May 4, 1970
May we never forget.
In my Substack bio, I mention that I am a proud Kent State University alum. Kent will always be part of who I am. I had the whole college experience at KSU - dorm life, getting drunk on the weekend, and lifelong friends. Just as important (if not more so) was the learning experience I had there. I was a Math major, so obviously, I took a lot of Math classes. But the liberal arts classes I took - English, Music, Philosophy, History, and most of all Political Science - gave me an appreciation of knowledge for the sake of knowledge. To this day, I use my Liberal Arts background in my role as a College Math Professor.
My attention was drawn to an upcoming book - Kent State: An American Tragedy, by historian Brian VanDeMark. (links to Amazon give me no commission). My thoughts immediately turned to Kent and what I learned about May 4 during my time there.
The Fall quarter of my freshman English class was spent studying May 4. The prof's name was Louis Paskoff. Our main reference material was a book he co-authored called The Kent Affair: Documents and Interpretations. We spent the quarter reading, learning, and writing about May 4 in that class, much of which is covered in VanDeMark’s new book. There’s not enough space here to go through the many fine points of the events of that tragic weekend that I learned in that class. Specifically, I learned that every Kent State student carries the weight of those events and the memory of the four students who were killed - Allison Krause, Jeffrey Glenn Miller, Sandra Lee Scheuer, and William Knox Schroeder.
A couple of summers ago, I returned to campus for an advisory board meeting. I spent some time walking the parking lot where most of the victims fell when I encountered a woman who had been there that day. Her account was chilling. One of the victims lived on the same dorm hallway as she did. She remembers bullets whizzing by her head. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I wasn’t there that day, but her account made me feel like I had been transported back in time.
These days, when I tell people I went to Kent State, they have little or no knowledge of the tragedy that unfolded there. Some do, though. Kent and May 4 will always hold a special place in my heart.
We must never forget.
Thanks. A good remembrance. As a fellow Ohioan, I couldn’t help but return to your piece when I saw our Governor send Guard troops out to D.C. at the behest of his boss, Don the Mafia Donnie. DeWine should have remembered his Ohio history. But Rs these days don’t GAF about history, unless they wash it and bleach it of anything that detracts from their fascistic fascinations.
Someone is bound to get killed somewhere with all those guns mixing with all those people. It’s the absolute wrong thing to do, and 55 years later, an Ohio Governor still hasn’t learned or just doesn’t care.
I was a senior in high school in Riverside, CA in May 1970. I remember the student body gathered on our quad to listen to guest speakers, a totally student-led happening. The Admin played it "smart", and "allowed" students to leave class, sit on the lawn, gather in solidarity, and listen to speakers. The feeling in the air in those days will never be forgotten in MY life.