May 4 50

Alan Canfora giving a tour on the May 4, 1970 shooting site

For 50 years, Alan Canfora was a tireless advocate for the four students killed and nine wounded on May 4, 1970.

How We Remember May 4th

Movie's screening to be followed by a virtual panel discussion about the impact and lessons of May 4, 1970.

Photo of B'nai B'rith Hillel Marker on May 4 site

In keeping with the commitment to honor and remember the events of May 4, 1970, Kent State University will hold a virtual May 4 51st Commemoration this year. The virtual commemoration will feature a video premiering at noon on Tuesday, May 4, that focuses on the nine wounded students: Alan Canfora, John Cleary, Thomas Grace, Dean Kahler, Joseph Lewis, Donald Mackenzie, James Russell, Robert Stamps and Douglas Wrentmore.

A woman places a flower through the bullet hole left in a sculpture on the Kent State University campus.

Kent State University invites educators of students in grades 6-12 to apply by March 1 for its 2021 Landmarks of American History and Culture workshop, “Making Meaning of May 4: The 1970 Kent State Shootings in U.S. History,” which has been made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom.

Alan Canfora

 Donations will benefit students in Kent State's Library Science program.

Alan Canfora giving a tour on the May 4, 1970 shooting site

Canfora was one of nine students wounded by Ohio National Guard soldiers during a peaceful protest. 

Kent State University

Beginning Friday, May, visitors to the May 4 50th Commemoration website will be able to view a variety of special videos, online exhibits and interactive tours, all designed to honor and remember Allison Krause, Jeffrey Miller, Sandra Scheuer and William Schroeder, the Kent State students who lost their lives 50 years ago on the Kent State campus.

button created by Jerry Casale - Kent Students Medical Fund

“I had always been making art and music but the events of May 4th and beyond galvanized my creativity, infusing it with an existential anger and urgency that would otherwise not have happened. In short Devo and the idea of De-evolution as a manifesto would not exist without that defining historic trauma I experienced.” - Jerry Casale

Kent Stater editors have covered 50 years of May 4 anniversaries.

Kent State University alumni who served as editor of the Daily Kent Stater each faced the challenge of covering the anniversary of May 4, 1970, when Ohio National Guardsmen shot and killed four students and wounded nine others during a Vietnam War protest.

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.”