Featured May 4

Kent State University students stand vigil where one of four slain Kent State students was shot on May 4, 1970.

After months of planning, Kent State University’s May 4 50th Commemoration Advisory Committee has released details of programs scheduled for the 50th Commemoration of the May 4, 1970, shootings at Kent State. The commemoration represents a significant milestone in the history and legacy of May 4, 1970.

With the 50th May 4 Commemoration approaching, this year’s Common Reading Experience for all first-year Kent State University students created an opportunity to incorporate the books “This We Know” and “Thirteen Seconds: Confrontation at Kent State."

Ten Kent State University students were awarded $1,000 each for their creative use of videos, podcasts and Adobe Spark® pages to reflect on the events of May 4, 1970, as part of the university’s Design Innovation Common Reading Challenge. 

School of Emerging Media and Technology
Digitized Taylor Hall

Artifacts of May 4, 1970  a survivor’s jacket, a gas mask and gun shell casing  tell a story that’s not often accessible to the general public. Assistant Professor Abe Avnisan and students in his digital sciences capstone course will bring these artifacts’ stories to life via the exhibit “May 4: Through the Looking Glass.”

About 30 teachers attended the Voices for Change Educator's Summit on the topic of May 4, 1970.

Organizers of the recent Voices for Change Educator’s Summit at Kent State University say the curriculum developed at the event can be used by teachers worldwide, so that the lessons of May 4, 1970, will continue to be shared. The summit, held in August, was one about 100 events planned for the 2019-20 academic year to support the 50th commemoration of May 4, 1970, the day when Ohio National Guardsmen opened fire on Kent State students protesting the U.S. invasion of Cambodia during the Vietnam War, killing four and wounding nine.

“Our Brother Jeff,” a new exhibition at Kent State University’s May 4 Visitors Center, honors the life of Jeffrey Miller, one of the four Kent State students shot and killed by the Ohio National Guard on May 4, 1970.

Guests of Kent State University’s May 4 Visitors Center can learn more about Jeffrey Miller, one of the four students shot and killed by the Ohio National Guard on May 4, 1970, by visiting “Our Brother Jeff,” a new exhibition at the visitors center that honors Miller’s life. The exhibition will be on display from Oct. 19, 2019, to Feb. 29, 2020. Russ Miller, Jeff’s brother, helped create the exhibition by loaning some of Jeff’s personal items to the May 4 Visitors Center. 

Former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu will speak at Kent State University at 7 p.m. Nov. 19 as part of the university’s May 4 Speaker Series.

Mitch Landrieu, the New Orleans mayor who oversaw the removal of the city’s prominent Confederate monuments and helped his city to recover and reemerge from a series of natural disasters, will speak at Kent State as part of the university’s May 4 Speaker Series.

Kent State University is offering a community course at the May 4 Visitors Center that deals with the historical, cultural, social and political contexts of events before, during and after the May 4, 1970, shootings.

Kent State University is offering a community course that deals with the historical, cultural, social and political contexts of events before, during and after the May 4, 1970, shootings. The free course, Making Meaning of May 4: The Kent State Shootings in American History, will be held Oct. 16, 23 and 30 at the university’s May 4 Visitors Center.

Kent State University alumna Pat Gless reflects on May 4, 1970, near what was then the ambulance bay of the old Ravenna hospital.

In the spring of 1970, two-time Kent State University alumna and registered nurse Pat Gless was a junior in Kent State’s inaugural nursing program. While in class on Monday, May 4, a professor rushed into her classroom and warned students who could leave campus to do so. Fifty years later, Gless now reflects on the events surrounding that tragedy and how they have impacted her life and nursing career.

Moments of Truth is a new book on May 4, 1970, by Kent State Alumnus Howard Ruffner

On the morning of May 4, 1970, Kent State University student Howard Ruffner was hanging out in the office of the Daily Kent Stater in Taylor Hall when the phone rang.

The Midwest editor from Life magazine, based in Chicago, was calling to find out if there were any student photographers who had been taking photos over the weekend. Kent State had been the scene of student protests for several days, and more demonstrations were expected that day.  

Shown is "Make Amerikkka Great Again" (2019), designed by Kent State University Fashion School student Colin Isaacs.

In commemoration of the 50th anniversary of May 4, 1970, when Ohio National Guardsmen opened fire on Kent State University students protesting the U.S. invasion of Cambodia during the Vietnam War, killing four and wounding nine, students and faculty from Kent State’s School of Fashion Design and Merchandising are bringing attention to current social issues in the new exhibition called “Wearing Justice: Perspectives From KSU Fashion School Faculty and Students” that is on display now at the Kent State University Museum.