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The student strikes that occurred at Columbia between 1968 and 1972 figure prominently in the material found in this series. This series contains extensive holdings on three campus organizations in particular; the Strike Coordinating/Steering Committee (SCC), the Columbia chapter of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), and Students for a Restructured University (SRU). The SCC, formed by the Columbia chapter of SDS, was composed of representatives from the various units of the University and from other student organizations and quickly assumed the mantle of strike leadership from the Columbia University Student Council (CUSC) and the Coalition of Student Leaders (CSC), whose early activities are also recorded here. The Columbia chapter of SDS had taken an early activist lead on a cluster of issues that prompted student unrest and ultimately the strike. Among them were the proposed gymnasium and other instances of campus expansion, the University's relationship with the Institute for Defense Analysis (IDA) and the School of International Affairs, ROTC and military research recruiting, and conditions for campus workers. SRU sponsored numerous strike activities and these materials reveal their role in the administration's efforts to address student concerns about the governing structure of Columbia, including the group's co-sponsorship of hearings on University restructuring.

This series consists of correspondence, signed forms, applications, memos, financial statements, lists, and assorted printed matter regarding the government sponsored research programs undertaken by Columbia University and the personnel involved in these research efforts. The majority of the files date from the World War II era but the collection extends into the post-war period, to the mid 1950s. Although the war may have been over, the work begun during the wartime period quickly adapted itself to the post-war needs of the country, hence its inclusion in this collection. Originally called the Office of War Research, the name changed after World War II to Division of Government Aided Research. This later designation is the one used to describe this series.