News of the Kent State shootings and President Nixon’s decision to send troops into Cambodia were too much for some WSU students in 1970. They wanted WSU President Glenn Terrell to send a message of disapproval to Nixon and cancel classes for a day of protest.

So more than 700 filled the French Administration Building for a sit-in May 5, 1970. Some sat around the stairwells with their legs dangling down through the bars.

The scuff marks left by their feet are still visible, faintly, as evidence of that era.

It’s proof of the student voice at WSU, orientation counselors tell their tour groups. It shows how students rallied and how administrators listened. Terrell did write a telegram to the U.S. president, and did cancel classes for a day of “teach-in” discussions.

They emphasize this story as an important part of WSU history, said Jessica Fitts, a senior communication major and orientation counselor.

“It just really showcases the student voice, he listened to them,” she said.

So when Lee Reeves noticed a painting crew was poised to conceal the marks last summer, he and other orientation counselors felt they ought to do something. Fitts wrote a letter to President Elson S. Floyd, who agreed to put off the painting until a committee could find a way to preserve the marks.

After nearly four decades, the wall is dingy and begging for a new coat of paint. It was clear just leaving the marks wouldn’t be a long-term option.

“The goal was to come up with a way to preserve part of it so the students didn’t feel that their voice got painted over,” said Susan Poch, the associate vice president for educational development and member of the committee.

Out of the committee’s brainstorming came a plan to take a portion of the drywall with the marks and display it in the CUB with photos from the sit-in and other context.

“When I speak at Alive! to the freshmen, I always stress the importance of the collective student voice and how powerful it can be if everyone is on board with it,” said ASWSU Vice President Tommy Simmons, who has been working on the committee since it started last summer. “This is something that will commemorate that.” The original plan would have encased some of the scuff marks where they are in French Ad with an explanatory plaque, but there were concerns about its proximity to the Veterans Affairs office. In contrast to the bipartisan “support our troops” mentality for the Iraq war, many protesters in the Vietnam War era blamed the veterans.

“With the nature of the war and the protest, everyone kind of felt that was a conflict,” Simmons said.

They wanted to be sensitive to veterans, Poch said, and the opportunity to put the memorial in the student union building seemed perfect.

“It’s actually more fitting that it’s going to be in our building, in the CUB,” Simmons said.

They are still hoping to put a plaque in French Ad, possibly near the donor wall, he said. A ceremony is also in the works for next fall when the CUB is open, where student leaders from the time or faculty who were at WSU can speak about the impact of the sit-in.

The Under the Big Tent debate topic this week also corresponds with the theme of student activism in the past and present. It will be held from noon to 1 p.m. Friday on the Glenn Terrell Mall.