The Connecticut College community’s response to the Vietnam War began in 1967, when the 366th Air Police Squadron’s “Tiger Flight” Unit contacted Connecticut College about the possibility of organizing a photo contest to help boost morale among airmen. 23 photographs of volunteer student contestants were submitted to be voted on by members of “Tiger Flight,” and two students were selected as “Tiger Queen” and “Princess.” Student newspaper coverage of the contest encouraged campus support of the unit, but took a politically neutral stance on the war.

By 1968, campus attitudes began to shift. In April, students hosted a political forum on the war featuring opposing views from Father Daniel Lyons (The Vietnam Crisis), Michael Parenti, I. Milton Sacks, and Howard Zinn (Vietnam: The Logic of Withdrawal). In October 1969, Connecticut College participated in the national Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam, a demonstration and teach-in protesting US involvement in war activities. A few months later, the campus community voted to cancel classes for a week (May 5-12, 1970) to protest the US invasion of Cambodia and the killing of four students at Kent State University on May 4. Protest activities continued through the summer of 1970, but diminished in scope through 1972.