I.R.P. begins the revision of the 1966 assumptions of the college. The Supreme Court rules that Conscientious Objectors need not base their opposition to war on religious grounds in order to qualify for I-O or I-A-O draft classifications.
The Trustee Committee of Long-range Planning will hold a conference to examine the previsions of the ten year budget plan and make revisions based on progress. Congress votes to lower the voting age to 18 and the law will go into effect Jan 1 1971 unless it is ruled unconstitutional.
A review of Commencement is given. Dr. Daniel R. Bechtel, chairman of the department of religion, receives the 1970 Lindback Distinguished Teaching Award. Dr. Horace E. Rogers , senior member of the College faculty and the Alfred Victor duPont Professor of Analytical Chemistry, is elected president of the Dickinson chapter of Phi Beta Kappa. The Red Cross campaigns to assist American POWs.
A meeting is held to coordinate the rest of the anti-war protests and strikes for the semester. 1200 students successfully participate in the anti-war march past the War College. There is a large photo spread of the event. 200 students participate in a sit-in at the U.S. war college entrance.
Faculty votes to keep ROTC on campus but remove all academic credit from the program. Plans continue to progress for the protest march past the War College. Safety tips, including what to do in case of tear gas, are given for the March. A faculty meeting adopts five resolutions concerning academic alternatives. New Dan Nodder expresses his views on a liberal arts education. Local police accuse the college of not following narcotics laws and hindering police efforts. Dickinson's freshman basketball team looks promising.
Faculty committees will reach decisions on 5-5-4-4 reform of the grading system by march 1971. PEST recommends ways to help the environment on campus. The Mermaid Players production of Enough Stupidity in Every Wise Man goes well. Squash returns to campus with non varsity status.
Students vote to strike in protest of the "ever-widening war in Indochina," specifically the expansion of U.S. troops into Cambodia and the resumption of U.S. bombing of North Vietnam. They will strike for an indefinite period and students will gather for a review in two days. A Referendum survey is also published for all students to fill out. Students receive a permit for a march past the War College. Some 75 students block the main entrances to Denny Hall while the planning committees meet. President Rubendall will call a faculty meeting to discuss student anti-war strikes.
The Policy Committee will present two resolutions to faculty at their next meeting: 1. The ROTC will be abolished on campus. 2. No academic credit will be granted for courses in the ROTC program. Student Senate invalidated the election results for the Institutional Priorities and Resources Committee due to unclear ballots. Elections are held by Student Senate for multiple committees. Two professors and six students attend the Soviet-American Peace Convocation. The Pa Consortium will sponsor the Summer Transition Program again.
Norval Reece campaigns on campus for a Democratic Senate seat. A student referendum on ROTC will be presented by Student Senate. The ROTC debate continues with the main issues being the moral question of weather ROTC should be on Dickinson campus, the academic question of if military science courses should count for credit, and faculty selection for the program. Wheel and Chain inducts eight new members. President Rubendall pushes back coed housing plans until '71. the Seventh Annual Sigma Chi Derby Day Chase and contest begin. The Byrds gave a fantastic concert to kick off Spring Weekend.
Dr. Stanley Nodder is appointed Associate Dean to succeed Dr. Merle Allshouse. The highlights of Parents Weekend are revealed. Black poet Don Lee will give a discussion on what it means to be black at Dickinson. Senate passes its budget without any changes. Senatorial Candidate Norval Reece will have a campaign rally on the campus. Kaiser publishes an environmental pamphlet on "The Man-Made Planet." The Mermaid players will preform the classic comedy "The Man Who Came to Dinner" for their final production of the season. Also included is a special supplement compiling a report on ROTC.