Kent State University

On May 19, 1910, Ohio Governor Judson Harmon signed the Lowry Bill, which called for two new normal schools, one in northwest Ohio and one in northeast Ohio; they became Bowling Green State Normal School and Kent State Normal School. Ohio State, Ohio University and Miami University were all in the southern half of the state, while most of its population growth and need for teachers was in the north.⁠[1]

That year William S. Kent donated 53 acres to establish the Kent State Normal School, which was named in his honor.⁠[2]

The first president, John E. McGilvrey, established the Kent State University Alumni Association in 1911. In September 1913 the Kent State Normal School began its first full academic year on the Kent Campus, and in 1914 its first class graduated.⁠[3]

McGilvrey wanted the school to become a university, an aim that met resistance, and the board dismissed him in 1926; he was welcomed back as president emeritus in 1934. In 1929 the Ohio General Assembly authorized colleges of liberal arts and sciences at Kent State and Bowling Green, and Kent State Normal College became Kent State College.⁠[1]

In 1933 the alumni association petitioned Ohio legislators to prevent the school from being closed and turned into an in-patient health facility.⁠[3]

On May 17, 1935, Ohio Governor Martin L. Davey signed a bill making Kent State College into Kent State University and adding business administration and graduate programs. President James Orzo Engleman was among those who opposed university status. The faculty had grown from 22 members in 1910 to 103 in 1935.⁠[1]

On Friday, May 1, 1970, about 500 students rallied at the Victory Bell to protest the invasion of Cambodia announced by President Richard NixonRichard NixonRichard Nixon (1913–1994) was an American politician who represented California in the U.S. House and Senate, served as vice president from 1953 to 1961 and was the 37th president of the United States from 1969 to 1974. His administration opened relations with China, signed strategic arms limitation agreements with the Soviet Union and ended U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War; he resigned over the Watergate scandal on August 9, 1974, the only U.S. president to do so.Open the full entry. On the evening of May 2, between 1,000 and 2,000 students rallied near the ROTC building (East Hall); some tried to set it on fire and were dispersed, and when city firefighters returned about an hour later, accompanied by the Ohio National Guard, the building burned down. On May 3 Governor James Rhodes gave a hard-line address.⁠[4]

On May 4, 1970, another rally was held; at its height an estimated 2,000 to 3,000 people, including spectators, gathered to protest the Vietnam War and the Guard’s presence on campus. The Guard dispersed the crowd and then fired: 28 Guardsmen fired for 13 seconds, and a site marker records that 61 to 67 shots were fired.⁠[4][5][6]

The students Allison Krause, Jeffrey Miller, Sandra Scheuer and William Schroeder were killed, and Alan Canfora, John Cleary, Thomas Grace, Dean Kahler, Joseph Lewis, D. Scott MacKenzie, James Russell, Robert Stamps and Douglas Wrentmore were wounded, one of them permanently paralyzed. The four who died were shot in and around the Prentice Hall parking lot.⁠[6][4]

The National Historic Landmark nomination judges that the events broadened opposition to the Vietnam War, led to the largest nationwide student strike in U.S. history and prompted swift changes in military policy on civil disturbances.⁠[4]

In 1971 the Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine (now NEOMED) was established.⁠[2]

In 1984 the May 4 Memorial Committee, established by President Michael Schwartz and the board of trustees, decided that a memorial should be built, and the words “Inquire, Learn, Reflect” were first used. Designed by the Chicago architect Bruno Ast, the memorial broke ground on January 25, 1989, and was dedicated on May 4, 1990. It stands on a hillside next to Taylor Hall overlooking the Commons and is surrounded by 58,175 daffodils representing U.S. service members who died in the Vietnam War.⁠[7]

In 1991 Carol Cartwright became the university’s 10th president and launched the Founders Scholars Program. The Campaign for Kent State, begun in 1997, concluded in 2003 with $122 million; the Centennial Campaign, launched in 2009 with a $200 million goal, concluded in 2010 with $265 million.⁠[2]

On February 23, 2010, the May 4 shootings site was added to the National Register of Historic Places, and on May 4, 2010, the 40th commemoration, the May 4 Walking Tour was dedicated.⁠[5]

On October 20, 2012, the May 4 Visitors Center opened in Room 101 of Taylor Hall, with exhibits covering the decade before May 4, 1970, the events of that day, their aftermath and historical impact; it cost $1.1 million, including a $300,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.⁠[5]

On December 23, 2016, the U.S. Secretary of the Interior designated the 17.24-acre May 4, 1970, Kent State Shootings Site, which comprises the Commons, Blanket Hill and the Southern Terrace, a National Historic Landmark.⁠[4][6]

Todd Diacon became the university’s 13th president on July 1, 2019. He joined Kent State as provost in 2012, after serving as deputy chancellor and professor of history at the University of Massachusetts Amherst; he began his career as a history professor at the University of Tennessee. He earned a bachelor’s degree at Southwestern College in KansasKansasKansas is a state of the United States bordered by Nebraska to the north, Missouri to the east, Oklahoma to the south, and Colorado to the west; its capital is Topeka and its largest city is Wichita. It was admitted to the Union on January 29, 1861, as the 34th state, and its population in the 2020 census (April 1, 2020) was 2,937,880.Open the full entry and master’s and doctoral degrees at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.⁠[8]

In 2021 the university launched the Forever Brighter Campaign with a $350 million goal; it concluded in 2023 having raised more than $380 million.⁠[2]

As of November 2026 the university’s leadership page lists Todd A. Diacon as president. The university has eight campuses serving more than 38,000 undergraduate and graduate students from Ohio, across the nation and from 100 countries, and employs more than 6,600 full- and part-time faculty and staff.⁠[9][8]

Kent State University: Official website: https://www.kent.edu/ (opens in a new window).⁠[9]

X: Public account: https://x.com/kentstate (opens in a new window).⁠[9]

LinkedInLinkedInLinkedIn is a social networking platform for professionals. It was founded in 2002 by Reid Hoffman and others, launched in 2003, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2011; after Microsoft acquired it for approximately $26.2 billion in 2016, it became a wholly owned Microsoft subsidiary. Its revenue comes from membership subscriptions, advertising, and recruitment solutions.Open the full entry: Public profile: https://www.linkedin.com/company/kent-state-university (opens in a new window).⁠[9]

YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is Google’s video-sharing and creator platform, founded in 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim and acquired by Google in 2006. Built around video uploading, viewing, and creator earnings, the platform has developed Shorts, YouTube Music, Premium, YouTube TV, and products for children, and is headquartered in San Bruno, California, United States.Open the full entry: Public channel: https://www.youtube.com/@KentStateTV (opens in a new window).⁠[9]