Activism thrives at UMass Amherst. As the flagship campus of Massachusetts, UMass Amherst has branded itself “revolutionary,” and its students channel that spirit toward fighting for causes they care about. Student protests at UMass have shaped university policies from the 1960s, when female freshmen had an 8 p.m. curfew, all the way through December 2021, when the Survivor’s Bill of Rights was passed. 

In 1969, the U.S. government reinstated the compulsory draft, where young men between the ages of 18 and 26 could be compelled to serve overseas. Many UMass students rose up to fight against U.S. military involvement in Southeast Asia. Student efforts culminated in a nationwide strike of classes in May 1970, which provoked ripples that reached even the highest levels of the federal government.

In this episode of It Happened in Amherst, Izzi D’Amico talks to UMass students  past and present for a closer look at how the culture of protest at UMass has developed from 1968 to 2022.