"Helmeted cops of Tactical Patrol Force wade through sit-ins blocking entrance to Columbia's Avery Hall early yesterday. They made it." —New York Daily News, Wednesday, May 1, 1968. In February 2008 I received the following from Ray Lifchez, Professor of Architecture at UC Berkeley, who was an Associate Professor of Architecture at Columbia University in 1968:

When the students locked Avery, I went to a hastily called faculty meeting by Lionel Trilling — as I recall, in the Faculty Lounge (Law School?). It was at that meeting that I and other faculty volunteered to remain on campus, at our respective buildings, to "prevent" "conservative students" from breaking into the buildings to break the strike. That is how I remember it. But I don't remember the exact date. I believe it must have been Thursday, April 24, for I stood at that door continuously, for several days, and through one weekend. This partly accounts for my exhaustion when the police finally arrived. From the Avery steps we could see the lights in the Pres office, Low.