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STUDENT MOVEMENT, SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY     THOMAS

ation Day efforts in the state. When the university reneged on its promise to provide buses for this demonstration in Washington, D.C., the brothers organized a demonstration in New Orleans that drew close to a thousand people.

Displaying the same organizing abilities that they displayed in previous efforts Sister Hardnett and Brother Hill brought together all campus groups from the Blackstone Society to the Omegas into one organization—Students United.

The day after its formation Students United led a massive march to Netterville's office where they were told he was in a meeting and couldn't see them. At this point students returned to the men's gym where they drew up a list of grievances for presentation to the different department heads for consideration and action. This list of grievances including a plan for implementation was to be presented to Dr. Netterville. On Monday, October 23, before 3,000 students, the grievances were presented to the president who said he "needed more time to consider the proposals."

The proposals called for the formation of departmental and executive councils which would give students a role in determining university policies. Yet, since they presented their grievances, Students United has been a victim of a vicious propaganda effort by Dr. Netterville and Governor Edwin Edwards who claim the organization is led by a small hard core of militants who were "destroying the university." But as Charlene Hardnett explained, the main issue they wanted to focus on was the balance of power between the administration and the students. "What we have proposed," she explained, "is a plan where students would have not power on the same level of Dr. Nettervielle, but maybe on the same level with the Vice-President, the power to hire people that are coming into this university."

Most Students thought that Dr. Netterville would five a favorable response to the grievances. Consequently, the vast majority of the nearly five thousand students who had gathered in the men's gym were stunned when Dr. Rodger J. Newman, chairman of the Mathematics Departments, read Netterville's response to them on October 24th. Netterville had rejected the two students to one faculty and one administrator ratio for the proposed councils, this destroying the power base of the councils. Instead he proposed a watered-down version which only gave them advisory status rather than decision-making status. The students rejected Netterville's proposal and marched five miles to the State Board of Education to see State Education Superintendent Louis Michot. Upon arriving, the nearly 5000

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