This blog is the second half of a two-part interview with former student Sarah Pirtle. To read more about Sarah’s background and time at Oberlin, read Part I.
What was it like being a student during the Vietnam War and the protests?
SP: The Vietnam War permeated campus. We felt like we were the first large generation, not just at Oberlin, but across the country, who questioned war. When word got out that army recruiters were coming to campus, a group of students surrounded the car to highlight their presence on campus.
At meals, we were always talking about the war. We found out what was going on other campuses. It was a real vigorous activist spirit. I remember being at the student union, and it was absolutely packed. I remember a whole group of us walking to the president’s house to really stand up for more actions, asking if there was more Oberlin could do. Everybody was asking themselves— “What more can I do? What moral stand can I take?” That bubbled up all over campus.
(Blogger’s note: According to the Oberlin website, the president at the time was Robert Carr, who, “in the face of the student body’s demand for direct action against the Vietnam War, argued that the college ought not take an institutional stand, citing the importance of official neutrality in facilitating rational dialogue.” Carr was forced to resign in 1970.)
As it turns out, I moved to Western Mass and began working at Traprock Center For Peace and Justice. Our director, Randy Kehler, had a big role in helping to stop the Vietnam War. I’ve always been so impacted by moral voices, and there were so many young people at that time who I just found so admirable—especially among the Quakers—who were always talking about what our conscience led us to do. Randy Kehler decided being a conscientious objector wasn’t enough; he went to jail rather than serve. The night before he went to jail, Dan Ellsberg listened to him. Randy was talking to him passionately about, “I can’t in good conscience not do this. I feel so strongly I’m going to jail.” Dan Ellsberg said he was shaken to the core because he was working in the Pentagon at the time. It’s such an example of the individual conscience radiating out like a truth force. Satyagraha is how Gandhi would call it. Dan Ellsberg released the Pentagon Papers, and that directly helped stop the Vietnam War, because of knowing Randy.
Did you ever directly engage with people on campus who were in favor of the war? Or was it more of a united front among the student body?
SP: I can’t remember having any person I knew saying they favored the war. But it might have been the case.
One of the things that was tricky for me—I was really looking for people who held a deep, deep commitment. Sometimes I can remember, from the balcony at that student union meeting I was describing, a young man who wore a military jacket who was part of the Student Democratic Society. He was very aggressive and militant. In his life on campus, he didn’t come across as a compassionate person. I remember thinking, as he was talking, the disjunction I noticed.
I think a lot about the challenge of living your values, doing that each day and in each conversation. When I’m able to head in that direction, I try to see others as part of the beloved community.
From a Quaker standpoint, when we were at Quaker meeting or standing in the vigil, we reached for an inner place. I was studying to be an English major, and my freshman year in December, I had a dream of one of the poets we were studying. I heard William Butler Yeats’s words: “In the wellsprings of the heart, let the healing fountains start.” This helped me in my effort to weave together inner and outer peace.
Were the protests directed at the school administration or was it more geared towards national change? Could you tell this moment was going to become so historically relevant later on?
SP: At that time, we felt at Oberlin that we were part of a national movement and we wanted to be visible. It was like calling across a mountain; We’re here too. Looking back, this was an early stage of colleges and universities connecting with each other to make an important stand. We kept asking, “What are actions that will matter?”
When Pete Seeger came to campus, we knew he was singing songs of struggles from generations before. He was sharing the message that there were people before us who felt as we did, who wanted to take action. At Journey Camp, the community spans 8 decades, from age 5 to 75, and we end each day with the phrase, “I carry the flame.” I think about this all the time. I particularly care with this intergenerational connection.
We carry the flame. It’s like a Zen kōan. You ask yourself: What does it mean to carry a flame? Which flame? Every day, I actually light a candle and do prayers for the world, and then I say, “I carry the flame.” I see Oberlin students today carrying a flame. I want you to know that the flame you’re carrying matters to us.
Could you say more about the parallels between your experience as a student and the anti-war movement today on college campuses? Do you think we can use these historical experiences to contextualize the protests for peace in Palestine?
SP: The drums of war are loud. What I mean is that dominant forces that oppose peace are entrenched and it’s easy to conclude none of your actions matter. But they do. That’s what I want to say to people on campus now: we are looking to you, led by you, and care about you. It’s so important to not feel defeated. People around the world are with you.
Why does this matter? If a person says, “I just need to rest, and build up my own inner flame,” we can respect their needs as we’re changing the wheel of oppression to a circle of inclusion and justice. We can think of ourselves as a part of the large web of mutuality coined by Howard Thurman and Dr. King. Even as children, we can understand that people are innately compassionate. So there you are. Maybe you’re exhausted. But someone from another part of the web can support you and say, “This is worth it. This counts.” People have a deep-structure for collaboration, inter-connection, diversity and unity. Remembering that helps me.
The trap of young people being forced to to fight wars that make distant people rich is such a long generational struggle. Everything Oberlin students can do today—to be part of building the world we want—matters. If you have a friend who is building peace in a different way than you, how can you affirm each other’s methods?
