4 Years of Harvard: 1971-1975

SEPTEMBER 1971

1,556 members of the Class of 1975 (1,220 Harvard men, 336 Radcliffe women) arrive in Cambridge, at the same time as Harvard's 25th president, Derek C. Bok. New photo identification cards make their debut on campus.
27 - Senator Edward M. Kennedy '54-'56 (D-Mass.) speaks to the College, urging students to "shake off your lethargy" and continue to protest American involvement in Vietnam.

OCTOBER 1971

1 - Ernest Gruening '06, former United States Senator from Alaska, says Daniel Ellsberg '52 "should be given the equivalent of a Congressional medal of honor" for releasing the Pentagon Papers to the press.
4 - The University releases an affirmative action plan to comply with Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW) regulations. Although increasing the number of minority employees, the plan draws criticism for keeping the hiring of women at a constant level.
5 - In his first major move as President, Bok lowers the male-female ratio for the Class of 1976 from 4 to 1 to 2.5 to 1.
14 - The Board of Overseers agrees to confer Harvard degrees to Radcliffe students who graduated before 1963.

NOVEMBER 1971

1 - The FBI begins questioning Laurence H. Tribe '62 and other Harvard Law School professors about their criticisms of President Richard M. Nixon's list of Supreme Court nominees. Within a month, President Bok and Dean of the Law School Albert M. Sacks write to the U.S. Attorney General, asking him to call off the FBI probe.
12 - Nixon announces increasing numbers of troop withdrawals in Vietnam.
21 - Harvard downs Yale in an embarrassing 35-16 win at New Haven.

DECEMBER 1971

10 - The Senate approves the appointment of William H. Rehnquist to the Supreme Court, despite a Dec. 2 letter written by Tribe and 20 law other school professors questioning Rehnquist's competency.
14 - The Harvard Lampoon, a semi-secret Sorrento Square social organization that used to publish a so-called humor magazine, admits its first two female members.

JANUARY 1972

3 - Harvard food services begin to offer soybean omelets and other vegetarian alternatives in several dining halls.
19 - The Cambridge School Committee dismisses Superintendent of Schools Frank J. Frisoli '35, triggering several small fires, false alarms and bomb scares in local public schools.
25 - Nixon announces that secret negotiations have been taking place between Henry A. Kissinger '50 and North Vietnamese officials, but that the talks ceased when Hanoi stopped sending its representatives, citing "illness" as an excuse.

FEBRUARY 1972

9 - A term paper stolen from the desk of a Government 229 professor is found by Crimson reporters at Termpapers Anonymous, a Boston term paper supplier. Further investigation revealed that 40 other papers had been taken and sold to the company.
21 - Nixon makes an historic visit to China, where the two nations agree to normalize relations.

MARCH 1972

3 - Bok names Charles P. Whitlock the next dean of the College.
22 - The Equal Rights Amendment goes to the states for ratification but eventually fails to gain enough votes.
23 - After the College decides to discontinue the Staff Tuition Scholarship (STS) program for teaching fellows, recently unionized graduate student TFs call for a one-day boycott of classes. The strike never materializes.

APRIL 1972

18 - Anti-war demonstrators march to the Center for International Affairs building in Cambridge, breaking windows and causing $20,000 in damages. Fifty police officers equipped with riot gear and tear gas sweep the Square to control the disturbance.
20 - Black students from the Pan-African Liberation Committee and other groups take over Mass. Hall, demanding that the University divest from the Gulf Oil Corporation in protest of the company's practices in Angola. Students form picket lines around the building, and the protestors begin a hunger strike. After 153 hours of occupation, the students voluntarily leave.

MAY 1972

16 - The Committee on Undergraduate Education asks students to evaluate 17 classes in what becomes the University's first CUE guide evaluation.

SEPTEMBER 1972

Martina S. Horner begins her term as president of Radcliffe. Women move into the Yard dorms for the first time ever.

OCTOBER 1972

Lawrence P. Largley, a 17-year-old Cambridge resident, dies of unknown causes in a jail cell just hours after he is arrested and allegedly beaten by police. Three days of rioting in the Roosevelt district of Cambridge follow.

NOVEMBER 1972

Associate Professor of Government Samuel J. Popkin is subpoenaed to testify before a Boston grand jury in the Ellsberg case. Popkin refuses to answer questions, claiming that to do so would compromise his sources and his future in academia. He is jailed, prompting Professor of Law Alan M. Dershowitz to lead a petition effort on Popkins' behalf. Popkin is eventually released Nov. 29.

DECEMBER 1972

17 - Nixon orders stepped-up bombings of North Vietnam despite assertions that the United States and North Vietnam are near a cease-fire.

JANUARY 1973

11 - John T. Dunlop resigns as dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) and joins the Nixon administration as.
20 - The Crimson celebrates its 100th anniversary.
26 - The military draft officially ends.

FEBRUARY 1973

Franklin L. Ford is appointed acting dean of FAS, and the search for a permanent dean begins. Henry Rosovsky is eventually named to the position.

MARCH 1973

19 - The Graduate Students Union strikes in protest of the Kraus plan for reduction in financial aid for graduate students.

APRIL 1973

11 - Protestors win a victory when the Harvard's Advisory Committee on Shareholder Responsibility votes to demand that the Caterpillar Tractor Company disclose information on its activities in South Africa. Less than a week later, the University votes for the same action against General Electric and votes to have the Phillips Petroleum Company withdraw from Namibia.

MAY 1973

1 - Four top aides in the Nixon administration resign, and 10 days later, the Pentagon Papers trial is dismissed after it is revealed that Nixon aides broke into the office of Ellsberg's psychiatrist.
18 - The Justice Department appoints Law School professor Archilbald Cox '34 special Watergate prosecutor.

SEPTEMBER 1973

Students return to the Yard greeted by bulldozers and demolished buildings--Hunt Hall was destroyed during the summer to make way for the new Canaday dormitory for first years, and a 40-foot trench was dynamited at the other end of the yard for the Pusey Library, an addition to Widener.
1 -Rosovsky takes over as dean of FAS
23 - In a letter to Harvard and The New York Times, Dean of the College at Princeton University Neil L. Rudenstine criticizes the work of Harvard professor of government Martin L. Kilson, citing numerous inaccuracies. In an article published on Sept. 9 by the New York Times Magazine, Kilson said that top educational institutions in the U.S. had "politicized" their admissions procedures and had lowered their qualifications for blacks, targeting Princeton as a prime example.
24 - The University shuttle service begins a six-month trial period. Luckily for Quadlings, the University decides to keep the service.
25 - 1,200 students pack into Lowell Lecture Hall for Economics 10, in what is the highest preliminary enrollment for any course in years.

OCTOBER 1973

1 - Four people are hospitalized after a confrontation between labor leaders and members of a black Vietnam veterans group in Phillips Brooks House.
5 - Harvard endorses 3 women for the Rhodes Scholarship, breaking a 71-year-old tradition that restricted the award to male students. The administrators of the Rhodes program ignore the nominations.
7 - War breaks out in the Middle East as tank battles raged along the Suez Canal and the Golan Heights. Israeli jets bombed the Syrian capital of Damascus and struck Cairo as well.
10 - Vice President Spiro T. Agnew resigns, pleading no contest to income tax evasion. Three days later, Nixon nominated House Minority Leader Gerald Ford to replace Agnew.
10 - Nissan Motor Company of Japan donates $1 million for the construction of a new building near the Yenching Library and the expansion of Japanese studies.
17 - The Nobel committee announces that the 1973 peace prize will be awarded to Kissinger and Le Duc Tho, a member of the North Vietnamese Politburo, for negotiating the Vietnam War cease-fire.

NOVEMBER 1973

25 - Yale rushes for 395 yards and hands Harvard a 35-0 rout before a sellout crowd in New Haven.

DECEMBER 1973

2 - Thieves break into the Fogg Art Museum and steal more than 5,600 ancient Green and Roman coins valued at up to $5 million.
18 - Following protests from the City of Cambridge and environmental concerns, Harvard proposes an alternative location in Watertown for the John F. Kennedy Memorial Library Complex. Initially, the University planned to construct the building along Boylston Street (now JFK Street).

JANUARY 1974

24 - Physicians at Columbia University discover the first direct evidence of cellular damage in humans from marijuana use.

FEBRUARY 1974

11 - Harvard's hockey team beats Boston University 5-4 in the final minutes of the Beanpot finals, winning the championship for the first time since 1969.
22 - Dan Rather, White House correspondent for CBS evening news, told an informal gathering of approximately 100 in Winthrop House that when it comes to "foul and odorous things," the Nixon administration is in a class by itself.

MARCH 1974

1 - A federal grand jury indicts seven top White House aides on charges of conspiring to impede the Watergate investigation.
3 - Golda Meir resigns unexpectedly from her position as Israeli Prime Minister.
6 - The Committee on House and Undergraduate Life votes to equalize the enrollment of men and women through either sex-blind or equal admissions.
11 - Vice President Gerald Ford accepts a Man of the Year award from the Young Republicans at the Harvard Club of Boston as several hundred demonstrators rallied outside, chanting "jail to the chief" and "dump Nixon, junk Ford."
13 - An Economics Department review committee releases a report recommending that the department hire at least two instructors to teach courses on Marxian economics.

APRIL 1974

19 - Harvard printers in the Graphic Arts International Union voice pay demands to the University and continue a lengthy strike. More than 150 students rally in support of the printers.
28 - A fire caused by a lit cigarette guts a suite in Lowell House and sends one student to the hospital. The fire alarm system fails to function, leaving most students unaware of the blaze until police and firefighters arrive.

MAY 1974

6 - Typesetters join the printer's strike, now four weeks long.
12-14 - In a span of 3 days, union fever catches the University as printers, medical workers and clerical workers all consider organizing unions.

SEPTEMBER 1974

1 - Dean of Freshman F. Skiddy von Stade '38 takes a leave for a semester, as W. C. Buriss Young '55 steps in as acting dean. Meanwhile, first-year students move into the newly completed Canaday Hall. With its singles, wall-to-wall carpeting, soundproofing and convenient location, Canady draws praise despite complaints of its "sterility" and "uniformity."
16 - FAS announces a record $2 million deficit on a $54 million budget, resulting in tightened spending and a future tuition increase of $200.
17 - Twenty Harvard summer school students who enrolled in Physics S-1 face disciplinary action for using prepared answer codes for their exams.
On the same day, Reverend Peter J. Gomes is named Minister of Memorial Church and Plummer Professor of Christian morals, and is the both the first black and first Baptist to hold the position.
24 - Thirty black residents set up a roadblock to prevent whites from entering Columbia Point in Boston, causing police to take over the Columbia Point People's Center and set up sharpshooters on nearby rooftops to quell the disturbances. The police action sparks demonstrations and protests in the area.

OCTOBER 1974

3 - A study is released showing that despite high inflation and rising unemployment, the Harvard Business School class of 1974 has had little difficulty in finding high paying jobs.
4 - Seven thousand protesters march down Broadway in South Boston and public school attendance drops by over 50 percent on the first day of mandatory busing for black students.
20 - Six Harvard University police officers are assaulted outside Harvard Stadium following disturbances during the Harvard-Cornell football game. Harvard won the game, 39-26.
28 - Harvard University Dining Services begins to check student IDs in dining halls.

NOVEMBER 1974

5 - Michael S. Dukakis wings the Massachusetts gubernatorial race, leading a Democratic sweep of statewide posts.
15 - Birth of a Nation is shown in Science Center A after its initial October 5 screening was cancelled. Fifty students had protested showing the film, citing its portrayal of blacks and glorification of the Ku Klux Klan.
20 - Harvard Medical School professor Dr. Dana L. Farnworth, Oliver Professor of Hygiene Emeritus and former Vice Chairman of the National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse, criticizes current drug laws making marijuana users liable for punishment and recommends that possessing less than one ounce of marijuana no longer be a criminal offense.
23 - Harvard rips Yale, 21-16, in an exciting come-from-behind victory at Harvard that ruins Yale's dream of an undefeated season and grants Harvard a piece of the Ivy League Championship.

DECEMBER 1974

2 - Derrick A. Rall Jr., professor of law and the only black professor at the Law School, threatens to resign if the Law School does not substantially increase efforts to hire minority faculty.

JANUARY 1975

15 - Ford issues one of the bleakest State of the Union addresses in decades, recommending tax cuts, reduced budget spending and higher fuel costs to overcome recession and energy shortages. "The State of the Union is not good--I've got bad news, and I don't expect applause," he said.

FEBRUARY 1975

6 - The Kennedy Library Corporation announces it will not build the museum portion of the JFK Memorial in Cambridge following over 10 years of conflict and dispute with Cambridge civil groups.

MARCH 1975

3 - In an effort to more accurately reflect the breakdown of the student body, the male-female ratio in the River houses is increased to 3 to 1; the Quad Houses, however, remain at the ratio of 1.18 to 1.
6 - Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III conducts an investigation into charges of mismanaged funds by undergraduate officers of the Harvard Model United Nations conference, held in December. The officers allegedly used funds for non-conference related expenses, such as alcohol.
23 - In separate incidents, four undergraduates are assaulted near Leverett and Mather houses by a group of six youths.
25 - The presidents of the Ivy League colleges vote to allow first-years to play varsity level hockey.

APRIL 1975

14 - Brown students vote by a margin of 2,956 to 863 to strike for one week after University officials cut the budget and fail to address student concerns. Classes were still held and buildings remained open, "for anyone who wished to attend."
On the same day, a fire destroyed the 91-year old building that housed the biology department of Tufts University.
17 - A woman is raped in the bathroom of Lamont Library, prompting administrators to move the women's restrooms to the first and fourth floor, and install combination locks on the doors.
28 - The United States Embassy orders the final evacuation of all 900 Americans from South Vietnam after attacks on Saigon's Tan Son Nhut Air Base and after South Vietnam President Duong Van Minh demands that all Americans leave the country. This ends 30 years of American involvement in the Indochina War.

MAY 1975

17 - Thousands of demonstrators rally at Boston Commons, calling for the end to public school segregation.