crowd and in front of Columbia's gates about 300 policemen listened to the revolutionary rhetoric pouring out oE the student bullhorns with a mixture of puzzlement, interest, good humor, and fury. Inside the campus, two petitions began circulating among the professors. One, urging a faculty sh'ike, was signed largely by younger faculty members. The other, "strongly opposing any teaching strike," was signed largely by senior professors. 'While outrage against the use of police ran high on campus, parts oE the outside world began to express a sense oE relief. Ma~'or Lindsay said, "The demonstration by a group oE Columbia University students during the past several days clearly exceeded even the most liberal perimeters oE the right to assemble and dissent. ... Only after a remarkablv displa~l of patience and restraint did the universitv file criminal charges of trespass and finallv request the New York Citv police to remove the students. . . ." Hundreds oE telegrams began to Bood Dr, Kirk's desk with congratulations. At least 20 leading college and university presidents and numerous professors and students from all over the nation expressed their support. The president also received many telegrams condemning his use of the police, especially from leading liberals, young alumni, students, and pacifists. Within a few davs, however, the mail ran 10-1 in favor oE the police action. Some of the mail from unconnected citizens was Eetching. A ladv in Ames, Iowa, sent a check for $15 "to help pav for repairing the damage of the sit-ins." A seventh-grade student in Long Island asked President Kirk what the "student reaction" was to his decision because she was doing a report on the Columbia rebellion for her social studies class. A man in Kingston, Tennessee, sent a $5 bill to Dr. Kirk with the brief note, "Please go out and bu~' ~'ourself some cigars, or whatever else \'oU use for kicks," Professor M~rvin Harris '49 of the Anthropologv Department, incensed at what he regarded as the bestiality of the police, the betrayal of ProEessor Westin, and the cold-heartedness and ~ irresponsibility of Drs. Kirk and Truman, called a special meeting of an Ad ,~ Hoc "rump" group (later known as ~
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SPRI:-\C, 1968