---
title: "'A Defining Moment'"
date: 2023-05-04T05:30:00-04:00
author: University of Maryland
canonical_url: "https://today.umd.edu/a-defining-moment"
section: Articles
---
# 'A Defining Moment'

*May 4, 2023* — by [Sala Levin ’10](/author/sala-levin-10)


> Activist Alums Remember Landmark Anti-Vietnam Protests of May 1970

*Students Block Gates archives 1920x1080jpg — Students and police clash at the south gate of the University of Maryland in May 1970. Protests sparked by the U.S. invasion of Cambodia broke out across campus, and some students staged demonstrations at the Main Administration Building, below. "The war in Vietnam was the defining moment of our generation," said Richard Fox '72 at an event last night commemorating the 53rd anniversary of the protests.*

University of Maryland students had already begun their fourth consecutive day of anti-war demonstrations on May 4, 1970, when Ohio National Guardsmen fatally shot four protesters at Kent State University.

Even before those killings shook the country and college campuses nationwide, Maryland was in turmoil: clashes between students and police, massive demonstrations, shutdowns of Route 1, a student strike and vandalism at campus buildings. Gov. Marvin Mandel called a state of emergency and sent the National Guard to UMD.

Yesterday, to mark the anniversary of the historic events, University Libraries hosted a group of alums who were active in the anti-war cause in Hornbake Library to share their experiences at “30 Days in May: Reflections on the Antiwar Movement at UMD,” named after the [1970 account](https://washingtonareaspark.com/2013/05/29/30-days-in-may-u-of-md-1970/) of the protests written by the student group Democratic Radical Union of Maryland. (The event was originally scheduled for 2020, the 50th anniversary, but was postponed due to the pandemic.)

A pop-up exhibit, curated by the Libraries’ Special Collections and University Archives, features photos and recollections of that time period and is also on display at Hornbake through tomorrow. University Archives is also collecting oral histories from other alums who were there at the time.

“The war in Vietnam was the defining moment of our generation,” said Richard Fox ’72, who was a member of Students for a Democratic Society. President Richard Nixon’s April 30 announcement of the U.S. invasion of Cambodia sparked widespread outrage and turned what had been a quiet drumbeat of anti-war activism in College Park into a deafening roar.



*students protest at main admin*



*national guard members fan outon mckeldin malll*




**Topics:** [Campus & Community](https://today.umd.edu/tags/campus-community)


**Tags:** [History](https://today.umd.edu/topic/history), [Student Experience](https://today.umd.edu/topic/student-experience)


**Units:** [University Libraries](https://today.umd.edu/topic/university-libraries)