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Kent State University

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Kent State University
What happened at Kent State University? This is a question that many Americans were asking following
the crisis on the Kent campus. In the days preceding May 4, 1970, protests, disruption, and violence
erupted on the university grounds. These acts were the students’ reaction to President Nixon’s invasion
of Cambodia. The events surround the deaths of four students in Kent, Ohio are disorderly and violent.
In the government’s investigation after the shootings, the officials made several recommendations to
students of the future. As the massacre is looked back upon, there are several key events that set the
tragic day into motion. On April 30, 1970, when Nixon gave a speech announcing his invasion of
Cambodia, anti-war factions rose up across the United States. In the speech he stated that, “If, when the
chips are down…the world’s most powerful nation, the United States of America, acts like a pitiful,
helpless giant, the forces of totalitarianism and anarchy will threaten free nations and institutions
around the world. I would rather be a one term president and do what I believe is right than to be a two
term president at the cost of seeing America become a second rate power.” Students did not agree with
Nixon and protests cropped up on university campuses in the days that followed his speech. Amongst
these protesters were students of Kent State University, “The Cambodian invasion defined a watershed
in the attitude of Kent students toward American policy in the Indochina War.” At this point, the first
two days of May, the students were protesting Nixon’s actions. While the country was under the
impression that the troops were being withdrawn from Vietnam, an invasion of Cambodia was only an
escalation in conflict. Nixon and Kissinger widened the war geographically as well by attacking neutral
Cambodia, where North Vietnamese troops maintained sanctuaries. This further escalation of the war,
for which he never sought congressional support, began in March 1969 with a highly secret campaign of
bombing raids.” As United States citizens, particularly college students, learned of the actions of the
Executive branch against a neutral country, they became more enraged with the administration. Coming
out of a decade of peace and acceptance, the students viewed this invasion as the last straw.
On May 2, 1970, several unknown students burnt down the ROTC building. This was significant because
ROTC (Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, a program on college campuses that teaches students to
become military officers) was a direct correlation to the military actions they were so vehemently
protesting. The students were attempting to send a message to all that they disagreed with all of the
institutions associated with the military, President Nixon, and the invasion of Cambodia. More than a
thousand protesters gathered around the building and cheered it’s burning. While attempting to
extinguish the fire, several Kent firemen and police officers were hit with rocks and other objects by
those standing near the fire. Several fire engines had to be called in because protesters carried the fire
hose into the common area ground and slashed it. These acts caused Governor James Rhodes to send
the Ohio National Guard troops to the campus to attempt to defuse the situation, “The National
Guardsmen on the Kent State campus were armed with loaded M-1 rifles, high velocity weapons with a
horizontal range of two miles.” In the time following the shootings, many people wondered why the
Guardsmen were carrying such weapons around an unarmed crowd. Several arrests were made that

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evening and the National Guard threw tear gas into the crowd. The next day, a few students attempted
to clean up the mess made downtown, but many of the business owners were wary of them. The
governor imposed a curfew and again that night, the National Guard forced the students into their
dorms.
May 4, 1970 was the day of tragedy on the Kent campus. At about 11:00 A.M. students gathered on the
Commons. A protest rally had been scheduled for noon that day, although, the state officials had printed
about 12,000 flyers saying that the rally was cancelled. Even with the flyers, the size of the crowd grew
to around 1,000 by noon. The National Guard troop immediately attempted to disperse the students.
One matter that the troops did not realize was that at 12:00 P.M. students were moving across the
grounds from one class to another. A reporter from The New York Times was on the campus the day of
the shootings and reported, “The students in the parking lot area, numbering about 500, began to move
toward the rear of the troops, cheering. Again, a few in front picked up stones from the edge of the
parking lot and threw them at the guardsmen. Another group of several hundred students had gathered
around the sides of Taylor Hall watching. As the guardsmen, moving up the hill in single file, reached the
crest, they suddenly turned, forming a skirmish line and opening fire. The crackle of the rifle volley cut
the suddenly still air. It appeared to go on, as a solid volley, for perhaps a full minute or a little longer.
Some of the students dived to the ground, crawling on the grass in terror. Others stood shocked or half
crouched, apparently believing the troops were firing into the air. Some of the rifle barrels were pointed
upward.” Once the firing stopped and the smoke cleared, four students were killed. Two were a part of
the protest, and the other two were on their way to class.
Allison Krause
350 feet away
shot through the arm and chest
Sandy Scheuer
400 feet away
shot through the throat
Jeff Miller
275 feet away
shot through the head

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Kent State University What happened at Kent State University? This is a question that many Americans were asking following the crisis on the Kent campus. In the days preceding May 4, 1970, protests, disruption, and violence erupted on the university grounds. These acts were the students’ reaction to President Nixon’s invasion of Cambodia. The events surround the deaths of four students in Kent, Ohio are disorderly and violent. In the government’s investigation after the shootings, the officials made several recommendations to students of the future. As the massacre is looked back upon, there are several key events that set the tragic day into motion. On April 30, 1970, when Nixon gave a speech announcing his invasion of Cambodia, anti-war factions rose up across the United States. In the speech he stated that, “If, when the chips are down…the world’s most powerful nation, the United States of America, acts like a pitiful, helpless giant, the forces of totalitarianism and anarchy will threaten free nations and institutions around the world. I would rather be a one term president and do what I believe is right than to be a two term president at the cost of seeing America ...
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