Title: 7 Times in History When Students Turned to Activism - The New York Times
Headings: 7 Times in History When Students Turned to Activism
7 Times in History When Students Turned to Activism
transcript
What Makes #NeverAgain Different?
The protests calling for stricter gun control measures come on the heels of other youth movements, but the momentum they have gained makes them stand out.
Greensboro sit-ins, 1960
University uprisings, 1968
Apartheid divestment, 1970s-80s
Tiananmen Square, 1989
Velvet Revolution, 1989
Iran, 1999
Black Lives Matter, 2013-present

Content: Some accomplished their stated goals and others did not, but even the latter contributed to a climate in which change seemed possible and more people were inspired to act. In March, more than 1,000 students at the historically black Howard University took over the administrative building, and many more barricaded themselves in their dormitories. They demanded that the university president resign; that the curriculum emphasize African-American history and culture; that a judiciary system involving students be created; and that disciplinary proceedings against students involved in an earlier protest be dropped. The university agreed to the third and fourth demands. Students at Columbia University used similar tactics a month later, occupying several buildings for a week before 1,000 police officers stormed the campus to evict them. Strikes continued for the rest of the semester, essentially paralyzing the university even after the occupiers were cleared out. The students were protesting two things — the construction of a university gym in Morningside Park in Harlem that would provide only limited access to Harlem residents, and Columbia’s Vietnam-era contract with a weapons research think tank — and Columbia canceled both.