Kent State at East Carolina University

Drawing of Leo Jenkins
Image Source: Fountainhead, May 7, 1970
Warning: This entry contains offensive language that may be upsetting to some people.

On April 30, 1970, President Richard Nixon (1913-1994) announced that U.S. troops were moving into Cambodia to cut North Vietnamese supply lines. Nixon’s unexpected expansion of the already unpopular Vietnam War was met by nationwide campus protests. Tragically, a mass protest staged at Kent State University on May 4 ended with the Ohio National Guard firing on students, resulting in four students being shot to death, and nine others seriously wounded. Within days, memorial services, protest rallies, and anti-war demonstrations remembering the slain were held on campuses nationwide.

At noon, May 6, approximately 1,000 ECU students gathered on the Mall. After a reading from the Bible and prayers for the slain, four ECU students bearing crosses with the names of the deceased led what was described as a “funeral procession” to the campus flagpole. When the students tried to lower the flag to half-mast, they were blocked by Greenville City and campus police, reportedly assisted by SBI agents. The students began shouting “half-mast,” but were told that without authorization, the flag could not be lowered. They then proceeded to Spilman Building, demanding to see President Jenkins. Following a tense confrontation, Jenkins agreed to meet the students on the Mall. There, Jenkins, surrounded by police, newsmen, and photographers, informed the students that only the U. S. president had the authority to order the lowering of the flag. Jenkins promised, however, to contact Governor Bob Scott to see what might be done.

Jenkins added that it was “highly understandable” that young people would find the tragedy “urgent,” noting that they, the young, had been called on by another, much older generation, to fight a war and “do the dying.” Jenkins quoted the U.N. Secretary General, U Thant (1909-1974), emphasizing the need to “curb the arms race, to improve the human environment and to diffuse the population explosion and to supply the required momentum to world development efforts.” Jenkins challenged the students to devise a solution to this “horrible problem,” war. Jenkins added that he had telegrammed Sen. Sam Ervin, Sen. B. Everett Jordan, and Congressman Walter Jones expressing concerns over “our increasing involvement in Southeast Asia,” i.e., the expansion of the war into Cambodia.

In Jenkins’ absence, several students addressed the rally, including newsmen and their cameras. Ben Currence, a black student activist, related that “last spring we black students had our little thing and I want everybody to know that that speech we just heard was the same statement we heard last spring. Our questions weren’t answered, and we heard the same speech last spring.” Another student, Jan Underwood, remarked, “The flag is the people’s flag. If the people can’t pull it to half-mast for four murdered kids, who can?”

Before things escalated further, Jenkins returned. He had been unable to reach the governor, but related, “I’m being paid, as you know, to make decisions and I’ve already lowered the flag to half-mast.” According to the Fountainhead, at this “the crowd rose to its feet cheering wildly, clapping, smiling, and waving the peace sign.” Jenkins added, “If there are any undesirable repercussions, I hope that you are just as vigorous in your support.”

There was fall-out from the ECU rally: Currence, the activist who spoke to the crowd following Jenkins’ departure, was soon dismissed from the Richardson Foundation program, a leadership training program. When interviewed, Currence attributed his dismissal to the fact that he had “criticized Jenkins and the administration on TV … with all those people out there.” When asked whether race might have been a factor, Currence responded, “No, not this time; just intimidation of activists and radicals. We’re all [n-words] to them anyway.” Currence thus echoed an essay by Gerald Farber, “The Student as [N-word],” published in the first issue of the Fountainhead, September 9, 1969, and then again in the Fountainhead the summer after the Kent State tragedy.

Other campus memorials did not turn out as well. At Berkeley, 24 students were arrested for disturbing the peace. On May 7, Gov. Ronald Reagan, in a preemptive move, closed California’s colleges and universities for the rest of the week. In Ohio, Gov. James Rhodes declared that all campuses experiencing unrest be shut down immediately. In Kentucky, Gov. Louie Nunn ordered state police to impose a curfew on the UK campus. Where classes were not cancelled, students often boycotted. At Duke, an estimated 60% of the students refused to attend classes. Duke president, Terry Sanford, called on President Nixon to “take immediate action to demonstrate unequivocally your determination to end our military presence in Vietnam.”

The following week an editorial in the Fountainhead reported that “By this simple gesture [lowering the flag], Dr. Jenkins created an almost tangible sense of unity among many of the various factions on this campus.” A Fountainhead cartoon entitled “A new found sense of unity” depicted Jenkins, surrounded by students, assisting them in lowering the flag. The front-page coverage of the memorial for the Kent State students included a photograph of the campus’ American flag flying at half-mast.

Some criticized those involved in the remembrances of Kent State as student radicals, communists, etc. However, as an expression of sympathy for those lost, the determination of ECU students to lower the American flag expressed both love of country and hope, out of tragedy, for a better, more peaceful future. During the 1970s, Jenkins was often the target of criticism and caricature in Fountainhead editorials and cartoons, but on this occasion of national shock and mourning, he, in joining with the students, undoubtedly did the right thing, bonding with them, even if briefly, in wisdom and courage.

Sources

Citation Information

Title: Kent State at East Carolina University

Author: John A. Tucker, PhD

Date of Publication: 2/5/2020

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