“Statement by Penn State President Eric A. Walker” (April 21, 1970)
About This Artifact
This artifact is Penn State University President Eric Walker’s public response to campus damage and the student protest in the Spring of 1970.1 The protest included marches, sit-ins, and a riot that resulted in several students being arrested and dismissed from the school. It was part of a national movement led by Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) in support of students’ right of expression. Reading President Walker’s statement alongside the SDS reaction can help us understand the opposing dialogue between administrators and student activists in the Spring of 1970.
First, President Walker showed his disapproval of the student’s demonstration and stressed the importance of maintaining university operations. The statement also shifted public attention toward the destructive actions of more violent students, turning attention away from the demands defined by SDS. Second, the statement disregarded that the students’ earlier petition had been ignored and suspended by administrators and that some students had been arrested due to participation in a peaceful protest. Third, while the statement implied that the university was reactive to the student actions, it hid the fact that the university’s responses could be the factor that drove their actions. The university could choose when to ignore and when to respond. Avoidance is a powerful communicative act that does not require authorities to provide a rationale. As a result, the students had to use the means of confrontation to remind the university not to withdraw from the conversation. Finally, the president regarded an injunction as a reasonable tool. However, school policy concerning campus safety without evaluating the actual risk of student advocacy could diminish the spaces for students to speak out.2
In conclusion, this artifact analysis shows that the voices of the student protesters could be marginalized by the authority’s use of language. However, the goal is not to criticize the university administrators. Instead, it is to encourage the reader to think about the rhetorical power the university has and what the responsibility it should take.
References
- Statement by Penn State President Eric A. Walker, Student activism records, PSUA 1391, Special Collections Library, Pennsylvania State University, 1970, April 21. ↩
- Elizabeth Brulé, “Voices from the Margins: The Regulation of Student Activism in the New Corporate University,” Studies in Social Justice 9, no.2 (2015): 159-175. ↩