"INCLUDED LECTURES, DEBATES & MUSIC"

FIRST TEACH-IN HELD ON CAMPUS OF UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

Ann Arbor, Michigan (JFK+50) On March 24, 1965. the first 'teach-in*' protest of the war in Vietnam was held on the campus of the University of Michigan here in Ann Arbor.

The event was attended by 3500 students along with 200 faculty members who were supported by the administration of the university.

The Teach-In was sponsored by SDS (Students for a Democratic Society) and included lectures, debates and music.

The primary speakers were Robert Browne of Farleigh Dickinson University (New Jersey), John Donahue of Michigan State University and Arthur Waskow of the Institute for Policy Studies.

Professor Waskow said...

"We have not yet learned the political freedom of the Vietnamese people cannot be advanced by...burning villages with napalm and torturing villagers for information."

JFK+50 NOTE

SDS was a national student activist organization composed of 300 campus chapters in the United States with 30,000 supporters.  SDS was considered part of the 'New Left.'

*teach-ins were a form of protest during the 1960s where issues related to the war in Southeast Asia were discussed by faculty and students of universities.

SOURCE

"First Teach-In Held In Michigan," March 24, 2011, JFK+50, www.jfk50.blogspot.com/

Student Protests

University of Wisconsin

Madison

January 1965

uwdigitalcollections

"IN PROTEST OF THE WAR IN VIETNAM"

FIRST "TEACH-IN" HELD AT UNIVERSITY OF  MICHIGAN

Ann Arbor, Michigan (JFK+50) On March 24, 1965, the first "Teach-In" in protest of the war in Vietnam was held at the University of Michigan here in Ann Arbor.

The event was attended by 3500 students and 210 faculty members with the support of the university administration.

It was sponsored by Students In A Democratic Society* and included lectures, debates and music.

Main lecturers included Robert Browne of Farleigh Dickinson University, John Donahue of Michigan State University and Arthur Waskow of the Institute for Policy Studies.

Mr. Waskow said...

"We have not learned that the political freedom of the Vietnamese people cannot be advanced by a military policy that relies on burning villages with napalm and torturing the villages for information."

*Students For A Democratic Society was a national student activist organization founded in 1960.  SFDS was conceived as an exercise in 'participatory democracy' including 300 college chapters and 30,000 members.

Cover of SDS Pamphlet

June 1, 1966

Students For A Democratic Society

"LARGEST DEMONSTRATION EVER HELD ON CAMPUS"

FIRST "TEACH-IN" HELD AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

Ann Arbor, Michigan (JFK+50) On March 24, 1965, the first "Teach-In" was held at the University of Michigan here in Ann Arbor.  The event, supported by the university administration, was attended by 3500 students and 200 faculty members.

The "Teach-In" was sponsored by SDS (Students for a Democratic Society) and included lectures, debates and music.  It was the largest demonstration ever held on the campus of the university.

One of the main speakers, Arthur Waskow* of the Institute for Policy Studies, said...

"We have not yet learned that the political freedom of the Vietnamese people cannot be advanced by a military policy that relies on burning villages...and torture."

*Arthur Ocean Waskow (b. 1933) was born in Baltimore, MD & educated at the University of Wisconsin-Madison & Johns Hopkins University.  AOW is an American author, political activist and rabbi associated with the Jewish Renewal Movement.