May 4

On the morning of May 4, 1970, Kent State University student Howard Ruffner was hanging out in the office of the Daily Kent Stater in Taylor Hall when the phone rang.

The Midwest editor from Life magazine, based in Chicago, was calling to find out if there were any student photographers who had been taking photos over the weekend. Kent State had been the scene of student protests for several days, and more demonstrations were expected that day.  

Almost 50 years ago, the shootings of Kent State University students by the Ohio National Guard brought to a head the cultural divides that had split the nation. The Kent State University Museum’s exhibition, “Culture/Counterculture: Fashions of the 1960s and ’70s,” opening Sept. 20, explores the sharp contrast between supporters of the establishment and those opposed.

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.

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.

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."

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. 

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. 

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.