Skip Navigation
*To search for student contact information, login to FlashLine and choose the "Directory" icon in the FlashLine masthead (blue bar).

Kent State University is presenting a wide range of events to mark the 40th commemoration of May 4, 1970.

Kent State Presents Events Marking 40th Commemoration of May 4, 1970, Shootings

Bob Burford
Kent State University is presenting a wide range of events to mark the 40th commemoration of May 4, 1970. On that date, a student protest against the Vietnam War and the presence of the Ohio National Guard on the Kent State campus ended in tragedy when guardsmen shot and killed four and wounded nine students.

The following are some of the notable events planned on May 4 for the 40th commemoration. The complete schedule of commemoration events is available at: http://www.kent.edu/about/may4commemoration/events-listing.cfm

May 4

12 a.m. – 12:24 p.m. - 40th Annual Commemoration Vigil
The annual silent vigil in honor of the four students fatally shot is kept on May 4 from midnight until 12:24 p.m., the time that members of the Ohio National Guard fired.

Location: Prentice Hall parking lot
Details: This event is free and open to the public. For more information, contact the May 4 Task Force at may4taskforce@yahoo.com.

 
8 a.m. – 9 a.m. - May 4th, 1970: The Reporters Who Were There
The Press Club of Cleveland and the Kent State School of Journalism and Mass Communication present an interactive session with reporters and photographers who covered the events of May 4, 1970.

The panel includes:

  • John Filo, Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer of the iconic photo of Mary Vecchio and slain student  Jeffrey Miller
  • Chuck Ayers, former editorial cartoonist for the Akron Beacon Journal and former photographer for the Daily Kent Stater
  • Michael D. Roberts, former Plain Dealer reporter and co-author of "Thirteen Seconds: Confrontation at Kent State"  
  • Janet Leach, Kent State journalism professor and former editor of the Akron Beacon Journal
Location: Kent Student Center Kiva
Details: This event is free and open to the public. Doors open at 7:30 a.m. For more information, contact Ed Byers of the Press Club of Cleveland at 330-507-9590 or at ed.byers@mmoh.com.


Noon – 2 p.m. - Remembrance Day Observation and Ringing of the Victory Bell
The annual commemoration speakers program is organized by the May 4 Task force. Speakers include Gerald Casale of DEVO; former Black Panther Bobby Seale; photographer John Filo; May 4 eyewitness Mary Vecchio; and Florence Schroeder, mother of William Schroeder, one of the students fatally shot on May 4, 1970.

Location: Commons  
Details: This event is free and open to the public. For more information, contact the May 4 Task Force at may4taskforce@yahoo.com.


7 p.m. - Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum Comes to Kent: " . . . Next Stop Is Vietnam: The War on Record"
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum will present a special program on music and the Vietnam War. The program includes video, audio and a content-rich PowerPoint presentation. Included on the panel will be singer-songwriter Country Joe McDonald, a veteran and an activist against the war, and Dr. Hugo Keesing, curator of a CD box set of Vietnam War-era music that will be released by Bear Family Records later this spring. Dr. Keesing is a professor at the University of Maryland and a popular culture scholar.

Location: Kent Student Center Kiva
Details: This event is free and open to the public.
Live Stream Beginning at 7 p.m.: https://ksutube.kent.edu/live/watchstream.php?playthis=7867

For more information about the 40th anniversary of May 4, including news updates, photos, videos, commemoration events and university resources, visit Kent State’s online May 4 newsroom at http://may4newsroom.kent.edu. For parking information, visit the newsroom and click on the “Plan Your Visit” link.