05/05/2026
Today, we pause to remember.
On May 4, 1970, 13 students were shot by members of the Ohio National Guard during a campus demonstration against the Vietnam War. Four lives were lost. Nine more were wounded.
As historian Brian VanDeMark writes in Kent State: An American Tragedy, understanding this day means holding all of its complexity — the fear, the dissent, the irreversible consequences of a nation divided. For those of us who serve veterans and non-traditional students, that history is not abstract. It lives in the people we walk alongside every day.
We remember. We honor all who were wounded. And we recommit to the work of building a campus where every voice is heard and every life is valued.
🕯️ Never again. Anywhere.
📷 Photo credit: Kent State University News Service