The past two decades have branded many college students as apathetic and uninvolved. But some say 1996 may mark the birth of a new era in student activism.

Police brutality, rallies, pepper spray, sit-ins — all are evidence of the reawakening student voice.

Iowa State is in the midst of several controversies of its own, although none have yet escalated to 1960s-fashioned protests and violence.

Two groups on campus, the September 29th Movement and the ISU Activists, have shown a commitment to bringing change to the university. While violence has not yet been a factor, one question is on the minds of both students and administrators: How long can peaceful protesting last?

Across the country students are making demands, forcing authority — in the students’ minds at least — to listen.

Student voices heard

Last month 300 students from the State University of New York at Binghamton stormed the university’s administration building to protest police brutality. The students staged a seven-day sit-in in the building.

Last week students at the University of California at Berkeley protested the passage of Proposition 209, the proposal that has ended affirmative action in state institutions. Ten students at Berkeley occupied the Campanile on campus, and 100 others gathered outside to protect them. The students sent a list of requests to the university including a demand to not comply with Proposition 209. Twenty-four students were arrested.

Closer to home, on Nov. 5 more than 100 Iowa State students participated in the first direct act of civil disobedience on campus in years. The students were protesting such issues as the name of Catt Hall and more general issues of diversity. No disciplinary action has yet been taken against the students.

Though activism at Iowa State has not resulted in such extreme acts as those at Binghamton and Berkeley, a comparison of the events leading up to the protests on the three campuses reveals parallels.

Violence at Binghamton

On Oct. 16, students at SUNY-Binghamton marched to the Couper Administration Building and stayed for seven days.

Alleged police brutality against students who were attempting to enter a closed student government meeting was one of several events that led up to the protest, according to a release by the Binghamton Coalition, the organizing group of protesters.

Nearly 1,000 students protested the closed meeting of their own government and stormed their way into the 180-person capacity room, only to be confronted by security guards dressed in riot gear, said Liz Polizzi, managing editor of The Pipe Dream, the campus newspaper.

“As I pulled around the ambulance a large group of students erupted from the Union, screaming,” said Tabor Fisher, a graduate student who witnessed the riot.

Fisher, who was on her way to a meeting, was preparing to park her car in the section of campus known as the Peace Quad. As she drew nearer, she saw ambulances, police cars and crowds of students rushing from the building.

“As I got out of the car a man ran past me with tears streaming down his face,” Fisher said. When police cars arrived, she said many of the students ran off, visibly frightened, she said.

“The students in the parking lot were showing signs of the gassing; they were coughing and drinking water to try and clear their throats,” Fisher said.

The Pipe Dream reported that students were attacked with pepper spray, thrown against walls, poked in the eyes, punched in the face, and those who attempted to leave the area were blocked by university security officers. Seven students were injured and five were hospitalized.

The next day a rally was held on campus. Students told stories about what happened the previous night. That afternoon Fisher and several hundred other students marched through campus and began the sit-in at the administration building.

Administrative conflicts

Polizzi said many students at Binghamton are upset by how the administration has dealt with minority-related issues, a familiar theme on campus here.

Last spring, the president of the Student Assembly Executive Board (SAE), the student government, terminated the position of vice president for multicultural affairs (VPMA), the only position on the board devoted to representing minority students.

The student government president, Anthony Benardello, told the campus paper the position was not in accordance with the organization’s constitution. He made the decision at the end of the semester when many students were gone for summer break, according to The Pipe Dream.

This fall returning students protested Benardello’s action and demanded the reinstatement of the position. Disruptions at ensuing student government meetings led Benardello to close the meeting on Oct. 15, which spurred the violence.

Requests by the Binghamton Coalition to meet with university President Lois DeFleur were denied, Fisher said.

In fact, 2,000 students signed letters sent to SUNY Central, a committee that oversees all of the State University of New York institutions. The letters expressed the students’ dissatisfaction with DeFleur, the SAE board and Benardello.

“We, the students of Binghamton University, condemn the unnecessary use of force and deployment of riot gear by public safety officials on our campus. We protest the unmitigated assault on students and the intentional blockade which prevented injured students from fleeing the area,” one letter read.

Last resort

Fisher said the sit-in at the administration building was a last resort in order to get student voices heard by university officials. Accordingly, some student leaders here have said they are running out of options.

“In the end,” Fisher wrote in a letter to the newspaper, “students who tried to participate in student government found that when they refused to be silenced, their voices were scorched from their throats by pepper spray.”

Though no students were penalized for the sit-in, the Broome County District Attorney’s Office is investigating the Oct. 15 riot to decide whether public safety officers and students acted appropriately, said Katie Ellis, assistant director for media relations at Binghamton.

Any connections?

What, if any, significance do the events which took place at Binghamton have on students at Iowa State?

“I definitely think [similar events] could happen at Iowa State … My own study of struggle anywhere in the world is that it usually increases when there’s no response,” said Milton McGriff, spokesman for the September 29th Movement.

People lost their lives during the civil rights movement of the 1960s. And compared to them, “We’ve got it easy here … We’ve got it real easy.” McGriff said, adding that members of his group are prepared to do whatever it takes to get their voices heard.

Government of the Student Body President Adam Gold said nobody wants the kind of violence that happened in Binghamton.

“As long as we’re careful about the forms we protest in, it is healthy,” Gold said.

Rob Ruminski, a member of September 29th and ISU Activists, agreed. “However, I think people are very conscious of the fact that administrations and student governments like those at Binghamton don’t listen unless they’re forced to,” Ruminski said. “People are prepared to go to great lengths to defend what they believe in.”