{"id":1674,"date":"2025-06-27T14:00:08","date_gmt":"2025-06-27T14:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/musiclegacy\/?page_id=1674"},"modified":"2025-06-27T14:00:08","modified_gmt":"2025-06-27T14:00:08","slug":"class-of-1965","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/musiclegacy\/class-of-1965\/","title":{"rendered":"Class of 1965"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Times<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the landslide election defeat by President Lyndon Johnson of Barry Goldwater in November of 1964, SUNY Cortland seniors had mixed feelings. While students supported the passing of President Johnson\u2019s sweeping Civil Rights Act of 1964, many were upset with the escalation of US involvement in the Vietnam War, causing students to rise up and play a central role in challenging established norms and advocating for social change. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

International political and ideological events created lasting changes that we still feel today. In October 1964, Premier Nikita Khrushchev was ousted and succeeded by Leonid Brezhnev, shaping the trajectory of the Soviet Union. In May 1964, the Palestinian Liberation Organization, or the PLO, was formed and it\u2019s ideology would influence future terrorist organizations like Hamas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the time Cortland seniors returned from winter break in 1965, they could not imagine what was ahead. In February, Malcolm X was assassinated in NYC. One month later, the world witnessed 25-year-old John Lewis lead six hundred marchers across Selma, Alabama\u2019s Edmund Pettus Bridge while the nation watched the brutal attacks by state troopers called \u201cBloody Sunday.\u201d\u00a0 The outrage from the footage prompted demonstrations in eighty cities across the country.\u00a0 Just 2 weeks later, Martin Luther King, Jr., organized the March to Montgomery with 25,000 people in tow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1965 marked a major turning point in the Vietnam War and how it was perceived by the American Public.  Dubbed \u201cThe Living Room War,\u201d the nation watched as the war rapidly intensified bringing the realities of war into the homes of Americans. The coverage of Operation Rolling Thunder, a sustained bombing campaign of North Vietnam, would influence the growing anti-war sentiment especially among college students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another kind of invasion came in 1964 and 1965 but was a lot more pleasant. It was the British Invasion!  Launched by The Beatles\u2019 appearance in early 1964 on the Ed Sullivan Show and proved to be one of the most pivotal in music history, it also helped bring the country out of a state of mourning after the assignation of JFK. \u201cI Want To Hold Your Hand,\u201d \u201cShe Loves You\u201d and \u201cCan\u2019t Buy Me Love\u201d dominated the charts.  And as the Beatles conquered America, other notable chart-topping artists like The Rolling Stones, The Byrds, The Four Tops, Petula Clark, The Supremes and Freddie and The Dreamers were keeping young people musically engaged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notable Events<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n