David Durenberger: “on June 30, 1994 the longest serving president in the history of Moorhead State University, Roland Dille, will retire…”

“on June 30, 1994 the longest serving president in the history of Moorhead State University, Roland Dille, will retire after 26 years of unprecedented guidance and leadership to the academic community. His loss will not only be felt by those students who currently attend MSU, but by all of us who value his commitment to education. Mr. President, to fully appreciate the challenges Roland Dille has faced during his presidency, we must first remember the tenor of the Nation when he assumed leadership at MSU. No American who lived through it can forget the year 1968, which brought a divided nation the assassinations of both Senator Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr., the Tet Offensive, and mounting tensions on college campuses across the country, including Moorhead State. As the symbol of authority, President Dille was not immune to rising hostility. Professors were advising students on draft dodging; William Kunstler spoke and urged the students to burn the campus down; the student newspaper bitterly opposed the Vietnam war; a student fired a gun on campus, intensifying racial tensions. Dille, meanwhile, received death threats on the lives of his children and black paint was splattered on his car. He had to shut down the student newspaper. During a moratorium on campus following the Kent State shooting, he told State police--poised to stop an expected demonstration--to stay off campus.”