IU at war

Campus in wartime was a thrill of anti-war rallies and what Kibbey calls euphemistic student activism. There was a lot of draft dodging and cheating on deferments.

“There was a whole institution of how to dodge the draft,” Kibbey says.

Guitarist Phil Ochs song “Draft Dodger Rag” became an anthem for the late ’60s. Kibbey recalls strumming the chords on his guitar, singing the lyrics that ran all-too-true across the campus and country.

I hate Chou En Lai and I hope he dies, but one thing you gotta see, that someone’s gotta go over there, and that someone isn’t me.

Flat feet, poor eyesight, homosexual tendencies, allergies. The list of possible loopholes was endless. The fact is, most of them didn’t work. Even if they did, Kibbey didn’t see them as viable options. The song might be fun to sing in Dunn Meadow, but dodging the draft was never a consideration.

“I would not, I did not, approve of that sort of behavior,” Kibbey says. “I was surprised my deferment continued as long as it did.”