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Emma Cudahy and DJ Mara, students at Emerson College in Boston, have forged a connection to Kent State through a political communications course taught by a professor who has devoted his life to memorializing the lives of those lost in the Kent State and Jackson State shootings.

The Emerson College students are enrolled in a course created by ., entitled Advanced Topics in Communication Studies: The Killings at Kent State and Jackson State.

The course examines the tragedy on May 4, 1970, when the Ohio National Guard opened fire on Kent State students during an anti-war protest on campus, killing four students and wounding nine others. May 4, 1970, marked a pivotal moment in American history. Payne forged his connection to Kent State when he was a student journalist in Illinois.

Cudahy, Mara, and a group of Emerson College students who are enrolled in Payne’s course will visit Kent State May 2-4, when the university holds its annual commemoration.

The May 4 commemoration remembers those killed in the tragedy – Allison Krause, Jeffrey Miller, Sandra Scheuer, and William Schroeder – and those wounded – Alan Canfora, John Cleary, Thomas Grace, Dean Kahler, Joseph Lewis, Donald Mackenzie, James Russell, Robert Stamps and Douglas Wrentmore.

Lee Schwebel, a 1990 alum of Emerson College and a native of Northeast Ohio who, as a student, visited Kent State with Payne, is paying the expenses of the students who make the trip from Boston to Kent State.

In addition, Schwebel made it possible for Emerson students to travel to Kent State to take part in the commemoration in 2023.

“What better learning experience will the students have by spending the whole semester learning about May 4 than coming here to see it?” said Schwebel, who is a member of the Schwebel Baking Co. family and a trustee of the Schwebel Family Foundation. “ 

Cudahy, a political communications major of Palo Alto, Calif., is the main outreach coordinator for communications with Kent State’s May 4 Task Force. Here is Cudahy speaking with Kent State Today about why the visit to Kent State to participate in the May 4 commemoration activities is important.

Kent State and Emerson College Students Collaborate

Before heading to Kent State, Emerson College students participated in a retrospective in remembrance of those killed on May 4, 1970. The event, 55 Years Later: Kent State Retrospective, was held on April 22. Schwebel attended the event with Sophie Swengel of the May 4th Task Force and Alison Caplan, director of the May 4 Visitors Center.

And the May 4 Task Force is holding a collaborative event with the Emerson College students and will present excerpts from their own May 4 symposium, followed by a panel of students from both Kent and Boston on the importance of cross-campus solidarity and collaboration. The event will be held from 5-7 pm on May 2 in Bowman Hall.  Mara is equally moved by the opportunity to pay tribute to those who died on May 4, 1970.

“We've looked at a lot of the academic research, but to actually be able to go to Kent State, where this tragedy occurred and to be able to pay tribute to those lost on that day is really moving,” Mara said. “It’s a really moving opportunity and something I'm looking forward to. I am humbled to be involved in.”

Why are Payne and Schwebel so passionate about the Kent State shootings?

Payne was a student attending the University of Illinois and working for its daily newspaper when he saw the event on the news wire, the headline reading “Four Students Killed at Kent State.” Payne was compelled to jump in his car and travel to Kent State. That was the day his life changed, and Kent State forever became embedded in his DNA.

Later, he wrote his dissertation on the May 4 tragedy entitled “A Rhetorical Analysis of Selective Interpretation of the May 4, 1970, Incident.”

In 2023, Payne asked Schwebel to speak to his students about the May 4 tragedy.

“The night before the Zoom call with the students, I went to the memorial and I experienced everything by myself,” Schwebel recalled. “It was dusk, and no one was there, and I wept. It really hit me. Spontaneously, I told the students I want them to come, and I paid for it. I did not know about the Task Force, but I wanted them to see what I saw. I also knew the Visitor’s Center was like the Smithsonian.”

It’s been 55 years since the Kent State shootings, but visiting Kent State always collapses time for Payne. His dissertation on the rhetoric surrounding the tragedy has evolved into a life-long commitment to keep the memory alive through teaching, a play he had written and his work as a historical consultant for an NBC movie in the early 1980s.

Every year Payne wondered whether it would be his last trip to Kent State, and every year, he found himself drawn back to an obligation to memory and connections he had formed with survivors and families and the hope that his students would carry these lessons forward.

“It is important to study Kent State and Jackson State,” Payne said. “If you don’t understand the problem and mistakes you are doomed to repeat them. The most powerful weapon we have is communication.”

Emerson Students Acquire a Passion for Learning the History of Kent State

Mara, who is a reporter for Emerson’s school newspaper, said the course gives students various perspectives to examine the Kent State and Jackson State tragedies.

“The interesting part is looking at the different realities portrayed by the press at that time,” Mara said.

Cudahy took Payne’s course because her family has a strong tradition of social justice. Her dad and grandparents were active participants in protesting the Vietnam war. She learned a lot of lessons from them during her childhood.

“I'm looking forward to visiting Kent State,” Cudahy said. “I think everyone in our class feels similarly, and it's also just such an amazing opportunity that we're all grateful to get. Having a close look at understanding the context of 1970 is beneficial, and taking real tangible lessons from it that you can bring into real life.”