July 7 in 1962, General Ne Win's military regime violently suppressed student protests at Rangoon University’s Students’ Union building, leading to stricter campus regulations and the end of university self-administration.

On the evening of July 7, soldiers led by Lieutenant-Colonel Sein Lwin brutally clamped down on student protests at Rangoon University. The government reported 16 students killed and 86 injured, but eyewitnesses claimed the death toll exceeded 100. In 1988, when Lieutenant-Colonel Sein Lwin became president of Myanmar, he led another bloody crackdown on protests calling for the end of Ne Win’s single-party rule. This earned him the international moniker ‘Butcher of Yangon’ for his role in violently suppressing these historic movements.

Following the July 7 crackdown, the military dynamited the Students’ Union building the next day. This historic building had played a significant role in Myanmar’s independence struggle. General Ne Win justified the demolition by claiming it was a hotbed for communists. However, students believed the military's actions were a response to their protests against the military coup in March of that year.

Since the events of July 7, students from successive generations have opposed General Ne Win’s government and the subsequent military regimes. Student unions have repeatedly called for the reconstruction of the Students’ Union building, but this has yet to be realized. Since ex-President U Thein Sein’s quasi-civilian government came to power in 2010, students and activists have annually commemorated the July 7 event.