Peace Retreat

Text of Caldwell's May 14, 1970 convocation speech in the Technician newspaper, page 8

"I think I understood the unrest…I understood the Vietnam disruption…I didn’t have any trouble understanding it and being sympathetic with them, but in being sympathetic, also seeing the necessity for keeping things under control." - John T. Caldwell, interview by NC State Special Collections, May 15, 1995 

Several days later, the faculty senate voted to encourage political activism and interest as “authorized extra-curricular activities.” This, in a sense, made it possible for events like the Peace Retreat to be treated like a football game or an academic conference. Students could be excused for missing classes, as long as the still made up the work following the missed class.[2]

 On Thursday, May 14, 1970, Dr. Caldwell addressed the students of NC State at convocation. At the convocation, Caldwell drew attention to the many good things that had occurred on campus since he took the position of chancellor. He spoke proudly of students’ and faculty’s new collaborative relationship and of the members of the campus taking their civic duty seriously and being politically active. He drew attention to the great student leadership in power at the moment. But he also reminded students that “[human learning] is the business of the University…This is its central reason for existing. And everything else is peripheral and tangential.” Even so, Caldwell continued to encourage students’ participation in political issues because he believed that their generation’s participation in political issues would benefit the entire world, not just their nation.[3]