By Jamie Bircoll

We began our rainy day in Ohio by an early morning drive up to Kent State University near Akron, OH. A great tragedy happened at the college on May 4, 1970, when 4 students were killed by the National Guard in an attempt to control and disperse an anti-Vietnam War protest. Nine other students were injured as well from the shootings. We were fortunate enough to meet with one of them, Alan Canfora. He began his talk by mentioning an odd coincidence: three of the four victims were Jewish. This created a larger impact of the event for us. Alan walked us around the campus showing us where events happened that led to the actual shooting.

It all began on April 30, 1970, when President Nixon announced that the US was going to invade Cambodia. The protests began over that weekend with plans for a big rally on Monday, May 4th. On May 3rd, the National Guard arrived in large numbers and the next day they used tear gas to disperse the rally. Although most of the protestors left, roughly 200 regrouped in a parking lot. Suddenly, the National Guard’s company G fired into the parking lot. Jeffrey Miller, Allison Krause, William Schroeder, and Sandy Scheuer lay dead on the ground. Alan mentioned that the memorial on the campus had not been complete but the part that is bears the words: “learn, inquire and reflect.” Alan said we all need to learn of the events of Kent State, inquire as to what the motives of the National Guard were, and reflect on the experience. We walked to the parking lot where the victims were hit and Alan spoke about each of them.

on the field where the showdown between protesters and National Guard took place	Alan Canfora showing us the picture of him holding up a black flag on the day of protests	Alan Canfora showing us the tree that he ducked behind after being shot by National Guardsmen
in front of the memorial marker placed by the Hillel of Kent State a year after the shootings

After Kent State, we drove to Cleveland to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Billy and a few other of us, myself included, were looking forward to seeing the temporary Bruce Springsteen exhibit. We all saw the influence rock and roll has had on our culture. When we were done, we sat outside the museum and had our wrap up of the past several days. Billy asked the group to name a band they would have liked to see in concert. Most of us said the Beatles, and at the end of wrap up Billy announced that he had got us tickets to see Paul McCartney live in Washington DC!