Kent State Marks 40th Anniversary Of Shootings (WATCH)

Today is the 40th anniversary of the Kent State University shootings, in which four students were killed by Ohio National Guardsmen during an antiwar protest.

The university created a walking tour in commemoration of the anniversary, and the shooting sites on campus were recently added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Many students who were scheduled to graduate in 1970 and were instead forced to leave campus are holding celebrations in honor of the graduations they never had.

Despite the event's historical significance, the New York Times reports that many current Kent State students feel little connection to what happened:

Fourteen of 15 freshmen interviewed on the campus said they did not feel any connection with the lives of the students who were protesting the United States' invasion of Cambodia at the time.

The university requires first-year students to watch a historical video of what happened that day and the events leading to it: the violent confrontation between protesters and local police and the burning of the R.O.T.C. building near the Commons.

The Associated Press reports on the anniversary from the school: