Kent State Magazine: Spring/Summer 2020

Image

ON THE COVER:

50 Years On: From the roots of tragedy have grown tolerance and respect for opposing views.

Cover Art: John-Noall Reid, BA ’98

FEATURES

May 4 50th Commemoration

We reflect on how the university memorialized this tragic event, receive an update on the nine who were wounded, recall the lives of the four who were slain, and round up some digital projects that are helping educate a new generation.

Memorials of May 4

Across the Kent Campus are numerous physical and living memorials to the May 4, 1970 shootings.
Making use of the May 4 Collection

Much of Kent State University Libraries’ May 4 Collection is now available online—and is used by an international community of researchers, film makers, media professionals and more.
Mapping May 4

The Mapping May 4 web app has an interactive aerial map of the Kent Campus as it was in May 1970—and features oral histories of people who were present at various locations across campus and in the town.

Where the Nine Wounded are Now

They call themselves “Blood Brothers”—the nine students injured on May 4, 1970. Here’s an update on their lives since then.
Listening to the Voices of May 4

Through the Armed With Our Voices digital exhibition and the May 4th Voices Radio Play, we explore the history of student protest and respond with our own reflections on peace and conflict transformation.
Visiting May 4 Sites Through Augmented Reality

An interdisciplinary team from Kent State is enabling users to look back in time from the vantage point of today’s technology.

Remembering the Lives of the Four Slain Students

The May 4 Visitors Center presented a series of four temporary exhibitions honoring each of the students killed on May 4, 1970. Through letters, scrapbooks and personal memorabilia, we get a sense of their promise and potential—before their lives were cut short on that tragic day.
May 4 Fashion Exhibitions

Two exhibitions at the Kent State University Museum explored the fashion divide of the ’60s and ’70s and the current day dialogue about social justice, political discourse, conflict resolution and war and peace.
Music of May 4th

Two professors from Kent State University at Ashtabula share their playlists for protest songs and popular songs from the time period of May 4, 1970.

Perspective on a Pandemic

Tara C. Smith, PhD, professor of epidemiology at Kent State, says lessons learned from the influenza pandemic of 1918 are informing the response to the current COVID-19 crisis.

Becoming a Scholar and Storyteller

Aidan Taylor’s research on the role black students at Kent State played in social movements prior to and after May 4, 1970 informed a documentary and gave him a new direction.

The Funky WinkerBEAT

A collaboration between two alumni gives a classic comic strip a current update and highlights an innovative program that’s training middle school and high school students to become “backpack” journalists.

DEPARTMENTS

Readers Respond

Readers respond to magazine content or comment on KSU–related topics.

President's Perspective

President Diacon on "The Lessons of Kent State: 50 Years Later."

Flash Forward

Leslie Srodek-Johnson Food network's winner

Alumni Life

Flashback

On May 4, 1970, Howard Ruffner, BS '71, took photos of John Cleary, BArch '74, lying wounded on the ground—one of which made the cover of Life magazine. Fifty years later, the two meet for the first time.

Giving Voice

The poem "Legacy" by Megan Neville, BS '04, MEd '07, was the winner in the adult non-student category of Wick Poetry Center's national call for poems about peace.

View the PDF

Featured Videos

A video from the Armed With Our Voices exhibition explores the events and aftermath of May 4, 1970.

First generation college student John McDermott, BBA '20, on the value of higher education.

President Diacon on how Flashes can help take care of Flashes through the Pay It Flash Forward Emergency Fund (now known as the Kent State Emergency Grant Fund).

Through exposure to Kent State programs and research into black student activism, digital media production and Pan-African studies major Aidan Taylor embraced his cultural heritage—and expanded his vision to examine how African Americans are represented in the media and how they see themselves in the world.

A large, multidisciplinary team from Kent State partnered with the Opera di Santa Croce to help unite a statue in Florence with a similar one in New York—for an exhibition that explores the theme of liberty.

Take Note

“In these uncertain times”—we’ve lost count of how often we’ve seen that phrase in recent weeks. The coronavirus crisis grew into a global pandemic as we were putting together this issue, and suddenly we were washing our hands repeatedly and working remotely.

As announcements of cancellations and postponements came in, we had to adapt, adding and cutting content when necessary. Although there wasn’t room for everything and everyone we had hoped to cover in the print version, this online version of the magazine has some more stories and links.

And to reflect on the meaning of May 4 for today, may we refer you to the final page of This We Know: A Chronology of the Shootings at Kent State, May 1970, by Carole A. Barbato, Laura L. Davis, and Mark F. Seeman (2012, The Kent State University Press), adapted below:

“The shootings at Kent State on May 4, 1970 spurred the largest student strike in US history; changed American’s consciousness about the Vietnam War; encouraged Congress to lower the voting age to 18 and begin to withdraw funding for the war; changed Ohio National Guard regulations so that nonlethal weapons were carried for campus disturbances; set a precedent in the US Supreme Court, allowing public officials acting in the capacity of their office to be brought to trial for their actions; remind us of the importance of protecting the rights of the First Amendment; show us the need to communicate effectively and respect differences; and demonstrate that young people can make a difference.”

Young people can make a difference. We know that only too well at Kent State, and we continue to work every day to ensure that more young people have access to higher education and opportunities to explore the world and themselves.

Stay safe and be well.