Aaron Parsons Centennial Oral History Project Transcript October 18, 2012 Interviewee: Keith Pitsch: Narrator: Matt

Honer Keith Pitsch: KP Aaron Parsons: AP Transcript: AP: Keith Pitsch was a student during the late 1960s at the University Wisconsin Eau Claire and is from the small rural town of Jim Falls, Wisconsin.1 Keiths small town background provides us with an interesting perspective of the university of Eau Claires atmosphere during a politically charged time in history. My name is Aaron Parsons and Im excited to share a little taste of Keiths experience on campus. Even though Eau Claires small campus is nestled in beautiful Wisconsin it was not immune to the affects of social issues during the late 1960s. Keith was on campus during a time of great change, old traditions were fading away and new issues coming to light. As Keiths will tell you the tradition of freshman wearing small blue and yellow hats called beanies was becoming a part of the past. While new traditions traditions like the Student democratic society protesting political issues with small skits called Gorilla Theater were just beginning.23 Lets listen as Keith talks about the changing times at Eau Claire.

KP: One of the things I remember freshman year that was, that was one of those things you had to do. You had to go to freshman forum, I dont know if they have that anymore, but all freshmen had to gather down in the arena. And they would tell us information freshman should probably know, sometimes other things would happen, I remember once some guys from the SDS came in and did a guerrilla theater in there, that was kind of a surprise to the speakers, that was kind of cool. Kept all the freshman together for that, and I think pretty much everybody showed up. And then there was that week, it was freshman orientation, or freshman Keith Pitsch. Interview by Matt Honer. 18 October, 2012. Centennial Oral History Project. University of Wisconsin Eau Claire. Eau Claire, WI.
1 2

Gordon, Kelly Carolyn. Guerrilla theater. Gabrielle H. Cody, Evert Sprinchorn. The Columbia encyclopedia of modern drama, Volume 1, pp.568-9(2007)
3

Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). (2013). In Encyclopdia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/569902/Students-for-aDemocratic-Society-SDS

initiation week. And we had to buy freshman beanies; currently I am showing one to Matt, putting it on. I dont think they do that anymore, freshman beanies, all that week you had to wear your beanie. And if any upper classman wanted to, they could stop you and say beanie freshman and youd have to put your hand up above your head spin around in a circle and give this little poem. I am an Eau Claire Freshman, and you should hear me shout, Every time I open my mouth, my name comes tumbling out, Keith Pitsch. Youd have to say that, and it was, I dont know it was one of those dumb things that you almost think about, something from the 1920s, raccoon coat era or something. We had to do that, one of the changes while I was here, sophomore year, so its our turn to get those freshman. So beanie week came up and the vast majority of freshman that year refused. And that was it, that was the last year they did freshman beanie and freshman initiation week, so we were the last ones who were sucker enough to do it I guess. I still have my beanie, and I remember when wed have at school hat days when I am teaching, there were several times, when I just wore my beanie and everyone thought that was strange I guess. 4

AP: Its so amazing to hear how different Keiths experience at Eau Claire was compared to mine. But beanies were not the only thing that students were protesting at the time. Keith touches on the Kent State shootings and how students and staff joined together to protest these events; the Kent State shootings is referring to the incident on Kent State Campus were three unarmed students were killed by the National Guard during Vietnam War protest.5 Keith is about to share the reaction on campus to the Kent State shootings.

KP: Yeah that was another thing. I remember after the Kent State shootings, and there was always, anti-war, etc. thoughts in that way. We had just a huge gathering out in the back, where the Davies center was, on the lawn back there, which later became a parking lot I am not sure. Everything changes so much. We had just thousands of us. I remember the speakers, including one of my favorite professors Dr. Howard Lutz, I was so proud of him. It was quite a time; I remember even carrying a sign around for a while.6 Keith Pitsch. Interview by Matt Honer. 18 October, 2012. Centennial Oral History Project. University of Wisconsin Eau Claire. Eau Claire, WI. (12:47-14:53)
4

Caputo, Phillips. 13 Seconds: A look Back At the Kent State Shootings. Chamberlin Brothers. 2005. 65, 54.
5

Keith Pitsch. Interview by Matt Honer. 18 October, 2012. Centennial Oral History Project. University of Wisconsin Eau Claire. Eau Claire, WI. (17:08-17:52)
6

AP: In this next portion Keith will be talking about how the Vietnam War affected the atmosphere on campus as well as his personal experience with the draft. The Vietnam War was the last time the United States used the draft system in order to enlist men for service. The draft was based on a lottery system with each day of the year represented on a slip of paper. If your birthday was chosen first you would be first in line for service. The later your birthday was picked the better because it meant less of a chance you would be called to serve. This applied to every man born between 1944-1955, making the mens ages range from 19 to 26. Lets see what Keith has to say about Eau Claires reaction to the changing times that The Vietnam War fueled.7 KP: There was great excitement over that. The Vietnam era, we might not have been as big in the news as some colleges were; but it was part of the whole nation, the whole college scene. I remember one night, the night when they had the first lottery for the draft, and we were in the dorm, I was a sophomore in the dorm, we were listening and as they pulled out the different dates. The first date they pulled out was going to be first priority for the draft and so forth and so on. I was 107, which was a bad spot to be, you wanted to be 300 something. I remember that night, a lot of guys, after the draft was over, headed on out to, by this time, The Barr had opened, which is now Fanny Hill. That was another place where you could go when you were between 18 and 21. A lot of people had a rough night that night out there, just drowning their sorrows I guess over where they got picked. And I had a few of my friends, that were picked a lot earlier than me. Some of them went into the service, before they came back here. Fortunately all of my friends came back and finished out here.8 AP: Could you imagine what it must have felt like to hear your name in the draft? Even though Eau Claire was not a major institution the effects of the war were still very present on campus. Other changes were sweeping the nation; just recently in1964 the civil rights act was passed.9 While Eau Claire was not the most culturally diverse campus, to Keith Eau Claire must have been a whole new world. KP: Lets go first with the civil rights. We had a minority of black students here, there were a few. The more visible ones were some of our athletes. We seemed to get along pretty well. I guess there was, in some ways a little bit of a separation among us and the blacks. We had black student in my dorm the first year. And we had overcrowding in the dorm by the way. It was really overcrowded, we had about
7

S.E. Fienberg. "Randomization and Social Affairs: The 1970 Draft Lottery". Science. 1971.25561. 8 Keith Pitsch. Interview by Matt Honer. 18 October, 2012. Centennial Oral History Project. University of Wisconsin Eau Claire. Eau Claire, WI. (17:52-19:14) 9 Civil Rights Act (1964). Retrieved 24 October, 2013.

a half a dozen guys in the lounge for the first semester until some people dropped out here and there and they could get rooms. And one of the guys name was Al Johnson, excellent horn player. Al got along with us, he was just another one of our buddys. I think that was a good thing. In Chi High and even more so Jim Falls, you didnt see people of other races, up in Jim Falls, the big minority, there was the Cohen Family that owned one of the stores, the Jewish People in town, and that was the minority, wow it was something else. And to get here and we would see people from different cultures.10 AP: What a great look back to Universitys history. We have covered some topics that were light hearted like freshman beanies and more serious ones like the Kent State shooting, Vietnam and racial tensions. These events played a major role on Eau Claire campus during a period of transformation that affected the way students lived. Keith Pitschs personal memories have provided us with a way to look back and experience history. Dont forget that everyday you are making history and to make sure your journey is one worth telling. 11

Civil Rights Act of 1964. New World Encyclopedia. Retrieved July 29, 2009, from http:/www.newworldencyclopedia.org

Keith Pitsch. Interview by Matt Honer. 18 October, 2012. Centennial Oral History Project. University of Wisconsin Eau Claire. Eau Claire, WI. (25:39-26:58) 11 Keith Pitsch. Interview by Matt Honer. 18 October, 2012. Centennial Oral History Project. University of Wisconsin Eau Claire. Eau Claire, WI.
10