Stephan Bradley: Harlem vs. Columbia University: Black Student Power in the Late 1960s

Excerpt

In 1968, Black and white college students took over one of America’s most prestigious institutions, capturing the attention of local and state elected officials, national organizations, community dwellers and prominent activists. In Harlem vs. Columbia University: Black Student Power in the Late 1960s, historian Stefan Bradley of St. Louis University documents the collision of Black student power against Columbia University’s plans to build a large, private gymnasium in the park situated between the Ivy League institution and the Harlem community. The book is structured into two parts with eight well-researched chapters. The first part attempts to highlight the important factors leading up to the student occupation of five buildings on Columbia's Morningside campus; it particularly focuses on landownership and spatial control. The second part addresses the role students played in changing Columbia University, focusing on the activism of the Students’ Afro-American Society (SAS) and the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). …