The Free Speech Movement was part of the student anti-war activism in the 1960s. As activism increased, universities imposed regulations and limitations around students’ political activities on campus. Resistance to these restrictions spurred protests in universities throughout California. The arrest of hundreds of Berkeley students during an anti war protest resulted in pressure on the administration to crack down on political organizing near the campus by issuing orders against them.

Berkeley students led by student organizer Mario Savio challenged these orders. Salvio and other campus representatives from Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) came together to protest the order. The movement reached its peak in December of 1964 when 1,500 students and activists entered the Berkeley administration building for a nonviolent sit-in demonstration. Police violently removed the demonstrators, as bystanders and faculty witnessed the action Berkeley faculty voted to support the Free Speech Movement.


Sources:
      Aichinger, Karen. “Berkeley Free Speech Movement.” The Free Speech Center, 20 Sept. 2023, firstamendment.mtsu.edu/article/berkeley-free-speech-movement/. 
     “Free Speech Movement.” UC Berkeley Library, www.lib.berkeley.edu/visit/bancroft/oral-history-center/projects/free-speech-movement. Accessed 25 Oct. 2023.