where much of the VDC's actions took place or were organized The VDC was formed by Jerry Rubin and
Stephen Smale between May 21 and May 22, 1965 during a 35‑hour‑long anti-Vietnam war protest that took place inside and around the
University of California, Berkeley and attracted over 35,000 people, including
Paul Montauk and
Stew Albert. The VDC laid out three main objectives: to achieve national and international solidarity and coordination on action, to take part in militant action, including civil disobedience and to work extensively in the community to develop the movement outside of the university campus. Attending the event were several notable anti-war activists, including
Dr. Benjamin Spock, however the State Department declined to send a representative, despite the burning of an
effigy of president
Lyndon Johnson. On May 5, 1965, the VDC was involved in a march of several hundred students from campus to the Berkeley Draft Board, where the staff was given a black coffin, and students burned their draft cards. Later that year, the VDC planned a nationwide protest, the International Days of Protest Against American Military Intervention, which was scheduled between October 15 and October 16. In arranging and coordinating the protest movement, the VDC headquarters in Berkeley communicated with anti-war groups in
New York City,
Boston,
New Haven,
Philadelphia,
Pittsburgh,
Detroit,
Ann Arbor,
Chicago,
Madison,
Milwaukee,
Minneapolis,
Los Angeles,
Portland and
Atlanta. The march was the first of its kind in California and was one of many orchestrated by the VDC from 1965 through 1972; a number of pro-war protesters lined the route holding signs that said, "Stamp out VDC". By this time, the activities of the VDC had attracted the interest of the
California Senate Factfinding Subcommittee on Un-American Activities. On March 25, 1966, the UCLA VDC, a group not organizationally tied to the Berkeley VDC, sponsored a well-attended, 12-hour 'teach-in' at
UCLA. This clashed with a small rally that supported America's involvement in Vietnam. The antiwar event had a number of guest speakers, including
Simon Casady, a former president of the
California Democratic Council,
Dorothy Healy, the Southern California chairman of the
Communist Party USA, and the
British philosopher
Bertrand Russell. ==See also==