Mark Rudd issued a letter to Columbia University President, Grayson Kirk, on March 27th, 1968, in which he presented the demands of a petition that had already been signed by 1,600 Columbia students.
The demands essentially called for Columbia to sever all ties with the Institute for Defense Analysis, on the grounds that academia should not be supporting the unjust war in Vietnam.
The original letter can be seen online at the library exhibit, 1968 Columbia in Crisis.
Because Kirk's office would not respond to Rudd's previous attempts to bring the petition to his attention, Rudd and five other students briefly occupied an administrative office in Low Library for several hours. The subsequent reactionary disciplinary actions filed against Rudd and the IDA Six, galvanized student groups on campus.
One month later, on April 22, the IDA Six met with a dean and were placed on probation by the university. The following day, SDS held a rally in support of the IDA Six. They marched into President Kirk's office demanding an open hearing. SDS also took the opportunity to mobilize SAS by acting out against the gymnasium. SAS now had the radical SDS behind them.
Note: Rudd later joined the violent group that split from the SDS, the Weather Underground. After living underground for seven years, in September 1977 he turned himself in, and the charges against him were eventually dropped due to prosecutorial illegalities.
Sources:
1968, Columbia In Crisis, Columbia University Library.
THE WEATHERMAN AND ME, Mark Rudd: Political organizer, ex-federal fugitive, my pseudo stepdad, By Simon McCormack, The Alibi (V.18 NO.22 • MAY 28-JUNE 3, 2009)
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