< ! -- Deleted image removed : Political theorist Herbert Marcuse joined the faculty in 1965 . A champion of the New Left , he reportedly was the first protester to occupy the administration building in a demonstration organized by his student , political activist Angela Davis . The American Legion offered to buy out the remainder of Marcuse 's contract for $ 20,000 ; the Regents censured Chancellor McGill for defending Marcuse on the basis of academic freedom , but further action was averted after local leaders expressed support for Marcuse . Further student unrest was felt at the university , as the United States increased its involvement in the Vietnam War during the early 1960s , when a student raised a Viet Minh flag over the campus . Protests escalated as the war continued and were only exacerbated after the National Guard fired on student protesters at Kent State University in 1970 . Over 200 students occupied Urey Hall , with one student setting himself on fire in protest of the war
fired on student protesters
Kent State shootings
University of California, San Diego