Special Collections - Anteater Antics

New University

This Week in UCI History, 1969

by

New University is UC Irvine’s longest-running student newspaper. First published in September 1968, full issues from 1968-1983 can be found in the Online Archive of UCI History. This blog brings you highlights from the New University from the week of February 25, 1969. You can access the full issue here.

blogThisWeek1969

Front page headline: Academic Senate Members Walk Out; “Resign”

This is just one article of many in this issue detailing events stemming from the “KBS” situation. KBS stands for the last names of three assistant professors: George Kent, Donald Brennan, and Stephen Shapiro. In November 1968 they were terminated during their annual tenure and promotion review. However, they were all very popular with the students. Upon hearing the news, a group of students formed a movement with the goal of retaining all three and revising tenure and promotion policy. They held rallies, staged a five day sit-in at the Writing Center, and called for a retroactive moratorium on faculty dismissals. Because this involved policy set by the Academic Senate, an emergency meeting was called on February 20, 1969. The resulting news coverage of that meeting is in this week’s issue of New U.

blogThisWeek1969_2

Student life: The BSU: What Black Students Want At UCI

This article discusses the desires of the newly formed Black Students Union student organization. It calls for increasing the number of African American students on campus, the creation of an independent Black Studies Department with courses taught by African American professors, and the need for more housing options.

 

blogTHISWeek1969_3

State-wide issues: Reagan Shows Regent Strength in Berkeley

This article details a UC Board of Regents meeting attended by Governor of California Ronald Reagan. The Board voted on bills and amendments related to riots at UC Berkeley.

blogThisWeek1969_4

Classifieds: Europe Charter Flights, $277

blogThisWeek1969_5

Advertisement: Romeo and Juliet playing at the Edwards Newport Cinema, Fashion Island

 

The Early UCI Student Newspapers

by

UCI’s student newspaper went through several changes before becoming The New University in September 1968. The first student paper was Spectrum, which lasted from October 20, 1965 to January 27, 1966. Without University support, students formed a non-profit corporation to publish the paper. Next was the rival publication, Tongue, which published five issues between February and May 1966 and used the motto “The Windy Satisfaction of the Tongue” – a quote from The Odyssey of Homer. In the second year of the University came a third student newspaper called Anthill, which lasted for 32 issues published between October 6, 1966 and May 31, 1968. The New University continues to this day, housed in the same offices where it started in September 1968.