On April 26, 1941, in an early version of a “front page takeover,” the headline of the Kent Stater read “Dr. John E. McGilvrey Held By Two Thugs In Barn On University Campus.”
An accompanying story, offering McGilvrey’s biography is headlined “One of Oldest Educators, Dr. McGilvrey, Loved Kent."
The stories were created by high school students visiting campus for the fourth annual Ohio Scholastic Press Clinic. The one-day program welcomed the largest number of high school journalists – nearly 1,000 – ever assembled at a state clinic. The clinic was held during the three-day Ohio College Newspaper Association Convention.
As part of the university's commitment to maintaining partnerships with industry professionals, Kent State and its College of Communication and Information regularly host conferences and conventions for journalists. Very recently, April 19-20, 2024, the university welcomed the Ohio Scholastic Media Association State Convention. Ohio Scholastic Media Association is the current name of 1941's Ohio Scholastic Press.
The 1941 Convention
The high school student’s program on campus included a keynote address by Jack Raper from The Cleveland Press, who at age 77, was billed as the “oldest columnist in the country.”
There were also contests for photography, feature writing and best news story, along with a “Sunset dance” and a closing banquet at the Twin Lakes Country Club.
The Story of the Kidnapping
The “dramatized story” exercise began the students’ day on campus and was led by Betty Crampton, editor of the Kent Stater, and John Mine a Kent Stater reporter.
In the fabricated story that ran in the Kent Stater, the high school students reported:
Dr. John E. McGilvrey Held By Two Thugs In Barn On University Campus
Bulletin
Stable Boy Escapes Kidnappers; Brillinger Believed In Gang
A last ditch fight is being staged in a barn on the Kent State Campus by two men reported to be holding Dr. John E. McGilvrey. McGilvrey was kidnapped early this morning. It has been definitely proven that one of the gangsters trapped in the barn is John Brillinger, subject of a nation-wide hunt.
***
Dr. John E. McGilvrey, president emeritus of Kent State University, who was kidnapped from his home at 5 this morning, is being held by two gangsters in a barn at the rear of the KSU campus, a 13 year-old stable boy reported to police. John Lewis, the stable boy, escaped from the barn after being tied up by the thugs who it was Dr. McGilvrey who has Lewis phoned police early this morning that he was "certain it was Dr. McGilvrey who has been captured." Dr. McGilvrey was forced into his clothes by four men at his home, 518 E. Summit St., according to a story told by hysterical Mrs. McGilvrey. Mrs. McGilvrey who has been ill for quite some time, was bound and gagged when the thugs left with Dr. McGilvrey.
Neighbor Reports Kidnapping
First news of the kidnapping was phoned by a neighbor who was taking breakfast to Mrs. McGilvrey. Police began scouring the countryside when it was learned that Dr. McGilvrey had been abducted, but were sumoned back to the station when a call came through from Lewis that Dr. McGilvrey was in the barn.
Notorious Gangster
One of the men in the barn is believed to be John Brillinger, who is being sought in connection with the killing of two gangsters in Columbus. Brillinger was believed to be in either Ohio or Michigan. The stable boy's description of the men holding Dr. McGilvrey, pictured them as gruff and unkempt. One of the men, Lewis said, was short and stout, had a full face and thick black hair that he wore straight back. He had a couple day's growth of beard. The other was slightly taller and had brown wavy hair.
Attempt to Steal Car
Lewis also reported to police that the gangsters had smashed a car near the barn and that he had heard them say that two other members of the gang had gone into town in an attempt to steal another one. Money was believed to be the gangster's only motive for kidnapping Dr. McGilvrey, police said.
A Dedicated Prank
The first clue that this story was not genuine, to people at the time, was the name of the leader of the gang of kidnappers, “John Brillinger.” It’s strikingly similar to “John Dillinger,” an infamous gangster and bank robber of the 1930s.
Otherwise, there’s no clue in the two lead stories about the kidnapping that the news is fictional. Even the story that shares the front page, about the journalism clinic that created the “dramatized news event” offers no clue that the kidnapping story is a product of that exercise.
Even the next issue of the Kent Stater, published on April 29, made no mention of the kidnap story, other than that the on-campus clinic had concluded, reporting “Journalism Stampede Ends; KSU Back To Normal Again.”
It seems that the only revelation of the story’s true origin appearing in print was published in The Evening Record edition of The Daily Courier-Tribune in Ravenna on Monday, April 28. Under the headline "Ravenna Journalists Check Kidnap Notes," and a photo of Ravenna high school students who participated in the exercise was this copy:
Nearly 1,000 northestern Ohio high school journalists matched their talents Saturday morning to report the "kidnapping of Dr. John McGilvrey, President Emeritus of Kent State University.
Staged as part of the Northeastern Ohio Scholastic Press Clinic program, the fake kidnapping was a dramatized news event on which contestants from various schools were to report with competition and prizes for the best stories on the farce.
Four comely Ravenna high school students are shown above comparing notes on the kidnapping, preparatory to writing their stories.
