Student Mob Attacks University Regent
Campus tensions erupt into a harassment campaign against a university official in Pullman, allegedly fueled by the college president.
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President John W. Heston of the state agricultural college returned Saturday from Pullman, the scene of the recent outrage upon Regent Smith. Heston stated that while the demonstration was not directed at him, the attack upon Smith was unjustifiable. He alleged that President Lilley incited students to the outrage. The trouble stemmed from deep political resentment regarding the college's management and trust funds. During chapel, students sang 'We'll hang Smith to a sour apple tree.' Later, when Smith and Heston attempted to visit the chemical laboratory, they were followed and pelted with snowballs, dirt, and lunch scraps by a mob of students. Heston claimed Lilley watched from his office window and refused to intervene, instead praising the students for their 'manliness' and 'Christianity' in standing up for their rights.
“The students, who also were going to town and who were following him, occasionally hooted at him on the way. Neither were any rotten eggs thrown that I know of. There were one or two hard-boiled eggs... and these were burled at him.”
Campus administrative power struggles and the weaponization of student protests over university governance remain recurring themes in higher education, though the scale of physical confrontations has shifted since the 1890s.
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