"I think there's a lack of continuity interms of vigilance," Chong says.
Some suggest that today's students areskeptical that their protests can effect realchange.
"Today, people are cynical about being able tomake a difference," says Jomo A. Thorne '97,President of College Democrats. "People havestopped believing in anything. People aren't aspassionate as they used to be."
Chong says she believes students areindifferent because they hope the administrationwill take necessary steps to resolve conflicts.
"I think that people [today] trust that thestatus quo will change things," she says.
But in 1969, Chong adds, the status quo waschallenged because activism defined the era.
"1969 was a very different year. Just theatmosphere was one that questioned authority andthe traditional ways," she says. "people tried tosee things from a different point of view."
Archives research for this article and thesupplement was performed by Gaston de losReyes.