KENT, Ohio — Tuesday marks the 51st anniversary of the May 4, 1970 shootings at Kent State University. Four students — Allison Krause, Jeffrey Miller, William Schroeder and Sandra Scheuer — were killed and nine students were injured when the Ohio National Guard fired into a crowd on campus during an anti-war protest.

What You Need To Know

  • Four Kent State students were killed and nine students injured in 1970 when the Ohio National Guard fired into a crowd on campus during an anti-war protest

  • This year’s May 4 Commemoration events will be held virtually, including a candlelight vigil, considered a cornerstone of May 4 Commemoration

  • Attendees are encouraged to post a photo of a lit candle on social media using the hashtag #KentStateMay4

  • The commemoration also features a virtual video tribute focusing on the wounded students and nine new markers installed at the location each student was wounded by gunfire on May 4

Protests and demonstrations had been sparked at universities across the nation following President Richard Nixon’s announcement U.S. troops had invaded Cambodia, escalating the Vietnam War.

 

Each year, members of the Kent State community and people around the world pay tribute on May 4 to the students who died and were injured. This year’s May 4 Commemoration events, like last year, will be held virtually because of the pandemic.

This year, Alan Canfora, 71, one of the Kent State students wounded on May 4, will be honored along with the eight other students wounded — John Cleary, Thomas Grace, Dean Kahler, Joseph Lewis, Donald Mackenzie, James Russell, Robert Stamps and Douglas Wrentmore.

Canfora, who has been considered a primary voice for May 4 over the years, died in December 2020. In honor of his life and legacy, the Alan Canfora Activism Scholarship has been created.

“This year will be the most difficult for me personally, and I imagine it will be for Tom Grace and many others, because it will be our first commemoration without Alan,” said Alan Canfora’s sister and Kent State professor Chic Canfora in a release. “More than anyone, my brother made sure we gathered every year to commemorate and educate the world about May 4. He embodied and modeled for us the strength it takes to turn our pain into purpose.”

This year, the virtual May 4 Candlelight Vigil, considered a cornerstone of each annual May 4 Commemoration, will take place through May 4. Before the pandemic, it was hosted the night of May 3. To participate virtually:

This year’s May 4 commemoration will feature a virtual video tribute premiering at noon on Tuesday, May 4. 

The video focuses on the nine wounded students and features nine new markers that have been installed at the spot where each student was wounded by gunfire on May 4. The markers join those installed in 1999 in memory of the four students who were killed. The site is a National Historic Landmark.

The May 4 photos in this gallery are from the May 4 Digital Archive of Kent State University Library’s Special Collections & Archives Division. The extensive May 4 Collection contains thousands of photos, audio clips, documents and artworks documenting the May 4, 1970 shootings.