The Good Old Days of Student Activism and Merry Pranks

Published by Rick on Tagged Uncategorized

I think of these times now because my 50-year high school reunion is happening this weekend, and while it would be difficult logistically to attend, the other factor I had to consider was looking at the list of attendees and seeing three names of people I unfriended and blocked on Facebook as soon as I saw their pro-Trump leanings. Of course, before I unfriended, I put my two cents in about what I thought of their glorious Hero.

It was in my final year of high school that my leftist leanings were materialising, and they reached maturity only a few months later, when I began college at the University of Redlands.  U of R was a small Baptist college of about 3000 students that appealed to a Christian Right base. Many of the students were from Orange County, the conservative armpit only 30 miles south of LA. It was believed that many parents sent their daughters to U of R to preserve their virginity just a few more precious years. I’d heard it said that up until a few years before, female applicants were asked if they were virgin or not. I only went there because my dad was a professor there, so I could avoid the $1500 a year tuition fee, a king’s ransom back then. I stood out among the students there because my hair partially covered my ears.

I also chose to go there because during my last year of high school, I was hanging more with friends that were students there than with high school friends. These folks all leaned far to the left, four of them making local headlines for returning their draft cards to the draft board as protests against the Vietnam War. Those politics carried over into merry pranks, and in the opening months of my college career, which unfortunately didn’t last long after that first year, I got involved in several acts that rankled many.

Our first act was to disrupt a student council meeting, which had a positive effect, as other students were made aware of what we were doing and showed up in support. I didn’t contribute anything to the discussion that ensued, but I opened the meeting by pulling out my guitar and doing an impression of Janis Joplin’s version of “Piece Of My Heart,” managing to get through the whole song without pissing anyone off. As a result of our disruption, the discussion veered away from school spirit and dorm hours to more important issues like the War, racism, and the recent riots at the Chicago Democartic convention, among others.

Another time, when a military recruiter was on campus, I missed most of the incident, but got there in time to see my friends suffer the brunt of the “This is the greatest country in the world, how dare you belittle the men that are fightin’ and dyin’ ” lectures from the right-wing majority they were offending. I did manage to catch some flack a little later on, as I passed by an assemblage of these same frat boys and their accomplices, who recognised me and said, “Hey, we’re gonna kick your commie pinko asses.” My response, rather brave if I say so myself, was, “You guys have all the answers, don’t you?” I’d say I won this argument, because the only thing any of them could come up with was, “Why don’t you grow a beard to cover up your pimples?” My response to that was, “Wow, I thought I left that shit behind in high school.” I walked away, as they mumbled other insults, but nobody further challenged me, so give me a W.

One incident we were responsible for, but had to keep it under wraps for many years, was one where we placed posters around the campus calling for a full-on coup and a takeover of the administration building. It sent shock waves through the campus, and one of our gang put in an anonymous call to the local paper to send someone to the campus at 3:00, as there might be some student unrest. Students, maybe 40 total, were gathered in front of the Admin building, and 15, 20, 25 minutes passed, but nothing happened.  Finally, the Dean of Men came out of the building, and announced to the group, “Look, if you all disperse, you can go to the student union, and have a Coke on me.” That was a small victory, and I indulged in that free Coke, but not before I shouted out, “Come on people, shouldn’t we be charging the building?” A career in comedy maybe?

Yes to that, because I also did some musical comedy that pissed off many of the more deeply religious people on campus. The centrepiece of the whole university was, and still is, its chapel. (One day, high on LSD, I remember looking at that chapel and believed it was dissolving!) The chapel had a majestic pipe organ, which had a setting that allowed the organ to be broadcast on outside speakers that could blare throughout the entire campus. That was too good to resist! On several different occasions late at night, I would walk in (the chapel was never locked), turn on the organ, and the outside speakers, and play “Louie Louie,” “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida,” “Light My Fire”  and other rock tunes, then quickly bolt before being caught. I quit doing it after the one time I was caught by some Christian Rightists, who lectured me about my blasphemy. I shouldn’t have been surprised, given the surroundings. Soon after, a lock was put on the organ.

Yes, I was a leftist then, and given the state of things, even more proudly so now. I’m so sad for what America has become, with horrible people being put in positions where they can dictate public opinion. I’m so glad I live where I live. And happy birthday to my late father, who would have been 95 today, and was always proud of me, no matter what I did.

 

 

October 4th, 2018



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