Framed pictures labeled "Heels and Hose Protest" and "Black Student Demonstration" hang along the corridor leading to the HUB's Alumni Hall, celebrating the legacy of activism in Penn State's history.
Beneath the pictures, a short text reads, "There are times when injustice stares us in the face, and we have a choice to do something, or to do nothing. Penn State students have welcomed that choice and decided to do something when discrimination, inequality, and oppression stood before them."
Penn State has seen several protests and rallies in recent months. Students converged on the state capitol for the "Rally in the Rotunda" yesterday. Members of the Black Caucus, SpeakOUT and Undertones met with the administration to voice their concerns about diversity issues on campus. Penn State graduate student Olivia Guevara was fined $450 for damaging property while writing anti-sweatshop messages on university buildings.
Yesterday's rally, sponsored by the Council of Commonwealth Student Governments (CCSG), assembled participants from all of Penn State's campuses to show student solidarity in requesting greater state appropriations to higher education. Although 300 students attended, compared to 273 last year, CCSG President Jerry Livingston said organizers had hoped for as many as 500 students.
State College Mayor Bill Welch, who has lived in the area for more than 60 years, said student involvement is "often linked to the weather."
"It seems to me that if we continue to have good weather for a few more weeks, we could have a lot of activism," he said. "If it rains and is chilly ... maybe not. We really haven't had anything in the last 20 to 25 years that would hold a candle to the demonstrations in the '60s and early '70s."
The Past
On April 30, 1966, 2,000 students crowded on the lawn of Old Main in favor of women being able to visit apartments downtown.
"I think [it was] the biggest demonstration I ever saw in my 65 years at State College," Welch, then a reporter for the Centre Daily Times, said.
Welch said Penn State has usually been "18 months to two years behind the rest" in protesting whatever issue is in the nation's spotlight. He added, some groups that have been nationally prominent have had almost no representation in State College.
As Vietnam and Nixon's term as president sputtered to a stop, so did much of Penn State's anti-establishment activism. However, while the late '70s and '80s lacked the "drama" of the earlier decades, Welch said racial discrimination gained prominence on campus.
On April 8, 1988, protesters from various student organizations occupied the Telecommunications Building for 15 hours after the university president failed to meet and discuss racial issues on campus. The next morning, 88 students were arrested for criminal trespassing.
"They didn't tear the place up, although there was some damage through wear and tear," Bruce Kline, then a Police Services manager, said. "They just sat there quietly."
The issue of racial discrimination rose again in 2001, when Black Caucus led a 10-day sit-in in the HUB in response to university's actions after two black students received anonymous letters threatening their lives.
The sit-in ended with the signing of the "Plan to Enhance Diversity At Penn State," a student-faculty authored plan that established the Africana Studies Research Center and added 10 full-time professors to the African and African American Studies department.
However, Penn State's planning did not satisfy diversity advocates when in December 2005, former Lady Lion Jen Harris filed a lawsuit against head coach Rene Portland, athletic director Tim Curley and Penn State, claiming she was asked to leave the Penn State women's basketball team because of her perceived sexual orientation. An internal investigation conducted by the university found that Portland had violated nondiscrimination policy.
"I think that's when the big uproar came," Christina Swomley, an LGBTA activist and president of SpeakOUT, said. "People asked, 'Why is she still here?'"
The case has since been settled out of court, and Portland remains the head coach of the Lady Lions, which led to the protest in Spanier's office last month by SpeakOut and Black Caucus members.
"As far as the community goes, we got good responses and bad responses for our protesting," Swomley said. "Some people were thanking us for standing up when they couldn't ... other people were telling us to sit down, shut up and listen to everyone else."
The Present
CCSG Vice President George Khoury, one of the principal organizers of the Rally at the Rotunda, said his organization and others are trying to promote student activism everywhere.
"I feel that activism is everywhere, in different aspects," Khoury said. "At the moment, we're having a diversity summit for all 20 [Commonwealth Campus] locations. It's wonderful -- we have a record turnout."
This year, Livingston said CCSG sought to gain more faculty support for the rally by passing a resolution explaining the purpose of the demonstration to university staff, urging faculty to encourage student attendance and to overlook any absences for the day.
Swomley said LGBTA protestors decided this year to "make it positive," initiating a campaign to show support for all athletes, regardless of sexual orientation. She and other LGBTA supporters distributed pro-athlete buttons and attended the last home Lady Lions game, draping a rainbow flag within Portman's sight. Although her efforts have been lauded outside of Penn State, she said the university community has generally viewed her activism as inappropriate and divisive.
"Students are rewarded for being ... apathetic," Swomley said. "When students voice their opinions, they get threatened with being arrested, or that their groups can't perform functions. So students groups and individuals are scared into not being active."
University spokesman Bill Mahon said the administration and the university value students who are questioning Penn State policies.
"Student activism has been a central part of Penn State for many decades," he said. "It's part of what I think is a healthy campus."
Jill Shockey, university spokeswoman said student activism "ebbs and flows."
"I don't get the impression that the administration thinks there's any rise in activism," Shockey said. "I think that there are certainly times where there are more issues to discuss then others."
Guevara, who plans to either pursue a degree in women's studies, or return to California to defend labor rights, said she wants students increase their commitment to standing up for what they think is right.
"I think that Penn State has potential to become a vibrant activist community," she said. "Right now you see a lot of things happening from organizations, but I think Penn State has potential, considering our broad student base."
It's essential, Swomley said, that students speak out for their rights, or they will lose them.
"This is the student's university, this isn't the administration's university," she said. "The administration doesn't know they're doing anything wrong until students stand up and say, 'No, you're taking away our rights.'"
Khoury, faced with the culmination of many months of hard work, urged protesters to be mindful of what they say.
"The best thing is to always speak your mind, but always do it in a professional manner," he said. "Don't speak just to speak. If you cry wolf, people won't listen to you anymore."
