1982_02 The Daily Collegian February 1982

              1952-61
Page 12—the Daily Collegian-February g, 1*182
New campus
takes shape
in Fifties
By Elaine Wobl
Dailly Collegian SiafT Wriler
Richie Cunningham of the 'Happy
Days* television show would have felt
right at home at Fresno State College in
the -SOs.
A picture may tell a thousand words,
but issues of the Daily Collegian during
the fun-filled (or so it sounded) campus
days of the 50s form their own picture—of
a college where fraternity and sorority
balls and dances blurred the seemingly
far-off problems of communist take-over
and racial discrimination.    ,
During the years 1952 Jo 1961, most of
the Daily Collegian's stories dwelt with
the construction and completion of the
new present day campus, AFROTC meet¬
ings, and important social even's, such as
selection of the Campus queen, sorority
sweetheart, in addition to regular news
such as student body elections, guest
speakers and up-coming events.
Let's roam through campus history.
In 1952. the January fourth issue fea¬
tured a story on the unfinished new cam¬
pus (the old campus was located at what is
now Fresno City College) with then-FSC
President Dr. Arnold E. Joyal asking for
an additional $3,000,000 for additional
expansion work.
The same edition also ran a story on an
FSC Professor of Social Science. Hubert
Phillips, who sent a letter to the director of
athletics suggesting discontinuing competi¬
tive football at FSC in favor of a program
of intramural athletic competition.
Although Athletic Director Dr. Lau¬
rence Pape was courteous in responding
to Phillips by letter in which he stood by
ihe idea of keeping competitive football, a
more gut response was given by former
football coach Duke Jacobs in a speech
made at a football banquet. The coach
lashed out' at political science and social
science teachers for teachingcommunistic
principles (intramural competition?)
Jacobs also took a swipe at the press.
"Too many college presidents and
sportswriters have been saying sports are
filthy. The evils are not as severe as some
taking place in our classrooms." said
Jacobs.
During Brotherhood Week the same
year, a Collegian editorial bemoaned the
fact that students on campus failed to take
racial strife in the South and the Korean
War seriously.
"It is a sad state of affairs when edu¬
cated young people are a part of the big¬
gest racial block—fraternity and sorority
life." the editorial stated.
Like-minded Collegian editors would
have had to moan a lot. considering that
the Greek system not only continued to
discriminate against all non-Caucasians,
bdt grew. Greek life was the biggest and
the brightest it ever was in those days.
FSU males may not have been all that
interested in international politics and
war. but there were many interested, in
avoiding the draft. Then Dean of Men
Harold J. Beatty offered advice as to what
steps young males should take to avoid
being draftetl.
This was the year of the-y-like Ike' but¬
tons, and the FSC campus must have been
ablossom with them since it chose Eisen¬
hower for president in a student poll.
'I like Ike' buttons weren't mandatory
campus gear, but Frosh Handbooks were.���Freshmen 'greenies' caught without a
'Frosh Handbook' were asking for trou¬
ble.
"Tradition dictates."said the Collegian
in September of 1952. "that newcomers
will carry with them at all times the Frosh
Handbook...freshmen are not allowed lo
sit on the senior benches (the what?) or
walk on thS-west court lawn. They will
observe the sacred rule of never walking
on or stepping across the college seal in
the library."
September also marked the passage of
the so-called "Gl Bill* making veterans
The new FSC canipua aa It looked during tha Fifties.
who served in the armed forces since June
27 of 1950 eligible for educational benef¬
its. And for those in Fresno who took
advantage of the bill, there was the new
campus to look forward to. The month
ended with the completion of four campus
buildings—the men's gymnasium, dem¬
onstration school, industrial arts wing,
and administration building, all for less
than the price of the present new library
which cost a total of $5,761,600.
In 1953. FSC students showed the best
part of their hearts when they contributed
to an emergency fund established for two
FSC students who had been stricken by
polio.
FSC students organized manyacharity
ball and other events to benefit others,
although some were caught in not quite as
charitable a position when nabbed pass¬
ing "pay-offs" after a pinochle game in the
COED Lounge in January of 1954, the
Collegian reported. Thanks to those
naughty players, the Lounge was closed
for an entire month, much to the dismay
of all pinochle game lovers.
The year 1955 marked the start of the
shift of classes from the old campus to the
new. By November, the new library had
been completed, and over half the classes
were being held at the new campus.
The Collegian started the next year,
1956. off in a big way of expanding the
number of issues from two to three per
week. That same year FSC saw its own
sprint ace, Mike Agostino, from Trinidad,
set a world record in the 22-yard dash in
20.1 time.
It might not have been a world's record
as far as burglaries go, but the robbery of
the College Bookstore in February of
1958 caused quite a stir, said the Colle¬
gian. Some S2I.000 in cash and checks
was taken, alas, never to be seen again—
but wait! FSC didn't have Hercule Poirot
around, but Fresno police proved just as
remarkable by happening upon some of
the stolen checks (J 1.200 worth) in a canal
in October of 1959. They were in good
condition, but what's even more amazing
is that in I960, another SI.000 in checks
was found in the same canal not far from
the previous ones. The Bookstore was
delighted, the check writers, maybe not so
much.
Besides the robbery. 1958 also marked
the year the new campus was dedicated,
with a week's supply of activities in April
to mark the occasion.
During Fall semester of 1958. a new-
sorority rush system was announced,
allowing freshman girls to rush imme¬
diately, although transfer and continuing
students had to have completed at least 12
units and hold a grade point average of 2.0
to rush.
Other stories during the year remarked
on the shortage of parking spaces on cam¬
pus (some things are forever) and the
appearance of vending machines on cam¬
pus. Student body elections in December
had  to be rehcld.  not an uncommon
occurrence during these years, or any (or
that matter, due to voting irregularities,
like fake ballots.
The Greek system was dealt a blow in
January of 1959 when the attorney gener¬
al's office issued an edict saying state
schools supporting organizations which
restrict membership on the basis of race or
religion are violating the 14th Amend¬
ment to the Constitution.
At this time, four of FSC fraternities
had restrictive membership clauses in
their national charters, excluding all non-
Caucasians. All but three sororities re¬
fused to comment, those three saying they
had no restrictive clauses in their charters.
In March, an article was printed in the
Collegian in an attempt to dispel "miscon¬
ceptions* that sorority life was one big ball
after another.
"Each girl must spend X amount of
hours studying in the library and at the
chapter house each week," ran the article.
"Scholastic achievement is the first and
foremost goal of the group...Then, social
graces a girl acquired through teas, events
such as having faculty guests to dinner
and dances where receiving lines are
necessary, are most helpful throughout
womanhood when they are blended with
poise and rules of etiquette."'
Hazing was another issue to contend
with on campus in 1959. The Collegian
printed a story reminding students that a
CSUF Library Archives
person or group participating in hazing in
the library, classroom, coffee shop, or
bookstore, or causes personal injury,
property loss, or included women in the
activities, could be kicked out of school.
In November the Collegian reported
that a major fire gutted the speech arts
building which was under construction,
the fire caused by sparks from an arc-
welding machine that fell into a pile of
sawdust.
To finish off the year, in December, a
black FSC student was repeatedly har¬
assed, evidently by someone unhappy
with the fact that he had moved into a
predominantly white neighborhood.
By May of 1960. some FSC students
were awa ke e no ugh to sched ule a two-day
protest, which was later extended, at four
Fresno stores to protest against racial
discrimination.
Still, the FSC campus was conservative
in outlook if one was to judge from the
mock student presidential poll. Richard
M. Nixon emerged as the winner. The
FSC winner actually came to the FSC
campus in November, although he proved
to be a loser in the national elections.
The year 1961 came in with a new young
president. John F. Kennedy, who invited
the president of Sudan to visit FSC. He
did in October. El Ferik Ibrahim Abboud
passed through FSC, receiving a warm
welcome.
Campus queens,
sweethearts in paper
By Elaine Wobl
Daily Collegian Stafr Writer
The Collegian readers during the 50's
were provided with large pictures of sugar
and spice and everything nice.
Girls.
Campus queens, homecoming queens,
and everybody's sweethearts had their
moment of college glory on the Collegian's
printed pages as the I950's rolled through.
They most probably enjoyed it, as must
have Collegian editors enjoyed increased
readership, oral least eyeballship.
Pleasing to the eye, the Collegian served
the campus with a paper the same size as
the Fresno Bee, if not the thickness.
(Collegian issues usually ran an average of
four pages an issue.)
Headlines would bea scream to today's
readers with GAY FOOTBALL PARTY
and other words that might give football
players or others a different reputation
than ihe one they wanted. The Collegian
at that time also tended to have multiple
headlines on the front page since the page
size was bigger and more stories could be
put on it.
When Collegian readers weren i titillated
with gorgeous gams and Pepsodent smiles,
they were treated to pictures of the new
campus site (the present one) in different
phases of construction.
Famous celebrities were more often
seen in Collegian ads than they are now,
usually in cigarette ads. The ads ran a
picture of some famous celebrity smoking
their brand of cigarette. A 1952 issue of
the Collegian carried a quarter page ad of
Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz for Phillip
Morris cigarettes.
"You'll love 'I Love Lucy'," readers
were assured, "starring Lucille Ball and
Desi Arnaz—The new laugh c^l over
CBS." w    *
In 1956 the Collegian went from two
issues, Tuesday and Thursday, to three
issues, published Monday. Wondesday
and Friday. The campus population was
increasing, and the Collegia n grew with it.
The paper was still running three
editions a week when it published this
banner headline: "John Kennedy. Lyndon
Johnson, lead Democrats to Washington.
February 8, 1982-the Daily Collegian-Page 13
J 962-71
FSC site of sixties sit-ins, tension
By Karen Krieger
Daily Collegian Managing Editor
What is now a relatively calm and com¬
placent campus was once the site of
numerous demonstrations, sit-ins, and a
firc-bombingwhich caused Fresno State
College to close down in a state of
emergency.
As recounted in the Daily Collegian the
years 1968 to 1972 were marred with
unrest, when students expressed their
anger and frustration at the establishment
with non-violent outbursts and violent
protests. '
The fall of 1968 began calmly enough,
with new registration procedures making
ihe Collegian headlines. The revised sys¬
tem: students with the most units would
have priority in registering for their
classes.
Student body President Bruce Bronzan
(now serving on the Fresno County Board
of Supervisors) would be working with an
$800,000 budget. Campus parking prob¬
lems would be "eliminated" by having stu¬
dents park on the perimeter of campus,
rather than in the central areas. A new
bookstore was in the planning'stages and
would open in 1969.
The first murmurs of protest were not
heard locally, but at UC Berkeley, where
administrators and students clashed over
the hiring of Black Panther Eldridge
Cleaver as a lecturer.
But at Fresno State College, the news
was mundane. Construction'was continu¬
ing on the new residence halls. Fresno
would be joining the newly-forrped Pa¬
cific Coast Athletic Association in the fall
of 1969. The Collegian was running a ser¬
ies on the 1968 Olympics prospects.
One of the most prophetic statements
came from Jay Gordon Goodwin, then-
president of FSC's Students for a Demo¬
cratic Society. "Fresno State College will
have a desultory, possibly violent year,"
Goodwin said.
Mild student activism began on Sept.
30 when the Student Affairs Committee
listed existing student rights and recom¬
mended student rights policy to the
administration.
On Oct. 1,13 students were placed on a
"police watch list" after demonstrating at
President Richard Nixon's agriculture
speech in downtown Fresno. This trig¬
gered a protest by Chtcano students, who
demanded the firing of Financial Aids
Director Ken Lewis when it was revealed
he had released names of the student
demonstrators to Fresno police.
Controversial speakers were part of
that fall semester. On Oct. 25, Black
Panther George Murray told a student
audience that "America represents the
grave and prison for the black commun¬
ity." Murray spoke in front of a crowd of
2,500, which dwindled to 600 persons as
he continued to denounce the U.S. The
American flag should be flushed down the
toilet stool and burned up in the sewers,"
Murraysaid. Students were not quite able
to accept this kind of criticism.
The Collegian began carrying national
news about the Vietnam War on its front
page. Draft resister Dave Harris and his
Joan Baez came to campus Nov. 5, saying
the draft law "sanctifies butchery" and the
draft card was a "death warrant/ FSC
students joined others across the nation in
opposing the draft, turning in their draft
cards at the Fresno Courthouse.
The new College Union opened on Nov.
J I, three days before Chicano students-
walked into an Associated Student Senate
meeting in protest of the AS opposing the
California table grape boycott. A 15-
minute demonstration forced adjourn¬
ment of the meeting, and triggered a stu¬
dent march the next day in the free speech
area.
Campus tensions erupted on Nov. 18,
when the San Francisco State College
campus closed in the midst of rock-throw¬
ing demonstrations, students battling
police. The controversy over hiring Black
Panther George Murray as an instructor
escalated into violence that FSC students
labeled "sad, "a shame* and "a disgrace."
The Collegian sent two reporters to the
campus to cover the demonstrations.
Then SFSC President Sam Hayakawa
adopted a "get tough" policy, ripping the
wires out of student loudspeakers, and
vowing to crack down on student vio¬
lence. In the wake of student/police
clashes, Hayakawa drew criticism from
Black leaders and campus groups, while
hearing praise from Governor Ronald
Reagan and San Francisco mayor Joseph
Alioto.
Massive violence hit the area when stu-
the mass meeting would improve lines of
communication beiwecn students and
faculty at the college. Unfortunately, the
two-day convention was poorly attended.
University personnel and students were
surprised when Ness resigned his post Oct.
4. He had been under fire for refusing to
rehire' Marvin X, a Black Muslim who
taught ethnic studies. Ness allowed there
was a discrepancy on Marvin X's applica¬
tion, so he had never been hired. Marvin
X filed suit in order to be reinstated as an
instructor.
Daily Collegian file photo
FSC student gets carried away by police during turmoil of the late slstles/early seventies.
dents marched on the SFSC business
building, smashing windows. One police
officer suffered a broken neck from a
student-thrown brick. "As long as there is'
violence, force will be used," Hayakawa
said. Fresno State students staged a sup¬
port rally on Dec. 19, the same day the
SFSC campus reopened. But its faculty
mem-bers staged a strike, refusing to
return until, student unrest subsided. A
state judge ordered the teachers to return
to the campus Jan. 9.
At Fresno, the Associated Students
called for a one-day work stoppage in
support of the San Francisco cause, vot¬
ing 25-11 in favor of the measure. Faculty
members contested the proposal and it
never materialized.
On Mar. 4 Reagan asked the legislature
fora "get tough" bill, which would require
suspending or expelling students » ho per¬
sisted in staging campus demonstrations.
4 The student press at SFSC, a semi-
underground newspaper called the "Gat¬
or," continued to appear on campus des¬
pite Hayakway's order to cease publica¬
tion. Hayakawa did not consider the
"Gator" to be a newspaper "representative
of the campus."
The press al FSC responded when
minority students staged a rally on April
9, demanding President Frederick Ness
allow minority supplements to be pub¬
lished in the Collegian. "Uhuru'and "Chi¬
cano Liberation" appeared on campus
early in September.
The fall of 1969 began with the idea of a,
student convocation to discuss the prob¬
lems and inequities of FSC. It was hoped
Voices rose in protest when newly-
, appointed President Karl Falk outed two
administrators. Dale Burtner and How¬
ard Walker. Students staged a rally,
objecting to the firings. On Nov. 4. stu¬
dents held a "teach out," holding classes
outdoors in order to show they could not
tolerate administrative policies. But the
next day students moved indoors, staging
a sit-in in the Thomas Administration
building. A class boycott quieted the
campus Feb. 5. protesting Falk's actions.
The act that triggered the campus clo¬
sure came on May 20, when a student
arsonist fire-bombed the computer center
in the business building, causing SI mil¬
lion in damages. Falk declared a state of
emergency, which meant any public gath¬
erings could be held only with hisconsent.
(Vincent Brown Lewis), later convicted of
the bombing, was ordered to pay the state
S40.000 in punitive damages.)        •
Falk's administration continued to
generate controversy, as 500 students
marched in late May to protest his refusal
to hire 12 ethnic studies teachers.' Falk
withheld approval of the Fall 1970 Colle¬
gian budget, wanting to establish guide¬
lines for the paper. The Collegian filed suit
in order to obtain the money, which was
held back because of purported editorial¬
izing of the news.
_ Even more controversial would be the
administration of Norman Baxter, the
FSC associate vice-president appointed to
succeed Falk.
Fall 1970 saw six students suspended
from the university for demonstrating.
After 125 students had been in line for
over four hours, "a band of club-wielding
Chicanps" charged the crowd, seriously
injuring two students. On Sept. 21, the six
sued President Baxter and four days later
they were reinstated to the university.
The homecoming queen contest lost
spirit that October whena person posted a
sign which read "FSC don't need no black
Queen. Please don't vote (Gwen) Bare-
field." Racial tensions still hadn't subsided
when the Publications Board voted Nov.
20 to drop the Chicano and Black sup¬
plements to the Collegian because the
papers "did not follow the guidelines.'But
AS President Bill Jones vetoed the meas¬
ure.
Baxter caused more controversy when
he fired nine faculty members: the AS
subsequently gave him a vote of "no con¬
fidence." The fired faculty members
vowed to stay and fight, although they
eventually lost a court bid for reinstate¬
ment. The federal department of Health.
Education and Welfare later said the fir¬
ing of one (black ) professor constituted
racial discrimination, and he was ordered
reinstated.
Some 2.000 persons assembled in the
free speech area to comment on the fir¬
ings. State Senator George Zenovich
called fora full legislative investigation of
Falk and Baxter's administrations.
Baxter, like Falk. threatened to with-
hold publication funds from the Colle¬
gian, saying he wanted a "responsible
paper." But Baxter admitted he didn't
even read the Collegian.
He finally approved the spring semester
funding on the condition that the Publica¬
tions Board study the feasibility of mov¬
ing the Collegian off campus, a move
which never materialized.
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