMING HAS forced this confrontation, and Fleming
has asked for a fight. The fight isn't over the book-
store, and it isn't over ROTC. Fleming has created a con-
frontation over the issue that the students are best pre-
pared to fight for and the issue students have the most
right to win: student control over student affairs.
"The University has many constituencies," is the re-
curring theme of the administration's response to stu-
dent demands for a greater share in the decision-making
process that controls their educations and their lives.
But it is just the fact that the decision-making pro-
cess of his University does control our educations and
our lives that makes the students- -and to a great extent
the faculty-justified in their demands for greater con-
trol over this process.
The bookstore issue is just one more in the long,
long list of examples of administrative rejection of legiti-
mate student demands for equitable participation in this
process.-
WE BELIEVE that the events of last night and of the
first three weeks of this semester and of the last
three years force us to support more action on the part
of the students at this University.
We feel that appropriate action for the students to
ake would be a call for an immediate and unmistakable
indication from Fleming that he is willing to change the
way he has been running the University or that he is
willing to make way for a president who will. We also
feel it would be appropriate, if support can be estab-
lished, to call for a general student-faculty strike in
support of demands for immediate reforms in the Uni-
versity decision-making process.
Perhaps it is still possible not only to salvage some-
thing from last night's tragedy but to win for students
the i'ights they must have.
-THE SENIOR EDITORS
7 INJURED IN
POLICE CHARGE
One hundred and seven students were arrested between
3:35 and 5:00 this morning in the LSA Bldg. by about 250
Ann Arbor and State Police at the request of University Presi-
dent Robben Fleming.
At least eight persons were injured moments later as po-
lice-perhaps Washtenaw County Sheriff's deputies-swept
the State St. side of the building and staged one charge to-
ward Angell Hall.
State Police also reportedly injured a number of people when they
rushed students in front of the building only seconds after reading
an order that they move in two minutes. About 250 students were
sitting-in in front of the building at the time.
The arrested students have been charged with contention, a mis-
demeanor, which carries a penalty of 90 days in jail and or $100 fine.
Bail was set at $250 and students must pay $25 bond.
At least two students who were arrested and released early-
Eric Chester and Mark Hodax-said the city police who made the
arrests inside the LSA Bldg. used excessive force, including making
the students "run a gauntlet" between a line of officers, jabbing them
with nightsticks as they ran.
Peter Denton. a Rent Strike leader, shouted. "I was beaten bru-
tally" as he was taken out of the building. Chester and Hodax bot.h
said police went for Denton first when they entered and beat him.
Don Koster. an attorncy representing a number of the arrested
persons, was temporarily not allowed to see any of his clients early
this morning. Others attempting to bail students out were also not
allowed into City Hall until about 8 a.m.
City officials had no immediate response to complaints.
A University spokesman said Fleming consulted faculty members,
Mayor Robert Harris, the Regents and Gov. William Milliken before
calling in the police.
A temporary restraining order was obtained by the University
at 9:10 p.m. enjoining the demonstrators from continuing the sit-in.
However, all attempts to serve the order were thwarted by students
blocking entrances to the building.
No further attempts to serve the injunction were made.
Over five minutes after police arrived at the rear of the building,
some 100 officers-including state police and deputies from Washte-
naw and Monroe counties arrived at the State St. entrance. The time
lag was reportedly not in accordance with police battle plans.
The police moved quickly up State St. from South University,
heading for the front entrance to the LSA Bldg. The 250 demonstra-
tors blocking the entrance fled down the street as the police ap-
proached. They were pursued about 100 yards.
At one point about 15 of the Washtenaw County sheriff's depu-
ties who lined the east side of State St. jumped over the chain sur-
rounding the lawn and charged people who were standing there. The
people fled, and the deputies stopped their charge about 50 yards
inside the chain.
The students first entered the building around 3 p.m. yesterday
afternoon protesting the refusal of Fleming and the Regents to
reconsider the structuring of a University discount bookstore,
At 6 p.m. Fleming entered the LSA Building and warned those
who had decided to remain that the University was seeking the
restraining order. Most of the demonstrators then either left the
building or moved to the second floor where they remained early into
the morning.
At 9:30 p.m., those sitting-in on the second floor of the LSA
Bldg. received word that Fleming had agreed to meet with one rep-
resentative of the protesters.
The group discussed the offer and agreed to send Eric'Chester
as their representative. They mandated to him to agree that the sit-in
would end if F leming agreed to call a meeting of the Regents within
24 hours with the clear understanding that there would be favorable
action on the SGC bookstore proposal. Fleming would not agree.
Outside the building, crowds gathered during the evening to a
maximum of almost 2500 around 11:30 p.m.
--ailyIr aramRbbins
!',hie Police escor ree ro 11 tC( )1)1s10rs f 11)111 ISA fl3+do'
Group pans Diag protest rally
By RICK PERLOFF
Nearly 150 persons met in Can-
terbury House early this morning
and voted overwhelmingly to stage
a noon rally today in the Diag.
The rally will be followed by a
march to the Administration Bldg.
in protest against this morning's
arrest of 107 persons in the LSA
Bldg.
The group at Canterbury repre-
sented a number of radical
groups, ranging from SDS and Re-
sistance members to Radical Cau-
cus and independents.
About 50 people originally gath-
ered at Canterbury House around
5:15 a.m., but the crowd mush-
roomed when a larger group, also
discussing possible action at the
LSA Bldg,. joined them around
5:40 a.m.
The meeting was at times dis-
organized as a number of different
strategies were discussed by the
group in less than an hour.
The concensus was at first to
call a general strike of classes to-
day, but this proposal seemed to
die when it became clear that
there would not be enough time
between the end of the meeting
and the start of classes to organ-
ize a boycott successfully.
'ihe people at the meeting did,
however, seem to favor a general
strike early next week, although
they made no plans.
Other students proposed taking
over another building to demon-
strate continuing student pressure
on the administration. But many
feared this would only bring more
arrests and others questioned whe-
ther there would be enough stu-
dents to stage the takeover suc-
cessfully.
A third alternative was picket-
ing the LSA Bldg., while staying
far enough away from the build-
ing itself to avoid arrests. A num-
ber of persons did not want to dic-
tate any action---even picketing--
to the crowd. They argued that
last night's spontaneity produced
what they considered a successful
confrontation.
Other speakers favored dormi-
tory organizing today and expla-
nations to students in classes of
today's arrests.
But this too was informally ie-
jected because of the lack of time
to plan it.
There was much dispute on the
goals of any action, but most peo-
ple tended to agree that the main
purpose was to keep the momen-
tum of the movement alive.
Some contended the purpose
student concern over their lack of
power in controlling their lives,
while a third group saw a rally as
a step in ''attacking t his whole
capitalist system."
The discussion of goals bogged
down. but as the hour of 6 a.m.
approached more specific notions
were debated.
After the meeting ended, a
number of persons remained to
help print leaflets for the sched-
uled rally.
Students resolved to take the
LSA Bldg. at about 3 p.m. yester-
day after they were locked out of
the Administration Bldg. They had
marched to Regents' Plaza follow-
ing a 2:30 p.m. Diag rally protest-
ing the regents' action on the
bookstore.
The protesters were warned by
President Fleming that action
would be taken against them later
in the evening. A court injunction
was never read because students
barricaded the doors and prevent-
ed officials from entering.
Beginning at about 3:30 am.,
police started moving in toward
the campus area to make arrests of
all those who remained in the-
building.
Student supporters who sat on
the front steps of the building were
told to evacuate or action would
be taken against them. Several
were injured by police and seven
went to hospitals.
A volunteer first aid station
handled minor injuries. Those who
manned the station said most stu-
dents had not been seriously
harmed.