What was your role on campus at the time:

Undergraduate

During the school year 1969-70, where did you live:

Off-campus

Were you a member of any student organization on campus? If so, which one(s)?

SDS (sort of – I attended some meetings but don’t know if I actually joined)

During the weeks before the university closed, what was the most significant thing you observed?

I saw one of the victims of a shooting on the Oval by the National Guard (not fatal but I remember the student being wheeled away on a stretcher with blood all over her, and the clouds of tear gas all around). And I watched the clash between the police riot squad on High Street from the top of the parking deck next to Arps Hall. It was an out-of-control police riot. Once the police met the crowd on High Street, they then dispersed into the neighborhood. I don’t recall what happened when they met the crowd, but I think it was a stand-off. I couldn’t see what was happening in the neighborhood east of High Street from my vantage point, but from the newspaper accounts the next day, their actions further enflamed the riot by drawing the fraternity-row residents into the fray. Up to then, they had been largely complacent observers.

What were your impressions of campus during the time period?

Total turmoil. I remember the tear gas everywhere, and armed military.

Did you think the university should be closed? Why or why not?

If it hadn’t been closed, there would certainly have been another Kent State. From the bloodied student I saw on the Oval, it almost happened.

What did you do during the two weeks the university was closed?

I don’t recall at all, but probably stayed home. I had been living on Norwich [Avenue] at the time, but my house burned down the first weekend in March, so I went home to finish out the quarter. I do remember entering the campus during the closure and taking one of the cordoned signs for a souvenir from Smith Lab or one of the nearby buildings.

Did you return to finish the quarter?

Yes

Looking back, what do you think are the lasting legacies of the student demonstrations?

They (we) brought the war to an end.