This is the second article in a two-part series looking at how the University community confronts war, both in the 1970s Vietnam conflict and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
He was debriefed while making what he thought was his normal trek to class up Rugby Road the morning of Sept. 11. He bumped into a friend, who delivered the news: A plane crashed into the World Trade Center. Third-year Engineering student Jim Klapmust did not even begin to imagine the far-reaching significance this tragedy would have in the days, weeks and months to come.
He knew, though, that he had to get to a television.
The events of Sept. 11 rendered the country and the University community detached and oblivious to all else as the breaking story unfolded. In much the same way, students felt that surreal sense of urgency during the spring of 1970 as the Vietnam War intensified with the invasion of Cambodia and protests magnified with the Kent State University shootings.
The day after the riots at Kent State that sent the nation into an uproar, the May 5, 1970 edition of The Cavalier Daily compelled students to take action.
"Tomorrow is an important day," the lead editorial pronounced. "Its significance goes far beyond the pastoral life of the academic village. The call for a general strike which has been sounded leaves it to each student what his response will be ... They have called the strike out of a sincere conviction that the University can no longer continue to function normally while ignoring a course of events which affects each of us more than we realize. We do hope that the speeches, rallies and discussions of tomorrow and Thursday will give students a chance to unite in effective action in order to avoid the polarization, which leads us nowhere. This is a time to think and speak out. And strike."
But unlike other places in the country, where protests turned violent, the University was able to maintain an atmosphere of peaceful opposition. University President Edgar Shannon praised the student strike for not being dominated by force or coercion, according to a May 11, 1970 Cavalier Daily article.
English Prof. William Fishback, who joined the University in 1966 as chief public affairs officer, fondly recalls encounters with his students involved in the protest.
"I knew a lot of students active in protest," he said with a grin. "But through all of the chanting and trying to close the University, you could go up to any of them and conduct reasonable conversations. That said a lot about the character of the students. I never once felt in danger, anywhere. Sure the crowds looked menacing, but in the end, the character of this place and the leadership of Shannon got us through that."
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BORDER="0"> PAUL LANE | CAVALIER DAILY FILE PHOTO [ CLICK FOR FULL SIZE ]
Hoping to have their voices heard across the globe, students painted words of encouragement on Beta Bridge. The messages stayed put for several weeks.
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And it was Shannon's leadership that kept the University open. The Kent State shootings, the invasion of Cambodia and the war with no end in sight ignited students nationwide into newfound opposition to the war. Thirteen schools, excluding the University, signed a four-point resolution asking for a strike to protest the Cambodia decision, according to a May 5, 1970 Cavalier Daily article. But the University remained the sole major institute of higher education on the East Coast still functioning, Shannon praised in a speech on May 10, 1970.
Steps taken by current University President John T. Casteen III exemplify the difference between the administration's response to Sept. 11 and the war in Vietnam. Classes were cancelled Friday, Sept. 14, so that students could "gather in convenient places, including Old Cabell Hall Auditorium, the Chapel and other locations in each of the schools for the purpose of acknowledging together both the losses incurred and our determination to stand together as a community even in the worst of times," Casteen said in a statement released the evening of Sept. 11.
The way America united as a result of the tragedy echoes in Casteen's words. The different attitude and atmosphere of the Vietnam era equally is reflected in President Shannon's remarks announcing that the University would not cancel classes in support of a moratorium for the Vietnam War on Oct. 15, 1969.
"The University has an obligation to maintain an atmosphere in which all views can be expressed, in which individuals can oppose the war or defend it, or advocate various means of ending it, as a matter of academic and intellectual freedom," Shannon said.
The different actions taken by the two presidents reflect the unique aspects of both situations, Klapmust said. Students and professors alike agreed that Casteen's actions were both appropriate and commendable following the unexpected attack on Sept. 11.
Casteen "showed common sense leadership," Fishback said, "and a great deal of compassion."
Klapmust agreed that the University backed the student body and the nation.
"It didn't matter what [Casteen] did the first day," he said. "I didn't go to class - I don't think anyone went to class. Canceling classes later in the week so people could talk and remember was really important."
As time passes, that urgent need to think and talk about Sept. 11 fades, Fishback said. First-year College student Cassandra Estep proposed that although the outpouring of patriotism after Sept. 11 starts to diminish, the terrorist attack awakened a nationalistic feeling that has been latent since World War II.
"Sept. 11 ended the anti-patriotism that has been prevalent since Vietnam," she said. But she warned that "if we get into war where we are invading countries the cycle could start all over again."
Although a Fox News poll shows that 82 percent of Americans continue to support the war in Afghanistan, University students are in hot debate.
First-year Engineering student Mark Van Tassel disagrees with Estep's assertion that the United States "should not kill innocent people because they did it to us."
"But they [the attackers] are terrorists," he replied. "And the tactical capabilities of the U.S. military aim for minimal collateral damage - they are not aiming for civilians."
Estep's face gets red as the argument heats up.
"They are gonna kill civilians, terrorism groups are not affiliated with countries," she yelled throwing her arms in the air.
Nobody knows when the argument will end, how long the war against terrorism will last or under what circumstances it will end. Answers and conclusions about Sept. 11 and the current war are hard to come by without the benefit of elapsed time.
But History Prof. Brian Balogh begins to sort out the complicated feelings underlying the American psyche. He proposed that all wars involve secrecy. The difference between our current war and the war in Vietnam lies in the public's response to that secrecy.
"Today, the public seems happy to tolerate the secrecy," he said. "There is almost complete public support for it, just like in World War II."
But as Klapmust walks to class these days, his thoughts do not delve into the complicated psychology of war. Rather, he feels an overpowering conviction that the United States is right in fighting this war against terrorism.
"We have to show the world something about standing up for what is right," he said.
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