S. I. Hayakawa (1906-1992)

He Curbed Student Protest During The Vietnam War

Samuel Ichiye Hayakawa, a professor of English at San Francisco State University, became university president in 1968, at the height of the anti-Vietnam War movement.

Student and faculty anti-war demonstrations periodically closed San Francisco State. Impatient with student radicals, Hayakawa used a firm hand in shutting down the protests. The right to free speech, he believed, is balanced against the rights of others to pursue their lives and studies without disruption.

As a result of his actions, Hayakawa became a well-known – and popular – figure. California voters elected him to the U.S. Senate in 1976. There, he introduced a constitutional amendment to make English the sole official language of the nation. After serving a single term, Hayakawa retired from the Senate in 1983.