Columbia Students Seize Campus: Vietnam Protest Shuts University
Students at Columbia University occupied five campus buildings on April 23, 1968, protesting the university's involvement in defense research through the Institute for Defense Analyses and its plan to build a gymnasium in Morningside Park that would have restricted access for the neighboring Harlem community. The occupation lasted a week before NYPD officers cleared the buildings on April 30, arresting 712 people and injuring over 100. The violent police response radicalized moderate students and faculty, shutting down the university for the remainder of the semester. Columbia dropped both the gym project and its IDA affiliation. The protests inspired similar occupations at dozens of universities across the country and reshaped the relationship between universities and their surrounding communities.
April 23, 1968
58 years ago
Key Figures & Places
What Else Happened on April 23
They built a shrine to a goddess of desire right after losing an army. In 215 BC, panic drove Rome's leaders to dedicate Venus Erycina on the Capitoline Hill fo…
A queen falls, not in battle's heat, but to a sack that turns stone to dust. In 599, Uneh Chan of Calakmul crushed Palenque's defenses, killing Queen Yohl Ik'na…
Dagobert III ascended to the Frankish throne following the death of his father, Childebert III. His reign deepened the decline of Merovingian authority, as the …
A seven-year-old boy in a wool tunic stood under a canopy while nobles held their breath. Dagobert III didn't rule; his father, Pepin II, did everything behind …
Brian Boru, High King of Ireland, defeated a Viking-Dublin alliance at the Battle of Clontarf on April 23, 1014, near modern Dublin. The fighting lasted from da…
Brian Boru's army smashed the Viking line at Clontarf, yet the High King died under his own tent while celebrating victory. Three thousand men fell that April d…
Talk to History
Have a conversation with historical figures who witnessed this era. Ask questions, explore perspectives, and bring history to life.