49 years ago Saturday, on May 4, 1970, four Kent State students were killed after and nine others wounded after the National Guard opened fire on students protesting the U.S. bombings in Cambodia.
Nearly five decades later, the wounds remain fresh on the KSU campus, and each year students, staff, and others gather at the spot where it happened to remember those lost and reflect on the lessons that can be learned. This year's commemoration took place at noon, with outgoing university President Beverly J. Warren speaking for the last time.
Later this evening, legendary Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward will address a special gathering inside the Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center (MAC Center). Woodward, well known as part of the team that broke the news of the Watergate scandal, will discuss 1969 events of the Vietnam War that led up to the Cambodia campaign and the Kent State incident, as well as then-President Richard Nixon's comments that “the few days after Kent State were among the darkest of my presidency.”
The event featuring Woodward is free and open to the public as part of KSU's Presidential Speaker Series. However, tickets must still be requested on the KSU website. The event begins at 7 p.m.
