Campus Unrest Panel Releases Last Report

Student protests occur most often at large, Eastern liberal arts colleges with high admission standards and ROTC programs, according to the final report issued today by the President's Commission on Campus Unrest.

Although highly selective schools had incidents at twice the rate of those with lower admission standards, the latter's were more likely to include violence, the report said.

The report, which is based on a poll of college presidents, heads of faculty senates, and student government presidents at 1890 institutions across the nation, stresses that campus disturbances are caused by a number of factors.

Administrators and faculty members cited the Indochina war as the primary cause of student outbursts. Students, however, felt that lack of campus communication was the significant factor.

Between September 1967 and May 1970, the survey showed, the percentage of colleges experiencing protests rose from six to 14 per cent. In May, following the American invasion of Cambodia and killings of students in Ohio and Mississippi, demonstrations spread to 32 per cent of all U. S. colleges.

Regional Distribution

According to the survey, student protests are most likely to occur in the East, where 48 per cent of the schools reported disturbances of some kind. Other regions were less affected: West, 29 per cent; Midwest, 26 per cent; and South, 21 per cent.

The report divided the 805 incidents of "campus unrest" from September 1967 through July 1970, when the questionnaires were sent, into three categories: 60 per cent were deemed "least serious," involving large demonstrations conducted within campus rules; 32 per cent were considered "moderatelyserious," consisting of violations of regulations but no violence; and eight per cent were "most serious," where incidents resulted in personal injury or property damage.

Coeducational schools experienced incidents of unrest as often as their all-male or all-female counterparts, but these incidents were more likely to fall into the "most serious" category, the survey found.

ROTC

Among colleges with ROTC programs, 20 per cent had violent incidents compared with four per cent among those without ROTC.

Small institutions were less likely to experience violence. Less than one per cent of colleges with fewer than 1000 students have experienced violent disorders since May 1970. For colleges with enrollments over 10,000 students, the figure was 29 per cent.

Most of those polled, however, believe that violent confrontations are waning. The Indochina war, black student demands, and discontent over campus regulations were viewed as the issues most likely to ignite disruptions.

The respondents recommended that the government end the Indochina war, realign domestic priorities, and give greater recognition to student concerns.