This statement was composed on May 5th and signed by about 40 people at the Journalism School Reunion Dinner during the recent reunion. Since then it was edited to eliminate an awkward sentence and now distributed to everyone who signed, and to others who may be interested in signing but did not attend, or did not sign at the dinner.When all of the signatures are assembled I will distribute another copy with signatures. The statement with signatures will be posted on a May 4th Shooting web site, distributed to media, and used by participants to call attention to the questions that remain to be answered.
If you agree with the statement please provide the information at the bottom and return it to me by eMail or regular mail Richard Margolis, 250 North Goodman Street #4-9, Rochester, New York 14607, or by Fax to 716-473-0127.
The Statement
We met here in Kent 30 years after four students were killed and nine wounded by the Ohio National Guard on May 4th, 1970.
We were mostly journalism students: writers, broadcasters, photographers. That event changed our lives, as it changed the character of the country. We grew up, chose professions, moved across the country, married and had children, and went on with our lives. As we got involved with our new lives, we lost touch with most of our college friends, but not our viewpoint. That has not changed: The war in Vietnam was wrong; the secret bombing in Cambodia was criminal; the government was oppressive; the protests were justified; the governor should not have ordered the National Guard onto the campus; those responsible for the violence by the National Guard should have been, or still should be, prosecuted.
Government that is not by the people, of the people, for the people is not the right government in a free and open society. Government that responds with deadly force to anti-war protests is irresponsible.
From the highest office in the land, Americans were duped to rely on their well-intended feelings of patriotism, loyalty and trust in their duly elected officials to believe that the government policy in Vietnam was right and justified, and that what the students were doing was wrong and criminal.
As journalists, it remains our duty to inquire, to investigate, to inform and report and to give people the opportunity to decide what "truth" really is.
Even after 30 years, an FBI investigation, a Presidential Commission, criminal prosecutions and civil suits, the truth about the events leading up to the killings is not known, and responsibility for the killings has not been assigned. The healing can not be completed until the truth is known. The trauma is too great to be ignored.
Thirty years later we still seek an accounting.
Signed
Name
Journalism School affiliation
Degree
Advanced degree
Current occupation
Residence
(All of the 45+ signatures plus recent additions will be attached and distributed to everyone who participates)
(Sample format)
Richard Margolis,
Editor 1968 Chestnut Burr Yearbook;
BS Degree in PhotoCommunication (1969);
MFA Degree in Photography (1978);
Photographer, now living in Rochester, New York.
For a current list of signatures, please e-mail Richard Margolis.
