Kent State 40 Years Later

May 4, 2010 • 1:53 pm • POSTED BY kdorsey

I was a freshman design student at Kent State when Bush announced plans to have American troops invade Iraq in 2003. Many protests materialized around campus; bull horns, blocked off streets, peace bandannas we hand screened in the studio— yup, this was our chance to experience the power of  counterculture and revolution. Or so we thought. None of the demonstrations were anything spectacular, maybe more students participated than in your average protest or rally for a fill-in-the-blank cause, but I guess people start to really care when drafts are involved. I hate cynicism, and I know that college protests are something of a cliche, but I really thought that something would change not because of us, but at least from the outrage all over the world. Again, I was a naive midwestern 18 year old from Ohio’s farm country, so cut me some slack.

In case you’re not aware, on May 4th, 1970, four students were killed and nine others injured by Ohio National Guardsmen who were sent to break-up the Vietnam protests that a day earlier resulted in the arson of the ROTC building. I really cannot imagine what that day must have been like, but remember my first May 4th, and it definitely seemed eerily similar to the events so many years ago. I was in Kinko’s all day from early in the morning to the afternoon trying to get my work finished that was due the next day. (In Kent’s design program, you do everything by hand with photocopiers until you somehow keep your sanity and are rewarded with the ability to finally use a computer your junior year). I was focused on leading, kerning, erasing and memorizing all the moves to make the photocopier create the perfect comp for hours. So when I stepped out from the dismal grey interior and gentle sounds of Muzak to get some lunch, you can imagine how startled I was when I opened the door to see the scenes of a riot right outside. There were police in full riot gear everywhere on the front of campus, mounted police on horses, and empty buses ready to be loaded with protesters blocking several intersections and two black helicopters circling campus. I could see smoke and hear sirens and many voices chanting in unison. Protests had gotten out of control and several people were arrested, but thankfully nothing more serious than that. I spent the rest of the day in studio getting things ready to turn in the next morning. At the time, I felt like I had missed out on something big. And although I also missed the boat by several decades for a real counterculture revolution, I’m truly thankful my time at Kent wasn’t touched with such loss especially since more recent tragedies of another kind like Columbine or Virginia Tech.

There’s a great slide show of images from May 4th on NPR’s site here, I grabbed a few to share below.
Source: Photos courtesy John Filo and Kent State University
Credit: Produced by M.L. Schultze/WKSU