Thirty years ago, Carole Barbato was friends with Sandy Scheuer. She worked crossword puzzles in the Hub with William Schroeder. And now Barbato, a professor of communications studies at the East Liverpool campus, knows how important it is to keep their memory alive.

"Perhaps because I knew Sandy, remembering her and Bill and the others who lost their lives has always been deeply important to me," she says. "And perhaps because I was on this campus in May of 1970, I believe it is imperative that the historical integrity of this site be preserved for generations to come."

Although other memorials are scattered across the campus, Barbato says these markers will stand apart from the others.

"They will become unmistakable, physical reminders to all who walk this sacred ground that history was made here," she says.

Friends, anonymous visitors and people of all ages build a shrine on each parking spot for the four students on May 4. They commonly leave gifts and letters. (Laura Jo Quail) A closer look

"They show us and they will show all of us where four gifted young people fell so senselessly on May 4, 1970."

This was a day Jeffrey Miller's mother Elaine Holstein thought would never come.

"I knew that the places in the parking lot were being used as a parking lot, and I shut that out of my mind," she says. "I didn't want to think about it. It's a pretty horrible thought."

"And the students fought for this. These kids simply didn't quit, and I'll always be grateful for that."

The official closing and dedication of the spaces produced a manifold of emotions on that foggy, humid September morning. For many, it was an overwhelming feeling to see something come to fruition that had been 30 years in the making.

Wendy Semon, senior secondary education major and May 4 Task Force member, was involved in the initial Task Force petition in 1997 to have the spaces closed. She also presented Cartwright with the request in 1998.

"It was really overwhelming to think that the whole initiative just started in 1997 when we started a petition drive, just a couple of us on the Task Force."

Once they collected enough petitions, Semon and others marched to Cartwright's office with the proposal.

Kim Larson, senior biology and psychology major and Task Force member, also was glad to see the university go through with its promise.

"I was here when they marked the spaces off, and I was here the entire length of the construction," she says. "For the last year we were sitting on the edge of our seats hoping that it was really going to happen. So when they finally were closed, it was this big relief that they were actually going through with what they said."

For Lewis the dedication provided a sense of closure. "Closure doesn't mean forgetting," he says. "It means proper remembering."