Student life and extracurricular activities were President Harold Case's (1950-67) particular priorities. With so many students living on campus, the University issued regulations concerning student behavior. The University imposed curfews, prohibited alcohol and gambling, and outlined recommended attire for both men and women. Students reveled in the frivolous side of college life: there was Homecoming Weekend, the excitement over the exploits of football star Harry Agganis, and the "discovery" of the Boston beanpot, supposedly unearthed on the banks of the Charles. This piece of crockery has served for decades as the trophy for Boston's annual collegiate ice hockey tournament.
The appointment of Howard Thurman in 1953 to the Deanship of Marsh Chapel transformed it into a focal point for the discussion of racial injustice in the United States. Martin Luther King, Jr. came to the University to continue his studies of philosophy and theology. It was no coincidence that in the '50s and '60s, a large proportion of doctorates earned by black students in the U.S. were from Boston University.
The College of Music, which had shared facilities with the New England Conservatory of Music at the founding of the University, was now independent and well known for its choral music, instrumental instruction, and opera productions. Scattered in buildings throughout Boston, the College consolidated as the School of Fine and Applied Arts and moved to the Charles River Campus in 1954. Sarah Caldwell directed the Opera Workshops, and the productions were of professional caliber: the premiere of Lukas Foss's The Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, and in 1955, Stravinsky's Rake's Progress (conducted by the composer himself), further raised the School's profile.
The campus continued to grow, but now upward. The West Campus dormitories, Warren Towers, the Law Tower, and Mugar Memorial Library were part of this building boom. Renaming of Colleges, refining of academic programs, and relocation continued. President Marsh had once compared the University to a hermit crab, since it had occupied so many different dwellings; the analogy was still appropriate.
While the University gave more attention to its students, the students were becoming more involved in current issues. Partly as a result of Dr. King's teachings, they participated in sit-ins, voter registration in the South, and the 1963 March on Washington. Their focus then changed to the Vietnam War and the draft. There were teach-ins, debates, and increased antiwar activism, to the point that the University was sometimes called "Berkeley East."
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July 11, 2007
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