(JTA) — Kaddish will be recited during a candlelight vigil at Kent State University.
A Monday gathering will mark the 40th anniversary of the shooting of four of the university’s students by members of the Ohio National Guard during campus protests against the Vietnam War.
The Jewish memorial prayer has been recited regularly at the annual event since the early 1980s, the Forward reported. Three of the four students killed — Sandra Scheuer, Allison Krause and Jeffrey Miller — were Jewish; the fourth victim was William Schroder. Jews have never made up more than 5 percent of the student enrollment at Kent State.
The midnight vigil on Monday continues in 30-minute shifts until 12:24 p.m. May 4 — the exact time of the shootings. Krause and Miller were protesters; Scheuer and Schroeder were bystanders.
Hillel organized the first commemoration of the shootings in 1971, according to the Forward.
