Originally the film was to be shot on Columbia University's campus. However, Columbia withdrew their offer and the crew moved to Berkeley instead (Columbia University had already been through large student protests in 1967 and '68). The book had not gained notoriety yet and Berkeley was more or less in the dark about the content of the film and what events the director would be staging on the campus. This explains the tongue-in-cheek statement that appears before the opening credits thanking an "anonymous locale" and noting "other cities refused to cooperate."
The movie's title comes from a line spoken by Charlie to Simon concerning what he called "the strawberry statement," something the Dean said: "Our telling him we've got an opinion is like telling him we like strawberries."
The movie's scriptwriter, Israel Horovitz, also plays Dr. Benton, the man who climbs down through the hole in the ceiling.