The Third World Liberation Front (TWLF) rose in 1968 as a coalition of ethnic student groups on college campuses in California in response to the Eurocentric education and lack of diversity at San Francisco State College (now San Francisco State University) and University of California, Berkeley.Activist State (Documentary: 1968 San Francisco Student Strike). Dir. Jonathan Craig. YouTube. YouTube, 10 Feb. 2013. Web. 28 Oct. 2014. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoPmb-9ctGc>. The TWLF was instrumental in creating and establishing Ethnic Studies and other identity studies as majors in their respective schools and universities across the United States.Dong, Harvey. "The TWLF Strike." Manuel Ruben Delgado. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Nov. 2014. <>.Springer, Denize. "Campus Commemorates 1968 Student-led Strike." San Francisco State News. San Francisco State University, 22 Sept. 2008. Web. 14 Nov. 2014. <http://www.sfsu.edu/news/2008/fall/8.html>.
At the end of the American Civil Rights Movement, the combined determination of the Latin American Student Organization (LASO), the Black Student Union (BSU), the Intercollegiate Chinese for Social Action (ICSA), the Mexican American Student Confederation, the Philippine (now Pilipino) American Collegiate Endeavor (PACE), La Raza, the Native American Students Union, and later the Asian American Political Alliance galvanized California and the rest of the nation with the first student strike, bringing to light the need for wider perspective within educational disciplines.Mcevoy, James, and Abraham Miller. ""On Strike—shut It Down" the Crisis at San Francisco State College." Trans-action 6.5 (March 1969): 18-23. Springer. Web. 13 Nov. 2014.San Francisco State University. "Chronology of Events." The San Francisco State College Strike Collection. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Nov. 2014. <>."Third World Student Strikes at SFSU & UCB 1968-1969." Blog post. Asian American Movement 1968. Asian Community Center History Group, 17 Jan. 2008. Web. 13 Nov. 2014. <http://aam1968.blogspot.com/2008/01/third-world-student-strikes-at-sfsu-ucb.html>. The TWLF strikes for Ethnic Studies in California drew the attention of the universities' administrative leaders as well as the attention of the Governor of California Ronald Reagan. The student strikes to establish these courses started in 1968 and lasted for several months. The establishment of the first College of Ethnic Studies at San Francisco State, the first Ethnic Studies Department at Berkeley, increased hiring of faculty of color, and efforts to increase minority representation on college campuses all resulted from the actions of the Third World Liberation Front.Whitson, Helene. "Introductory Essay." The San Francisco State College Strike Collection. San Francisco State University, n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2014. <>.
Black Student Union & Third World Liberation Front Strike at San Francisco State College The student and faculty strike started on November 6, 1968 and lasted until March 21, 1969, making it the longest strike by students at an academic institution in the United States.Whitson, Helene, and Anne Reynes. "'On Strike! Shut It Down!' An Interview with Helene Whitson on the San Francisco College Strike and Strike Collection." E-rea 10.2 (2013): n. pag. OpenEdition. Web. The strikes arose to protest the perpetual Eurocentric lens on education, as the demands of the strikers included an establishment of an autonomous department for Ethnic Studies, more faculty of color representation, and more representation of students of color on campus.Park, Gene. "The San Francisco State College Third World Strike." Dartmouth. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Nov. 2014. <http://www.dartmouth.edu/~hist32/History/S09%20-%20Third%20World%20Liberation%20Strike.htm>. John H. Bunzel writes that the students felt that "education from kindergarten to college under the authority of the white community failed to focus on subject matter that was germane to the life experiences of the people in the minority community."Bunzel, John H. ""Black Studies at San Francisco State." The Public Interest 13 (1968): 22-38. National Affairs. Web. 01 Nov. 2014.
Origins The contention between students and administration can be traced to May 2, 1967, when students orchestrated a sit-in at the office of the newly appointed president of the university, Dr. John Summerskill, in protest of the Selective Service Committee's access to students' academic standing. Subsequent events included the suspension and firing of high-profile educators of color. The Black Student Union, and The Black Communications Group, seeing the need of the other ethnic student groups to organize, led the Black student organizers to expedite the formation at San Francisco State College of the Third World Liberation Front.
One year to the day before the strike, the editor of the student newspaper The Daily Gator, James Vaszko, was attacked by several Black students on November 7, 1967. The "Gator incident", as it was called, occurred after he wrote an editorial petitioning the Carnegie Corporation of New York to withhold funds from proposed "service programs" including classes in Black history and culture requested by the Black Student Union. After six assailants were arrested and suspended, the BSU held a press conference in order to elucidate the reasons for the classes they advocated. These programs were to be established to "awaken and develop Black awareness and consciousness," according to the San Francisco Strike Collection. The rising tension between students prompted the formation of a faculty committee by President Summerskill. Individuals sympathetic to the six suspended students began protesting in the administration building at San Francisco State College, leading Summerskill to close the campus. During this period, there were also protests against the Vietnam War, further heightening tensions between the administration and students. On February 22, 1968, Dr. Summerskill resigned from his post as of the following school year, to be later replaced by Dr. Robert Smith.
As tension continued to rise, BSU & the Third World Liberation Front occupied the school's YMCA on March 23, 1968, forcing all YMCA employees to leave. Despite demands from President Summerskill to evacuate the premises, the students remained in protest to keep a revered faculty member as a professor. They listed their demands as: An end to Air Force ROTC on campus, Retention of Juan Martinez, Programs to admit 400 ghetto students for the fall semester, and The hiring of nine minority faculty members to support the minority students." The protest culminated on May 21 of that year with the arrival of the police and arrests of 26 individuals of the 400 protesters.
The Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) played a significant role in the strike.
The fall of 1968 semester saw the formation of the Black Studies Department, but also mounting tension. President Smith refused a demand by the California State Colleges trustees to assign George Mason Murray (the Minister of Education for the Black Panther Party), a graduate student and instructor in the English department, to a non-teaching position. This came after Murray's remarks to students at Fresno State College where he allegedly said, "We are slaves, and the only way to become free is to kill all the slave masters." Mounting pressure from trustees and administrators, like SF State Chancellor Dumke, induced Dr. Smith to suspend Murray despite threats of a strike from the BSU, and led to the presentation of 15 demands from them and the TWLF.
Demands of the strikers and administrative response From Helen Whitson's Introductory Essay in the San Francisco State College Strike Collection:
BSU demands "That all Black Studies courses being taught through various departments be immediately part of the Black Studies Department and that all the instructors in this department receive full-time pay. That Dr. Hare, Chairman of the Black Studies Department, receive a full-professorship and a comparable salary according to his qualifications. That there be a Department of Black Studies which will grant a Bachelor's Degree in Black Studies; that the Black Studies Department chairman, faculty and staff have the sole power to hire faculty and control and determine the destiny of its department. That all unused slots for Black Students from Fall 1968 under the Special Admissions program be filled in Spring 1969. That all Black students wishing so, be admitted in Fall 1969. That twenty (20) full-time teaching positions be allocated to the Department of Black Studies. That Dr. Helen Bedesem be replaced from the position of Financial Aid Officer and that a Black person be hired to direct it; that Third World people have the power to determine how it will be administered. That no disciplinary action will be administered in any way to any students, workers, teachers, or administrators during and after the strike as a consequence of their participation in the strike. That the California State College Trustees not be allowed to dissolve any Black programs on or off the San Francisco State College campus. That George Murray maintain his teaching position on campus for the 1968-69 academic year."
TWLF demands "That a School of Ethnic Studies for the ethnic groups involved in the Third World be set up with the students in each particular ethnic organization having the authority and control of the hiring and retention of any faculty member, director, or administrator, as well as the curriculum in a specific area study. That 50 faculty positions be appropriated to the School of Ethnic Studies, 20 of which would be for the Black Studies program. That, in the Spring semester, the College fulfills its commitment to non-white students in admitting those who apply. That, in the fall of 1969, all applications of non-white students be accepted. That George Murray and any other faculty person chosen by non-white people as their teacher be retained in their positions."
The BSU/TWLF strike that began on November 6, 1968 was catalyzed by the suspension of graduate student and Black Panther Minister of Education George Mason Murray. There was an approximate 15% reduction in student attendance in November at the start of the strike, but police were called to campus anyway on that first day. Police brutality was a common sight throughout the strike. From that moment on, these students would remain on strike for 5 months until March 21, 1969.
Negative and violent interactions between police and students lead Dr. Smith to close campus for a week and faculty meetings ensued. Appeals by Professor S. I. Hayakawa to support President Smith's request to reinstate Murray were made to the faculty members, who were also considering striking as well. It was highlighted that Murray was "suspended without due process" by a faculty grievance committee. When campus reopened on November 20, 1968, only 10% of students returned for the school-wide discussion on current state of affairs. After disagreeable interactions with students, Dr. Smith resigned on November 26, and Professor Hayakawa became acting president. On December 11, the campus American Federation of Teachers (AFT) also join the strike to have trustees meet eye to eye with the students.