He was the fifth President of Brooklyn College from 1969 to 1979 . Kneller brought along his horse from Oberlin , and would ride it in Prospect Park . Students occupied his office at the college during a student strike after the Kent State shootings and the Cambodian Campaign in 1970 . He terminated classes , but kept campus buildings open for students and faculty . A member of the Brooklyn College Fencing Team introduced streaking to the college in 1974 , dashing across the Quad . From 1979-1995 Kneller taught French literature at Hunter College and the CUNY Graduate Center . He was co-chair of the Henri Peyre Institute for the Humanities at the CUNY Graduate Center , and Managing Editor and Editor-in-Chief of the '' French Review '' . In 1999 , the French government awarded him its highest rank -- Commandeur in the Ordre des Palmes Academiques ( Order of Academic Palms ) . He was married for 61 years to Alice Bowerman Hart . They had a daughter , Linda Hart Kneller
Kent State shootings
Kent State shootings
John Kneller