Based on an article written by Frank da Cruz, in 1968 Columbia University was a more political than educational institution. Several political factions were made, and they aimed at reaching out to the people responsible for listening and acting upon their demands. However, the formal methods of asking for their rights seemed futile. This caused radicalization of the students. One of the reasons why the students became radicalized was because students with poor grades would get drafted for the Vietnam War and these activities had practically turned Colombia into a military base.
Racism was another reason for radicalization. Construction of the new gym in campus caused a tumult among some students because the back door was constructed on the Harlem side giving it potential for segregation and students attempted to bring down the fence surrounding the gym to try and stop the construction. The police however restrained and arrested some students in a quest to prevent further damage to the construction site and the sundial rally involved in the break-in spent the night in the Hamilton Hall. Racism was experienced the next day as the white students were allowed to leave the Hamilton and into the office of the president, while the blacks were retained in the building.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
The invasion of the police in the campus was regarded as an invasion of academia and was a third reason for radicalization. The student factions decided to resist the police order to vacate the school by fortifying the entrances of the occupied buildings and they decided that they would have to be dragged out by force rather than walk out. As a result, they got hurt when being dragged out and ended up in police cells.
