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(Personal letter to Matthew Walsh, the president of Notre Dame, signed "A KLUXER")
When the Ku Klux Klan members arrived in South Bend on the morning of May 17, 1924, expecting to have a picnic and parade, they were stopped by Notre Dame students (Tucker 154). The students did whatever they could to drive the Klan from the city, from throwing potatoes at their cross made of lightbulbs to keeping the robes they stole as trophies (Tucker 155). The students were having their own revolution against the Klan ("Klan Display..." 1). On May 19, 1924, the Notre Dame students started another revolution when they went to the Klan's headquarters and broke into a fight, which was stopped when Notre Dame's president was called to the scene ("Mayor Seebirt..." 1). Initially, the reaction to the days' events was mostly negative, and there was widespread public outrage (Tucker 174). Many Klan members condemned the students for the violence (Tucker 179). According to them, the Notre Dame students were an out-of-control, brawling bunch who paraded the streets, looking for elderly and young people to hurt (Tucker 177). However, after Notre Dame won the 1924 national football championship, the negative reactions were mostly erased, and Notre Dame was seen as a university trying to fight prejudice, one step at a time (Tucker 188).