While not Berkeley or Columbia, Case Western Reserve University became a visible part of American campus unrest in May 1970 when students blocked traffic on Euclid Avenue in the wake of the shootings at nearby Kent State University. This incident and the student strike that followed serve as the center points of what some remember as a brief campus flirtation with radical protest. Yet, the story of change and protest at CWRU is much deeper.
John Grabowski, the Krieger-Mueller Joint Professor in History, will present “Thirty Four Miles from Kent State: CWRU and the Vietnam War” as part of the Cleveland Humanities Festival.
Hosted by the Baker-Nord Center for the Humanities, the event will take place Friday, April 8, at 4:30 p.m. in the Iris S. and Bert L. Wolstein Research Building auditorium.
In his presentation, Grabowski will examine what happened at CWRU in the 1960s and early 1970s during the time of an unpopular war, a recent federation of two academic institutions, and unrest, violence and poverty in the neighborhoods adjacent to the campus.
Registration for the free event is available online.