The War and the Students

Though collegians obviously dislike the Viet Nam War, the extent and sincerity of their feelings remain elusive. Two Swarthmore psychologists, Kenneth Gergen and his wife Mary, have just completed a nationwide poll showing that campus antiwar sentiment has deeply and often illogically altered student attitudes toward parents, careers, religion and just about everything that touches their lives.

After surveying more than 5,000 students at 39 diverse campuses, ranging from Princeton to Michigan's Grand Valley State College, the Gergens found that almost one out of three students favored immediate withdrawal from Viet Nam. Pure self-interest was a relatively minor factor; the students' draft-lottery numbers bore little relation to their views on Viet Nam. Instead, more than two-thirds based their beliefs on the moral and social damage that they feel the war is inflicting on American society.

Anger and Depression. Student demonstrators turned out to be no tiny radical minority. Questioned before the Cambodian incursion, 42% of the students polled said that they had participated in antiwar protests, nearly twice as many as had joined civil rights actions. Out of 100 antiwar demonstrators picked at random, 13 called themselves Republicans, 20 were Democrats, 62 were independents and only five considered themselves radicals. Of the 5,000 students polled, however, more than 40% had altered their political loyalties because of the war. Of these, only 7% increased their commitment to one of the two major parties, the remaining 93% becoming "liberal," "radical" or "disillusioned with party politics."

According to the Gergens, fully one-third of the students polled felt that the war had lowered their interest in graduate study as well as their respect for the way their colleges are administered. An equal number changed their career plans as a result of the war --many aiming for draft-exempt occupations. Ironically, the Gergens discovered that students at high-standard colleges were twice as likely to feel that the war "devalued" their education as were those at less difficult schools. Regardless of school, students with higher grades were more commonly affected by Viet Nam.*

Personal reactions were even more pronounced. Two-thirds of those queried reported increased worry, anger and depression; nearly a third found their commitment to organized religion loosening; and more than a third felt that the war had affected relations with their parents.

Most disturbing, the students seemed to see little hope of closing the gap between American promise and performance. While even the majority of active demonstrators supported the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and admired men like Thomas Jefferson and John Kennedy, fully one in five of all those surveyed is thinking of leaving the U.S.

*In a post-Cambodia poll of 300 Swarthmore students, the Gergens found a sharp increase in antiwar feelings. Preference for unilateral withdrawal rose 25%, and more than 50% of the students quit their classes to "strike" against national policy.

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