you growing up in new york? it was an interesting time. i grew up and i was born in 1951 and i grew up in the placid 50s and then boy, the 60s just take off with the assassination of president kennedy in november 1963, malcolm, 65 and obviously what happened in 68 and i go to college in 1969 and it was a turbulent time. in many ways you re a straight-laced guy and then the part of you that took over the rotc building and renamed it briefly for malcolm x. it still exists in columbia and still called the malcolm x lounge. still there? my mother was shocked, mad, upset that i was part of that takeover. i didn t send you to school for that, but i saw, you know, i was part of a generation that was against what i thought was an unfair, unjust war. i wanted to be an activist. i wanted to be a part of the
beautiful palo alto, california. what s behind the movement to bring back rotc on campus? reporter: gregg, times have really changed since the campus unrest that was so pervasive at stanford during the vietnam war. anarkists burned down an rotc building and that antiwar, antimilitary sentiment has really gone away. it was one of the big reasons that the program was kicked off campus back in 1973. but supporters also say bringing rotc back to stanford goes to the university s mission statement, which is to expose undergraduate students to all reasonable options for their future. institutions like stanford which enjoy tax-exempt status and are the objects of all kinds of philanthropy and benefit facts and benefits in this society have an obligation to train leaders for institutions of importance of the armed forces. reporter: david kennedy and former secretary of defense william perry are
sound sound familiar to you? the university is considering brenging it back. claudia cowen is live in san francisco. why is the university talking about reviving this now? reporter: hey juliet, actually we re live on campus in palo alto. times have really changed since that campus unrest that was so prevalent here during vietnam. anarchists burned down an rotc building and the antiwar sentiment kicked off the protests in 1973, but support respect say bringing rotc back goes to the heart of the university s mission statement which is to expose students to all reasonable options for their future. institutions like stanford which enjoy tax exempt status and are the objects of fill on therapy and benefit factors in this society have an obligation to train leaders for institutions of importance