The “Radical” Center for Participant Education

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Jack Lieberman taught a noncredit course entitled “How to Make a Revolution in the United States” in the spring of 1970 at Florida State University (FSU). The course was offered through the Center for Participant Education (CPE) on the FSU campus. The CPE, one of the last “free universities” that emerged during the free-speech movement of the 1960’s, hosted unconventional classes and events that were free for students to attend. The CPE operated on a budget determined by the Student Government Association of FSU. Legislators were irate over the use of state funds for the alternative offerings, specifically Lieberman’s class, and ultimately Lieberman was expelled.