The Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), composed of a primarily northern, white cohort, rose in popularity and spread to other college campuses.
[2] They became more well-known after publishing the Port Huron Statement, a manifesto of their platform that outlined a bold vision of leftists American politics, signaled the establishment of the New Left, and became the foundation for Anti-Vietnam War sentiments.
The assassination of John F. Kennedy, the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, Operation Rolling Thunder, and the final decision by Lyndon B. Johnson to send U.S. combat forces into battle in Vietnam proved too much to be ignored by University of Michigan students and faculty.
This idea provoked backlash from Michigan Governor George Romney and University President Harlan Hatcher, so an alternative plan to conduct a "teach-in" was created.
Despite two bomb threats from a pro-Vietnam War group disrupting the night, the teach-in was viewed as a major success, with over 3,000 students attending and over 200 faculty showing support.
On October 15, SDS activists held a vigil at the Diag, a subsequent rally, and a protest at the Selective Service Office in downtown Ann Arbor.