Kent State University will be taking control of the school’s annual commemorations of the May 4, 1970 shootings – a move being applauded by the group formed to raise awareness of what happened that day.
The May 4 Task Force was founded in 1975 after the university said it would cease commemorations of the shootings that left four people dead and nine wounded.
Now, Kent State President Beverly Warren says the annual remembrance will be an official university event. “This should be an inclusive commemoration of the entire Kent State community," Warren said at the Board of Trustees meeting Wednesday. "While I just so honor the May 4 Task Force, I think we are going to be better together in terms of lifting up this commemoration.”
Last fall, families of the four people killed on May 4 -- as well as seven of the survivors – sent a letter to the university praising Warren’s work in recognizing the shootings, but also asking for the task force to be merged into official university operations.
