    EXHIBIT
    PROTEST
CIVIL RIGHTS AND VIETNAM

In this exhibit you can learn how Virginia Tech students responded to the civil rights movement and the Vietnam War--from a dispute over whether to lower the flag after MLK's assassination to a student occupation of Williams Hall. By Jenni Gallagher and Paul Quigley.

"I'M HERE TOO"

In the late 1960s and early 1970s the student newspaper ran a regular column addressing the experience of black students on campus. The column, written initially by George Spurlock and later by Calvin Twyman, regularly asked students to reflect on issues of race. Although not a physical protest, "I'm here, too!" employed the language of resistence to call attention to racial and economic inequalities.

During the 1960s, the demographics of the University began to shift. By 1970, the student body had changed dramatically; the enrollment of both female students and African-American students had increased significantly while the cadet population shrank. Against the backdrop of nationwide social change, Virginia Tech was reinventing itself.  

 "I am appearing to you as an American individual to help change a system that is slowing the proress of what has the potential of being a great country. No longer will I beg, for now, I have the power to demand."

"Listen to my words, both people who are black or white, for the generalizsation I am about to make concerns you all. You've both got a stake in this country so why let differences between you destroy everything?"

"The word freedom is ringing in the ears of any human with life enough to utter this 'cherished' word."

Freddie Hairston, Linda Adams, and Chiquita Hudson.

"To the white public, I would suggest your involvement in a problem that if not soon relieved, not only on our campus but in America, will destroy us all. Will you lose more now or then? Come down from your white pedestal draped in flags and slogans of a lost era and live in this world, the reality of the present."

Check out a few of the other "I'm here, too!" columns below.