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Campus "Unrest" demonstrations and consequences, 1970-1971

1971-05-01 Business Week Article: Four Days in May: background to tragedy Page 1

May, 1970

BOOKS 
Bus. Week 
May 1, 1971 pp. 12, 14

Four days in May:
background to tragedy

There could be no more timely appearance for this superbly documented book on the tragedy at Kent State University than now, when the nation is approaching the anniversary of last spring's upheavals that ended in the death of four students and the wounding of nine others on a northeastern

Moment of anguish: May 4, 1970 12:27 p,m.

Ohio campus. Kent State by James Michener, the author of Hawaii and The Bridges of Toko-Ri, provides what is practically a minute by minute account of the four tragic days from Friday, May 1, 1970, until the still baffling firing by National Guard troops at high noon on Monday, May 4. 
The book, however, is much more than an account of the Kent State riots, with all the confusion, disastrous mistakes by authorities, deliberate destruction by students, and unintentional participation by onlookers. It deals with the basic estrangement of the young and older generation and the savage reaction of much of the public to what was happening on the campuses of the nation. 
Some 760 universities and colleges either closed down completely or came close to it following the shootings at Kent. The malaise was national, Michener writes: "I was thrust into the heart of great problems that will confront this nation for the next decade: What ought a university to be? What are the rights of students and what are their obligations? Is the clash in life style a passing matter which will be forgotten.... or is it a permanent modification of our national life? How strong are the semi underground forces that are determined to destroy our universities and the society that supports them? These are dreadful questions to occupy oneself with, but they are questions we had better face up to quickly and with all the intelligence we have."
It is important to point out that both the large, cooperative majority of students and the highly visible minority of agitators often hold the same feeling about what they consider to be the failures of society. They share equally strong feelings about the destruction of our national resources, the evident value placed by their elders on material things, the pretense and hypocrisy, the mindless waste of lives in Vietnam, and the failure of the American political system to give them a real choice at the polls. You will not find much divergence among the students on these issues. Nonetheless the great majority of college students are willing to remain at their studies while attempting to work out these problems through peaceful means. 
But what of the others? Michener observes that as few as eight people could probably close down a university. His study sheds light on the different kinds of group that, in one way or another, were a force not only at Kent but at most American universities. 
There was, of course, the Students for a Democratic Society. Before the riots in May, Kent had forced the SDS off campus by a restrained use of court injunctions and arrests, by winning back the support of black students, in good measure through making concessions to them and by affording considerable freedom of speech on the campus. Jerry Rubin and Bernadine Dohrn, both militant national student leaders, had spoken before Kent students. 
one of Michener's most effective segments in his description of the so called "regional travelers" students and non students who go from campus to campus, from one rundown student house to another, from stable groups to impromptu households of confusion, but who always carry information on strategies for confrontation, formulas for homemade weaponry, and plans for new targets. Mark Rudd of Columbia University fame, was a student traveler to Kent before he went underground. 
There were other groups: Hippes, Yippies, and some who were just Bohemian in their life styles. Some were followers of Castro, many of Mao and some were organized revolutionaries. Michener's analysis of these groups helps to clarify the forces behind much of what happened at Kent during the four days in May. 
Another part of the book examines the abrasive effect of the student generation's life style on their elders. While many older citizens are most vocal about the dress and the hair styles of the young, it is their sexual activities and their language that are most infuriating, says Michener. The depth of the rage against the young can be startling. 
Michener believes that nothing angered the Guard more than the vocabu

Kent State 
by James Michener 
Random House, 559 pages, $0

lary of many girl students.Their language was cruder than any the troops had heard from the Army or even the roughest street people. They made obscene insults about the wives of the National Guard and conjectured how they might be spending their time, according to various accounts by men in the Guard. 
Many questions about what happened at Kent State are left unanswered. Perhaps there are no answers. Perhaps the most important conclusion Michener reaches is in these words: "No student performed any act on May 4 for which he deserved to be shot."
Michener seems to hint at the "outside agitators" theory, citing many who had come to Kent, but he is never able to link them with cutting the firehose and setting the fire that literally and metaphorically engulfed the nation. Of course, neither could the police, so far as is known. Nor the FBI, whose report Michener can cite only in parts because it was not made public, nor could the Campus Commission on Student Unrest headed by former Governor Scranton. It is bad enough for the reader to be left without any clear answer. It is tragic for administrators facing another spring. 
Robert White, the president of Kent, whom Michener calls a scholarly administrator and a stubborn champion of academic freedom, was absent during the first two days of the rioting attending a most important educational meeting in Iowa. Michener carefully explains - and he got the first word of real trouble from his maid at home and not from his staff. 
Even had he been on campus. White might not have been able to do much. Several professors showed great cour

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May, 1970 BOOKS Bus. Week May 1, 1971 pp. 12, 14 Four days in May: background to tragedy There could be no more timely appearance for this superbly documented book on the tragedy at Kent State University than now, when the nation is approaching the anniversary of last spring's upheavals that ended in the death of four students and the wounding of nine others on a northeastern Moment of anguish: May 4, 1970 12:27 p,m. Ohio campus. Kent State by James Michener, the author of Hawaii and The Bridges of Toko-Ri, provides what is practically a minute by minute account of the four tragic days from Friday, May 1, 1970, until the still baffling firing by National Guard troops at high noon on Monday, May 4. The book, however, is much more than an account of the Kent State riots, with all the confusion, disastrous mistakes by authorities, deliberate destruction by students, and unintentional participation by onlookers. It deals with the basic estrangement of the young and older generation and the savage reaction of much of the public to what was happening on the campuses of the nation. Some 760 universities and colleges either closed down completely or came close to it following the shootings at Kent. The malaise was national, Michener writes: "I was thrust into the heart of great problems that will confront this nation for the next decade: What ought a university to be? What are the rights of students and what are their obligations? Is the clash in life style a passing matter which will be forgotten.... or is it a permanent modification of our national life? How strong are the semi underground forces that are determined to destroy our universities and the society that supports them? These are dreadful questions to occupy oneself with, but they are questions we had better face up to quickly and with all the intelligence we have." It is important to point out that both the large, cooperative majority of students and the highly visible minority of agitators often hold the same feeling about what they consider to be the failures of society. They share equally strong feelings about the destruction of our national resources, the evident value placed by their elders on material things, the pretense and hypocrisy, the mindless waste of lives in Vietnam, and the failure of the American political system to give them a real choice at the polls. You will not find much divergence among the students on these issues. Nonetheless the great majority of college students are willing to remain at their studies while attempting to work out these problems through peaceful means. But what of the others? Michener observes that as few as eight people could probably close down a university. His study sheds light on the different kinds of group that, in one way or another, were a force not only at Kent but at most American universities. There was, of course, the Students for a Democratic Society. Before the riots in May, Kent had forced the SDS off campus by a restrained use of court injunctions and arrests, by winning back the support of black students, in good measure through making concessions to them and by affording considerable freedom of speech on the campus. Jerry Rubin and Bernadine Dohrn, both militant national student leaders, had spoken before Kent students. one of Michener's most effective segments in his description of the so called "regional travelers" students and non students who go from campus to campus, from one rundown student house to another, from stable groups to impromptu households of confusion, but who always carry information on strategies for confrontation, formulas for homemade weaponry, and plans for new targets. Mark Rudd of Columbia University fame, was a student traveler to Kent before he went underground. There were other groups: Hippes, Yippies, and some who were just Bohemian in their life styles. Some were followers of Castro, many of Mao and some were organized revolutionaries. Michener's analysis of these groups helps to clarify the forces behind much of what happened at Kent during the four days in May. Another part of the book examines the abrasive effect of the student generation's life style on their elders. While many older citizens are most vocal about the dress and the hair styles of the young, it is their sexual activities and their language that are most infuriating, says Michener. The depth of the rage against the young can be startling. Michener believes that nothing angered the Guard more than the vocabu Kent State by James Michener Random House, 559 pages, $0 lary of many girl students.Their language was cruder than any the troops had heard from the Army or even the roughest street people. They made obscene insults about the wives of the National Guard and conjectured how they might be spending their time, according to various accounts by men in the Guard. Many questions about what happened at Kent State are left unanswered. Perhaps there are no answers. Perhaps the most important conclusion Michener reaches is in these words: "No student performed any act on May 4 for which he deserved to be shot." Michener seems to hint at the "outside agitators" theory, citing many who had come to Kent, but he is never able to link them with cutting the firehose and setting the fire that literally and metaphorically engulfed the nation. Of course, neither could the police, so far as is known. Nor the FBI, whose report Michener can cite only in parts because it was not made public, nor could the Campus Commission on Student Unrest headed by former Governor Scranton. It is bad enough for the reader to be left without any clear answer. It is tragic for administrators facing another spring. Robert White, the president of Kent, whom Michener calls a scholarly administrator and a stubborn champion of academic freedom, was absent during the first two days of the rioting attending a most important educational meeting in Iowa. Michener carefully explains - and he got the first word of real trouble from his maid at home and not from his staff. Even had he been on campus. White might not have been able to do much. Several professors showed great cour