The following story comes from a series of pieces that bring to life a conversation with two long-standing members of staff at La Trobe University. Michael Torney is Director of Student Services at La Trobe University and has been in the employment of the University since July 1973. Kevin Coates is Deputy Director of Student Services at La Trobe University and has been in the employment of the University since March 1972, when he started (with hair) as a ‘Junior Male Clerk’. Their combined years of service spans over 80 years – they have a wealth of good stories to share, should you ask, and you will never be short of a laugh in their company. This story first appeared on La News, and was written during my time as an intern.

Once upon a time, La Trobe University was the radical university. It was dominated by strong left-wing political activism and a strong collective student consciousness willing to ‘fight the power’.

The protests we get today? They are but a speck of dust in comparison to the activism of the early years.

But then, the world was a different place; there was a push for higher education to be more accessible and affordable, the threat of conscription was looming, and well, it was the ‘70s.

It was a time where there were six political broadsheets being distributed around campus, each with a vocal group of students spruiking their cause; each group wanted to make their mark and routinely organised demonstrations with the hope of getting more attention.  They would take their message to the workers in the local community, and at one point, more than half of the (small) student population attended a general meeting of one of the groups.

“In the early 1970s there was substantial opposition by students, to the Vietnam War in particular, and there were many demonstrations in regard to that” Michael Torney recalls.

“[These protests] culminated in students blockading council, in the council chambers, which was in Glenn College in those days. They were kept there for five hours and students wouldn’t let them out; they got caught in there, which was frightening for some of them and irritating for most of them.”

“As a result of that, there was a series of enquiries about who led the student protest and three were identified; they were excluded from the University.”

“In other words, kicked out,” Kevin Coates says.

“And, one of the conditions was that, you know, that they could not come back on to the campus at all, and they got a court order to say if they were [to come back on campus], they could be arrested,” Mr Torney continues.

These three students, Brian Pola, Fergus Robinson, and Barry York were members of the Maoist faction of the Labor Club. The trio did end up coming back on campus and as a result, were arrested. It was one of the first times in Australian history where police had to be called on a university campus because of student demonstrations.

“There was no trial, there was no court orders, they were, the three of them, were put in jail,” Mr Torney says, adding that it was at this point that the students became known as the ‘La Trobe Three’.

“Right around the world there was a lot of people who were incarcerated, whether it be South Africa, Ireland, or whatever, you know, but it was always like, free the so and so, three….free the so and so, nine….free the so and so, five,’ but we got our own,” Mr Coats says.

“We got the La Trobe three.”