The story so far

RED ESSEX

­ edited highlights of the University of Essex, Part 2, by Graham Burton

It might seem hard to believe now, but the University of Essex was once infamous as a hotbed of socialism and student unrest. Protests in the sixties, seventies, and even into the eighties gave the university a reputation as a place of radical thought and direct action, of confrontation between students, staff and the administration, and, if you believe the media of the time, a place where the wearing of a beard and Mao hat was compulsory, and the Internationale was sung every morning by students and staff.

The university began to gain a reputation through a series of minor student incidents throughout 1966 and 1967, but, despite being mentioned in articles from as far away as New Zealand and India, only really hit the headlines in February 1968, when Tory MP Enoch Powell visited the university for a poetry recital to the Literary Society, and to address the Conservative Association. Powell was already well-known for his views opposing immigration, and just months after his visit to Essex was forced to resign as a shadow minister following his infamous "Rivers of Blood" speech where he warned of the violent repercussions that would ensue unless immigration laws were tightened. Powell's visit began to turn sour before he even arrived, with bomb threats issued, but it was not until he tried to leave, with local Tory MP Antony Buck, that serious trouble began. A furious Buck gave this version of events "Mr Enoch Powell gave a speech to a large audience which was, as always, of enormous intellectual vigour. As I was about to drive Mr Powell away he was surrounded by a gang of obscenity-shouting hooligans who started to indulge in open violence. The car was rocked and banged and a heavy rock was thrown on to the car's bonnet, scratching and denting it. It is really insufferable when a man like Mr Powell should be called a Fascist. I was livid."

Powell himself complained that he had "never found a lower standard of conduct" at any of the new universities. As a result of the incident, disciplinary proceedings were brought against six students, who argued that the event had been blown out of all proportion. In protest at what was seen as this victimisation, a sit-in was held and increased rights for students demanded, including membership of the senate, and the introduction of a new disciplinary system run by students. One of the protesters, David Triesman complained of the "heavy-handed paternalism of staff". In the end, punishments were not severe, much to the chagrin of Buck. However, the university decided to get tough, issuing a warning statement about future disciplinary proceedings if the events were repeated.

Soon after, the Students' Union decided to revoke its membership of the National Union of Students, and affiliated instead with the more left-wing Radical Alliance. Just months later, in May 1968, the Department of Chemistry was preparing to welcome a visiting speaker, Dr. T.D. Inch, from Porton Down ­ a biological warfare research facility. Around a hundred protesting students descended upon Wivenhoe House, where Dr. Inch's address was being held, causing it to be abandoned. A mustard-bomb was thrown over Inch, the police were called in, and there were some minor scuffles; this was much to the annoyance of the students who argued that their protest was carefully planned to avoid violence. Sloman immediately suspended, without representation, three students who were considered ring leaders ­ Peter Archard, Raphael Halberstadt and David Triesman. In response 300 students, supported by around forty staff, went on strike, and a huge delegation marched to Sloman's house to confront him. The next day a "Free University" day was held, later extended to the rest of the week, with 750 students and staff taking part in "teach-ins" on a number of subjects, including germ warfare, while a sit-in at the Hexagon was staged. Sloman appealed for calm but refused to reverse his decision.

In the late 1960s a radicalist group known as the "Angry Brigade" gained notoriety for a series of bombings in England. Their targets were industrial ­ the Departments of Employment, and Trade and Industry were both attacked, along with companies involved in industrial disputes with workers ­ and the "repressive apparatus of the State", including the police, politicians and banks. In 1972 four members were convicted on charges of conspiracy to cause explosions and sentenced to ten years in prison; among them was former Essex student Anna Mendleson, who three years earlier had complained of being kicked by a member of the Select Committee attempting to leave the ill-fated meeting at the university. While many of the students of the 60s joined the hippie movement, for some, the protests had turned, recalls one former student, "from what was in some ways fashionable excess, to something really serious".

The events were followed closely by the press throughout the country, with events twisted and sensationalised, and many columnists and leader-writers declaring their disgust at the "revolting students". The Daily Mail reported that Sloman had appealed to students to "leave his wife and children alone" ­ in fact he was merely asking that protests be delivered to his office rather than his house. Meanwhile, a hoax advertisement was placed in the Times, advertising all the posts in the Department of Chemistry, which, to the annoyance of the protesters, was continuing to run lectures during the strike. The advert read - "Applications are invited for all posts. Two Professors, two Senior Lecturers, eight Lecturers, five Fellows. Salary according to research experience and qualifications." Despite outcry from those caught out by the advert, the university decided not to investigate, saying "We don't anticipate any action, even if we discover the culprits. It would probably only make things worse."

Finally, after nearly a week of protest and teach-ins, the suspended students were reinstated. Gabriel Pearson, a lecturer in the Department of Literature, resigned from the university senate in protest at how the whole affair was handled, declaring the students' struggle to be "morally and aesthetically both beautiful and just". However the chancellor, Lord Butler, warned in the Sunday Express that left-wing forces were infiltrating the university and "exploiting genuine grievances"; "a lot of rubbish" was the union's response. The senate later concluded that there had been no ringleaders in the Porton Down incident. Students then threatened to boycott exams unless all mention of the incident was expunged from the three's records; sympathetic staff leaked many exam questions in support.

British poet Philip Larkin, who often commented on contemporary issues in his poetry, was inspired to write this two-line poem in 1969 about the student protests at the University of Essex and the London School of Economics: "When the Russian tanks roll westward, what defence for you and me? Colonel Sloman's Essex Rifles? The Light Horse of L.S.E.?"

There then followed a period of relative calm until April 1969, when a House of Commons Select Committee, set up to investigate the nation-wide student unrest, met on campus. Throughout the morning the members of the committee ­ including five MPs, Sloman, and a number of officials who were to give evidence ­ were heckled by around seventy students in the invited audience. At around 11 o'clock, a student ­ Brian Reeve ­ emerged from the audience, swept the committee members' papers aside, tilted the table back, and threw the microphones on the floor. He was then joined by more students from the audience, one of whom placed a "girl's floppy brimmed hat" on the head of Ronnie Bell, a Tory MP (unfortunately no photographs of this incident exist). The committee hastily adjourned for lunch. When the members returned David Triesman, one of the three students suspended after the Porton Down incident, rose from the audience and started to give a speech, while a number of students moved to block the exit. The chairman of the committee then adjourned the meeting with the intention of moving to a private location, and the MPs and Sloman tried to make their way out. For a while they could not get past a line of bodies lying at the door, and as they clambered past there were shouts of "This is a non-violent protest", "Fascist pigs!" and, to Bell, "Oh, Ronnie, Ronnie, you've got a beautiful leg". When they finally made it outside, the party was followed wherever it went, so the MPs gave up, got taxis to the station, and went back to Westminster. Strangely enough, Reeve's original act of sweeping the papers off the table was not a political one; he was an Orthodox Christian and likened his protest to Jesus expelling the money-lenders at the temple.

A secret intelligence report recently released under the thirty-year rule reveals just how seriously the student protests around the country were being taken. The report warned that the protesting students were "frighteningly radical, badly lacking in theory, but dead-set on violence." It goes on to say that "militants look for revolution as an aim in itself. They turn to the exponents of revolution for their inspiration ­ Castro, Che Guevera, Mao and Ho Chi Minh ­ rather than to the ideologies which inspired their revolutions. If they have an ideological bible it consists of the work of Professor Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man. Marcuse is a 70 year old German Marxist professor ...His book has a simple theme: the complete rejection of the existing order ...The Marcusian philosophy is essentially destructive: it offers no clear model for a new order after the destruction of existing society. But young idealists who see a need for radical change, but no means to effect it, are ready to take first things first." The report blames small groups of radicals for most of the troubles, and goes on to suggest that efforts should be made to improve relations between university staff and students ­ seen as the route cause of student dissatisfaction.

Essex was certainly not alone at this time in its troubles ­ in 1968 there was a world-wide student protest movement, coupled with mass demonstrations throughout Europe and America against many issues, including the Vietnam war. However, feelings at Essex were flamed by a number of factors; the original academic and architectural plans at the university were supposed to encourage free-thinking and democracy ­ students were left to their own devices in the towers. Radical thought was encouraged by young staff and unconventional courses (including one called "Revolution", hastily withdrawn by the authorities after the protests). To the students it seemed ridiculous for the university authorities to attempt to impose draconian punishments in this supposedly intentionally radical and democratic university. A former student remembers that "there was a contradiction in the attempt to impose Oxbridge rules on a university set up by a socialist government".

In any case, Essex had gained not just nation-wide but world-wide notoriety. Offers of assistance had come from students at universities home and abroad, while telegrams of support were received from Jean-Paul Sartre, Bertrand Russell, Alex Comfort, Maynard Smith and Joseph Needham; even legendary director Jean-Luc Godard arrived on campus to film the events. No-one could doubt the students' sincerity and resolve; the question was, what could the the authorities do to maintain control?

Next month: The Troubles Continue ...

RETURN TO CONTENTS PAGE