45th anniversary of Kent State protests at UK

On May 5, 1970, students of the University of Kentucky reacted to the shootings that occurred the day before at Kent State University.  Student protests occurred around the University of Kentucky throughout the day including a protest of the UK Board of Trustees meeting on the 18th floor of Patterson Office Towers. The protests escalated into the evening, and city and state police were called to campus to assist campus police in full riot gear.  After a peaceful memorial march, the protest culminated outside the Buell Armory.  Angry students made speeches, a brick was thrown through a window of the Buell Armory.  At some point during this gathering, a wooden annex to the Air Force ROTC building on the other side of the student center became engulfed in flames–allegedly due to arson.

Access the searchable audio interviews online:

1970 University of Kentucky Student Protest Oral History Project

Listen to an archived episode of Saving Stories on WUKY:

Kent State Repercussions Felt On UK Campus

On this episode of Saving Stories on WUKY, Alan Lytle and Nunn Center Director Doug Boyd explore oral histories with University of Kentucky student Sue Anne Salmon who was  arrested and incarcerated that night for allegedly burning down the building (and was later released due to insufficient evidence), Joseph Burch the director of campus security at the University of Kentucky, as well as with Louie Nunn who was Governor at the time of the protests and called out the National Guard the next day.

Although several theories are circulated in the oral histories, there was never any definitive proof revealing responsibility for the burning of the ROTC annex at UK.

University of Kentucky’s University Archives and Records Program has extensive records pertaining to this protest, including photographic documentation of the protests that day as well as recordings of the hearings that were held in the aftermath.