protest war

College students throughout the country view fascism as emerging from the chaos produced by World War I. They abhor that war's senseless slaughter of millions and see the beneficiaries as big business and corporate interests. Students are fearful that they will be drafted to fight in another meaningless war abroad. They believe that war can be eliminated forever if all young men refuse to fight. City College actively participates every April in the anti-war mobilizations marking the month the US entered WW I.

From 1933 to 1938 many students take the Oxford Pledge--which originated at Oxford College in England--promising not to participate in foreign wars. Anti-war and anti-interventionist sentiments are strong on campuses throughout the country.

At the First National Student Strike Against War on April 13, 1934, 800 CCNY students demonstrate peacefully; they are among the 25,000 students who participate in the nationwide strike. City College is the only campus in the country where police are called.

An anti-war meeting on April 12, 1935, sponsored by the Student Council, begins in the Great Hall and ends in a rally at Lewisohn Stadium. James Waterman Wise, from the League Against War and Fascism, and Morris Schappes, an English instructor representing the CCNY Anti-Fascist Association, speak at the rally. Over 175,000 students nationwide participate in the second Anti-War Strike.

During the Third Annual Student Strike Against War, April 22, 1936, 500,000 students-half the college students in the nation-strike for peace throughout the country. This flyer advertises the Strike Against War at CCNY.

Evening students participate in the Strike.

Student demonstration, Madison Square.

Students' Peace Assembly, April 1941.