SAN MARCOS, Texas?Members of the San Marcos 10 were in good spirits Tuesday when they met again at the place they held a protest 32 years ago.
The seven former Southwest Texas State University students that returned noticed the Fighting Stallions statue had been moved to a different location in The Quad and was no longer surrounded by bushes and grass. They joked that the statue had been “put out to pasture, but there wasn’t a pasture anymore.”
When photographers asked them to move into certain positions for pictures, they playfully reminded the onlookers that they “didn’t follow authority.”
On their minds was the ironic nature of the fact that they had been invited back to a university that had formerly suspended them for violating policy with their anti-Vietnam War demonstration in October 1969.
The memories and feelings of that time were easily showcased as they told their stories to a crowd of several hundred students and faculty in the LBJ Student Center Ballroom Tuesday morning.
They relayed their strong feelings against the Vietnam War and their favor for First Amendment rights.
“The Vietnam War and the Afghanistan attack are so different,” said Paul Cates, one of the 10. “I support the president completely?However, people have the constitutional right to state their opinion without being harassed.”