Can you talk about the shootings, how the tensions built up before the shootings, what happened and how the campus reacted?

There had been several days of off and on conflict.  The national guard had been brought in to keep a very explosive situation under control.  The US incursions into Cambodia caused outrage all over the world.  Demonstrations started on campuses all over the country.  Kent State got pretty scary and violent. There were shops bombarded downtown, the ROTC building was set on fire and the National Guard was sent in by the state of Ohio.  The situation remained extremely tense.  Sunday, May 3rd, the State of Ohio banned all gatherings on campus. There were four students killed the next day during a protest.  After the shooting they closed the campus down completely and the rest of the semester was completed by mail. 

When did you come to St. Bonaventure?

September of 1970

Can you compare St. Bonaventure's reaction to the war to Kent State's?

The mix of students at St. Bonaventure was probably a little more conservative than might of been the case of some other schools.  But certainly there was a very strong anti-war sentiment at St. Bonaventure that did at times boil over to confrontational relationships between student leaders and the administration of the University. 

Did you feel any tensions between the President and the Students at St. Bonaventure?

A major meeting was held in the Reilly Center in which the student president (Charlie Daugherty) was at a podium at one side of the basketball court and the President Redlon OFM at the other side.  It was an atmosphere of pretty intense disagreement and debate.  A feeling that the University was trying to keep the lid on a situation where there was no way to keep the lid on.  This was one event that remains vivid in my mind. 

Were there any problems with the students and the ROTC during the Vietnam War?

There was an overt hostility towards the ROTC during the war but I don't sense that feeling anymore.

Do you see a big difference between students in the late 60's and 70's to today's students, regarding their involvement in politics and voicing their opinions?

Students involvement today would change in the blink of an eye if a national mandatory draft were instituted.  It was a combination of a draft, that was in retrospect enormously unfair especially for non-college students,  and a war that was very questionable for many people.  There seems to be more support for the war in Iraq and apathy.  If you put the draft and a controversial war today then you would see just as much protests and student involvement as in the 60's. 

Do you think we are still feeling the effects from our involvement in Vietnam?