A refreshed May 4 National Historic Landmark Site Tour will premiere during the 2024 May 4 commemoration this weekend.  The outdoor tour signs, which debuted in 2010 during the 40th commemoration, allow Kent State visitors to trace the steps of history of the events of May 4, 1970, through text, video, image, and narration. Written by May 4 Visitors Center founders Laura Davis and Carole Barbato and initially designed by David Middleton, the tour signage includes historic photographs that connect visitors to the activities that took place on the site before, during, and after the protests...

Join us for another episode of "What's the Big Idea?" where President Todd Diacon talks to Kent State University researchers. Today, he speaks with Johanna Solomon, Ph.D., assistant professor in the School of Peace and Conflict Studies, about how conflicts affect campuses and communities and the importance of dialogue. Watch the full video here:.embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%...

Practical ideas and noble ideals drove the bipartisan embrace of higher education during the years preceding 1970. And then, to what extent did Kent State trigger the steady decline of easy access to university educations and the idea that college isn’t, and shouldn’t be, for everyone?  Writer and author Will Bunch of the Philadelphia Enquirer, provides historical context and Kent State President Todd Diacon shares the experience of following values to navigate today’s divided culture, using lessons learned from May 4 1970.   How the Kent State Massacre Raised Your TuitionK...

Kent State Today followed a group of Golden Flashes for the 2023-24 academic year chronicling their efforts and successes during the fall and spring semesters. The group included students, faculty and administrators who are in different places on their Kent State journeys.It was Fall Semester 2023 and sophomore Ivory Kendrick talked about his plans for leadership roles on the Kent Campus. Kendrick said he wanted to be a senator in University Student Government (USG). He was involved in student government in high school and since his freshman year at Kent State University he has held vario...

Kent State University Police Chief and Director of Public Safety Dean Tondiglia wasn’t legally old enough to be a police officer when he was hired by the Kent State Police Department.Tondiglia, just 20 at the time, was attending Kent State studying criminal justice and working part-time as the dog catcher for the Kent City Police Department when he heard that Kent State was hiring new officers. He applied and began training at the university’s Police Academy, even though he wasn’t legally an adult.  “I turned 21 while I was in the academy,” he said.It was July 1981.  On Friday, May 3...

When he was 15, VCD junior Thomas Gruber signed up for Hudson High School's photography class because he thought it sounded fun. Little did he know at the time that this was one door opening that would change his whole life."There was one class project where I thought, 'Oh, I could be kind of good at this,' and it just went from there," Thomas recalled. "The teacher, Tim Naujoks, was a really big part of my life, inspiring me to take a serious look at photography."Halfway through his sophomore year, though, Thomas' family moved to Columbus, but the seed had been planted. "I saved up my money a...