Burnig ROTC buildings.
Student unrest and the war in Vietnam were interconnected. While students were opposing other issues back at home, their main concern was America's involvement in what they deemed a 'win less' war. They felt that way because it was simply impossible to contain communism in Southeast Asia. They also felt that so many poor American kids were going over there to kill or die at the hands of other poor people. The Vietnam War and the lies that accompanied it seriously impacted and affected the student union movement back home. In fact, many people believe it was the war that led to student protests and demonstrations in the first place.
Student unrest and the war were directly related. If a student didn't carry so many units, say 18 per semester year, and his average dropped below 2.0 he could lose his deferment status. If an instructor didn't like the student, he could engineer a way to get him drafted by the military. There was an incentive to do well in college.
Military draft.
ROTC buildings were located on campus, and were often burned. Students who failed to maintain a 2.0 average faced military conscription. Result: Protests and riots.
In the US, student unrest mostly occurred after Johnson escalated the Vietnam War. The underlying cause of the unrest was mostly due to the draft, I think, but there was some protest against the war itself and how it was being conducted. There were concerns about the toxic effects of agent orange, a defoliant widely used to kill vegetation to make aerial surveillance and bombing easier. There also were some shocking incidents of American brutality against civilians that arroused protests.
* * *
If I could pick one word to described it, it would be "unrest."
Until the Vietnam War, few people ever heard of Vietnam. Therefore, Vietnam's sense of National Identity was STRONG.
A Yale graduate student.
Since US citizens were drafted to fight the war; it had a negative impact.
Well, a lot of them died.
With protests and riots.