May 4 New Hero

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May 4th Plaque

MAY 4, 1970 THE KENT STATE SHOOTINGS

The 67 shots that rang out at Kent State amid a May 4, 1970 Vietnam War protest, killing four students and wounding nine, reverberate nearly 50 years later. Many historians see the shootings as the moment America turned, finally and forcefully, against the war.

The actions of the Ohio National Guard made Kent State the custodian of painful history. With the passage of time, however, the university asks itself: what might the wound of May 4 help us to accomplish?

Kent State President Beverly J. Warren says, “The task we have set for ourselves is to not only remember, but reflect and renew. We must lift our collective voices to effect positive change.”