Love Or Liberation

Chapter 8

Elaine's roommate Betsy had talked about a Columbia University student organization her boyfriend was in, called Students for a Democratic Society, or SDS. The group was originally just a campus organization called Independent Committee on Vietnam, or ICV, but then the group joined the national organization of SDS, which took on larger issues of social justice that they said led to the war. Betsy said that the Columbia University administration supported the war and that SDS wanted to change that.

Although she was horrified by the war, Elaine had resisted getting involved with SDS because she knew that Jack was opposed to SDS and had been a counter-demonstrator at their campus protests. Elaine had fallen in love with Jack, but now she realized that he had different values than she did. When she started reading The Virtue of Selfishness, she paused at the idea that all interactions should ideally be trades. Infants and children can't trade. The disabled have limits on what they could trade. People with less education and material means would have less to trade. Even she and Jack were not trading anything to live comfortably and receive their education. They were fully supported by their parents.

As strongly as Elaine felt about Jack, she also wanted to be a good citizen of the world, and couldn't admire Jack's ethics. She asked Betsy about SDS. Betsy gave Elaine a mimeograph copy of the SDS founding document, called the "Port Huron Statement," and invited her to a meeting on the Columbia University campus.

At the meeting, a student in jeans and a plaid flannel shirt stood in front of the room of about ten students and said in a clear voice, "Hi. My name is Steve. I know most of you are new to SDS, because this evening our members are protesting outside the New York Hilton, where the Foreign Secretary of State, Dean Rusk, is being given an award.

"We are against the war, and we are against the Capitalist system that is the root cause of the war. Columbia University is complicit in the war effort. Nearly half of the University's budget comes from military and foreign affairs research contracts. The University is part of something called Institute for Defense Analysis, or IDA, which includes twelve universities and has a direct influence on how the war in Vietnam is fought."

There was a murmuring among the people at the meeting.

Steve continued, "those aren't our only issues with the University. Columbia is building a gym in a public park. The plan is to have a separate entrances and facilities for the nearly all white students and the nearly all minority residents. It is a "Gym Crow" arrangement.

"Student protests and referendums can make a difference. We've stopped scheduled military recruitment on campus before and we stopped Columbia from sending student ranks to local draft boards. We can make other changes.

"I'm now going to the protest at the New York Hilton. If any of you want to join us, feel welcome."

Elaine was upset by what had been said. It brought her whole college experience into question. It brought the ethics of her education into question. The war was terrible, yet, in her mind now, the university was profiting by it. All her existential reflections now seemed like empty posturing to her.

Another young woman with short hair like Twiggy came up to Elaine and introduced herself as Donna.

"There are several Barnard students here, but no women's issues were brought up."

Elaine answered, "They're not women's issues, but these issues are important to all of society."

"There's no getting around that, but I'm a political science major, and I don't want my gender to get in the way of a career. I hope to become a lawyer. Are you majoring in political science?"

"No. I'm going into French translation, but I am concerned about the war and poverty and racism."

"That's all good, but you should be interested in your rights as a woman as well. Women are generally pushed into less interesting and lower paying jobs, rather than careers. I'm starting an informal group at Barnard to discuss women's issues. Would you like to join us?"

"That sounds interesting."

A Columbia student approached the two young women. He was tall, thin and had curly light brown hair. He said, "We're among the few who aren't going to the protest tonight. My name is Benjamin. I'm a student of the School of Journalism. I'm concerned about women's issues as well as the war. Why don't the three of us go out to eat? I know of a place not too far from here that has good Cuban sandwiches."

Donna said, "Sure. I'm getting tired of cafeteria food. What is a Cuban sandwich?"

Benjamin said, "It's a delicious sandwich, if you're not vegetarian. It has pork and ham as well as cheese and pickles and I don't know what else in it."

Donna said, "I'm not vegetarian. I'll try it."

Benjamin turned to Elaine, "Are you coming, too?"

"Yes, I'll go with you."