Campus unrest collection

Student opposition to the Vietnam War sparked a period of campus unrest during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Several events at this time attracted negative media attention, brought criticism from parents and alumni, and resulted in several arrests, putting students, faculty, and the college itself on trial.

In November 1968, several students were indicted for washing an American flag on stage during a performance in Coxe Hall. The following year, students participated in a national moratorium to protest the Vietnam War. This inspired a second moratorium in 1970, which led to a series of academic overhauls in the college curriculum.

Anti-war sentiment on campus found a useful focal point in the presence of the Air Force R.O.T.C. in Sherrill Hall. Protests and petitions against the R.O.T.C. culminated the student occupation of its offices. Opposition to the program also existed among the faculty, for both political and curricular reasons. The Colleges decided to terminate the R.O.T.C. at Hobart in April 1970.

Concurrently Thomas Tongyai, known as Tommy the Traveler, arrived in Geneva and began associating with the anti-war elements on campus and in the surrounding region. He was known for advocating more violent forms of protest. In April 1970 he taught two students how to make the firebombs that they would use to immolate the R.O.T.C. office on May 1. These two students were arrested and faced charges of arson, eventually pleading guilty to a lesser charge.

In early June 1970, the Ontario County Sheriff’s office conducted a drug raid on the JPR dorm complex. The raid was led by Tommy, which exposed him to the students as an undercover agent working for the Sherriff’s office. Hundreds of angry students surrounded the police cars and demanded that the arrested students be released and that Tommy himself be arrested. Meanwhile, several dozen policemen with riot sticks lined up on St. Clair Street. The standoff lasted several hours as the police, student leaders, and college administrators negotiated in a Sherrill Hall dorm room. Eventually, the arrested students were released in return for the students allowing Tommy and the police to leave campus.

It was soon learned that Tommy had been working for the FBI, and was denounced as an agent provocateur by students and the media. Despite accusations of incitement the only crime Tommy was ever charged with was collecting unemployment benefits while working for the sheriff's office, which carried a one year probation sentence.

Multiple arrests and trials resulted from the drug raid and resulting standoff. Most notably, the Colleges themselves were indicted by a special grand jury for coercion. In the end, the Colleges were acquitted.