picture of 2 men

The years of 1968-1970 were characterized by great turmoil on the ɬÀï·¬ campus.

In increasingly emphatic ways, university students and employees alike showed their dissatisfaction with the administration, protesting the conservative attitudes perceived to be governing ɬÀï·¬ at the time. For ten days in 1968, the offices of Political Science and Economics were occupied by students concerned about their level of involvement in the management of their department

Students in front of the Administrative Building
Students in front of the Administrative Building, 1969. MUA PR000388

Alarmed by the growing influence of campus organizations such as the Students for a Democratic University, ɬÀï·¬'s administration formed a Tripartite Commission to report on ways to quell the unrest. In the winter and spring of 1969, the "disturbance and discontent" described by the Commission's interim report came to a head in a series of campus demonstrations and disruptions. In February, after breaking up several administrative meetings in support of the ɬÀï·¬ français movement, Stanley Gray, a radical Political Science teacher, was fired. He returned to campus in March as part of a massive ɬÀï·¬ français demonstration, comprising about 6,000 protesters and another 2,000-3,000 onlookers as it wound its way to the Roddick Gates.

Later in the fall, the ɬÀï·¬ Reporter published the administration's five-year plan to achieve a better balance between French and English, including goals of a 20% Francophone registration and a fully bilingual administration. By 1971, the year of ɬÀï·¬'s Sesqucentennial anniversary celebration, much of the upheaval at ɬÀï·¬ had stilled.

Students in front of the Administrative Building
Students in front of the Administrative Building, 1969. MUA PR000389
picture of stanley gray
Stanley Gray, 1969. MUA PR000395
Students usurp chair at Board of Governors' Meeting
Students usurp chair at Board of Governors' Meeting, 1969. MUA PR000398
Maxwell Cohen at Board of Governors' Meeting
Maxwell Cohen at Board of Governors' Meeting, 1969. MUA PR000399
Maxwell Cohen at Board of Governors' Meeting, 1969). MUA PR000400
Maxwell Cohen at Board of Governors' Meeting, 1969). MUA PR000400
Stanley Gray dismissed for disruption of Board of Governors' and Senate Meetings, 1969. MUA PR000403
Stanley Gray dismissed for disruption of Board of Governors' and Senate Meetings, 1969. MUA PR000403
Students watching television debate between Principal H. Rocke Robertson, Dean of Arts H. Wood, and Stanley Gray
Students watching television debate between Principal H. Rocke Robertson, Dean of Arts H. Wood, and Stanley Gray,1969. MUA PR000406
Students watching television debate between Principal H. Rocke Robertson, Dean of Arts H. Wood, and Stanley Gray,1969. MUA PR000406