On April 22, 1968, arising from a climate of frustration and miscommunication, members of Trinity College's Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) along with the Trinity Association of Negroes (TAN) rallied together a group of 168 students to hold the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees and President Albert C. Jacobs captive for several hours during a regularly scheduled meeting in the Downes Memorial. In their manifesto, the demonstrators requested that President Jacobs and the Board consider increasing scholarship support for black students, additional classes focusing on urban studies, and community development, amid other requests. The manifesto ended, “We firmly advocate immediate implementation of this proposal and if the Executive Board of the Trustees fail to support the students and the College in this effort, we feel that there is no other viable alternative open to us but to emphatically demonstrate our concern through the means advocated by the late Dr. Martin Luther King.” Unknown to the demonstrators, President Jacobs and the Board not only had the same mandate in mind, but they were working at that time to achieve the same goal as the students. Due to a series of miscommunications, this information was undisclosed at the time of the sit-in.

The students continued the sit-in at the Downes and Williams administration buildings for over 30 hours, denying access to administrators and faculty with offices there. After day-long discussions led by Dean Harold Dorwart, the demonstrators peacefully left the premises, not having entered locked offices, and having cleaned up after themselves. Local authorities were not called, though threats to call the police were made by Dean Roy Heath. Some wondered if the students had kidnapped the trustees. Initially, the six students leading the demonstration were to be held responsible, but over 150 of the student demonstrators signed a statement assuming equal responsibility with the leaders. A Joint Faculty-Student Disciplinary Committee held hearings to decide appropriate punishment for the demonstrators.

Agreement between supporters of increased scholarships for Blacks and college administrators was eventually reached. The solution partly involved students contributing their own money to support a scholarship fund for Black applicants.

Harold L. Dorwart papers

Steven H. Keeney papers

Trinity College in the Twentieth Century (2000) by Peter and Anne Knapp, pp. 344-365.

Trinity Tripod, May 7, 1968.

Trinity Tripod, April 30, 1968.

Trinity Tripod, April 24, 1968.

Trinity Tripod, April 23, 1968.