May 4

First-year students read May 4 books for the Common Reading Experience.

Kent State’s Common Reading Experience is an opportunity for first-year students to read university-selected books and share a common experience with their peers. The goal is for freshmen to gain an understanding of the university’s values and to build and maintain relationships that foster success with faculty, administration and staff.

Shown is "Make Amerikkka Great Again" (2019), designed by Kent State University Fashion School student Colin Isaacs.

In commemoration of the 50th anniversary of May 4, 1970, when Ohio National Guardsmen opened fire on Kent State University students protesting the U.S. invasion of Cambodia during the Vietnam War, killing four and wounding nine, students and faculty from Kent State’s School of Fashion Design and Merchandising are bringing attention to current social issues in the new exhibition called “Wearing Justice: Perspectives From KSU Fashion School Faculty and Students” that is on display now at the Kent State University Museum.

Thomas Grace and Sara Abou Rashed will speak at Kent State's 2019 Educators Summit.

Student activism and giving voice to students will be the topics of two keynote speakers who are headlining the upcoming 2019 Educators Summit at Kent State University titled “May 4, 1970 Then & Now: Voices for Change."

Photographs of the four students killed on May 4, 1970, sit on the stage in the Kent Student Center Ballroom during the 48th annual May 4 Commemoration.

Kent State University will hold the 49th commemoration of the historic events of May 4, 1970, where protesting students, observers and soldiers gathered on that fateful day when the Ohio National Guard shot and killed four students and wounded nine others on the Kent Campus. 

A singer performs on stage in the Kent Student Center Ballroom during the 49th annual May 4 Commemoration.

Kent State University held the 49th commemoration of the historic events of May 4, 1970. The annual commemoration marks the fateful day when the Ohio National Guard shot and killed four students and wounded nine others on the Kent Campus. 

Photographs of the four students killed on May 4, 1970, sit on the stage in the Kent Student Center Ballroom during the 48th annual May 4 Commemoration.

Kent State University will hold the 49th commemoration of the historic events of May 4, 1970, where protesting students, observers and soldiers gathered on that fateful day when the Ohio National Guard shot and killed four students and wounded nine others on the Kent Campus. 

Personal items of Bill Schroeder, including his Eagle Scout Award and Boy Scout sash showing his merit badges, are on display in a new exhibition at Kent State University’s May 4 Visitors Center called “Bill: An All-American Boy.”

From April 22 to Aug. 1, Kent State University’s May 4 Visitors Center will honor Bill Schroeder’s life with an exhibition titled “Bill: An All-American Boy.” Mr. Schroeder’s sister, Nancy Tuttle, and nephew, David Tuttle, helped create the exhibition by loaning some of his personal items to the May 4 Visitors Center. 

Personal items of Bill Schroeder, including his Eagle Scout Award and Boy Scout sash showing his merit badges, are on display in a new exhibition at Kent State University’s May 4 Visitors Center called “Bill: An All-American Boy.”

From April 22 to Aug. 1, Kent State University’s May 4 Visitors Center will honor Bill Schroeder’s life with an exhibition titled “Bill: An All-American Boy.” Mr. Schroeder’s sister, Nancy Tuttle, and nephew, David Tuttle, helped create the exhibition by loaning some of his personal items to the May 4 Visitors Center. 

Laura Davis, Ph.D., walks students through her memories of May 4, 1970

As part of Kent State University’s May 4 course, senior Julia Pharmer sifted through resources in University Libraries' Special Collections and Archives and engaged in classroom discussions. Perhaps one of the most engaging sessions though was when Professor Emerita Laura Davis, Ph.D., gave students a firsthand account of her May 4 experiences.