KENT, Ohio — Editor's note: Video at the top of this story was originally published in 2020 as Kent State marked 50 years since the shooting.
Kent State University is remembering the deadly shooting that shook the country when the National Guard opened fire on campus on May 4, 1970. It was an unforgettable tragedy that claimed the lives of four people: Allison Krause, Jeffrey Miller, Sandra Scheuer and William Schroeder.
Now, 51 years later, the May 4 shooting is being commemorated with a series of virtual events Tuesday amid ongoing COVID-19 concerns.
The ceremony includes the debut of a video tribute that focuses on the students who were also wounded in the shooting: Alan Canfora, John Cleary, Thomas Grace, Dean Kahler, Joseph Lewis, Donald Mackenzie, James Russell, Robert Stamps and Douglas Wrentmore. The video features nine new markers that have been installed on the May 4 site indicating where each of the wounded students was located when hit by gunfire, organizers said in a press release.
“Today we unveil markers for students wounded on May 4, 1970,” Kent State President Todd Diacon said. “These markers represent the latest addition to the National Historic Landmark site and provide greater insight to the events that happened on May 4, 1970.”
NOTE: Gallery below was originally published in May 2020 to mark 50 years since the shooting.
Photos: 4 dead in Ohio, 50 years since Kent State tragedy
Roseann “Chic” Canfora, Ph.D., who was a witness to the May 4 shootings, expressed the importance of the nine additional site markers.
“Our annual commemorations on May 4 have served as a path to healing for many of us, and milestone markers on the shooting site have enabled us to set in stone and to manage the heartbreak we will carry for a lifetime.”
Canfora’s brother, Alan, was one of those hurt in the shootings. He passed away in December at the age of 71. Tuesday’s events will also honor his legacy.
“Over the past 50 years, Alan Canfora was the primary voice of May 4, never allowing the shootings and the four killed to be forgotten,” organizers said in a press release. “To honor his life and legacy, the Alan Canfora Activism Scholarship has been created.”
The virtual commemoration will also include a special recognition of gratitude to the faculty marshals – Seymour Baron, Stan Christensen, G. Dennis Cooke, Norman Duffy, Glenn Frank, John Hubbell, Harold Kitner, Jerry Lewis, Myron Lunine, Milton Manes, Carl Moore, Raymond Myers, Steven Sharoff and other faculty members – whose heroic efforts prevented more bloodshed on May 4, 1970.
“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,” Chic Canfora said. “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."
Editor's note: Video in the player above was published May 1, 2020.