There were several student-led demonstrations in the late 1960s and early 1970s , primarily against the Vietnam War . In the spring of 1967 , a sit-in protesting military recruitment on campus blocked the entrance to the Student Union for two days . While there were scores of demonstrators the first day , all but 13 dispersed before New York State Troopers arrived and bodily carried the demonstrators to a waiting school bus for a trip to court . In the fall of 1968 , students rallied in support of Craig Pastor ( now Craig DeYong ) who had been arrested by New Paltz Village Police for desecration of the American flag which he was wearing as a superhero cape in a student film directed by Edward Falco . College President John J. Neumaier posted bail . Pastor was released and charges were dropped . The Cambodian Campaign and concomitant Kent State shootings in May 1970 led to a protest that culminated in a five-day student occupation of the Administration Building , subsequently renamed Old Main after the opening of the Haggerty Administration Building two years later . A March 1974 sit-in at the Haggerty Building reacted against perceived discriminatory hiring practices , the state-mandated reintegration of Shango Hall ( which then housed underrepresented students ) , and the threatened cessation of the Experimental Studies Program in the wake of a budget shortfall
Kent State shootings
Kent State shootings
State University of New York at New Paltz