Conservative Protest and the Cortland Student: How SUNY Cortland Redefines our Understanding of National Student Activism in the 1960- 1970 Period

Authors

• Dahlia Spilka, SUNY CortlandFollow

Files

Faculty Mentor

Kevin Sheets

Abstract

My project examines how student activism movements at SUNY Cortland in the 1960s and 1970s redefined our understanding of student voice and protest. Focusing on the ten-year period from 1960 to 1970 (often heralded as the heyday of civil rights activism), I analyzed archival documents, campus publications, student theses, oral histories, and conducted interviews to understand how Cortland students understood their role and voice at the time. Culminating in a thesis-length research paper, my research contrasts these student movements with the broader narrative of student activism, signifying how Cortland's history both paralleled and redefined the national protest culture. Cortland's history, though largely obscure to the national stage, serves not only as a cornerstone to students' lives today, but provides broader implications for student participation and voice in a time of such widespread apprehension and concern.

Publication Date

5-2026

Document Type

Book

Keywords

Student protest movement, SUNY system, small colleges, activism, History, Transformations

Disciplines

History | United States History