"How far do we go in tolerating these people & this trash under the excuse of academic freedom & freedom of expression?"
Ronald Reagan to Glenn Bumke; August 15 1967
THE BACKLASH TO BERKELEY
Reagan’s War on Counterculture & the University of California System
REAGAN V.S. THE UC SYSTEM
Courtesy of The Intercept
The campaign promise of Reagan to "clean up the mess at Berkeley" materialized as his rhetoric became action.
His administration positioned itself as those who would restore moral order to UC campuses, using reform to reassert authority over minority activism.
His first move: fire the university's president, Clark Kerr---a process that had been culminating since J. Edgar Hoover articulated to Reagan his negativity towards Kerr.
Courtesy of Berkeley Library Digital Collections
"The University of California had the most restrictive policies [on political speech] of any university I have known about outside of a dictatorship."
- Clark Kerr
Courtesy of Getty Images
In 1969, plans to build dorms on UC Berkeley's "People's Park" sparked protests. Reagan reacted by deploying the National Guard, who used tear gas, guns, and bayonets; one person was killed 45 were shot.
"If it takes a bloodbath, let’s get it over with, no more appeasement."
Ronald Reagan
Courtesy the UC Berkeley Library
Courtesy of the UC Berkeley Library
Courtesy of the Guardian
Courtesy of Getty Images
"I believe the people of California would take the state college system to their hearts."
Ronald Reagan
Reagan sought to restore law and order to the perceived unrest by introducing educational fees, labeling protesters "welfare bums", using his well-known moral rhetoric to delegitimize student activism.
Believing UC attendance was a privilege, he supported tuition as a way to react against personal immorality, setting a base cost of $150 per year.
1965-66: Vietnam War Protests
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