Bruce W. Klunder, Oregon State ‘55, #216 Acacia Brother, Presbyterian Minister, Civil Rights Activist “To take a more active part...”
By Frank Chown, Oregon State ’10 & Benjamin Turconi, California ’12 Rev. Bruce Klunder, Oregon State ’55, was many things. He was a son, a husband, a Presbyterian minister, a civil rights activist, and our brother. He gave his life in the fight for racial equity and is one of fortyone individuals remembered on the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, Alabama. Acacians dedicate themselves to the values of Knowledge, Virtue, and Truth. But while it is easy to say the words, it is difficult to live in accordance with those values as Bro. Klunder did. Bruce “believed his life must be his sermon” according to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). As a student at Oregon State, he heard about the bus boycotts in Montgomey, Alabama and became aware of the inequities of Jim Crow segregation. He began raising money to support the boycotters and began discussing civil rights issues with others. As the SPLC puts it, “his life mission had began.” On April 7, 1964, Brother Klunder was crushed by a bulldozer while protesting the construction of a segregated school in Cleveland, Ohio. His death was ruled an accident but it still polarized the Cleveland
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community and inspired others to continue the fight against Jim Crow segregation. So, who was Bruce Klunder? He was born in Greeley, Colorado on July 12, 1937 and moved to Oregon at a young age. He graduated a year early with the Baker High School class of 1954 and made his way to Oregon State, then known as Oregon Agricultural College, pledging Acacia in the Spring of 1955. He was initiated on Dec 3, 1955. While attending college, he met the love of his life, Joanne Lehman, who would support his efforts to fight for equity. They were married Dec 22, 1956. After graduating from OAC in 1958 with honors, he enrolled at Yale Divinity School and would later graduate with a B.D. Divinity Degree in 1961. After moving to Cleveland, he was ordained in the Presbyterian Church on March 4, 1962. Klunder was described by those who knew him as “soft-spoken, almost shy. He smiled a great deal, never showed anger...Bruce was soft-spoken – but don’t get the idea he lacked courage. It was just that he didn’t believe in a lot of loud talk. We all knew how he felt, but he never tried to shove his ideas
