Twenty-five years later, Professor Jerry Lewis
continues to examine the May 4 shootings
through his teaching and research


By Melanie C. King

Jerry Lewis was sitting in his office, not planning on going to that day's demonstration against the war. If not for a passing student's request for him to attend, he never would have gone. He never imagined what was about to take place.

In 1970, I was an assistant professor (of sociology) at Kent State University, Ohio. Shortly before noon on May 4, a student entered my office in Lowry Hall and asked if I planned to attend the scheduled rally on the campus Commons. I decided to go. I grabbed my faculty marshaling badge - a string of blue ribbon - and headed for the Commons.

To Lewis, Monday's demonstration was just a continuation of the past week's campus unrest. He never thought that day would haunt him forever.

"I represent an eyewitness," Lewis says. "As someone who was involved, I have a responsibility with the need of someone who survived the Holocaust to tell about it.

In the 25 years since that day, Lewis has written more than 20 papers about the event. An event that he more or less stumbled upon.

After the guardsmen had advanced about 50 yards, a few of the soldiers knelt and began firing tear gas canisters at the students behind the Victory Bell. Although the wind dispersed the tear gas as quickly as it was fired, it served its immediate purpose - the students began moving away. Nevertheless, the tactic, mostly psychological because of the wind, angered the students even more. I saw the guardsmen's action as similar to dusting with a fan - it just moved things around without achieving the ultimate desired effect.

Although Lewis was acting as an authority figure when the shootings happened, he was still very affected by the event.

"I was shot at, too," Lewis says. "I was a victim of May 4. I am still processing it."