Intro to Social Research

In this post, I reference some research I conducted in order to complete an assignment for a CSU history class that examined the combination of the practice of Public History and the history of beer in Fort Collins, CO as it related. The assignment was to create a brief Wikipedia page for a specific landmark or event that utilized reliable database documents as well as statements and news articles from the actual time of the event. The text for the Wikipedia page will be posted underneath the response photos.

Wikipedia Text Transcription:

The Colorado State University ‘Beer-in’ was a student organized protest where students publicly drank beer on campus in direct violation of the campus’s no alcohol policy (Coloradoan). The protest took place at 3 pm on Friday October 18, 1968 in the Lory Student Center on Colorado State University’s campus in Fort Collins, Colorado (InterMtn).

The ‘Beer-in’ was the final and most significant moment of the 1968 student led occupation of the Colorado State University student center (Coloradoan). The ‘Beer-in’ attracted a crowd of over 150 students and saw 30 of-age students, including the Associated Students of Colorado State University president Doug Phelps, participate in drinking beer in protest (InterMtn). The students were protesting the university administration’s lack of attention to student’s demands and wishes, particularly concerning curfews strictly for female students and the school wide ban of all alcohol on campus (Coloradoan).

Leading up to the ‘Beer-in’, students had decided to occupy the student center on campus to display how they felt the student center didn’t really fit the needs of students (Coloradoan). Many of the students learned of the occupation after seeing flyers dispersed around campus via helicopter (InterMtn). Students occupied the center 24 hours a day for about a week and offered classes to each other in a communal style where students taught other students (Colostate). The school never attempted to move the student’s out of the student center, and so the student’s decided to hold a ‘Beer-in’ with the hope that that would spur the school to intervene (Coloradoan). Shortly after the ‘Beer-in’ ended, the school acted by detaining over 175 students and summoning 30 of them to court (Coloradoan). 6 months later, beer was allowed to be sold on campus at the Ramskellar (Colostate).