Long Term Effects of the Vietnam War

By: Paddy Ferriter

When asked about his early career as a professor at Davidson College, Ernest Patterson said he did not “recall any antagonism between students and faculty.  Students didn’t take too much action until late in the 60’s in the area of Vietnam” (Patterson 1989).  War protests across the country and at southern schools such as Duke and Virginia Tech exposed Davidson’s “deadly cloak of provincialism” and political apathy ("Deadly" 1).  Conservatism extended into most aspects of life at Davidson in the pre-Vietnam era. Women were forbidden from the all male dorms of the campus and visitors were allowed to visit only at certain hours.  The curriculum at Davidson included strict, non-core requirements, required church services, and compulsory ROTC.  The faculty even had to take a religious oath, for “ in order to maintain its Christian commitment, Davidson must have a Christian faculty” (McLean 1).  Further, the campus, dorms and even the town of Davidson were completely dry.  While Davidson has historically been a place for intellectual cultivation rather than political activism, the eventual protesting by students and faculty of the Vietnam War was a catalyst for many other changes in the institution.

The actions of dissent against Vietnam were some of the first protests in modern history at Davidson.  As the rest of the country protested war, Davidsonians first called for changes in their college. Exclusive fraternities and a campus-wide ban on alcohol were first targeted through the student government and fledgling political groups such as the Students Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.  This pressure led the faculty to vote in 1965 “to make changes in its regulations pertaining to use of alcohol beverages by students (Dean of Students 1965).”  Students were allowed to drink at closed parties inside the fraternity buildings and at school related functions away from campus.

Diversity became a major focus as well for Davidson during this period.  As protests across the country swarmed, the Davidson gentleman became more aware of the world around him through faculty led teach-ins. There was a direct correlation between the increase in opposition to the war and the push for gender and racial rights.  In 1968, President Spencer promised Davidson would actively recruit Negro professors and clerical personnel and integrate the ROTC program  (McLean 1).  That spring, picketing and demonstrations against a local barbershop’s policy, of refusing to serve African Americans, demonstrated the first unified activism for Davidsonians. Exchange programs were established in 1971 with local women’s colleges to move gradually to coeducation, which would come two years later.  In 1972, Davidson began exchange programs with Morehouse College and Howard University to give students a greater sense of other cultures.  This same year, there was a push made to recruit female black students and to include more “courses related to black culture” (Kincaid 1972-73).

The greatest changes to Davidson from student and teacher activism came in the form of curriculum change. Davidson’s academic reputation began to suffer as schools across the country renovated their curriculums in a time of reform, and Davidson’s faculty and administration were quick to set ways to refurbish the course of study (Carson 2). The Blue Sky Curriculum of 1967 added a foreign language requirement and more courses on non-western studies to make Davidson more applicable to global concerns. Students protested the compulsory ROTC by unorganized heckling and peace rallies. By 1969, the required two-year program was made “optional by vote of the college’s board of trustees” (Smeat 1). In 1970, self-scheduled exams were put into effect after years of student proposals (Smith 6).

Due to the swell of activism and concern for self-improvement, Davidson has been able to become a modern institution, complete with diversity, activism and political awareness. Although many of these changes may have occurred without the Vietnam War, it is clear that the war enhanced this process by establishing an environment suitable for change.

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