Back to the May 4 Home Page

Twenty-five years have passed since political activism and student protests dominated campus environments in our country. As with so many other unanticipated forms of protest recorded throughout history, May 4, 1970, resulted in tragedy. This one changed the course of Kent State University and was an influencing factor in the direction chosen by our American leaders at that time. Often, I am asked: "What of Kent State University now? To what point have the past years brought a University which once stood in a spotlight of national attention?" I can answer in all honesty that the Kent State University of 1995 is stronger and more dynamic than ever. And, perhaps because we have lived in the shadow of genuine pain, Kent remains unchanged in its passionate empathy for others. There is something about Kent that attracts individuals who view challenging situations as opportunities to make a difference in the everyday lives and activities of a community. Thus, Kent State University organized an academic symposium, "Legacies of Protest," during the two days prior to the 25th Anniversary Commemoration. The symposium is one sign of the University's strength. By focusing on the legacies of protest since May 4, 1970, the University is taking a critical, sympathetic and inquiring look at its own protest experiences and the ways in which protest continues to form our American culture. There are many illustrations of Kent's focus toward the future. This University, comprising the Kent Campus and seven Regional Campuses, is the third-largest state university in Ohio. Scholars and researchers from nearly every state and more than 60 foreign countries are attracted to Kent's academic institutes and centers. Our Glenn H. Brown Liquid Crystal Institute is headquarters for the Center for Advanced Liquid Crystalline Optical Materials (ALCOM), by far the largest and most comprehensive center in the world devoted to liquid crystal research and development. The Center for Applied Conflict Management, Lyman L. Lemnitzer Center for NATO and European Community Studies, Center for Applied Linguistics, and Center for the Study of World Musics are just a handful of the many nationally respected programs available to our students. In the fall of 1994, Kent State University was awarded Research University II status by the Carnegie Foundation -- one of only 37 institutions in the country to achieve this designation. Our Research II status recognizes Kent's optimum blend of a full range of baccalaureate programs, significant graduate programs and strength in targeted areas of research. Although it is true that Kent State University has never been the same since tragedy overtook our campus and our community on May 4, 1970, we have moved forward. Delivered into our hands was an indescribable anguish -- one which has been shaped by a lengthy healing. Quite simply, there is no place quite like Kent State University. As Dr. William Hildebrand, professor of English at Kent, so eloquently wrote: "This exasperating and wonderful institution which, with its crinkum-crankum history, its occasional wrong-headedness and near-sightedness, its fits of faddism, its sometimes rude, ungrateful, but mostly good-hearted and honest nature, is so very different from the ideal one of my vain imaginings -- and so very, very much better."