Strong winds from an overnight storm brought tree limbs down across 91²Ö¿â's Kent Campus, including several large branches that struck and damaged the May 4 Memorial.
University leaders are currently assessing the damage caused to the granite memorial, which was officially dedicated on May 4, 1990, as part of the 20th commemoration of the day four students were killed and nine wounded by Ohio National Guardsman who opened fire during an anti-war demonstration.
The memorial’s environmental design was developed from a concept submitted by Chicago architect Bruno Ast to the university’s National Design Competition in 1986.
The memorial, which overlooks the Commons on the Kent Campus, is constructed of carnelian granite, a stone associated with strength and time. As conceptualized by Brinsley Tyrrell, Emeritus Professor of Art, 58,175 daffodil bulbs planted on the hillside site symbolize the number of U.S. losses in Vietnam.
A wall, representative of both shelter and conflict, is built along the memorial entry and defines the plaza as a significant gathering area. The plaza ends in a jagged, abstract border symbolic of disruptions and the conflict of ideas. The words "Inquire, Learn, Reflect" engraved in the plaza’s stone threshold affirm the intent to provide visitors an opportunity to inquire into the many reasons and purposes of the events, to encourage a learning process, and to reflect on how differences may be resolved peacefully.
A progression of four polished black granite disks embedded in the earth leads from the plaza to four free-standing pylons aligned on the hill. The disks reflect our own image as we stand on them. The pylons stand as mute sentinels to the force of violence and the memory of the four slain students. A fifth disk placed to the south acknowledges the many victims of the event and its wide impact. A plaque with the names of the four students killed on May 4, 1970, was added on the ground close to the memorial.