Jonathan Currie

Doody
HST 298-302
10 June 2014
The Year of the BSU
The 1960s was a decade of incredible change across the United States and the world.
Traditional ideas and established social norms were challenged prompting widespread social
change at a global level. No contribution was more instrumental to this shift than the student
movements taking place on college campuses around the world. DePaul was no exception to this
trend. During May of 1968, the Black Student Union (BSU), the main advocacy group for black
students on campus, presented demands to the administration calling for change in order to make
DePaul more relevant to black students. Nearly one year later, the BSU was again calling for the
administration to step up and respond to new demands. What brought about the second round of
demands and why did it come to a head in May? This paper takes the position that a lack of
administrative responsiveness to the demands of 1968 in conjunction with new ideology and
leadership within the BSU were the direct cause of the events of May 8th and 9th on the DePaul
campus.
To fully understand what the BSU was protesting, it is necessary to go back to the
demands of May 1968. On May 1st, 1968, a delegation of "about 20" students visited Dean E.J.
Schillinger in his office bearing a list of demands. In this list of nine demands, the Black Student
Union called for, among other things, a requirement of a class in the Humanities, History, and
Sociology Departments, greater inclusion in university councils, and the end of discrimination in
organizations across campus. The message was received by Schillinger who responded by

informing the BSU of his ability and consequent limitations in bringing about the course of
action that they desired. The demands were addressed to Schillinger alone and would remain
under his jurisdiction unless the BSU wished to take the matter to another member of the
administration.1 The demands were kept fairly compartmentalized, as Schillinger mentions in his
memo, disclosing the contents only to select members of the administration. Additionally, there
is no mention of the students' demands in either the Depaulia or Alethia. No protests or real
visibility came about because of the quiet nature of the response by the administration
While the administration(Schillinger in particular) did receive the demands professing openness,
questions were raised by Dean Schillinger regarding the strength of the BSU's resolve. "It is not
clear what they may do next. Their visit to me may have let off some emotion so that they will
not pursue it further at this time."1 Schillinger thought of the demands as something that would
just resolve itself or that the demands were just a way for the BSU to blow off steam. Nearly two
weeks after the meeting with Schillinger, on May 14th, the BSU met with the President of the
University, Father John R. Cortelyou to present the demands officially. A week later, DePaul
issued a formal response to the BSU's demands, in which the University laid out in vague terms
that it wished to fulfill most of the BSU's demands. Due to the lateness in the school year, many
of the changes could not be implemented until after the 1967-68 school year. The Black Student
Union would have to wait to see change.2
The students of the BSU may have been on break for the summer, but the administration was
hard at work putting their solutions into action in committee. On June 20, 1968, the first meeting
of the University Committee on Human Relations (CHR) took place, a committee designated to
1 Inter-office memo, May 3,1968. DePaul University Student Affairs, Box 38, Folder Black Student UnionCorrespondence 1968. Special Collections and Archives, DePaul University , Chicago, IL
2 Response to the Black Student Union, May 21,1968. DePaul University Student Affairs, Box 38, Folder
Black Student Union- Correspondence 1968. Special Collections and Archives, DePaul University ,
Chicago, IL

handle the concerns raised by the BSU. At this first meeting, the members of the committee
discussed four of the nine demands and tabled the rest for discussion at a meeting set for a later
date.3 Though progress seemed to be quick during summer, by the beginning of the school year
in September, little progress had been made. Points first talked about in June were still being
discussed for viability in committee. The CHR could boast their existence as a body as a positive
step in the response to the BSU demands but not much else. Issues of greater importance to the
BSU such as student representation in government and amendment to the curriculum could not
be agreed upon or finalized by the faculty. With each meeting occurring at least two weeks apart,
change was unlikely to happen quickly, much to the chagrin of the students.
DePaul surely had enough to handle with the Black Student Union, but one thing they could
count on was the fact that they were not alone. Protests had increased around the country in the
latter half of the decade, causing concern amongst administrators from campuses in every region
of the United States. In early October 1968, the Association of Governing Boards of Universities
and Colleges met in Denver to discuss the growing student unrest amongst college students.
President Cortelyou was contacted and encouraged to pass along the invitation to the board of
trustees. On the conference's agenda, were segments entitled "Student Unrest: Activists and
Issues" and "Crisis on Campus: The Role of Governing Boards."4 Clearly this issue was
receiving national and even international attention. In 1968 alone, students led protests in Japan,
France, Mexico, West Germany, Czechoslovakia, Italy, and Brazil. The population of the 12-25
age group was nearing the billion mark by the end of the next decade.5 The issue now had the
3 Minutes of the First Meeting of the Committee to Implement the University's Response to the Black
Student Union, June 20, 1968. DePaul University Student Affairs, Box 35, Folder Committee on Human
Relations. Special Collections and Archives, DePaul University, Chicago, IL.
4 John R. Cortelyou to Members of Student Affairs Committee of the Board of Trustees of DePaul
University, [Memorandum and Conference Agenda], September 19, 1968, DePaul University Board of Trustees, Box
9, Folder Student Affairs Committee 1968/1969. Special Collections and Archives, DePaul University, Chicago, IL.

5 Jerome Skolnik, "Student Protest," AAUP Bulletin 55, no. 3, (September 1969): 309-326

attention of the administration. What could be brushed off in May as a group of students venting
grievances could no longer be ignored in the fall.
By the end of the first quarter of the 1968-69 school year, the BSU had grown frustrated. One
sentiment captured in one of the minute reports of a meeting of the CHR, the President of the
BSU, James Hammonds, is on record asking if the committee is just going to "do nothing but
talk and then disperse."6 Hammonds frustration is entirely founded up to this point. The History,
Humanities and Sociology Departments had just voted to dismiss the idea of mandatory
coursework focusing on the black man and his contribution to society as demanded by the BSU.
The committee of action that the BSU had hoped would lead to action in their interests had
gotten bogged down in typical bureaucratic fashion. Efforts to increase recruiting in
disadvantaged neighborhoods had been met with an assurance that every effort was being made
to draft a plan. Perhaps these acts forced the BSU to turn inward toward their future efforts to be
made in May because neither Hammonds nor any other BSU representative appears at later
meetings of the CHR.
The quarter of absence lasting from January until late April is the real crux of the issue at hand.
There is no evidence of whether the BSUs withdrawal from CHR meetings was voluntary or
involuntary means. That much is not known. However what is known is that in their absence
from meetings in the winter quarter, the BSU missed key developments in the formation of the
Afro-American Studies Program that on February 11th was approved by a unanimous vote
within the Liberal Arts and Sciences Academic Council.7 While this would not necessarily have
been shared in detail, it could have prevented some of the frustration that would come later with
6 DePaul University Student Affairs, Box 38, Folder Committee on Human Relations. Special Collections
and Archives, DePaul University, Chicago, IL
7 Minutes of the Liberal Arts and Sciences Academic Council February 11, 1969. Liberal Arts and
Sciences, Box 2, Folder Minutes: L.A.S.A.C. 1967-1971. Special Collections and Archives, DePaul
University, Chicago, IL.

the call for a shutdown of the Humanities Department. The plan was seemingly not passed on to
the BSU despite the attendance at multiple meetings by the BSU by their representative in the
faculty, Captain Scarborough. Lines of communication were effectively shut down between the
BSU and the administration and faculty for the first few months of 1969.
Revisiting the initial question of what brought the situation to a head in May, it is never explicitly
stated by the BSU at any point. However, using what evidence does survive, it can be seen as a
product of leadership and ideology change in early 1969 that was cemented by the election of a
new chairman of the BSU, Steven Berry on April 7th.8 Two weeks after he gaining his new
office, Berry sent a message to Dean Schillinger demanding the appropriation of office space for
the BSU. If Schillinger failed to provide office space by noon the next day, the BSU would
forcibly take the required office space.9 This is a far departure from the leadership of James
Hammonds, whose most radical act while in office was the initial demand presentation to
Schillinger in 1968. The BSU did not seem close to the breaking point until the end of the winter
quarter and the beginning of the leadership of Steven Berry.
A leader cannot encompass a movement alone. Ideology must follow him. In the case of the BSU
a trend toward radical voices surfaces in March. In the last week of March, a publication titled
"The Black World 'Unite or Perish'" was released featuring "voices from the BSU." In its
articles, the independently published "newspaper" spreads some quite inflammatory ideas, many
written by Bob Butler.10 Bob Butler was an instrumental voice in the protests of May 1969. Most

8 DePaulia Student Newspaper, April 17, 1969. DePaul University Publications. Special Collections and
Archives, DePaul University, Chicago, IL, accessed on June 05,
2014.http://digicol.lib.depaul.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p16106coll4/id/3203/rec/19

9 Depaul University Student Affairs, Box 38, Folder Black Student Union: Correspondences and Memos
1968-1969. Special Collections and Archives, DePaul University, Chicago, IL.

10 Depaul University Student Affairs, Box 38, Folder Black Student Union: Correspondences
and Memos 1968-1969. Special Collections and Archives, DePaul University, Chicago, IL.

notably, he made a death threat against a student during the protest in the SAC.11 Butler, a
graduate student at DePaul was not a member of the BSU, but in a statement made during the
protests of May 8th, Steve Berry claimed that Butler spoke for the BSU and their platform.
Though Butler was not a member of the BSU and his feelings may not have been representative
of all BSU members, it is telling that the BSU and their new leader were willing to stand behind
him in his actions. Butler was not the only extra at the protest in the SAC. Members of the
Blackstone Rangers and Black Panthers were present as well as "special guests." The Black
Panther Party had already been known for their militant nature and violent protest, but the
Blackstone Rangers were still relatively unknown. The Blackstone Rangers formed in the early
1960s and by the end of the decade were a strong street presence in Chicago's black
neighborhoods. The Blackstone Rangers saw themselves as a community interest gang who
represented those over whom they had "control." One man voiced his concerns in the Chicago
Tribune in February of 1969 claiming "The Rangers' primary purpose is to get control of the
community... they are publicly militant, but they refuse to destroy vice and corruption."12 The
Blackstone Rangers and Black Panthers only added a layer of controversy to a BSU that was
clearly taking a new direction in ideology and practice under Steven Berry.
So much changed in just one year, but why did it take that full year? The administration at
DePaul showed early signs of progress to the demands of the BSU. Momentum slowed severely
in the last half of the school year and the BSU took action in the absence of progress. This
absence in conjunction with a BSU under new leadership and influence brought about change
11 DePaulia Student Newspaper, May 19,1969. DePaul University Publications. Special
Collections and Archives, DePaul University, Chicago, IL, accessed on May 29,2014.
http://digicol.lib.depaul.edu/cdm/fullbrowser/collection/p16106coll4/id/3240/rv/compoundobject/c
pd/3248/rec/8
12 S C, "Black Fear of Blackstone Rangers" Chicago Tribune, February 1, 1969. Accessed June
06, 2014.

soon after the election of new officers in April 1969. While Steven Berry and Bob Butler alone
cannot account for the BSU's radical shift in ideas that saw the entrance of two known militant
groups, they can surely account for the timing of the eventual protest on May 8th and 9th of
1969.

Bibliography
DePaul University Publications, Special Collections and Archives, DePaul Univesity, Chicago,
IL
Liberal Arts & Sciences, Special Collections and Archives, DePaul Univesity, Chicago, IL
Skolnik, Jerome. "Student Protest," AAUP Bulletin 55, no. 3, (September 1969): 309-326
Student Affairs, Special Collections and Archives, DePaul Univesity, Chicago, IL