Mark Rudd to Speak

“Why Were There So Many Jews in SDS? Reflections on SDS, Columbia 1968 Protest, and the New Left”

Mark Rudd, one of the leaders of the 1968 Columbia University protests will be speaking at the Jewish Community Center, 500 Clubhouse Road, Vestal, October 11, at 7:30pm as part of the College of Jewish Studies Fall Program on The Legacy of the Turbulent Sixties: Jews and Social Justice.

Mark Rudd will speak on “Why Were There So Many Jews in SDS? Reflections on SDS, Columbia 1968 Protest, and the New Left” As one of the leaders of the campus protests at Columbia University in April 1968, Rudd was labeled by the press at the time as a symbol of student radicals. In fact, the Mark Slackmeyer character in the Doonesbury comic strip was initially modeled after Mark Rudd. Becoming the National Secretary of Students for a Democratic Society in 1969, Rudd helped found the Weather Underground. After becoming a full-time organizer for SDS and then living underground from 1970 to 1977, he became a community college math instructor and a perennial organizer and nonviolent activist on such issues as Native American land rights, US military interventions, unionization, environmental justice, and war and militarization. In addition to devoting much of his time to organizing he also spends time writing and speaking on the history which he was involved.

The College of Jewish Studies programs are open to the entire community; general admission is $8 and senior admission is $5. BCC and BU students are welcome to attend with no charge.