The initial request

Monday, March 30, 1970

The Student Center Board, which was responsible for planning programming for the student body, applied for permission to host Abbie Hoffman and his lawyer, Leonard Weinglass. The event was planned in partnership with Space City!, a local leftist underground newspaper, and the organization planned for the event to be open to the public and feature a rock concert. The initial idea to partner with Space City! to co-sponsor the event came from Stephen "Steve" Fox, who was then a SCB member and a student at the school of architecture. Fox said he reached out to the publication because the SCB “was eager to host programs that would attract students to use the [Rice Memorial Center].”

At the time, Hoffman and Weinglass were on a speaking tour across the country to raise funds for Hoffman’s appeal after he was found guilty of crossing state lines with the intent to incite a riot. Hoffman was expected to make at least one other appearance in Houston and would also go on to speak at the University of Texas in Austin.