Vietnam War Riots

During the late 1960s and early 1970s, the University at Buffalo became a hotspot of student activism amid the nationwide unrest over the Vietnam War. Anti-war sentiment on campus was strong, fueled by both the escalating conflict in Vietnam and local issues at UB. Earlier incidents set the stage for what students later refer to as the Vietnam Riots. In August 1968, for example, a group of nine activists (mostly with UB ties) known as the Buffalo Nine were arrested after staging a draft protest in a Buffalo church. The Buffalo Nine case and the trial of UB draft resister Bruce Beyer (who was convicted in 1969 for anti-war activities) galvanized many UB students.

By early 1970, campus tensions were high. Students were increasingly frustrated not only with the war but also with UB's governance and opposition to Project Themis (a Defense Department funded research project at UB). This volatile atmosphere set the stage for a series of protests, strikes, and clashes in Spring 1970 that became known as the Vietnam Riots at UB.

Spring 1970 Protests and Clashes

The peak of unrest occurred in February and March 1970, during which events escalated rapidly over the course of a few weeks. On February 25th, 1970, an angry demonstration of about 500 students in Norton Union (the Student Union) led to 16 arrests. The day before, campus police and city police had been summoned to a UB basketball game due to a student protest alleging racism in the athletics department. In response, a group of 40 to 50 students occupied Acting President Peter Regan's office on February 26th, refusing to leave as they demanded him to explain the police presence. Some protesters threw rocks and ice at the office windows, prompting police intervention and gathering a crowd of hundreds.

By late February 1970, the situation intensified. On February 26th, amid the turmoil, a firebomb was thrown into Lockwood Library (then located in Abbott Hall on South Campus), destroying several hundred books. The next day, a State Supreme Court judge issued a temporary restraining order which banned demonstrators from continuing to disrupt university operations, an injunction which was renewed on March 5th. University Acting President Regan denounced the violet fringe of protestors as "vicious vandals" in a televised address on March 1st.

Despite the injunction, protests continued. Students formed a strike committee of around 400 members, who attempted to shut down classes in early March 1970. Picket lines and class boycotts occurred, and on March 5th, student strikers physically blocked the entrance to Hayes Hall (the administration building). Tensions peaked on March 8th, 1970, when UB's administration took the step of requesting that the Buffalo Police move in and occupy the campus. That same day, nearly 2,000 students and faculty rallied in opposition to the police presence on campus.

The confrontation further turned violent on March 12th, 1970. During a face-off between student demonstrators and law enforcement, a melee erupted that resulted in 58 people injured - including 35 police officers - in clashes on UB's South Campus. Skirmishes involved baton charges, thrown objects, and clouds of tear gas. Contemporary accounts describe it as one of the most chaotic days in UB's history, as police in riot gear cleared buildings and quarreled with crowds of students. This sequence of events - protests over Vietnam and campus issues, a police occupation of campus, and a violent confrontation - is why students refer to these events as the Vietnam Riots. It coincided with national unrest, and the turmoil occurred just weeks before the Kent State shootings in May 1970, after which UB also saw protests and heavy-handled police response, including tear gas use on May 5th, 1970.

Aftermath

Following the March 12th clash, efforts were made to de-escalate the situation. On March 15th, 1970, a group of 45 faculty members - later called the "Faculty 45" - conducted a sit-in at Hayes Hall, aiming to restore calm and protest police tactics. However, they were arrested for violating the court injunction against these interruptions. With spring break approaching, the campus unrest began to subside. By March 17th, the violence had waned and university officials asked the Buffalo Police to withdraw from campus, ending the occupation that had lasted about nine days. Classes resumed, although the rest of the semester was consumed with efforts to "restore unity" and address the grievances that had led to the upheaval.

Legacy

In historical retrospect, the UB Vietnam Riots of 1970 stand as one of the most turbulent chapters in the university's history. While not as widely remembered nationally as events at Kent State or Columbia, these protests were highly significant locally. University archives preserve extensive documentation of the period, including eyewitness accounts, administrative memos, and even artifacts (such as remnants of a firebomb and a 45-rpm protest song called "Hayes Hall Blues"). The term "Vietnam Riots" encompasses not a single riot but a series of confrontations linked to anti-war and campus issues. Some student recollections of the time were partly "lost to history," as UB lacked a formal public reckoning until decades later. It was only years afterward that retrospectives - such as a 2005 UB Today Article titled "A Stormy Spring" - chronicled the full timeline of February to March of 1970.