Gaston Hall erupted into a fistfight on Mar. 13, 1969, as Democratic San Francisco Mayor Joseph Alioto was confronted by the bourgeoning campus group Students for a Democratic Society, and THE HOYA was at the center of the brawl.

Alioto came to campus to speak in Gaston Hall upon the invitation of then HOYA editor-in-chief, Don Casper (C ’70, L ’77), who was also a personal friend of Alioto.

The mayor was scheduled to speak on the evening of Thursday, Mar. 20, but that Tuesday the FBI notified Alioto’s San Francisco office that SDS was planning to disrupt his lecture. On Wednesday, a HOYA reporter discovered minutes from an SDS meeting indicating that Alioto’s lecture would be the group’s first major confrontation on campus.

Precautions were taken, but Alioto, accustomed to the raucous crowds of San Francisco, seemed unconcerned about the threats.

The major confrontation took place on the stage of Gaston Hall where Casper was “showered with obscenities” as he tried to introduce Alioto. Just as the mayor prepared to speak, the SDS rushed the stage, knocked down the microphone and demanded equal speaking time before yelling several more obscenities. Attempts to remove the SDSers resulted in a melee on the stage including one female member of SDS gripping the genitalia of an usher.

As the fighting continued, Alioto retreated into Old North escorted by an entourage of students including Casper, eventually escaping to the Ryan building.

Alioto eventually did address students at Geogetown, however it was not the crowd he expected in Gaston Hall. Instead he spoke later that evening to a smaller group in Gervase, which was then serving as the Jesuit residence.

During his speech, he addressed the events of the evening when he said, “We tell the students very frankly that, constitutionally they have a right to be discourteous. They have a right to be obnoxious…. However, if you try to block one door, just one, if you try to occupy one corridor, if you try to get into an administration building, we are going to be prepared to use whatever police force is necessary within constitutional limitations…

1965 - Graziano falls from Copley (march 18 hoya)