The Vietnam War, fought between 1955-1975, drew attention across the U.S.

It
was one of the most highly protested wars in history, especially at UW-Madison. A
notable protest at UW occurred in April of 1965 with faculty teaching over 1,500
students about the conflict outside of an academic building. [1] Anti-war protests
continued, with student-led agitation against the University for agreeing to the draft
and cooperating with Dow Chemical Co. and the CIA for trying to recruit students.
[2]
 Dow was responsible for making a flammable gel used by soldiers in the
Vietnam war. In October of 1967, the first violent student protest occurred against
the company at UW-Madison.

Photographers discuss memories of 1967 Dow protest

From 1966-1968 students pushed back against the mandatory ROTC enrollment at
UW. If a male student was enrolled at UW, and able bodied, they were required to
enroll in ROTC for credits, as part of a land grant.[3] Students argued that the
purpose of ROTC was, “to kill,” and protested heavily during this period. Their
peaceful protest efforts paid off because in September of 1968 the University
Senate passed a bill ending the mandatory ROTC requirement, making it an
individual choice.[4]

Students and Madison residents protesting the Vietnam War draft. Obuljen, Ashley. “’War
Is Madison’s Only Determinate between Now and Half a Century Ago,’ Says UW-
MADISON Class of 1970 Alumni.” The Daily Cardinal, November 6, 2020.

In October of 1968, the Milwaukee 14, a group who destroyed thousands of draft
files, came to speak on UW campus.[5] Later that year, students created a
‘cemetery’ on Bascom Hill in honor of all the UW students who died or suffered
because of the war.[6] Not everyone was on board with UW’s status as a hub for
protesting US involvement in the war and UW’s complacency. Professors who
spoke out were told to move to North Vietnam[7] and student activists were targeted
by the government and made to go through army induction exams only to never be
let in (presumably just to take time away from them to organize protests). [8] The
House of Representatives even went so far as to pass a bill stating that higher
academic institutions could deny financial aid to students who, “contribute to the
disruption of their institutions in violation of a lawful regulation,” (The Daily
Cardinal, 1968).[9]

In May of 1969 a turning point in the peaceful protests occurred. The Mifflin Street
Block Party turned into a riot.[10] Many of the student protestors, for the rest of the
war, were met with tear gas and police violence. By the 1970s, students were fed
up with the outcomes of their protests and were at a loss of what to do and how to
stop the war. Even peaceful protests, such as a march that was organized in
February of 1971, were met with police intervention and stopped. From 1971-1975,
protests at UW were at a high. Students were protesting various bombings and
atrocities that they were hearing about overseas, as well as the construction of a
new math research center on campus (thought to be associated with military
expansion into UW academics).[11] Certain protestors went as far as bombing
Sterling Hall (home of the research center) and ended up killing a post-doc fellow,
Robert Fassnacht.[12] Protests went back and forth between peaceful and violent,
but police continued to interfere and exacerbate conflicts. In early 1973, the Paris
agreement was signed and the chaos resulting from the many anti-war protests
ceased. However, UW-Madison cemented itself as a place for voices to be heard
and to this day remains an area full of activism and protests.