| Abstract |
The shootings at Kent State University on May 4, 1970 were a culmination of various protests, student and police decisions, and influences from government officials. When discussing the Massacre, a majority of scholars avoid the dilemma of assigning responsibility to one individual: he who gave the permission for the National Guard to be deployed to Kent State. As the evidences presents, it was the “okay” of Governor Rhodes which led to Four Dead at Kent State. The argument is as such: the local law enforcement has tactical plans in place to curb the violence on campus and was unsuccessful without the support of the President of the University, Mayor, and Governor. Thus, the National Guard being deployed to Kent State was the worst-case scenario, but the most necessary with the growing violence on campus in the minds of the high-ranking decision makers.
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Austin Ross is a junior at Kent State University with majors in history, political science, and international relations. He serves as Senator for Undergraduate Studies on Kent State’s Undergraduate Student Government and is President of the Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity Ohio Kappa Chapter. He plans on working for Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity for a year upon graduation before obtaining a master’s degree in either comparative political science or social studies education.