On May 4, 1970, the Ohio National Guard fired on Kent State students during an anti-war protest, killing four students and wounding nine others. Today marks 50 years since the Kent State shootings that left “four dead in Ohio,” as Neil Young memorialized it in song.
Lingering trauma, political polarization, accusations of cover-ups, and pursuit of truth continue today, even as unity, peace and justice for all remain the goal as the healing process continues. Plans were in place to commemorate this fateful day in history on the Kent campus and KSU regional campuses, but the coronavirus has caused widespread cancelations.
In keeping with the commitment to honor and remember those tragic events, Kent State is hosting a virtual program to mark the historic 50th Commemoration of May 4, 1970. Today’s May 4 50th Commemoration includes the virtual noon program, the virtual candlelight vigil, special videos, online exhibits, interactive mobile apps and more.
Also, local NPR radio stations WCPN and WKSU are collaborating on a joint broadcast today, featuring interviews, live call-ins and perspective pieces in honor of the day. WCPN’s Mike McIntyre is joined by WKSU News Director Andrew Meyer as they hear from the president of Kent State University and a former president instrumental in moving the campus toward facing the reality of what happened there. They also check in with two survivors of the shootings and get perspectives from public radio reporters who have covered the story for years. Click here for the simulcast.
The impact of the shootings was dramatic. The event triggered a nationwide student strike that forced hundreds of colleges and universities to close. H. R. Haldeman, a top aide to President Richard Nixon, suggests the shootings had a direct impact on national politics. In The Ends of Power, Haldeman (1978) states that the shootings at Kent State began the slide into Watergate, eventually destroying the Nixon administration. Beyond the direct effects of the May 4, the shootings have certainly come to symbolize the deep political and social divisions that so sharply divided the country during the Vietnam War era. Its reverberations continue today.
