Activism

On March 4, 1969, a Circuit Court injunction prevented the Students for a Democratic Society from using the Union State Room for a presentation and in retaliation, FSU students gathered in protest at the Union. 350 students had amassed in the Union just as riot police with fixed bayonets had been dispatched to campus. As the protest gained numbers, they marched towards the Westcott Building. 60 students were arrested that night. The next morning, the Florida Flambeau ran a front page article on the event and described it as the "Night of the Bayonets."

The Night of the Bayonets was not an isolated protest on campus in the late 1960's and early 1970's - student activists held rallies often and for various causes. This selection of photos are from various protests on campus from 1968-1972.