May 4

Euihuack Kang, associate professor and chair of the Department of English Language and Literature at Chonnam National University in South Korea, takes part in a panel discussion on May 3, 2024.

A professor from Chonnam National University in Gwangju, South Korea, said his recent visit to Kent State University enabled him to experience his research into the May 4, 1970, Kent State shootings in a whole new way.

May 4 Commemoration 2024

This year's May 4 Commemoration remembered the fallen and recognized the spirit of activism that is part of Kent State's history and the university's foundational values. 

President Diacon at May 4 Visitor's Center

Watch as President Diacon visits the May 4 Visitor's Center and reflects on the legacy of May 4.

Dean Kahler, shot and paralyzed on May 4, 1970, rings the Victory Bell at the 54th Commemoration of the shootings.

Against the backdrop of a new generation of student activism, the Kent State community gathered to reflect and remember the student protesters killed and wounded on May 4, 1970.

Chris Post speaks at Jerry M. Lewis Lecture Series

Commemorative landscapes and how they help produce a sense of empathy and place and foster a connection to help us learn from our past was a theme explored Friday, May 3, by Kent State University Professor Chris Post, Ph.D., speaker for the annual Jerry M. Lewis May 4 Lecture Series and Luncheon.

Candlelight Walk and Vigil 2021

Tonight, the annual candlelight walk and vigil continues a 53-year tradition as part of this week's May 4 Commemoration.

New May 4 sign

A refreshed May 4 National Historic Landmark Site Tour will premiere during the 2024 May 4 commemoration this weekend.  The outdoor tour signs, which debuted in 2010 during the 40th commemoration, allow Kent State visitors to trace the steps of history of the events of May 4, 1970, through text, video, image, and narration.

You Belong Here Rock

Writer and author Will Bunch of the Philadelphia Enquirer, provides historical context and Kent State President Todd Diacon shares the experience of following values to navigate today’s divided culture, using lessons learned from May 4 1970. 

May 4 Commemoration graphic

Kent State University will hold its 54th annual commemoration honoring the memory of May 4, 1970, a tragic day when the Ohio National Guard fired on Kent State students during an anti-war protest on campus, killing four students, wounding nine others and sparking a turning point in American history.

Pacifique Niyonzima, far right, program manager of Kent State's Office of Education Abroad in Africa, based in Kigali, Rwanda, greets students taking part in the Kigali Summer Institute, upon their arrival in Rwanda on July 2, 2023..

The School of Peace and Conflict Studies originated at Kent State as a response to May 4. Today it’s central in Kent State’s global presence. We travel to Rwanda, where Kent State convened a global peace education conference and, through the Kigali Summer Institute, immerses students in peace-building centered on reconciliation, in a place that experienced the unimaginable 1994 genocide.