By Erasmus Baxter
For the past five weeks we’ve explored the events of 1968 at Western. Let’s jump forward to May of 1970. Things had taken a turn for the worst. Nixon had just announced the expansion of the Vietnam war into Cambodia, and the national guard had just shot 15 students, 4 fatally, at Kent State. It was a time of enormous tumult that we can relate to today. The Western Front even published an extra edition for the first time since JFK’s assassination.
Freeway Blockade
After nearly 2,000 students rallied in Red Square, around 500 marched down what was then called Indian Street to block Interstate Five at the Lakeway overpass. Traffic backed up for a mile and was rerouted by Bellingham Police and the Whatcom County Sheriffs. It was blocked for roughly an hour and 45 minutes by the students, making it longer than the recent, approximately 1 hour, freeway protest.
Despite this, motorists interviewed by the Front were actually largely supportive of the blockade. A majority of the 25 motorists spoken to were supportive of the protest:
“Other than being delayed, I don’t mind it at all,” one driver was quoted as saying. “Nobody seems to be getting any attention by any other way.”
Another woman agreed with the first driver. “It is making those of us who are forced to wait on the highway feel the same frustration that you feel,” she said. “It is the same frustration that we all have with our government. It is a very effective way to protest.”
Another motorist said, “I agree with the motives, but I don’t feel that blocking this highway is the means to achieve your goals.”
At least one motorist was against the demonstration. “In my opinion, you won’t solve a damn thing. When you get to be my age you will see what I mean. You all ought to be in Russia or someplace.”
An ambulance was let through by the crowd, and the driver explained that he was doing a dry run just to make sure it was possible to get through in case of emergency.
The AS President, one of the leaders of the demonstration, thanked the police and the State Patrol members present for not getting involved.
Student Strike
“STRIKE!” cried out the Western Front, in an all-caps, quarter-page headline. Student leaders vowed to continue a three-day student strike for as long as necessary to end war in South-East Asia. University President Charles Flora (perhaps the chillest of Western’s presidents) endorsed the strike, and asked professors to plan their curriculums according. The Western Front even endorsed the strike, with the editor traveling with the AS President to coordinate with the national student strike. People interested in information about the strike could call either the Western Front or Associated Students offices for information about the strike.
In what was a truly national student strike, most every other state college and university participated. In Washington alone, Western, UW, WSU, CWU and Seattle Central Community College all went on strike. Students at UW blocked Interstate Five through Seattle, just as had been done in Bellingham.
While the strike went on for several days, the numbers of participants continued to decline, and it slowly faded away. A noble idea lost to time.