The causes and protest of 1968In the 1960s, the great decade of social change, the civil rights movement together with the student movements collaborated to bring about an epochal change in society . In 1968, the New Left continued to gain thousands of members as it developed a more radical approach in its opposition to racism and the Vietnam War. Virtually synonymous with the New Left, Students' for a Democratic Society (SDS) argued that militant tactics showed young people that actions could make a difference. SDS said: “we can make a difference, we can hope to change the system and also that life within the radical movement can be liberating, fulfilling and meaningful.” The student unrest went from "protest to confrontation, resistance and total obstruction; even more surprisingly, the university itself as a general institution was now regarded as the enemy, the target of the disorder." The movement culminated at Columbia University. Students at Columbia's Morningside Heights campus gathered to oppose an institution they viewed as racist, imperialist, and authoritarian; the school represented the old social order that still dominated American institutions. Students angry at Columbia's connection to the Institute for Defense Analysis (IDA), its aggressive, even racist expansion techniques, and the administration's authoritarian rule, launched a protest. What was initially a non-confrontational protest quickly escalated. Columbia students, angry and tired of being neglected by the administration, fought to be heard; the students stormed Hamilton Hall and refused to leave until their six demands were met. Eventually the SDS-led protest, initially centered on speeches in the center of campus, evolved into a hostile student takeover of five university buildings. These frustrated students lashed out at the establishment, and the closest target was their own Columbia. However, Klaus Mehnert noted that "university problems as such were not in the foreground of the conflict... The real enemy was society... the university is simply that segment of society with which the students confronted themselves" . While superficially focused on three specific issues, these demands were only symbolic of the much broader issues of racism, imperialism, and authoritarianism, currently plaguing society. The revolution was ultimately a power struggle between the New Left and the old order; a battle between liberal students and Columbia's archaic administration for a voice in society. In April 1968, Columbia University's appearance was like that of any other college in the nation.