(2 of 7)
Wiser to Cooperate. The Yale situation, though a potentially dangerous one, was widely misunderstood from the beginning by Government officials and even by some of the self-styled revolutionaries who hurried into New Haven. To many, it looked like a case of one of the nation's most scholarly institutions suddenly closing up shop in its devotion to Panther principles, egged on by a leftist university president. The May Day rally, in fact, was neither proposed nor encouraged by Yale. It was announced by the Chicago Seven, the Panthers and the Panther Defense Committee because eight Panthers, including National Chairman Bobby Scale, are on trial in New Haven for kidnaping, murder or conspiracy (see following story). Since the rally was scheduled for the town Green in front of the courthouse, and the university adjoins the Green, Yale decided that it might become a target of protest if it tried to keep the expected large crowds off campus. It seemed wiser to cooperate and open the gates to all comers.
Yale's involvement also stemmed from what many students on campus considered grossly unfair treatment of two of the Panther leaders, David Hilliard and Emory Douglas, both of whom were sentenced to six months in jail by Judge Harold Mulvey when a small scuffle broke out in the courtroom during pretrial hearings. (The judge later accepted the Panthers' apology and reduced the sentence to one week.) Some 400 Yale students met in Harkness Hall, discussed the trial and linked it to what they considered similar prejudiced action by Judge Julius Hoffman in the Chicago conspiracy trial. They voted to seek an immediate, open-ended "moratorium" of classes to permit the entire university to study the issues raised by the trial in their midst—mainly the treatment of political dissidents by police and the courts. They vaguely hoped that the university could apply pressure to ensure a fair trial. There was no effort to endorse the Panthers' political beliefs or tactics, though the notion of an indefinite moratorium on classwork was exaggerated partisanship, considering the larger problems facing the U.S.
Yale President Kingman Brewster Jr. appointed a committee to consider the university's reaction to the trial, but did not personally endorse the moratorium concept, contending that a university should remain neutral on political issues. Black faculty members thereupon got together and protested Brewster's action as "an evasion of responsibility." Black members of the committee withdrew, claiming that they were being used "as buffers to neutralize a dangerous and immediate situation." Some 1,500 students attended a "teach-in" at which New Haven Panther Leader Doug Miranda urged them: "Take your power and use it to move the institution—that Panther and that Bulldog are going to move together."