Discussion will focus on Kent State shootings

Staff report

NEW WILMINGTON, Pa.

David Hassler, who wrote a theater production about the 1970 National Guard shootings at Kent State University, will host a discussion at Westminster College at 7 p.m. March 19. The event is free to the public.

Hessler, director of the Wick Poetry Center at Kent State University, wrote “May 4th Voices: Kent State, 1970.” The discussion will center on the piece and will be in Mueller Theater, inside McKelvey Campus Center.

“May 4th Voices” is an expression of the Kent State Shootings Oral History Project, which was started in 1990 by Sandra Halem, The project is made up of more than 110 interviews, with first-person narratives and personal reactions to the May 4, 1970, shootings.

Weaving these voices and stories together, Hassler’s play tells the human story of the tragedy and its aftermath. It captures the sense of trauma, confusion and fear that many people felt that day, regardless of where they were.

His discussion will offer opportunities for educators from middle school through college to teach across disciplines and connect literary studies to sociology, history, drama, political science, mental health and personal narrative.

For information, contact Deborah Mitchell, professor and chairwoman of the English and public relations department, at 724-946-7030 or email dmitchel@westminster.edu.