May each year was a time of anticipation. Finals, summer vacation, summer job, maybe some travel. Of course, that last May — in 1968 — carried an extra level of excitement, suspense. It was our last one at BC.

Befitting the truncated timeframe of Mays, there were only a few issues of The Heights. Two each in May of 1965 and 1966, one each in May 1967 and 1968. Here are some of the things that happened on campus . . . and in the outside world . . . in May each of the years we were at BC. Little did we know what was to come.

1965
The May 7 Heights carried an article “Cadets Go Through Paces In Ft. Devens Training Day.” The day’s activities were considered a prelude to the ROTC brigade’s “summer camp.” The article referred to Fort Devens as being in “western Massachusetts.” As the installation is located just outside what is now I-495, I guess that pretty much counted as “western” to a Boston-centric writer. According to the article, those cadets overseeing the activities were “gaily attired in fatigues and ascots.”

BC ROTC on the range

On the back page, in Sports, there was a small item reporting that classmate Steve Adelman had been named to the 15-member US basketball team that would participate in the Maccabiah Games that August. The Games are a worldwide competition among Jewish athletes, held every four years in Israel.

Also, our classmates on the football team had their first competition as members of the varsity in the game the concluded spring practice. In it, “MAROONS 42, WHITES 0.” Classmates mentioned were Brendan McCarthy, Dick DeLeonardis, and Joe DiVito.

The Heights announced in its May 14 issue that “Fr. Healey, Prof. Maguire Share Heights Man of the Year Award.” Both men were faculty members in the Classics Department. Interestingly, the following year, students came back from summer break to learn Fr. Healey had been dismissed from the faculty, with no reasons announced.

Debating was a big deal back then. Page one carried coverage of the Fulton-Gargan prize debate and banquet, involving several of our classmates, though only freshmen then. “McLaughlin, Halli Cop Fulton-Gargan Prize” used a term not often used in formal debate, but reported that classmate Robert Halli had “copped” the “supreme” prize for underclassmen. Also mentioned in the article were classmates Dick Sumberg, John Riley, and Art Desrosiers.

There was an odd item on the front page as well. An “article” about ROTC . . . written in German, by “Hans Hanrahan, ROTC PIO.” I expect “DIE KINDER-SOLDATEN JA, JA, JA!” was intended as “humorous” or “satirical.” Then again, I don’t know German.

Page three reported “Revised Theology Program Announced for All Schools.” Beginning in the fall, all students, except in Evening College, would take the same series of Theology courses.

Feature writer Michael Egger gave an account of that year’s annual “panty raid” by Harvard men on Radcliffe in “PAGANS OVER THE CHARLES.”

1966
The May 6 issue announced “Theology Dept. Appoints Three New Professors.” Reflecting the changing times in theology at BC, the new faculty members included a rabbi and a woman. The woman was Mary Daly, who later became the source of much controversy. A self-described “radical lesbian feminist,” she was given a “terminal contract” by BC in 1969 following the publication of her first book, “The Church and the Second Sex,” which meant she would not return to the faculty after that semester. A petition signed by 2,500 BC students and protests led to her contract renewal and later tenure. In 1999, following controversy at her refusal to allow men into her classes, she retired rather than change her policy.

Ad in May 13, 1966, Heights

The following week, page one announced “Frs. Leonard & Flanagan ‘Men of the Year.’” William Leonard, SJ, was chairman of the Theology Department and Joseph Flanagan, SJ, headed up the Philosophy Department. Both were cited for their leadership of changes in both departments.

Co-sports editor (with classmate Reid Oslin) and classmate Dan Connolly penned a column “STUDENTS?” which he chastised the too many BC student-athletes of our day who acted boorishly. “It doesn’t take that much effort to pick them out,” he said. “Shoving in line ahead of people who have been waiting for considerable time, shuffling across campus in their sweater-tie-levis with the wingtip shoes, refusing to bus their trays in the caf, or meandering on the Upper Campus in shower thongs and gray ‘T’ shirts.” And this from a sports editor!

1967
The Junior Class (that was us) sponsored a concert by Ray Charles on Saturday, May 6, according to an item in The Heights of May 5, the only edition of the month. The performance was at 2 pm in Roberts Center. Three bucks a ticket. I went. Probably with a date. What the heck — blow $6. I remember very much enjoying the Raelettes.

Classmate and Heights editor-in-chief Mike Rahill offered a review of 1966-67 in “What follows ‘in loco parentis’?” “Looking at the most dramatic elements,” Rahill began, “it [the year] began badly and ended worse.”

“Senate commends ‘unsung’ juniors” mentioned several classmates: Roy Dado, Ed Hattauer, Mike Mastronardi, Mike Rahill, John Riley, Joe Ryan, and Jim Stanton. This was the A&S Student Senate and they commended the group “for understanding (sic), and for the most part, unheralded work on behalf of the class of 1968. . . .” I’m gonna guess they meant “outstanding” work and I’m also going to assume they thought us sports writers/editors among the class were already heralded sufficiently.

A letter from Prof. Vincent McCrossen (more about him in a coming post) — “About the anarchists” — described what he considered a lot of “fuzzy thinking” surrounding what he described as the Heights-editors-Baird case. “As a non-extremist myself . . . ,” he said, “I take my stand unconditionally on the side of Fr. Drury but equally unconditionally plead for non-punishment of The Heights editors.”

Junior Show 1967

Features editor John Golenski reviewed the Junior Show (that’s us again) and really liked it. In “You did succeed,” he said, “In performance, competence and professionality, ‘How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying’ attained near perfection.” Classmates praised in the review included Chip Auker, Jane Larchez, Richard DeRusso, Alan Borsari, and Elaine Nelson for performances onstage; Michele Lentine, John Trapani, and Phil Martel for backstage work; and especially Phil di Belardino, director.

The first annual Heights Athlete of the Year Award went to Billy Evans, sophomore guard on the basketball team. In “EVANS ATHLETE OF THE YEAR,” the article noted that, in a vote of the sports staff, Evans garnered one vote more than classmate Jim Kavanagh, star on both the football and track teams. The Heights still has this annual award. Except, for many years, awards have gone to the male and female athletes of the year.

1968
The May 7 Heights led off with a review of the presidency of Michael Walsh, SJ, who had announced his retirement in February. “Fr. Walsh completes decade as president” was as much tribute as news article. It concluded with, “He has given us the right to be proud, not only of past accomplishment but of our opportunities for future greatness.”

Members of the Lewis Drill Team display trophies, May 1968

Also on page one, “HEW examines enrollment of Boston Negroes at BC.” The then-US Department of Health, Education and Welfare, the article said, spent two days on campus interviewing top administrators as part of a nationwide study of how colleges were dispensing federal funds in light of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. An HEW official told the Boston Globe that BC was chosen as a representative university in a large urban area. The article noted that enrollment of African-Americans at BC at the time was less than one percent.

The “news briefs” on page two contained a brief item announcing an upcoming meeting of the “University Committee Against Racism.” The meeting was to discuss summer programs, racism in the university, and racism in the university’s hiring practices.”

“Little progress made in women’s dorms; food quality remains major complaint” pretty much says it. While the page one article about Fr. Walsh contained praise, this article concluded with “The Council of Resident Women feels that Fr. Walsh has tried very little to help the situation.”

There was another year in review. Its tone might be inferred from the title — “The slithy toves did gyre and gimble in the wabe.”

Usually, “The Heights Man of the Year” was selected by an advisory board of former editors. Apparently, in spring 1968, that cantankerous group could not agree on a recipient. So the current editors of The Heights did it on their own — “F.X. Shea, S.J., acclaimed as Heights Man of the Year.”

“Negro talent search begins process of implementation” reported on a significant change in BC’s effort to recruit African-American students “from Boston ghettoes.” The four-person committee of BC representatives overseeing the effort added three community representatives.

“Academic Day of Conscience opens up dialogue at BC” reported on a coordinated series of events about “the war and racism” held on campus April 24. Lectures, films, and workshops provided the content. The BC chapter of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) joined the BC Faculty Committee for Peace in organizing the day. The student group was headed by classmates Rick Lareau and Gerry Shea. Principal speaker on the day was Prof. Howard Zinn of Boston University.

“Mastronardi sweeps field in Leonard Speech Contest” reported that classmate Michael Mastronardi won first prize for his talk on the cause and effects of white racism in American society. Classmate John Riley was second and third went to classmate Pradeep Nijhawan.

The Heights sports staff made up for the previous year by honoring classmate Jim Kavanagh — “Kavanagh named as ’68 ‘Athlete of Year.’”

In the outside world

1965
On May 2, Wagon Train ended its eight-year run on NBC and later ABC. Forty UC Berkeley students, all male, appeared before the local draft board on May 5 and burned their “draft cards,” marking the first major instance of what would become a more common event. West Germany formally established diplomatic relations with Israel on May 12. While waiting to take off on a mission May 16, a US B-57B jet bomber exploded at Bien Hoa Air Base in South Vietnam, setting off a chain reaction of explosions that destroyed 21 aircraft and killed 27 US Air Force personnel. On May 17, gas stations affiliated with the Cities Service Company changed their signage to say “Citgo.” The iconic sign in Kenmore Square was changed around that time. On May 25, Muhammad Ali knocked out Sonny Liston with a “phantom punch” in the first round in Lewiston, Maine. (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction by the Rolling Stones was released on May 27.

1966
More than 400,000 male college students took the “draft deferment examination” at colleges and universities around the country on May 14. On May 16, the albums Pet Sounds by the Beach Boys and Blonde on Blonde by Bob Dylan were released. In Northern Ireland, on May 21, the Protestant Ulster Defence Force “declared war” on the Catholic Irish Republican Army. The final episode of Perry Mason was shown on CBS on May 22, ending a nine-season run. The weekly report of US casualties in the Vietnam War for May 15-21 was a record high: 146 Americans killed and 820 wounded.

1967
Elvis Presley and Priscilla Beaulieu were married on May 1 in a brief civil ceremony at the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas. In a protest against gun control, a group of 40 members of the Black Panthers, armed with rifles, shotguns, and pistols, forced their way into a May 2 session of the California Assembly in Sacramento. No violence occurred and police confiscated the weapons. There were no arrests as no state law had been broken and the weapons were returned. The Jimi Hendrix Experience made its debut May 12 with the release of the album Are You Experienced. The number of American servicemen killed in Vietnam on May 18 was 101, marking the first time more than 100 Americans were killed in a single day. At the close of the week ending May 20, a record 337 US servicemen had been killed in Vietnam that week. The weekly total also raised the overall number of Americans killed in Vietnam to more than 10,000. The aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy (CV-67) was christened on May 27 by the late president’s nine-year-old daughter Caroline.

1968
Representatives of the United States and North Vietnam met in Paris for the first time on May 10 to discuss peace talks. On May 12, a North Vietnamese force overran a US Army Special Forces camp at Kham Duc, shooting down an American C-130 transport plane as it was evacuating the area and killing the 156 on board. All but six aboard the plane were South Vietnamese civilians. The American nuclear-powered submarine USS Scorpion sank on May 22, 400 miles from the Azores, killing all 99 of the crew. Baseball’s National League voted on May 27 to expand to 12 teams, awarding franchises to San Diego and Montreal.

It preceded the more famous “Summer of Love” in 1967 and certainly cannot be credited with inspiring that apex of hippiness, but BC’s “Gentle Monday” — May 1, 1967 — was an expression, albeit muted, of similar sentiments. As the cartoon above implied, Gasson Hall was going to go from straight to groovy that day.

Well, not quite. There were quite a few people there groovin’ as expected, but others apparently were less tolerant of such behavior. What were intended as treats ended up as missiles, with some participants throwing donuts at others, in less than playful ways. There wasn’t a lot of structure to the event, as one might expect about something intended to be spontaneous and freewheeling.

The crowd on Bapst lawn

There was a queen crowned, by classmate Richard Sawaya. And the university administration was represented by George Drury, SJ, director of university personnel services, and the person who had brought “charges” against Heights editors for the public appearance on campus of birth control activist Bill Baird, only a couple of weeks before. If someone can explain the role of “Naked Ned,” I’d welcome it.

Gentle Monday queen Janice Kolar flanked by Fr. Drury on right and Naked Ned on left.

Enjoy some photos from that halcyon, but somewhat marred, day.

There was a second Gentle Monday on April 29, 1968. But, as Marty Funke of The Heights editorial staff put it in his May 7, 1968 opinion piece on page one — “Donuts to Gentle Monday” — it had been “somewhat of a disaster.” Donuts again played a major role. After a band had been playing for a little bit, donuts became available and immediately hit the air. The band, according to Funke, “got bombarded, and gave up in something approximating rage and frustration.”

“The point, children, is this,” concluded Funke. “At the moment, there is no such thing as Gentle Monday. Anybody who sensed what this thing was supposed to be about will never show up again, except as disgusted spectators.”

Here, though, are some photos from Gentle Monday 1968.

1968 actually was the last Gentle Monday for us, as we graduated that June. The Heights in April 1969 refers to a “Gentle Mayday,” and a few photos I believe from it show a couple of balloons not donuts. In 1970, it seems the notions of gentle and fun had run their course. The students at that time were on strike, in opposition to a proposed tuition hike, and with some students occupying Botolph House, office of the BC president.

Boston Globe headline April 28, 1967

About a week after activist Bill Baird had been arrested by Boston police for talking about birth control and handing out contraceptives at a Boston University appearance on April 6, 1967, The Heights carried a front-page article “Baird to talk despite friction” with an overline, “Birth Control Lecture on Monday.”

Baird had been arrested for violating Massachusetts’ “Crimes against Chastity” statute, which, among other things, prohibited the distribution of contraceptives, or even information about them, by anyone other than a physician or pharmacist and then only to married persons.

A few days following Baird’s arrest, classmate and Heights editor Mike Rahill had communicated with James McIntyre, then director of student personnel services, about an upcoming Heights-sponsored lecture on campus by Baird. Rahill requested the lecture take place in Bapst Auditorium. McIntyre, according to the article, informed Rahill of BC’s “structure” policy, under which the University “reserves the right to structure the format and prescribe conditions for certain non-university speakers.”

(To be forewarned, this post is quite Heights-centric. While, overall, the issues involved included free speech, campus rules, etc., a relatively small portion of the student body likely paid much attention to this particular episode of our years at BC.)

The Heights announced that Baird’s talk would take place on Monday, April 17, at 4 pm at “a site which had not been determined.” The Heights had told McIntyre that, if BC did not permit the lecture to take place in Bapst, Baird would speak to Heights staff in McElroy 102, the newspaper’s office, and, the article said, “Anyone interested in hearing Mr. Baird speak is invited to attend.”

Later coverage of the affair in The Heights reported that George Drury, SJ, director of university personnel services, had told the editors on Thursday, April 13, after the paper’s deadline, that Baird would be permitted to speak, but only to Heights editors and staff, not “publicly.” Fr. Drury said BC’s decision was not based on the content of Baird’s talk but because of Baird’s “irresponsible actions” at BU.

In the days, indeed hours, leading up to the Baird appearance, behind the scenes at The Heights, of which I and classmate Tom Sugrue were co-sports editors, there was more than a bit of tension. It’s difficult to remember all the details and timeline, but ultimately Baird appeared and spoke in McElroy on that Monday, the 17th, to a packed Heights office and, via speakers, to hundreds of students pressed in the hallways of McElroy’s first floor.

Earlier that Monday, Heights editors had been asked to appear before Fr. Drury. He told those of us there that proceeding with Baird’s “public” appearance would be a “serious breach of university policy.” He warned us that, if we moved ahead with the appearance, he would refer the matter to the University Conduct Committee and that possible repercussions could include suspension, revocation of financial aid, and removal from editorial position. Following that meeting, the editors met in The Heights office to vote on how to proceed.

Personally, I was flummoxed. I strongly supported our right to have Baird appear, but I had no idea how I would explain to my parents, who were funding most of my education, that I would risk suspension from school, and whatever that could mean to grad school, etc. As the vote moved around the circle of us sitting on chairs, desks, etc., I grew increasingly anxious about what I would do. I don’t remember whether editorial page editor and classmate Bob O’Neill was immediately before me or a couple of people before me, but when he said he would abstain I had my answer. I also abstained. Not my moment of highest integrity, but certainly a moment of relief.

Mike Rahill, left, and Bill Baird

The vote actually ended up 4-4-2, four in favor of Baird appearing (including Rahill, editor-in-chief, and classmate Gerry Shea, managing editor) four opposed (including classmates Ed Amento and Don Bouchoux), and two abstentions. The higher ranking editors had stated their votes had greater weight than those in “lesser” positions, which caused some rancor. Most of the higher weighted votes were in favor, so the motion passed.

Baird spoke for 45 minutes in the Heights office, according to the April 18 article in the Boston Globe, “Birth Control Talk Sneaked In at B.C.,“ (BG_Baird_041867), to about 350 people “most of whom had to stand in basement corridors to hear the speech over a public address system.” As Baird had promised beforehand, he did not distribute any contraceptives.

The crowded Heights office during Baird’s talk.

The issue of editors’ votes having different values became somewhat moot when Sugrue, who had been absent from the original vote, added his vote in favor. Tom had been visiting his home in New York City that weekend and didn’t get back to campus until after the vote. He did attend the Baird speech, however.

“No one was really pressing me to ‘go on the record,'” he recalled, “but, after thinking about it overnight and talking about it with friends, I decided I wanted to align myself with the ‘rebels,’ so to speak.”

Tom drafted a letter to Fr. Drury asking to be included among those editors facing sanctions. Before submitting it, he had the chance to talk it over with his father, a journalist. “Being a newspaperman professionally and a liberal politically (and a good dad),” Tom said, “he said it was up to me, but he supported what I planned to do.”

“That, obviously, made the decision a lot easier,” Tom added. “To be candid, I recognize that the whole decision-making process, while a difficult one, was easier for me than for others. While I said in my statement to Fr. Drury that, had I been at the editors meeting, I would have voted to proceed with the Baird speech, I don’t really know that for sure. I had the big advantage of being able to think about things overnight, consult with people, weigh the pro’s and con’s, etc., compared to others who had to make a difficult decision on the spot.”

Sugrue’s initial effort to join the other editors facing sanction was rejected by Fr. Drury on the basis of his absence from the editorial meeting. Tom even appealed to the chair of the conduct board, CBA assistant dean Christopher Flynn. Flynn, according to Sugrue, said the letter was “very nice,” but he did not think it necessary to add Sugrue to those to appear before the board. “He clearly seemed interested in tamping the whole thing down,” said Sugrue, “not expanding it.” While Flynn did not say so explicitly, Tom added, “he left me with the distinct impression that he thought the situation never should have gotten to where it was.”

The April 21 Heights reported “Editors facing sanctions in fight over Baird lecture.” The issue also contained an article about Baird’s talk itself — “Baird claims birth control laws here ‘most backward’” — rather than the administration’s response and an analysis based on an interview with Fr. Drury, “‘Catholic’ vs. ‘university.’”

A week later, the Globe, reporting on a “two-hour closed hearing” of the conduct board on April 27 in McElroy, predicted “Mild Rebuke Likely For B.C. Editors” (BG_leniency_042867), The “tip-off” to mild, according to the Globe, came when Fr. Drury, who brought the charges, asked the board to “choose to be lenient, not severe.” Dean Flynn confirmed that inclination when he replied, “It was never the intention of this committee to disturb [the editors’] scholarship standing, the Heights, or their editorial positions.”

The Globe also reported that about 200 BC students “clogged the halls” outside the room. The students, blocked from attending, sang the Mickey Mouse song, the Globe said, and locked the doors of the room from the outside. “A priest unlocked them with a master key before the meeting ended,” said the Globe.

In the April 28 Heights, written before the board hearing took place but published the day after, the only mention of the topic is a small notice on page one that says a full story would appear in the next issue. That it did — “Conduct board to decide on editors’ fate after May 8.” But that was the last issue of the academic year. News of the final decision spread only by word of mouth until the September 11 edition of The Heights, a short four-page “orientation” issue, reported briefly that the editors were “officially reprimanded” and warned of harsher consequences if the behavior was repeated.

Bill Baird (remember him?) was out on bail from his arrest at BU when he spoke at BC. He later spent three months in the then-Charles Street Jail for violating the Commonwealth’s “Crimes against Chastity” statute. In 1972, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled, in Eisenstadt v. Baird (Thomas Eisenstadt was then sheriff of Suffolk County), the appeal of Baird’s conviction, that unmarried Massachusetts citizens had the same right as married persons to contraceptives and information about them.

Until January 1968, when underclassmen took over editorial positions, The Heights had, with rare exception, run “tombstones” on each side of the newspaper’s masthead, as replicated above, from the January 13, 1967 issue. (The whippersnappers also changed the title’s font, going away from the traditional gothic type. Harrumph.)

Early on, the tombstones primarily pointed to content inside, or urged on the sports teams. Indeed, the message on the first issue of The Heights we saw as freshmen (September 25, 1964) was “Head For The Point . . . And Let’s Beat Army.”

As the years went on, the messages carried in the tombstones sometimes got a little “snarky.” Here’s a selection, snarky and otherwise, through our years at BC.

Even sports-related tombstones got a little snarky.

November 12, 1965

At times, the messages were directed at particular campus issues.

December 9, 1966

October 28, 1966

September 11, 1967 — Orientation Issue

This one below was more admonishment. It was in the issue of The Heights following a day of protest and counter-protest to the visit and speech by Vice-President Hubert Humphrey, obviously associated with the Johnson administration and its Vietnam policy. BC students, larger in number than those protesting Humphrey, heckled and harassed the protestors. The issue carried an editorial and an advertisement signed by campus community members criticizing the BC crowd.

October 21, 1966

Many of the tombstones simply expressed the political stance of whomever created the tombstones, though likely reflective overall of the top level of editorial leadership. (McElroy 102 was the Heights office.)

May 6, 1966

February 3, 1967

And others were a little more reflective of somewhat bold self-description.

May 5, 1967

April 1, 1966 (The April Fools edition)

December 14, 1966

I wonder if this next one was original or whether it was at the time a meme going around in particularly Catholic circles. It was pointed and memorable.

November 3, 1967

Finally, there were those that simply said it was the end of a long week and it was time to let loose.

April 28, 1967

Graphic on Heights Page 5, April 9, 1968, encapsulates a tumultuous week

The April 9, 1968, edition of The Heights focused, to no one’s surprise, on the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the previous Thursday. The lead article focused on the responses by local colleges and the Boston community. Above the masthead, flanking a photo of Dr. King, was an untitled, unsigned editorial. Its opening sentence portended its strong and angry tone: “There is a darkness in this country.”

The editorial described Dr. King’s death as having “the aura of futility and foolhardiness.” Dr. King saw “the darkness surrounding the American soul and his response was to love. . . . In all of this, Martin Luther King seems a fool.”

“Martin Luther King had a dream — the transformation of this country and all its citizens,” the editorial concluded. “His dream has died with him.”

The article on local response to Dr. King’s death also reported interesting BC background information. According to the article, classmate James Mooney called Charles Donovan, S.J., academic vice-president, at midnight following Dr. King’s death, asking Fr. Donovan to cancel classes on the following day, Friday. Fr. Donovan originally declined to cancel classes, the article said, because, “he feared giving the impression of panic.” He did agree to meet with students, faculty, and administrators the following morning at 9.

At that meeting, the article reported, he agreed to cancel classes and hold a memorial service. A Mass started at 9:45 am, I would guess in Bapst. F. X. Shea, S.J., had spent time in Selma, Ala., with Dr. King and offered a eulogy. He encouraged students to attend events in downtown Boston. Classmate Joanne Calore Turco recalls: “I attended a memorial service outside the library. Then, I think, there was a march down Commonwealth Avenue and some kind of demonstration on Boston Common.”

Further into the paper were articles, essays, and “personal accounts” by Heights staff members. Associate Editor Jack Foley and newswriter Hillard Pouncy traveled to Roxbury the night of Dr. King’s killing “to measure the response of the Negro community.” Foley’s account had the headline “Some were crying, most were staring.” Pouncy’s account carried the headline “Now a matter of survival.” Associate Editor Richard Small added an personal commentary “Now is the end of non-violence.”

Small mentioned that he was writing his column “very early on a Friday morning.” I think this edition of The Heights was probably put together under a lot of pressure. Such a major event as the assassination of the nation’s leading civil rights figure would bring such pressure by its very nature. There was also the timing. In March of that year, The Heights changed its production schedule. Instead of appearing on Fridays, with editorial work being done at the beginning of each week, issues came out on Tuesday. Plans for this edition were wiped away by events and speed was the likely factor that led to the unfortunate errors in the headline for the lead article “Colleges and Boston morn (sic) assasination (sic) of Dr. King.” Very noble effort overall, however.

Picture used in special edition of The Heights, April 9, 1968

This date, 50 years ago, was for many the darkest day of our last semester of college.

During the evening of April 4, 1968, most of us would have heard the news — from radio or TV or friends — that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had been shot and killed.

(It’s certainly difficult and perhaps inappropriate to try to gauge the impact of horrible events. Different people would have had different reactions, or levels of reaction, to different events. The assassination of Sen. Robert Kennedy occurred a couple of days after our graduation.)

This was the CBS News report on the assassination.

The timing of the news — late in the day — and its stunning impact pushed much reaction to the following day. Remember, there weren’t the 24-hour cable news channels and there were no “social media,” except landline phones and personal conversation.

President Johnson, as the CBS newscast showed, addressed the nation that night. And Bobby Kennedy also spoke that night to a crowd of people in inner-city Indianapolis, Ind., who had not heard the news.

I don’t remember when I heard the news exactly and don’t recall exactly where I was when I did. It was a school night, a Thursday, so I assume I was at our apartment in Brookline. I may well have seen the very CBS broadcast shown above. Do you remember the moment you heard about Dr. King’s death?

There was certainly a lot of public apprehension nationwide about what kinds of reaction there might be to Dr. King’s killing and Boston was no exception to that feeling. Boston, however, because of something unusual, did not suffer the same reaction many American cities did. We’ll have a post about that tomorrow.

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.

(Not exactly “us,” meaning BC students, but fellow college students of our time. The April 2, 1968, issue of Look Magazine featured a report on college student attitudes, collected from 23 editors of college newspapers around the country. Below are excerpts. Do these reflect your views at the time? Do you think BC was typical of American colleges of the day? More conservative? More liberal?)

People who think of the university years as a time of carefree joy and youthful optimism had better go back to campus for a visit. They might be surprised. Today, across the nation, a complicated sickness is eating away at the souls of many American college students. In huge educational factories, on tiny exclusive campuses, at religious schools and among the strongholds of iconoclasm, the anguish is felt. Some students seem to feel it more than others, some verbalize it articulately, while others just vaguely feel something is wrong.

[Speaking with panels of campus newspaper editors from the East, Midwest, and West] we found that the same issues dominated the discussions of all the panels: the Vietnam war, a desire for more student power, race relations in the U.S., and a nameless malaise born of the feeling among students that their personal destinies are caught up in forces they cannot influence.

Vietnam and the draft were the central issues. There is a panic on the American campus of 1968. The long-smoldering uneasiness about the U.S. role in the Vietnam war has suddenly been ignited by the Government’s February decision to end deferments for most graduate students. The senior of ’68 can temporize no longer. Come June, he stands an almost 50-50 chance of being drafted unless there is another sudden shift in the Selective Service laws.

But it is not only the world beyond the university gates that troubles today’s student. The type of learning he gets is also a source of misgivings. Many editors report a growing dissatisfaction, and tell of the rising demand for a more loosely structured curriculum, one that is more relevant to the kind of world into which the students will be emerging. Basic to this desire for education reform is the demand that university administrations give a bigger chunk of the decision-making to students themselves, including the power to discipline.

Not all students on America’s campuses share the views of the college editors on Look‘s panels. As our participants agree, most undergraduates are immersed in the day-to-day demands of academic life, are seldom in the ranks of the placard carriers no matter what the cause.

Vietnam
. . . [T]he war dominated the students’ discussion. . . . Only two students said they were in favor of current U.S. policy in Vietnam. The attitudes of the rest ranged from doubt to outright hostility. But more than policy, the talk centered on the draft, surfacing alienation, confusion and bitterness. . . . “I don’t like the war over there,” [says Notre Dame’s Pat Collins], I don’t think we should be there, but what the hell can I do?” Harvard’s Joel Kramer says: “. . . Students think about the war and what their commitment is to the United States, and whether they believe in their country’s fighting. Then they think about the draft in terms of one question: Am I going to serve in the Army? They don’t worry about whether Negroes are being drafted disproportionately, or poor people being drafted instead of rich people. There is only one question: What am I going to do when they knock on my door?”

. . . Adrienne Manns, reporting on the feeling at predominantly Negro Howard University, says, “A lot of fellows feel they shouldn’t be involved in the Army at all, under any circumstance. It has little to do with Vietnam. They don’t feel that they have a responsibility to the country because they don’t feel it’s their country, that they are considered citizens of it or respected.”

. . . The editors acknowledge that most students will not resist the draft, although they might feel strongly that the war is wrong. They are acutely aware of the penalties for open resistance.

Race
. . . Behind the war and the question of educational reform, the race issue was cited by student editors as the most talked-about topic on campus in 1968. But there was much less unanimity of attitudes. Some students thought the problems of color were easing and believed their generation would be much freer of prejudice than their parents’.

. . . But the race issue elicits feelings that some students confess are ambivalent. . . . Some editors, quizzed on their attitude toward interracial marriage, admitted they “found it troubling,” or “it bothers me,” or “I feel no shock when I see others, but I don’t think I could.” Still others said, “it doesn’t bother me in the least,” and cited interracial couples whom they knew.

For the most part, racial attitudes tended to reflect the students’ regional mores. But like everything else, race is taking a backseat to Vietnam. “The civil-rights issue is dying,” says the University of Nevada’s George Frank. “Now, the war is the most important issue because it hits those between 18 and 25. It means life or death to them.”

Education reform
While they debate the proper way to pierce the walls around many venerated traditions, a growing number of students are also questioning the kind of education being given on their campuses, and calling for innovative revisions. Some of the dissatisfaction comes from the kinds of courses in which lessons and exams are rigidly structured and in which the student’s own contribution seems minimal. “The student no longer sits and listens gullibly as he did in the 1950’s,” says George Frank. “Today, he is evaluating everything the professor says to him in the light of his own knowledge — which may have been gained in or out of the classroom.”

. . . “After four years of Harvard,” says Kramer, “you begin thinking — maybe you start in your junior year — ‘I’ve been going to lectures for four years. Is this whole system of sitting in a room with 500 other students, listening to one man talking about Jonson’s poetry, is this the meaning of education?’ ”

As might be expected, educational philosophy is being affected by religious and racial changes. Frank Quigley of Fordham, a New York Catholic university, says: “The education at Fordham and the teachings we got at grammar school in the Catholic Church are two different things. Fordham is completely detached now from the stereotypical or ghetto [Catholic] mentality. We’ve gotten out of that. But now, you’re disoriented, and there are just no more [automatic] answers.”

. . . Joel Kramer offers an explanation for the students’ growing dissatisfaction with the relevance of their education, an explanation agreed upon by many of the undergraduate editors on Look‘s panels: “This is the first generation of students that is not going to school for purely economic reasons. At Harvard, most of their parents are professionals, and the kids don’t have to go to school just to make a living. Most of them are not worried about that. They, therefore, become the first generation, I think, to look at education as education. You begin to be very critical of it because you’re more interested in what it does to your mind than in what degree or diploma it gives you when you get out.”

Sex and drugs
Among the editors of Look‘s college panels, questions about sex and drugs on campus were received with pained tolerance. Always asked about them, they have become bored. The two subjects, which have furnished juicy tidbits for general newspaper readers, seem to have settled into the warp and woof of contemporary campus life. All three panels indicated that the use of LSD and the so-called “mind-expanding” drugs has peaked in the avant garde schools and is now on the wane. Marijuana, or “pot,” however, is now a standard campus commodity, students say.

. . . On matters of sex, student editors report a groping for significant relationships, sometimes through sex. Premarital sex is more the norm, although both men and women report that, among their acquaintances, sex is reserved for one’s betrothed or steady date. In sex, as in other areas of collegiate life, there are some hang-ups.

. . . Says Stephens College’s Sue Porter: “I think there’s too much concern on NOW in the dating situation. I kind of resent the fact that when somebody calls up for a date at a girls school, the party is probably going to be an emotional stimulation — either through drinking or sex — and not where you can just talk to people, communicate, like we’re doing now.” Everything seems geared “for the moment,” she says, “because it’s been a frustrating week, this is the only change to get away from the grades, the administrators and the frustrations of a week of school. I think maybe the schools are creating this, but I think, too, that we are creating it for ourselves.”

Heroes
. . . Quizzed on current campus heroes, the student editors found it difficult to name any. Some speak wistfully of the Kennedy era as the last of the hero worshipping days.

. . . The nearest thing to heroes for many students is the Beatles. “The Beatles grew up right along with us,” says Notre Dame’s Collins. “If you take the time to go through their music, it is really neat to see how these people with all their money still manage to keep moving, to keep telling the story while we are thinking of it. They’re like the great scribes of our era.”

. . . The names of the Presidential aspirants drew little except derisive laughter from most editors. . . . With few exceptions, LBJ was scorned.

Parents
. . . Many editors spoke devotedly of their parents but confessed to an inability to communicate with them on sensitive subjects. “My father just refuses to accept the fact that things are changing, that people are thinking about new things,” says one editor. . . . A girl says, “My father is all gung ho on education, to get X degrees, regardless of whether you learn or of what it means. I could get a Ph.D. in Brothel Management, and he’d be thrilled because I have a Ph.D. My father’s a dreamer who never realized his dreams. I dream, and I intend to realize mine.”

. . . [One editor says]: “Most of our parents grew up in the Depression, and they were really hurting. They are concerned with money, status, and they’re very insecure. Most of us, on the contrary, grew up in the most abundant society the world’s ever seen. And to us, abundance and all the trappings isn’t something to work for because you have it. You’re used to it, it’s nothing. So you start getting into human values because you’ve gone beyond the security thing. And our parents just can’t understand that.”

Look‘s conclusion
. . . To an adult outsider, the present mood on some campuses may seem like an aimless nihilism, a pointless lashing out at every target within slogan range. Especially, since some of the targets are the most deeply held notions of the over-thirty folk. But the thrashing about is often the outward symptom of a highly idealistic youth in an age when realpolitik dictates the suspension of ideals; when morality is a puzzle wrapped in platitudes; and the “national interest” is invoked to novocaine obvious contradictions. Faced with decisions such as their parents did not confront, the students of ’68 must become instant Thoreaus, micro-Solomons. Predictably, confusion vies with outrage, indecision contends with despair. But under it all runs a strong desire to make a positive achievement. . . . Fordham’s Quigley says: “You begin to feel in college that you are committed to some very high ideal, at least I do, but you don’t know what to do about it. Still, you can’t just go out and on to graduate school, then into your father’s business. Commitment is the antithesis of that. And to achieve something requires work.”

Students picking up the usual Friday edition of The Heights at the beginning of April 1966 saw some jaw-dropping headlines . . . like the one above. On the same front page were these headlines — “O’Connell to be Altered for New Student Union,” “Women to be Permitted Off Campus Apartments,” “CBA Dress Regulations Altered; Coats, Ties No Longer Required,” and “Cafe Will Serve Meat on Friday.”

Had BC suddenly agreed that the hopes and dreams of many students would be realized?

The “beginning” of April occurs on April 1, also known as “April Fools’ Day.” As a small note from the editors said, “Today we print the news of what we consider Boston College should be, but tragically is not. Next issue we shall return to printing news of what Boston College tragically is, but should not be.”

Perhaps not all would agree that the state of BC was “tragic,” but the issue covered a wide range of topics in terms both humorous and aspirational. It was reported, for example, that a joint effort by the Stylus and Humanities Series was to bring contemporary notables William Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, Lenny Bruce, and Paul Krassner to campus for a “writers’ conference.”

Other items in the eight-page truncated edition included announcements that the Commencement Address would be given by US Senator William Fulbright and that the Dustbowl was to be replaced with a park.

The sports section reported that a new student game ticket policy for football would have students sitting between the 30-yard-lines on the BC side. Now that was unbelievable!