Blog 2: Berkeley Free Speech Movement

Michael Li

ASA 2 Section A01

10/2/15

Blog 2: Berkeley Free Speech Movement

It surprises me that there were regulations at UC Berkeley against raising money or distributing literature for social movements on campus property. Universities now are often identified as organizations that educate people and allow them to gain a greater understanding of what is right and wrong in the world, and it seems ironic how an educational institution would ban support for social movements. I think that just goes to show how things have changed in the last 50 years. It is very impressive how they gathered such a large percentage of the student body to protest for this cause. If these polices were in place at a university such as UC Berkeley, which is considered to be a liberal school located in a liberal area, it makes you wonder what policies were in effect at other schools in harsher conditions during the 1960s.

Question: What similar policies were in effect at other universities and institutions like the policy at UC Berkeley that prohibited the collection of money and distribution of literature for social movements.

Video of Mario Savio giving his operation of the machine speech at the UC Berkeley campus. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhFvZRT7Ds0