Kent, Jackson State Killings Commemorated at SUNY Plattsburgh Annual Ceremony

SUNY Plattsburgh will remember the students who were killed on May 4 and May 14, 1970 on the Kent State and Jackson State college campuses at a ceremony Friday, May 9 at noon in front of Kehoe Administration Building.

On May 4, 1970, four unarmed students were killed, and nine were injured on the Kent State campus in Ohio when National Guard troops fired into a crowd of students protesting the invasion of Cambodia and the Vietnam War.

Just 10 days later, at Jackson State in Mississippi, police trying to disperse a crowd of students protesting racism fired at young people gathered in front of a women’s dormitory, killing two students and injuring 12 others.

The program will include remarks by Karen McGrath, vice president for enrollment and student success, and Allison Heard, vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion, as well as a rendition of “Amazing Grace” by the campus a cappella group, Minor Adjustments.

SUNY Plattsburgh has commemorated the killings every year. A luncheon in Feinberg Library will follow the ceremony.