We had our own position Silas Ashley heard the gunshots from outside Dunbar Hall. Most African-American students lived in College Towers, but Ashley was one of a handful who lived near front campus. He was just finishing lunch when his dorm became the command area for the National Guard. "More of you will be killed unless you disperse," he heard a faculty marshal shout through a bullhorn. Contrary to the accounts of other BUS members, Ashley says he wasn't encouraged to stay away from any demonstrations. "I considered myself an activist, and I was very aware of what was going on," he says. "Freshmen were different in that day because we had the war hanging over our heads. We had to get so many credit hours in or we could get drafted. "I had my position of the war," says Ashley, who majored in history and political science. "The overwhelming perspective was that there were more blacks on the front lines than whites, so I was opposed to that. A tremendous anti-war sentiment by blacks was echoed by white students. We had an accord in terms of those who were in the anti-war vein. On Friday, May 1, BUS held a rally in response to President Nixon's announcement that American soldiers were invading Cambodia and that thousands more would be drafted for the war. Rumors circulated among white students that BUS would pick a fight, likely because of its reputation for demonstrating and making its demands. But Ashley points to predominantly white groups, such as Students for a Democratic Society, which were more vocal in the anti-war movement on campus. "The rally was more like a big group meeting where we stated our position," Ashley says. "It became a media issue (after the burning of the ROTC building). We discussed mutually how we felt about the war and how it related to black students. We weren't happy with black folks' treatment at Kent." As for shutting the campus down, "We weren't even considering doing anything close to that," he says. "Just in terms of May 4, we really had no direct input. You have to understand that the incident was really spontaneous. It was never, ever intended to go that far and to get those results. The ROTC building was the first direct act of campus-invading activity. Instead of cooling their heads, the university brought in police activity. Then 500 people became 2,000 .... it escalated by bringing in the National Guard. Now you had an armed militia trying to run a campus with students changing class, and you can't distinguish between them and the protesters. After the shots, you can imagine all the students coming up the hill and assembling." Ashley and a friend quickly packed some clothes and drove home to Cleveland. "Frankly, I didn't understand the importance of what was going on until that evening, when I watched it on the national news," Ashley says. "Everyone who graduated from that day has serious political sensitivity. It made us address social issues differently because we are a part of history, whether we like it or not. Particularly the white students at Kent had a wake-up call. They experienced what blacks had been going through for years - they were abused by the armed forces." Two weeks later, an all-white police force killed a college student and high school student at Jackson State College in Jackson, Miss. The distinction between Kent State and Jackson State, Ashley thinks, is best understood by separating racial overtones from social issues. "May 4 wasn't even a racial issue. It was a social issue," he says. "Because of civil rights, it was expected that white militia would go to an all-black campus and start shooting. The state troopers in Mississippi were not integrated at the time. So when they're sent to quell the disruption, they come in there with a certain mentality. On the other hand, it's not supposed to happen up North, not to white students. "When you set up the scene, the 1970 student is not the same as the 1990s student. It's a different world, and the institution itself had to undergo major changes. May 4 happened in a sleepy place, and it was catapulted to a national hot spot. "Really, Kent was no bastion of liberalism," Ashley says. "It was a fairly conservative campus. Ohio had a conservative governor. No one knew what Kent was. That's why it was so incredible. It wasn't Columbia or Berkeley. Kent continued on in light of social unrest."