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.
Several former editors of the campus student newspaper, now known as the Kent Stater, shared their thoughts on how the anniversary was perceived and how coverage changed over the course of five decades.
“We felt compelled to put ourselves back in the 1970 Spring Quarter time frame, but also to reflect where our campus culture and pulse were in 1979,” said Christine Plonsky, BS ’79, who was Stater editor that spring.
“The beauty of attending KSU was that the 1970s spirit of activism was present every spring especially, when those who had witnessed or been impacted personally and emotionally by May 4, 1970, would return to campus. We tried to strike a balance of past to present response. However, the pain caused by violence on a Midwest campus never dissipated.”
Plonsky, 62, of Austin, Texas,
“It was an incredible day,” she said, recalling how a Stater staffer serving an internship in Cleveland had gotten wind of the fact that the settlement might be coming and alerted the Stater newsroom.
“It was a sobering afternoon and evening,” she said. “How do you to justify `settlement’ of four lives and nine others gravely wounded in an event that changed the course of the country, of our government’s decision domestically during war protests, and ultimately, the U.S. presence in Vietnam?”
Plonsky, who was reared in Tallmadge, Ohio, just outside of Kent, said she grew up with the desire to attend Kent State. “I never would have dreamed that I would have been able to attend journalism classes and work for the heralded Daily Kent Stater in the very building – Taylor Hall – that was central to that historic day,” she said. “Kent State was not just the place where I received a degree. It's a place where I learned about the state of our nation."
When you were Stater editor, how was May 4 remembered by the Kent State community?
By 1985, when Tom Jennings, BS ’85, was Stater editor, anniversaries had taken shape into the candlelight march across campus and vigil in the parking lot of Prentice Hall, which still takes place today. Perceptions of May 4, 1970, though, were changing.
“The campus community was of two minds,” Jennings said, “Those who felt a compelling need to remember and find perspective, compared with those who either didn't care about what happened or were uninformed. For some students, what happened on May 4 was too much like ancient history, even in 1985. I'm not sure if it was because the event was too painful to remember or if it was apathy.”
Jennings, however, had previously written a Hearst Award-winning editorial in the Stater about the need for the university to permanently memorialize May 4, and he fostered strong coverage of the 15th anniversary as editor.
“When I was editor, we ran a special edition of what the Stater would have done on May 5, 1970. The university was closed following the shootings on May 4, so the Stater staff that year never got to publish an issue,” Jennings said. “We wanted to let students know in 1985 what it was like, as best we could and how student journalists would have covered May 4 if they had the chance. It was our way as student journalists to remind the KSU community of the significance of what happened on May 4 and that the history of that event was still very much a part of Kent.”
Jennings, 58, of Malibu, California, is a writer-producer-director of documentary films, through his Los Angeles-based production company 1895 Films.
Michael Lebowitz, BA ’99, who was Stater editor in the spring of 1999, had a special connection to the shootings, as his mother was a student on campus on May 4, 1970.
“She witnessed the shootings. Not surprisingly, May 4 was traumatic for her. For the rest of her life, she froze up whenever she heard the sound of helicopters as that brought her mind back to campus that day. Even years later, my mother understood that the government needed to be watched and held accountable at all costs,” Lebowitz said.
When you were Stater editor, what did you feel was the student media's responsibility when it came to remembering or commemorating May 4?
Yet the administration that year also had taken steps to remove the word “State” from university branding and logos.
“I felt it was important to shine a light on these efforts,” Lebowitz said. “As such, in the May 4 Stater edition, our front page featured a lengthy, in-depth article describing the administration's efforts to remove the ‘State’ from Kent State. The prime example was how administration officials scrambled to remove ‘State’ from the scoreboard during the school's first NCAA tournament appearance in 1999.”
Lebowitz, 42, of Washington, D.C., is a senior attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice's National Security Division and serves in the U.S. Army Reserve as a Judge Advocate at U.S. Army Cyber Command. He recalled that May 4, 1999, was marked by new protests.
“Back in 1999, we had military action involving Kosovo and periodic bombings in Iraq. The May 4 observances attracted a significant number of people who wished to make their voices heard regarding modern military activity, using the protests from the 1960s and early 1970s as a guide,” Lebowitz said. “I believe the annual observances have morphed from what had been commemorations of the events from May 4, 1970, into using those events as a real-life warning to the current generation about the ramifications of a government run amok, even in the United States.”
Looking back, has your view of May 4 and its annual observances changed? If so, in what ways?
Rekha Sharma, BS ’02, MA ’04, MS ’04, PhD ’17, an associate professor in Kent State’s School of Communication Studies, was Stater editor in 2002, when May 4 fell on a Saturday. The following Monday’s edition included coverage of the traditional march and vigil commemoration, as well as a front-page article on an anti-war protest that took place and other events on campus that weekend.
“This was happening less than a year after the 9/11 attacks, so people had strong feelings about the war in Afghanistan and a lot of other related issues,” Sharma said. “The Daily Kent Stater staff was prepared to cover potential conflicts responsibly, and we tried to make sure we accurately captured the actions and sentiments of the members of the campus, the surrounding community, and law enforcement involved in everything that was going on that weekend.”
Sharma, 40, who resides outside of Youngstown, Ohio, said over time she has gained a greater appreciation for how much May 4 and the annual observances have shaped the organizational culture of the university.
“The traditions, conflicts and negotiations surrounding May 4 over the years have illustrated a lot about how people try to make meaning from trauma and tragedy. Each year reveals another lesson to be learned from the past and a little more insight about where we find ourselves today. That's important for deciding who we want to be in the future,” she said.
Kent State has a unique legacy, which has given the university a powerful voice in discussions about war and peace, civil liberties and the power structures of society, she observed.
“I hope that students learn about their First Amendment freedoms and exercise them ethically and tenaciously to advocate for themselves and for others,” Sharma said.
Doug Gulasy, BS ’10, was Stater editor in the spring of 2010 and presided over coverage of the 40th anniversary of May 4.
Gulasy, 31, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a digital marketing content writer for UPMC health care system, said he was unsure how students 10 years ago felt about the anniversary.
“It was something of an odd mix, I think. I always felt the May 4 commemoration was significant. But I think many of the students at the time may have shrugged it off because of how long ago it had been,” he said. “The alumni, professors, and community members felt much more of a connection to it.”
The May 4 edition that year nearly didn’t happen, he recalled. Student had put together an edition packed with stories and photos that included interviews with May 4 survivors and perspective pieces on perceptions of May 4. The edition capped off a year of coverage of the university’s centennial and was intended to be a blockbuster.
As the university community approaches the 50th commemoration, what lessons do you feel that today's students should take away from the events of 1970?
“I felt blessed to 
Gulasy said his belief in the importance of May 4, is stronger now than when he was a student. “We see reason to protest every day. And I think May 4 teaches us the importance of speaking out for what's right. It may cost us – and it may cost us dearly – but that doesn't change the importance. It only heightens it.”
Plonsky said she still appreciates the fact that Kent State reflected part of American history in such a powerful fashion. “The fact that KSU has continued to observe the day annually with appropriate reflection and solemnity makes me very proud.”
Jennings is grateful that a May 4 memorial was established, and that the tension, anger and sadness of the day seems to have dissipated over time.
“Though students today may look at May 4 as ancient history, I think it's important for those on campus today to remember that something that affected world politics literally happened in the heart of Kent State. The world changed outside Taylor Hall,” Jennings said. “It's not an event that happened somewhere else, or only in history books, it happened in the middle of that beautiful campus, lives were lost, and others were forever altered. I think it's important to remember that historic events can happen anywhere, at any time.”