is proud to announce that “Legacy: May 4,” a podcast hosted by Stephen Ward, vice president for university communications and marketing, was awarded both a Gold and the Top Tactic Award by the Greater Cleveland Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) at its recent .
The podcast series delves into moments and issues that created the context of the May 4, 1970, tragedy here at Kent State. The documentary then connects the events of more than a half-century ago to today, in ways that leave us thinking about how history appears to be repeating itself.
The tragic end to a student demonstration against the Vietnam War and the National Guard, almost 55 years ago, placed Kent State in an international spotlight that still shines on it today.
Shortly after noon on that Monday, 13 seconds of rifle fire by a contingent of 28 Ohio National Guardsmen left four students dead, one permanently paralyzed, and eight others wounded. Not every student was a demonstrator or an observer. Some were just walking to and from classes. The closest wounded student was 30 yards from the Guard, while the farthest was nearly 250 yards away.
“Any May 4 project at Kent State allows us, first and foremost, to honor the memories of the four dead, and respect and appreciate the experiences of the wounded and the witnesses whose insights are as applicable to today as maybe they’ve ever been,” Ward said.
“The recognition from PRSA is terrific, and I hope one outcome of this audio documentary will be to share with new audiences our university’s development as a leader in global peace education as a direct legacy of May 4,” he added.
The Cleveland Rocks Awards were judged this year by the Chicago Chapter of PRSA and included a wide range of communications projects and campaigns from Greater Cleveland and regional agencies, corporations and nonprofits.
The Top Tactic award signifies the project that received the most votes.