1970-1979
University campuses across the nation, already in the grip of student unrest and anti-Vietnam War sentiment, erupted in protest following President Richard Nixon’s order to invade Cambodia in 1970. Although some campuses, most notably Kent State, experienced rioting and violence, the University of Florida’s protests were passionate but civil.
Following the Watergate Scandal, Nixon, the nation’s 37th president, became the nation’s first president to resign from office in August of 1974. UF alumnus, Chesterfield Smith, president of the American Bar Association, led the nation in rejecting Nixon’s heavy-handed attempts to dismantle the U.S. Justice Department in his attempt to squash investigation of Watergate.
Despite the nationwide unrest during the decade, UF Law prospered and flourished. Deans Frank Maloney (1959-1970), E.L. Roy Hunt (1970-1971), Betty W. Taylor (1971) and Joseph Richard Julin (1971-1980) served as the college’s annual budget quadrupled, student admissions standards were raised and fund raising successes permitted the improvements in salaries and the facilities. The law library collection tripled in size and expanded to multi-media and computers — UF Law was first law school to subscribe to both WESTLAW and LEXIS.