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MINUTES

30th May 4 Commemoration Committee
Minutes of the Second Meeting
Wednesday, August 4, 1999
1 p.m.
Williamson Alumni Center Conference Room

Attendance
Symposium
Marker Dedication
Subcommittees
Role of Committee
Discussion of Themes
Future Meetings
Proposed Themes

MEMBERS PRESENT: Pam Anderson, Larry Andrews, Steve Bancik, Carole Barbato, Nancy Birk, Dick Bredemeier, David Brenner, Ken Cushner, Dan Flannery, Margaret Garmon, Carole Harwood, Tom Hensley, Elaine Huskins, John Jameson, Sally Kandel, Ron Kirksey, Jerry Lewis, Carol Neff, Julie Metham, Tim Moore, Jackie Parsons, Margaret Payne, Sheryl Smith, Michelle Touve-Gregorino, Shirley Wajda. Special Guests: President Carol Cartwright, Nancy Schiappa

MEMBERS UNABLE TO ATTEND: Gail Beveridge, Kathy Bizek, KenCalkins, Meredith Edgar, Kim Gruenwald, Kim Larson, Roy Lilly, David Odell-Scott, Gayle Ormiston, Danny Wallace

The meeting was called to order at 1:05 p.m. by co-chair John Jameson. John called for additions or corrections to the minutes of the July 13, 1999, meeting. The minutes were amended to reflect the correct spelling of Shirley Wajda’s name and that Nancy Birk had been unable to attend the July 13 meeting. The amount of money available for commemoration activities was also clarified: $50,000 of institutional funding is available. We hope to secure an additional $50,000 in private support for commemorative activities. Shirley Wajda moved the minutes be approved as amended; the motion was seconded by Nancy Birk and carried.

SYMPOSIUM

Tom Hensley reported that he had proposed an academic symposium, “Freedom and Order in a Democratic Society: The Boundaries of Free Expression.” He had met with co-chairs Bredemeier and Jameson, and subsequently President Cartwright, to flesh out this idea. Tom would like to focus the symposium on the limits of freedom of expression – and the applications for the arts, the Internet, the press, commercial speech, public education, etc., and to involve many units and disciplines. Tom stressed the need to move quickly so that the key people can be recruited. He would like to recruit a nationally known scholar, such as Kathleen Sullivan, a Harvard law professor who was recently named dean of the Stanford Law School, to serve as a consultant and key speaker. Among the possibilities of others we may try to recruit: a U.S. Supreme Court Justice or an Ohio Supreme Court Justice; Nadine Strassen, an NYU law professor and president of the American Civil Liberties Union; and Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, a constitutional law scholar/author. Tom felt that these people could bring the kind of national attention that would attract strong presenters.

After the consultant/speaker has been recruited, a call for papers will be made. Papers will be reviewed and six to 10 people will be invited to present. Other scholars would be asked to critique and respond to the papers. Tom hopes that the proceedings from the symposium can be published in a book, and that the 30th May 4 Commemoration symposium can be the beginning of a new institutional tradition of publishing, conferences and other forms of scholarship associated with May 4 commemorations.

Tom mentioned that these ideas were tentative, but emphasized the need to move forward quickly so that the program could be pulled together by May. He encouraged input and participation from the committee and the faculty.

Shirley Wajda suggested that Lawrence Tribe, a Harvard law professor who frequently argues before the U.S. Supreme Court, be added to the list of speakers being considered. She also suggested “The Boundaries of Free Expression in a Democratic Society” as a title for the symposium. Tom thanked her for her suggestions.

SEPT. 8 MARKER DEDICATION

Margaret Payne shared that invitations to the Sept. 8 marker dedication had been sent to the families of the deceased students, the wounded students and those who had contributed to the May 4 Memorial. Michelle Touve-Gregorino offered the assistance of the May 4 Task Force in helping to locate two of the wounded students. An invitation will be sent to the university community after Labor Day.

Eight members of the May 4 Task Force and committee members Carole Barbato, Tom Hensley and Jerry Lewis will be participating in the dedication. The ceremony is expected to last 45 minutes. The dedication ceremony will be in the Prentice Hall parking lot. In the event of inclement weather, provisions will be made at the site.

SUBCOMMITTEES

A list of subcommittees, that included descriptions of the roles and responsibilities and chairs/co-chairs of each, was distributed. Because of the size of the group, much of the committee’s work will be done in subcommittees. An Executive Committee, composed of the co-chairs and all subcommittee chairs, will meet in between meetings of the full committee. Reporting and updating the full committee on the progress being made by the subcommittees will be an important part of the subcommittee chairs’ role.

Dick Bredemeier invited each of the subcommittee chairs to share their plans/ideas with the committee. Margaret Garmon and Carol Neff talked about some of their plans to involve the mayor, city manager, director of the Kent Area Chamber of Commerce, the Kent Free Library, the Kent City Schools, local veterans groups, social and service organizations, etc. Carole Barbato indicated that she thought the family relations subcommittee would be a relatively small group – but she hoped it would include members from the May 4 Task Force and others who had an interest in working with those whose lives were most directly impacted.

Dick Bredemeier encouraged all subcommittee chairs to recruit others from the university and the community with a particular expertise to join their subcommittees. Sign-up sheets for each committee were circulated. A list of subcommittees and members is included as Attachment A.

Michelle Touve-Gregorino asked if classes were canceled on May 4. Co-chair Jameson congratulated Michelle on her recent marriage. Margaret Payne replied that classes are recessed between 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. on May 4 as part of an official remembrance. Michelle said she felt it would be appropriate to cancel classes all day on May 4 out of respect for the deceased students.

ROLE OF THE COMMITTEE

President Cartwright joined the group at this time. She began her remarks by saying she was delighted to have the opportunity to speak to the 30th May 4 Commemoration Committee. She remarked that the array of talent in the room – focused on a common goal – was impressive. She expressed her appreciation to the group for their important work on behalf of the university.

She said that the key responsibility for the committee focused on the word "coordinating." The committee was an umbrella group charged primarily with taking the various pieces of the commemoration and making sure that they fit together within the context of a central theme and overall approach.

She encouraged the committee to commemorate events of May 4, 1970, in a way that was respectful but also forward looking. In the year 2000 we have a once in a lifetime opportunity to promote the larger values and ideas that were playing out in the late 1960s and early 1970s and to contribute to a national, or perhaps even international, discussion on the values of a democratic society. While it is important to respect and to be sensitive to the past, Dr. Cartwright urged us to push ourselves to respond to the events of May 4, 1970, in a way that we had not done previously.

Dr. Cartwright shared that she is seeking a major gift from a foundation and will ask the foundation to partner with us to determine how we can advance a discussion about the responsibilities, risks and opportunities of living in a democratic society on an ongoing basis. There are several ways in which this initiative may be implemented, and this will, in part, depend on the specific philanthropic mission of the foundation with which we partner. Dr. Cartwright mentioned several possibilities: (1) establishing an endowed chair to lead ongoing intellectual discussions, (2) bringing visiting professors to campus, perhaps including such international figures as Nelson Mandella, Desmond Tutu or the Dalai Lama, to continue to frame an intellectual discussion on democratic values or (3) establishing youth outreach programs to engage young people in conversations about democratic values.

President Cartwright indicated that it would be wonderful to announce a major new program in democratic values as part of our commemorative activities; however, the process of securing a foundation gift may not be complete by that time. She has had some initial conversation with foundations, and their responses have been positive. She has an appointment to speak with a foundation about this concept in greater detail later this month. Dr. Cartwright promised to keep the committee posted on the status of private funding for this initiative.

President Cartwright encouraged the committee to develop an overall theme that would correlate with the democratic values initiative. She mentioned that the idea to focus on the larger issues of democratic values came from extensive research and thoughtful discussion – from the Centennial Commission, the Cultural Self-study and strategic planning activities. There has been, at least in some people’s minds, an ambivalence toward the events of May 4, 1970. At the beginning of a new century, we, as a learning community, have an opportunity to embrace May 4 and what we have learned from it in a new way, and to make it a part of the total fabric of the university. President Cartwright commented that the academic symposium proposed by Tom Hensley fits into the larger vision of democratic values in a very nice way. She concluded her remarks by again expressing her thanks to the committee and by encouraging them to relay any questions or suggestions to her.

DISCUSSION OF PROPOSED THEMES

Dick Bredemeier began the discussion of proposed themes by indicating that, for practical reasons, we needed to come up with a theme to have as a guide for developing programming. He encouraged the group to think about themes that were forwardlooking and would help us to apply what we have learned from the events of May 4, 1970, to how we live and respond in our daily lives. A discussion of potential themes followed. (Please refer to the Attachment B for a complete list of proposed themes.) “Experiencing Democracy: Inquire, Learn, Reflect” was put to the group for a vote. This theme was adopted with one opposing vote.

FUTURE MEETINGS

A schedule of future meetings was distributed. Dick Bredemeier announced that there would be an additional executive committee meeting on Friday, Aug. 20, at 12:30 p.m. at the Williamson Alumni Center. The next full committee meeting will be on Monday, Sept. 13, at 3:30 p.m. in the Williamson Alumni Center Conference Room.

The meeting adjourned at 2:45 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Carole Harwood, Coordinator of Public Relations
Kent State University
30th May 4 Commemoration Committee


Attachment B

THEMES PROPOSED AT THE AUG. 4 MEETING OF THE 30th MAY 4
COMMEMORATION COMMITTEE

“Inquire, Learn, Reflect: Discourse for a Democratic Society”
“Inquire, Learn, Reflect: Discourse for a Pluralistic Society”
“Inquire, Learn, Reflect: Democratic Values for the New Millennium”
“Inquire, Learn, Reflect: Democratic Values for a Peaceful Millennium”
“Democracy and Peace: Values for a New Millennium”
“Dialogues Toward Civic Values”
“Inquire, Learn, Reflect: Civic Engagement in the New Century”
“Inquire, Learn, Reflect: Movement towards Peace and Civic Values”
“Inquire, Learn, Reflect: Peace and Civic Engagement”
“Inquire, Learn, Reflect: Tolerance and Toleration”
“Freedom, Values and Peace for the New American Century: Inquire, Learn, Reflect”
“Values for Peace and Freedom: Inquire, Learn, Reflect”
“Peace and Civic Engagement: Inquire, Learn, Reflect”
“Freedom and Peace and the Boundaries of Free Expression: Inquire, Learn, Reflect”
“Peace and Civil Discourse in a New Century: Inquire, Learn, Reflect”
“Toward a Culture of Peace: Inquire, Learn, Reflect”
“Values of a Democratic Society: Inquire, Learn, Reflect”
“Experiences of a Democratic Society: Inquire, Learn, Reflect”
“Values of a Civil Society: Inquire, Learn, Reflect”
“Wisdom in the Aftermath: Civil Discourse in the New American Millennium”
“Civic Engagement in the New Millennium: Inquire, Learn, Reflect”
“Experiences of a Democratic Society: Inquire, Learn, Reflect”
“Experiences in a Democratic Society: Inquire, Learn, Reflect”
“Experiencing Democracy and Peaceful Change: Inquire, Learn, Reflect”