Man at the Door

YESTERDAY'S sit-in at University Hall was not a sensational event and probably will not prove sensationally effective. Wisely ignoring the Dow recruiter two blocks away, the 200 protesters did make their point--that they not only deplore the Vietnam war but also reject the notion that the University can remain neutral to the war effort. It is hard to tell whether anyone listened, but the SDS-led protest was serious and cohesive and may accelerate the SFAC debate on recruitment policy and lead to more productive war protest efforts like the draft resistance union being organized here next week.

While the protesters calmly held to their resolve of Thursday night to demonstrate non-obstructively, the men in Massachusetts Hall pushed a new provocation at the crowd outside. William Bentinck-Smith, assistant to President Pusey, evoked an urbane George Wallace as he guarded the door. The parallel may be imprecise, but Bentinck-Smith risked a serious, possibly violent, confrontation by stubbornly refusing to let more than two protesters in. That authoritarian gesture (contrasted with the tolerance Deans Ford and Glimp showed toward the protest) heightened the symbolic remoteness of the highest level of University Administration from students.