The ETSU campus experienced relatively little in terms of student protest during the late 1960s and early 1970s , although the dress of students changed radically as the previous strict dress codes fell by the wayside in favor of miniskirts , ragged jeans , and shorts . Controlled substances such as marijuana and LSD were somewhat popular among the student body , albeit not to the same degree as on many other college campuses . Protests against the Vietnam War were rare and sparsely attended ; however , in 1970 a tense disagreement between students regarding whether or not to lower the American flag on campus to half-mast in memory of those killed in the Kent State shootings resulted in a compromise in which a makeshift flagpole was erected by a group of liberal students so they could fly the flag at half-staff while a group of conservative students kept the flag on the main pole flying at full-staff
Kent State shootings
Kent State shootings
History of East Texas State University