Re: Boston U, WBUR, and John Silber

["A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@attorneyross.com>]

On 14 Jun 2003 at 14:04, Sid Whitaker wrote:

> Because longtime BU president (now chancellor) John Silber would never
> dream of giving students access to a high-power urban FM signal. After
> Silber became prez in '71, he took WBUR away from student control (he also
> shutdown the student newspaper and turned it into a mouthpiece for the
> administration) leaving students interested in radio with only WTBU, the
> carrier-current AM. (BTW, print journalism students launched their own
> newspaper (The Daily Free Press), which still publishes. 

Well, I was at BU Law in the late 60s, and that's not quite the history.  The old BU 
newspaper, the BU News, published weekly.  It was taken over by a group of far-left 
students, and the administration became increasingly uncomfortable about it.  When, around 
1966 or so, it called for the impeachment of President Johnson, BU's president, Clifford 
Case, felt compelled to apologize to House Speaker John McCormack.  By about 1968 or 
so, the students running it found office space and moved it off campus, severing all ties with 
BU, so that they could publish what they wanted.  They were supported by advertising at 
that point, and still distributed the paper mainly around BU, as did many off-campus 
publications,

Meanwhile, a group of journalism students started a newspaper of their own.  Another group 
of students at some other school at B.U. did the same.  I think there were about three of 
them at one point (This being during the 1969-70 school year), and finally, in the spring of 
1970, they all agreed to merge into the Daily Free Press, which published its first issue 
under that title at the very end of that school year.  All of this was before Silber ever arrived.

In Silber's view,
> BU students were too radical, dangerous, and they couldn't be trusted to
> operate their own radio station. As older readers will readily recall, the
> early 70s were rough times on college campuses, and BU was no exception.
> In the early 70s students protesting Vietnam  (and the administration's
> academic and residential policies) frequently occupied administrative
> offices, walked out of exams, and managed to cancel one commencement. 

The commencement that was cancelled was in 1970, following the shootings at Kent State -- 
also before Silber arrived.  Campuses all across the country went into complete upheaval 
following the Cambodia incursion and the Kent State shootings that spring.  But for some 
reason, when school started in the fall, everything was quiet and pretty much stayed that 
way.

-- 
A. Joseph Ross, J.D.                           617.367.0468
 15 Court Square, Suite 210                 lawyer@attorneyross.com
Boston, MA 02108-2503           	         http://www.attorneyross.com