1968 Sub Turri photo
It’s the middle of spring semester and we’re approaching — 50 years later — tumultuous times both on campus and in the nation. We’ll be looking at some of the bigger issues separately. Here’s some of the less tumultuous things that happened on campus . . . and in the outside world . . . in April each of the years we were at BC.
On campus
1965
The April 2 edition of The Heights announced that the new “Science Building” will be named not for a Jesuit. No, it was not an April Fool’s joke. In recognition of his $500,000 gift toward the cost of the building, Star Market mogul Stephen Mugar was given naming rights, and he chose to name it after his close friend, John Higgins of Arlington. BC’s Fulton Debating Team continued its winning ways, led by our classmates (photo below). In the same issue, a brief article reported a reduction in required A&S courses, mostly in philosophy and theology. Athletic Director Bill Flynn announced in the April 9 Heights that BC would build “a much-needed outdoor track.” To be covered with the “wonder product” Tartan, the track would be inside Alumni Stadium, circling the football field and behind the isolated end zone seats at the northern end.
1966
“S.A.B. Is Falling Down,” proclaimed the headline in the April 6 Heights. The acronym stood for the euphemistic title “Student Activities Building,” applied to the wooden “barracks” that served, The Heights said, as BC’s “unofficial World War II memorial.” In its place, beginning in the fall, would be construction of the “Social Science Building,” the present McGuinn Hall. The April 1 Heights, as reported in an earlier post, April ‘Get,’ had included a “fake news” article, “Women to be Permitted Off Campus Apartments.” The April 29 edition of The Heights reported a “surprise to many” and an April Fool’s joke coming true, at least partially — “Women: Marriages Permitted; Apartments Okay for Seniors.” Also in that issue, classmate Richard Sawaya went off on the state of life in BC residence halls in his article/essay “The Deprivation and Dehumanization of The Resident Community as Perpetrated by the Dormitory Regulations under the Direction of Irratio Studiorum.”
1967
The April 7 Heights reported that, for the first time, the College of Business Administration would have a lay dean. It offered an interview with newly-appointed Albert Kelly, former deputy director of NASA’s Electronic Research Center. The same issue reported that BC’s team on GE College Bowl was seeking its fourth straight victory in the televised college student quiz show. Unfortunately, the Eagles, two of whom were classmates Richard Bruno (CBA) and John Posch (A&S), fell short in a close match, 180-175, with Louisiana State University-New Orleans, ending their run on the show. BC had earlier defeated University of Tampa, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, and Wells College.
1967 Sub Turri photo
“YAF speakers uphold war, outline Communist threat” was the headline in the April 14 Heights. Three speakers, including a Jesuit priest, spoke at the forum sponsored by Young Americans for Freedom (YAF). April 16-21 was to be “Women’s Week” on campus and an article in the same edition outlined activities and programs. A letter to the editor bemoaned “The exploding BC campus.” Just wait! Classmates Jim Kissane and Steve Dowling were announced as captains of the 1967-68 basketball and hockey teams. Classmate Tom Sugrue, in his column “Bits ‘n pieces,” rails against brisk mid-April weather (even back then): “I’m convinced the weather on the polar ice cap is better than that in eastern Massachusetts — at least there you expect sub-freezing temperatures in the middle of April.” In the April 21 edition, there is a small feature article on the Beacon Street Union, a band made up of current and former BC students. The April 28 Heights reported on admissions data for the Class of 1971. It reported that 25 percent of those who applied were accepted. Interestingly, recent news from BC said entrance was offered to 27 percent of those who applied to be in the Class of 2022. Photo below is from same edition.
Notice, April 9, 1968 Heights
1968
Three men’s dorms lost parietal privileges for two weeks because of procedural violations and drunk and disorderly behavior, the April 2 Heights reported. Residents of Kostka, Gonzaga, and Fenwick were those affected. A feature on alternative newspapers cited Cambridge-based Avatar as a model. The April 9 Heights reported on the details of the upcoming “Academic Day of Conscience” to be held on campus April 24. Among the speakers was to be BU Professor Howard Zinn.
The outside world
1965
President Johnson authorizes on April 1 the first offensive actions by US Marines in South Vietnam. The first jet-to-jet combat over Vietnam took place on April 3, when eight North Vietnamese MiG-17s engaged four US F8-E Crusaders. No planes were shot down. The next day, two US Air Force F-105s were shot down, the first on either side in the war. My Fair Lady won eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Director. Mary Poppins won five Oscars, with star Julie Andrews winning Best Actress. The Harris County Domed Stadium in Houston opened on April 9. It became known later as The Astrodome. On April 13, a 16-year-old high school student from New York City became the first African-American to serve as a Senate page. The first major demonstration against the Vietnam War, organized by Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), was held April 17 in Washington, DC. The United States began a military occupation of the Dominican Republic, in support of a counter-coup to an attempt to establish a second Communist country in the Caribbean.
1966
The final original episode of Dr. Kildare was broadcast on NBC on April 5. Time Magazine’s cover for its April 8 (Good Friday) edition was a black cover with the words, in red ink, “Is God Dead?” American B-52s bombed North Vietnam for the first time on April 12. The “Cultural Revolution” was officially proclaimed in the People’s Republic of China on April 18. On the same day, Bill Russell became the first African-American coach in the National Basketball Association when he was selected to lead the Boston Celtics at the end of the season. The Sound of Music won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Roberta Gibb became the first woman to run the April 19 Boston Marathon, though she was “unofficial.” On April 21, an artificial heart was implanted for the first time into a human being. The New York Herald Tribune published its last issue on April 23.
1967
The Boeing 737 made its first flight on April 9. Academy Awards went to A Man for All Seasons for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor (Paul Scofield). Elizabeth Taylor won Best Actress for Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Tom Seaver made his major league debut as a New York Mets pitcher on April 13. Aretha Franklin’s recording of “Respect” is released on April 16. The last original episode of Gilligan’s Island was broadcast on CBS on April 17. A military dictatorship took control of Greece on April 21. James Earl Ray, serving 20 years for armed robbery, escaped from the Missouri State Penitentiary on April 23. Forty-nine weeks later, he would assassinate Dr. Martin Luther King. On April 28, world heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali refused to take the oath of induction into the US Army. He was stripped of his title the same day. Daylight Savings Time went into effect, under federal law, throughout the US on April 30.
1968
The final original episode of The Andy Griffith Show was broadcast April 1 on CBS. On April 2, Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey premiered in the US. Martin Luther King delivered what would be his last speech on April 3 outside the Masonic Temple in Memphis, Tenn. He would be shot and killed the next day. (We’ll have much more about this in a separate post.) Scottish race driver Jim Clark was killed April 7 while competing in a race in Germany. Funeral services for Martin Luther King were held in Atlanta, Ga., on April 9. Infiltrators from North Korea ambushed a US Army truck south of the DMZ on April 14, killing two American and two South Korean soldiers. Columbia University students seize a campus administration building on April 24, beginning a six-day occupation. Vice President Hubert Humphrey officially announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for president on April 27. The musical Hair opened on Broadway on April 29.