The May 4th Task Force was formed in October of 1975 when a group
of concerned students came together after the university said it had
been
"long enough" When Kent State University
said that it would no longer hold the candlelight march and
commemorative
event that marked the deaths of four students and the wounding of nine
others on May 4, 1970.
Three charter members of the group, Alan Canfora, Robbie Stamps, and
Dean Kahler,
were three of the wounded students.
Since 1975, the May 4th Task Force has dedicated itself to
sponsoring
the annual candlelight march and commemorative event which is held each
year. We also continue to educate others about the events of May 4th
and
about non-violent crowd control methods at demonstrations.
Our slogan is:
"long live the spirit of Kent and Jackson State."
In addition there is also the kent May 4th Center which is dedicated
to educating others about the events of May 4, 1970. Its executive
director
is Alan Canfora one of the nine wounded students. The kent May 4th
center
is also dedicated to raising the funding needed to build an appropriate
memorial to those killed and wounded here in 1970. Their slogan is:
Truth, Justice, Freedom--Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow.
(see links at the bottom of this page)
The May 4th Task Force -- M4TF -- has also dedicated a scholarship
in
the names of those killed at Kent State. For further information about
the scholarship write to us at:
May 4th Task Force
Kent State Student Center
Box 49
Kent, OH 44242
(330-672-3096)
or use the link at the end of this page to print out an application.
Since the killings of Jeff Miller, Allison Krause, Bill Schroeder and Sandy Scheuer, both those within the government and the university have yet to tell all that they know about the events that led to the murder of four students on May 4,1970
In 1978 the world famous artist, George Segal, offered the
University
a lifelike bronze sculpture of Abraham about to slay his son Isaac.The
university refused it, saying it was
"too controversial" It's now at Princeton
where it is on display.
In 1985,after a half-baked effort by the University to raise funding
to build a memorial to those killed and wounded,
K.S.U. approved the building of a scaled- back version of the original
design,
only seven percent of the original design was approved and constructed.
Because the University said it was unable to raise enough money
to build what had been originally planned! This seven- percent version
was dedicated in 1990.
This alone took twenty years!
On the night of May 3rd, 1998, during the candlelight vigil and
commemorative
event, in the Prentice Hall parking lot where the four students died.
K.S.U. President Carol Cartwright refused to accept letters written
by the families of those killed. The letters were presented to her by
May
4th Task Force president Wendy Semon. In the letters the families
requested
the closing of the parking spaces where their children died.
On May 4, 1998, many of those in attendance at the commemoration
decided
it was time yet again to prevent Kent State, from one more attempt to
sweep
the events of May 4th under the rug.
A peaceful group of about one thousand marched to the office of
President
Carol Cartwright
in the Kent State library. Only to be met by the campus police who
had locked people out of the building!
After yet more B.S. from the Office of the President, Dr. Cartwright
said that she
would meet with a select few from the group. After further delay the
president did meet with those chosen. She said that she would contact
the
families of those killed and get back to us
by July 1, 1998,
On June 30, 1998, the University made one more public relations coup by announcing they would close the parking spaces in the Prentice Hall parking lot where Allison Krause, Jeff Miller, Sandy Scheuer, and Bill Schroeder had died.
In 1980,The thirteen families of the of the students killed and wounded at Kent State unanimously adopted a resolution supporting the May 4th Task Force in which they declared:
"We express our continued support of the May Fourth Task Force and
their
observance of appropriate May 4th ceremonies planned by the Students
and
open to the public. Just as the task force and Kent State students have
supported us through the years, we the Kent State families will
continue
to support those of you, in your efforts to declare May 4th
"National Students Day"
in order to properly recognize the significance of the sacrifices and
contributions of American students."
" The thirteen families of the Kent State victims have come to
regard
each other as members of one single family and we recognize the
importance
of the support we have gained from the thousands at Kent State and
across
the country who have shared with us the struggles these past ten years.
It will be a proud moment for all of us when May 4th is declared
"National Students Day."
"Such recognition of that historic day at will be a living memorial
to the memories of those students who sacrificed their lives at Kent
State
and on other American campuses. For those of us who have joined
together
these past ten years in an effort to bring Justice for our fallen
martyrs,
we will share another victory in knowing that together we have loudly
raised
our voices... and we have been heard."
For those of you unable to access the attached image file, it shows the
Ohio National Guardsman walking up "blanket hill" looking toward the
Prentice
Hall parking lot minutes before they would open fire killing four
students
and wounding nine others.
The name of this page "Kenfour" is the name that fascist FBI Director
J. Edgar Hoover told his agents to use when writing reports about the
events at kent State.
Click here for an award-winning documentary radio audio story, by wksu's
own Mark Urycki
Click here to view photographs about May 1-4, 1970
Click here to go to Mike and Kendra's May 4,1970 home page
Click here to go to the May 4 exhibit in the Kent State archive
Click here for 1970 May 4 victim Alan Canfora and the Kent May 4th Center
homepage
Click here for a link to Alan Canfora's new webpage
Click here to view a chronology of events written by the May 4th Task Force
Click here for a map of the Prentice hall parking lot,
and the distances the victimems were at when the shootings happened
Click here for the May 4 Commemorative Scholarship application
For a link to eye witness accounts in the kent state archive Click Here
Click here for directions from northeast Ohio
Click here for directions from other area's, by freetrip
The May 4th Task Force would like to thank all of our members both past and present for their time and dedication in helping keep the right to free speech alive. We also would like to thank the thirteen families of the Kent State victims for their support. Also, we wish to thank all of you who have written of the events that happened here and who have spoken here in the past.
For those of you in the Northeast Ohio area who would like to join
us,
our open meetings are held each Thursday night at 7:00 P.M. during the
school year (starting the second week of the term) at the Kent State
Library in the May 4th resource room on the first floor.
If you would like to participate in the Candlelight March and Vigil we hold each year. Join us behind Taylor Hall at 10:00 P.M. on the night of May 3rd on the KSU Commons. We gather at the victory bell. From there, we march in silence around the campus and make our way back to the Prentice Hall parking lot. There we stand by candlelight in a silent vigil at the parking spaces where our fellow students died. At 12:24 P.M. the next day, we end our vigil with the ringing of the campus victory bell, the same bell that was ringing when guardsman opened fire. The bell is rung fifteen times -- thirteen for those killed and wounded here at Kent, and two times for those also killed at Jackson State University in May of 1970.
Copyright: 1995 the contents of this page may not be used in any
form
without written consent.
This page is not the offical May 4th task force home page. It is for
educatal use only.
Last updated 02-07-2006