English Professor Samuel Ichiye Hayakawa was appointed as acting president of the strife-torn SF State campus in 1968.

By his strong opposition to the strike, Hayakawa made himself one of the most visible and controversial university presidents of the century. He made history by climbing atop a striker's truck, ripping out the wires to the public address system, and then delivering his own speech to the astonished onlookers. The incident, captured by press photographers, became a symbol of Hayakawa's willingness to take a stand, and played a part in his subsequent election to the United States Senate in 1976.

Hayakawa was a renowned semanticist; his first book on the subject, "Language in Thought and Action," was a Book of the Month Club selection in 1941.

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Archived Information. Last modified March 20, 2009, by University Communications