The Midpeninsula Free University

MFU Articles Published by The Stanford Daily
1969

300 Discuss Berkeley At P. A. Gathering

About 300 people gathered in downtown Palo Alto yesterday evening to listen to speakers discuss the crisis at Berkeley, Stanford Research Institute, and the problems facing the Free University at a rally organized by the Free U.

The rally was held in The Plaza, formerly Lytton Plaza, at the corner of Emerson and University. It attracted a mixed crowd that included Stanford students, high school students, local residents and passers-by.

Bob Cullenbine, the coordinator of the Free U., began the rally shortly after eight by reading a number of quotations about the Berkeley situation from various sources both radical and conservative. He then introduced Lyn Cornell, a real estate broker, who moderated the gathering.

Cornell explained that he was not anti-establishment but was for constructive change.

I'm a pacifist, I'm anti-war, anti-racist and for open housing. I'm not a rightist or a leftist. I generally support the Democratic Party. I'm over 30, over 50, but I believe that the excitement of today is in your generation.

The first speaker at the open microphones was Marc Heller, a suspended student and member of SDS and the April 3rd Movement at Stanford.

Heller said that universities don't use their land to provide the facilities that the university community wants. He also hinted at the possibility of establishing a people's park in the Stanford Industrial Park.

Cullenbine then said that there was an issue similar to people's park in this area—the controversy surrounding the use of El Camino Park for Free U. be-ins.

During the debate which raged for several hours, Roy Kepler, owner of Kepler's bookstores and a pacifist, spoke against polarizing the community.

Are we going to change it (local regulations) non-violently or are we going to blow the whole thing up because we are incapable of reasonable, loving action? he asked.