Thomas Grace, one of the nine students wounded at Kent State on May 4, 1970 will reflect on the events of May 4. A 1972 graduate of Kent State University, Thomas Grace earned a PhD in history from SUNY Buffalo after many years as a social worker and union representative. In 2016, he wrote “Death and Dissent in the Long Sixties,” a comprehensive, critically acclaimed study of May 4, 1970. Light breakfast will be provided. Networking and light breakfast: 7:30 - 8:00 AM Program: 8:00 - 9:00 AM
Weekend Schedule
Geauga Campus
Friday, May 1, 2020 - 8:00am to Monday, May 4, 2020 - 5:00pm
For the 50th Commemoration of May 4, 1970, the Center for Philanthropy and Alumni Engagement will serve as the hospitality and information center for alumni returning to campus. We will be open as a place for you to reconnect with other alumni, participate in reflection activities and much more. You will also be able to view the “Our Brother Jeff” exhibit, honoring the life of Jeffery Miller and learn more about recording your oral history about May 4, 1970 with staff from the University Libraries Special Collections and Archives. The building will be open to alumni beginning Friday, May 1 through Monday, May 4 in conjunction with the university’s schedule of commemoration activities. Complimentary refreshments will be available to alumni throughout the weekend.
Friday, May 1, 2020 -
9:00am to 6:00pm
The May 4 Visitors Center is a permanent exhibit that tells the story of the Kent State shootings and their legacy. Made up of galleries and special exhibits, the May 4 Visitors Center is an engaging educational resource within the 17-acre May 4 site, designated as a National Historic Landmark in 2016. The center is located in Taylor Hall, and admission is free and open to the public.
Friday, May 1, 2020 -
12:00pm to 1:00pm
Two student protest rallies held Friday, May 1, 1970, at Kent State University set into motion a series of events that would forever change public opinion about the Vietnam War. Commemoration Weekend kicks off with this special event recognizing the impact of the noon anti-war rally, the ringing of the Victory Bell, and the rally held by the Black United Students organization later that afternoon.
Friday, May 1, 2020 -
2:00pm to 3:30pm
As the Vietnam War continued to escalate with the invasion of Cambodia, resistance to the war grew across college campuses nationwide. In Kent, anti-war students focused their energies on opposing the Cambodian invasion and Black United Students largely centered their efforts on disparate treatment of African Americans on campus and in the wider society. This panel discussion explores how student activists as well as rank-and-file soldiers and military veterans influenced public opinion and helped force an end to the conflict and redress racial inequities.
Friday, May 1, 2020 -
4:00pm to 6:00pm
Director Danny Miller and producers Chic Canfora and Bill Whitaker premiere the final cut of their documentary “Fire in the Heartland,” which shares the genesis of student activism at Kent State, the growing anti-war movement, the killing of student protesters on May 4, 1970, and the aftermath. A special Q&A session with the producers will follow the screening of the film.
Friday, May 1, 2020 -
4:00pm to 5:30pm
Featuring the campus and downtown Kent, this 90-minute walking tour and dialogue is based on an innovative faculty-developed Mapping May 4 web app, which maps personal stories about what happened at particular sites May 1-5, 1970, from the more than 100 oral histories in the May 4 Collection, Kent State Special Collections and Archives. At each site, historic photos, maps and stories told from multiple perspectives will be shared, with a facilitated discussion of participants’ reactions, memories and reflections. This event is limited to 25 people, and advance registration is required.
Friday, May 1, 2020 -
5:30pm to 8:30pm
Join Hillel and the Jewish community for a Shabbat evening featuring a meaningful service, kosher dinner, and special community unveiling of Hillel’s new Harold Grinspoon Tree Sculpture, in tribute and loving memory of Allison, Bill, Jeff, and Sandy.
Friday, May 1, 2020 -
5:30pm to 7:30pm
President Todd Diacon invites alumni, students, faculty, staff, community members and guests to an opening reception on Risman Plaza. Sponsored by Kent State University Office of the President
Friday, May 1, 2020 -
6:00pm to 7:30pm
As a companion to the WITNESS photography exhibit, CCI will host a panel discussion featuring several of the featured photographers. They will explore the visual power of photographs, illustrations, maps and other types of imagery and will reflect on the Vietnam era and how May 4 shaped their work and their lives. The panel discussion is open to the public.
Pages
Saturday, May 2, 2020 -
9:00am to 6:30pm
The May 4 Visitors Center is a permanent exhibit that tells the story of the Kent State shootings and their legacy. Made up of galleries and special exhibits, the May 4 Visitors Center is an engaging educational resource within the 17-acre May 4 site, designated as a National Historic Landmark in 2016. The center is located in Taylor Hall, and admission is free and open to the public.
Saturday, May 2, 2020 -
10:00am to 11:30am
This is a seated version of the walking tour and dialogue for those with limited mobility. It is based on an innovative faculty-designed Mapping May 4 web app, which maps personal stories about what happened across campus and the city of Kent on May 1-5, 1970, from the more than 100 oral histories in the May 4 Collection, Kent State Special Collections and Archives. The seated tour uses then-and-now photos and maps of different sites; stories told from multiple perspectives about what happened there will be shared, with a facilitated discussion of participants’ reactions, memories, and reflections.
Saturday, May 2, 2020 -
10:30am to 12:00pm
After returning to their home countries, many international students translate their Kent State learning experiences into social engagement and activism. This panel discussion will showcase extraordinary examples of the global impact of the roots of activism developed at Kent State University. Current students and alumni will share how their activism has contributed to solving environmental issues and social conflicts at home.
Saturday, May 2, 2020 -
11:30am to 1:00pm
This documentary tells the story of a generation of young people at Kent State University, who stood up to speak out against social injustice in some of our nation’s most turbulent and transformative years.
Saturday, May 2, 2020 -
1:00pm to 2:30pm
A generation of Kent State students was personally affected by the events of May 4, 1970. Each person has a unique story and perspective that helps provide a complete picture of what happened that day and how those events shaped their lives and affected the history of our nation. This panel assembles former students and alumni who are sharing their personal stories publicly for the first time.
Saturday, May 2, 2020 -
2:00pm to 3:30pm
Featuring the campus and downtown Kent, this 90-minute walking tour and dialogue is based on an innovative, faculty-designed Mapping May 4 web app, which maps personal stories about what happened at particular sites on May 1-5, 1970, from the more than 100 oral histories in the May 4 Collection, Kent State Special Collections and Archives. At each site, historic photos, maps and stories told from multiple perspectives will be shared, with a facilitated discussion of participants’ reactions, memories and reflections. Advance registration is required.
Saturday, May 2, 2020 -
3:00pm to 4:30pm
May 4 Task force presents a constructive dialogue on the challenging issues surrounding forms of protest.
Saturday, May 2, 2020 -
3:30pm to 4:30pm
Hosted by Kent State University Press, this forum features authors of several new books touching on the events, history, issues and cultural atmosphere surrounding Kent State 1970. The authors will provide brief comments and then engage in questions and discussions with audience members.
Saturday, May 2, 2020 -
3:30pm to 5:00pm
This Academy Award-nominated documentary recounts the anti-war movement in Madison, Wisconsin, from 1963 to 1973. It combines archival footage and interviews with participants that explore the events of the period on the University of Wisconsin–Madison campus.
Saturday, May 2, 2020 -
5:00pm to 6:00pm
Join us at Manchester Field to participate in a visual demonstration to the world that the principles of peaceful conflict resolution and open dialogue are at the core of the May 4, 1970, legacy. Participants will form a human peace symbol that will be photographed from above to mark this occasion and to serve as a reminder to continue to press toward civil discourse. Refreshments will be served.
Pages
Sunday, May 3, 2020 -
9:00am to 6:30pm
The May 4 Visitors Center is a permanent exhibit that tells the story of the Kent State shootings and their legacy. Made up of galleries and special exhibits, the May 4 Visitors Center is an engaging educational resource within the 17-acre May 4 site, designated as a National Historic Landmark in 2016. The center is located in Taylor Hall, and admission is free and open to the public.
Sunday, May 3, 2020 -
10:00am to 11:00am
Kent State University will formally dedicate the installation of nine individual bronze markers honoring the wounded students – Alan Canfora, John Cleary, Thomas Grace, Dean Kahler, Joseph Lewis, Donald MacKenzie, James Russell, Robert Stamps and Douglas Wrentmore – and marking the specific location where each was shot on May 4, 1970.
Sunday, May 3, 2020 -
10:00am to 11:30am
Featuring the campus and downtown Kent, this 90-minute walking tour and dialogue is based on an innovative, faculty-designed Mapping May 4 web app, which maps personal stories about what happened at particular sites on May 1-5, 1970, from the more than 100 oral histories in the May 4 Collection, Kent State Special Collections and Archives. At each site, historic photos, maps and stories told from multiple perspectives will be shared, with a facilitated discussion of participants’ reactions, memories and reflections. Advance registration is required.
Sunday, May 3, 2020 -
11:30am to 1:00pm
Join us for a keynote luncheon featuring Eric Foner, DeWitt Clinton Professor Emeritus of History at Columbia University. Kent State University is proud to host Professor Foner, one of the nation’s most prominent historians and Bancroft-, Lincoln- and Pulitzer-prize- winning scholar on divisive conflicts in American history. Tickets are required.
Sunday, May 3, 2020 -
11:30am to 1:00pm
This Academy Award-nominated documentary recounts the anti-war movement in Madison, Wisconsin, from 1963 to 1973. It combines compelling archival footage and interviews with participants that explore the events of the period on the University of Wisconsin–Madison campus.
Sunday, May 3, 2020 -
2:00pm to 3:30pm
The history and legacy of the events of May 4, 1970, would not have been kept alive for 50 years were it not for a committed group of students called the May 4 Task Force. Since its inception in the mid 1970’s, this organization has helped to educate students, organize annual commemorations, gather support for a memorial and advocate for family members of those were killed and wounded students. This panel honors the legacy of the May 4 Task Force as five former student leaders discuss its history and transformation over five decades.
Sunday, May 3, 2020 -
2:00pm to 3:30pm
The shooting of students at Kent State on May 4, 1970, generated years of litigation that resulted in precedent-setting as well as disappointing outcomes for families and survivors. This panel of eyewitnesses and attorneys for students, families and guardsmen reviews legal issues and decisions arising from criminal and civil trials that followed the tragedy.
Sunday, May 3, 2020 -
2:00pm to 3:30pm
Featuring the campus and downtown Kent, this 90-minute walking tour and dialogue is based on an innovative, faculty-designed Mapping May 4 web app, which maps personal stories about what happened at particular sites on May 1-5, 1970, from the more than 100 oral histories in the May 4 Collection, Kent State Special Collections and Archives. At each site, historic photos, maps and stories told from multiple perspectives will be shared, with a facilitated discussion of participants’ reactions, memories and reflections. Advance registration is required.
Sunday, May 3, 2020 -
3:00pm to 4:30pm
by David Hassler May 4th Voices“May 4th Voices: Kent State, 1970” brings together first-person narratives about the May 4, 1970, shootings at Kent State University. First performed in 2010 in commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the shootings, the “May 4th Voices” play is composed of verbatim excerpts from the Kent State Shootings Oral History Project. Weaving these voices and stories together, Hassler’s play tells the human story of May 4, 1970, and its aftermath while capturing the tragedy, which had a profound impact on the nation and is credited as a catalyst in changing Americans’ view toward U.S. involvement in Vietnam.
Sunday, May 3, 2020 -
4:30pm to 6:00pm
This panel discussion and a companion exhibit explore the development of the university’s May 4 Memorial, which was dedicated during the 20th commemoration in 1990. The panel brings together key participants in the 1985-1990 May 4 memorial process to share their perspectives on this challenging chapter in the May 4 history. Participants also will view designs originally submitted but not selected for the final installation, which rests on a 2.5-acre wooded site overlooking The Commons at Kent State.
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Monday, May 4, 2020 -
12:00am to 12:00pm
The annual silent vigil begins at midnight and continues until noon on May 4, 2020. Volunteers have held vigil each year since 1971 at the four Prentice Hall parking lot locations where Allison Krause, Jeffrey Miller, Sandra Scheuer and William Schroeder were shot. Sign-ups to stand vigil will begin in March.
Monday, May 4, 2020 -
9:00am to 5:00pm
The May 4 Visitors Center is a permanent exhibit that tells the story of the Kent State shootings and their legacy. Made up of galleries and special exhibits, the May 4 Visitors Center is an engaging educational resource within the 17-acre May 4 site, designated as a National Historic Landmark in 2016. The center is located in Taylor Hall, and admission is free and open to the public.
Monday, May 4, 2020 -
9:00am to 10:00am
All guests are invited to attend this special breakfast honoring the Kent State faculty marshals and the faculty of 1970, who prevented further bloodshed on May 4 and assisted students in continuing their studies after the abrupt closure of the university. Their courage, sacrifice and support inspire us to this day. Tickets are free and required.
Monday, May 4, 2020 -
12:00pm to 2:30pm
The yearlong 50th commemoration of May 4, 1970, culminates in this meaningful ceremony honoring and remembering lives lost and forever changed. This program connects the past to the present, paying homage to the May 4 legacy and including reflections; special recognitions; tributes to fallen students Allison Krause, Jeffrey Miller, Sandra Scheuer and William Schroeder; the reading of the chronology; music; and a symbolic moment of reflection at 12:24 p.m., the exact time at which the shootings occurred. Keynote speaker is Laurence H. Tribe, the Carl M. Loeb University Professor and Professor of Constitutional Law at Harvard University, and one of the foremost scholars of constitutional law.
