‘68-’72 Mirror present, set roadmap for future

“War abroad. Racial unrest at home. Sexual inequality on campus. Demands for more meaningful education.”

That was the headline for the History Department’s fall Tegeder—Berg Society Event, titled “Student Empowerment in a Time of Challenge” with alumni Nancy Frost Bellmont ’74, Patricia Radloff Welter ’70, David Van Landschoot ’72 and Chester McCoy ’72 on Monday, Oct. 3.

Throughout the conversation, each of the panelists spoke to the unique themes, structures and questions present during their college lives. Though the nature of these areas have evolved in the past 50 years, The Record’s 1968 article entitled “SJU – CSB Trustees Say Merger is Desired” and 2022’s Strong Integration demonstrate how each of them continue to ring true present day.

The past three years have been stark, with a top five collection of lowlights including the murder of George Floyd in May of 2020, multiple years of COVID variants killing over 1.06 million American people, an insurrection on the U.S. Capitol, international fall-out caused by the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the recent “Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization” decision.

Often throughout history, the present can hypnotize contemporaries, paralyzing them in their everyday struggle. The challenges of life can be at least isolating for some, and at most, dire for others. However, among many takeaways from our alumni, I contend that principally, we ought to appreciate our current challenges and understand their broader applications. The years 1968-1972 are not solely the past. We are living in the wake of these years in 2019-2023 and will continue to grapple with these questions for years to come.

1968 remains one of the most tumultuous years in the history of the post-Reconstruction United States, with the Vietnam War central to this conflict. Throughout the country, while some young people saw the war as just, conscientious objectors exhausted solutions—attempting to extend years in college, considering monastic life or a move to Canada—to avoid service in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.

Though the considerations of young people during the Vietnam War may seem distant, the hums of Minnesota native Bob Dylan in “The Times They Are A-Changin” continue to ring true to this day. To ignore the overlaps between youth empowerment or dove imagery in ’68 and Ukrainian President Zelensky’s “It’s a victory when the weapons fall silent and people speak up” is to reject fact.

To meet the moment of these concerns in the late 60’s, two iconic figure heads tragically emerged. Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy represented a more just, peaceful and progress-oriented United States through their generational talent. However, the pairings of their assassinations—only 63 days apart—visualized the deep racism and hate of the decade.

In 2019, the forces of racism and hate proved their lasting influence on the United States as Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd. Former special prosecutor, current U.S. District Judge Jerry Blackwell spoke to the eight minutes and 46 seconds Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck, stating, “the reason that George Floyd is dead is that Mr. Chauvin’s heart was too small.” Like love, the hate of the spring of 1968 remains present in the spring of 2019.

Vietnam-inspired calls for peace served as a referendum on the Johnson-Humphrey Administration. After President Lyndon B. Johnson announced he would not seek a re-election, Eugene McCarthy ‘35 emerged as a peace-candidate, challenging, Vice President Humphrey to serve a grieving nation. Though tens of thousands of protestors gathered outside the 1968 Democratic National Convention to protest the war, delegates nominated Vice President Humphrey.

Like wavering institutional trust in 1968, a 2019 Pew Research Center poll indicates about two-thirds of adults think other Americans have little or no confidence in the federal government and 68% say it is very important to repair the public’s level of confidence in the federal government. Whether it be election deniers fueling the Jan. 6, 2021 Insurrection or misinformation causing coronavirus vaccine hesitancy, a glance in the history books remind us of the reoccurrence of our contemporary challenges.

The late 60’s and early 70’s also featured historic action from all three branches of the federal government. In Congress, the Civil Rights Act, Voting Rights Act Amendments and National Environmental Policy Act delivered landmark action impacting generations to come, but came up short as ratification at the state level failed for the Equal Rights Amendment.

In the Judicial Branch, “Roe v. Wade” protected a pregnant woman’s choice whether to have an abortion, grounded in the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment’s “right to privacy.” To observe the overlap of these historic actions, contemporaries can look to the Biden Administration’s successful first term of action and the Supreme Court’s overruling of “Roe” this summer.

Whether you are liberal or conversative, the Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act, Bipartisan Safe Communities Act, Inflation Reduction Act and “Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization” decision clearly depict how climate, reproductive rights and more operate on a rotating cycle. Sure, throughout generations there is significant overlap. But, as my peer Sam Rengo ’23 paraphrases the great Louis Johnston, professor of economics, “So what?”

In 50 more years, I contend that historians will look back at the years 2019 and forward as a breaking point in our nation’s history. Similarly to the response of 1968-1972, our response to modern challenges caused by the Russia-Ukraine conflict, murder of George Floyd, public mistrust and “Dobbs” will be essential for realizing a more just future. As the panelists from Tuesday demonstrate, the urgency for local action—both large and small—is essential.

On the large scale, we can look back to radical student action on gendered campus policies like the Community Education Project, which allowed Bennies and Johnnies to live together at SJU in 1968. On racial injustice, we can look to the 20 students who orchestrated the 1970’s sit-ins in the St. John’s Presidential Office calling for more racially equitable campus policies. On peace, we can look to David Van Landschoot ’72 leading a march for peace in St. Cloud during the war in Vietnam.

On the small scale, we can look to Patricia Radloff Welter ’70 and her peers who ruffled the feathers of campus in creative ways. Whether it be staying out past the 7:00 p.m. curfew by a few minutes, adjusting clothing mandates at Mass or acting out in the cafeteria, there are many ways past methods lay the groundwork for our future.

In future years, our campus will look to repair relationships with Native Nations following monastic history with Boarding Schools for Native children, be challenged to divest from fossil fuels and the need to innovate gender-binary institutions. As students lead these movements, we must look to the example set by the intentional blend of both large and small actions of our predecessors. Through small acts like voting, two Senators gained in the Senate can lead towards President Biden codifying Roe this November. With this November marking 52 years since the occupancy of the SJU President’s Office, we ought to consider both the scale which we will celebrate this anniversary and how we can learn from our peers.

As Robert F. Kennedy said following the murder of Martin Luther King Jr. in the back of a pick-up truck in Indiana, “We can do well in this country. We will have difficult times; we’ve had difficult times in the past; we will have difficult times in the future. It is not the end of violence; it is not the end of lawlessness; it is not the end of disorder.”