Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) was launched in 1960 in University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, by Robert Alan Haber. It developed from the Student League for Industrial Democracy, a collegiate organization of League for Industrial Democracy, which was formed in 1933.
In 1962, Tom Hayden wrote the Port Huron Statement, the organization’s manifesto. At first, the National SDS was invested in supplanting the existing capitalist society and fighting against black oppression. By 1965, we started to focus our attention toward the Vietnam War.
In 1964, the National SDS had forty established chapters on university campuses nationwide. In the spring of 1966, the fifty-second chapter of SDS developed on our Columbia University campus led by John Fuerst and Dave Gilbert.
Key Events of Columbia University’s Campus and SDS
1953 – Grayson Kirk becomes Columbia University’s 14th President
1955 – Department of Defense created Institute for Defense Analysis (IDA). IDA coordinates defense research in five founding universities but Columbia is not one of the five
1958 – Initial discussions about building a new gymnasium in Morningside Park bordering Harlem amongst Columbia University and NYC officials. This gymnasium plans to have separate entrances
thestickingplace.com/wp-content/_pdfs/who_rules_columbia.pdf
1959 – Columbia joins IDA
1961 – Spring: Columbia students vote in referendum to abolish student government.
1962 – SDS created in University of Michigan by Tom Hayden. The Port of Huron is created
1963 – November: President John F. Kennedy assassinated in Dallas, Texas
1965 – January: U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War intensifies with increasing fighting in the air and on land.
September: First public opposition to the building of the gymnasium in Morningside Park by Harlem residents and community activists
1966 – February: Administration confirms plan to build gymnasium
March: Columbia University Student Council declares opposition to building gymnasium
November 15: SDS members gather outside Low Library with 200 students to protest Columbia University’s involvement with the CIA
1967 – February: First sit-in on campus. 18 SDS members gather in Dodge Hall to oppose CIA recruiters
March: SDS elects Ted Kaptchuk as chair
March 24: Vigil on the steps of Low Library to protect against submission of class rank to Selective Service Boards
April 20: 300 SDS members protest against Marine Corps on-campus recruiting
April 21: 800 SDS members protest against military recruiting clash with 500 anti-protestors
“Marine Corps Recruiting Protests,” CU Libraries Exhibitions , accessed April 16, 2013, https://exhibitions.cul.columbia.edu/items/show/5632.
September: University President Kirk bans picketing and demonstrations in all university buildings
“”Kirk Bans Pickets in CU Buildings”,” CU Libraries Exhibitions , accessed April 16, 2013, https://exhibitions.cul.columbia.edu/items/show/5587.
October: SDS protest about University’s involvement in Institute of Defense Analysis
1968 – February 18: Ceremonies for Morningside Park Gym
March 13: Mark Rudd is elected as Chairman of the Columbia University Chapter of SDS. He just came back from Cuba with new insights about tactics and organization
March 27: SDS protest with 100 students in front of Low LIbrary in open defiance of Kirk’s guidelines
April 12: President Kirk denounces violent tactics used by student protestors
April 17: SDS General Assembly support demonstration to focus on racism and the gym
April 19: “Letter to Uncle Grayson” published and Mark Rudd’s “Up Against the Wall, Motherfucker” statement