“It was not that ideologically diverse,” said Rossinow, laughing. “As far as I know, I was the only one in the group who had voted for [President Ronald] Reagan.”

Within a year, though, Rossinow found his political alliances shifting. “When I saw that organized, vowed conservatives were such enthusiastic supporters of this despicable regime, that basically severed my ties to Conservatism as a political identity,” he said.

As one of the largest campus groups trying to increase awareness about apartheid, SASC used sit-ins and protests to urge the University to divest from companies in South Africa.

THE ORIGINAL OCCUPIERS

Anti-divestment protests came to a head in April 1986 when SASC led the construction of a symbolic ‘shantytown’ in the middle of Harvard Yard.

Over 200 activists carried the components of the shantytown and their symbolic, 16-foot tall “Ivory Tower” under the cover of darkness, completing their work at 2:15 A.M. on April 16, 1986.

“I wasn’t sure how many people would show up,” said Ross, recalling how he was surprised at the level of support for the protest. “This was the world before internet and email. It just went through the grapevine.”

The shantytown became a living protest, with students sleeping in the settlement and some professors and teaching fellows even holding classes there.

Although many students were sympathetic towards the cause, not everyone was on board. The settlement received a bomb threat on April 18, and on April 22, the Conservative Club built a ‘Gulag’ in the Yard to draw attention to University investment in the Soviet Union.

But as Commencement loomed closer, some students called for the activists to dismantle the settlement to avoid interfering with the event. Ultimately, one-fourth of the Class of 1986 signed a petition calling for its removal.

Meanwhile, the University and the activists were at a standoff; student activists were unwilling to dismantle the shantytown unless the University fully divested, but the University was steadfast in its opposition to doing so.

However, in their treatment of the protestors, according to Ross, the University was “terrified of clamping down too hard and provoking more student sympathy.”

Although SASC members voluntarily removed most of the shanties two days after Commencement, they left some of the larger structures standing.

Administrators took down the last remnants of their protest without the group’s consent, clearing the area where present-day Occupiers would set up a ‘tent city’ 25 years later in the fall of 2011.

“When I read about the Occupy movement, it made me think back to the tactical debates we had within SASC,” said Rossinow. “The shantytown attracted a lot of attention, but I think the group hadn’t really thought through about how it was going to end.”