B. Earle Roberts, Papers, 1968-1983 [Bulk 1972-1973]

May 4th Collection, Boxes 134 and 135

Finding Aid

Biographical Note

Throughout the 1970's and early 1980's, B. Earle Roberts, a professor of Criminal Justice Studies, served on a number of committees related to May 4 and events that occurred after the incident. Roberts served as a trustee in the Kent Students Medical Fund to create monies to aid injured students, participated in Kent Community for Non-Violent Change, and was a member of the Committee for Non-Violence which established peace marshals on Kent campus. Roberts' prominent role was serving as the chair of the Campus Security Advisory Committee (CSAC) to provide direction for improving the university's security and police department. After the issues of May 4 subsided, Roberts served as a chair of the Presidential Commission on Values and Ethics in the Curriculum and created ethics guidelines to ease the tension between religious and professional groups in the student scene.

Scope and Content

This collection contains materials from 1968-1983, documenting incidents that led up to May 4 and events that occurred in the campus community after the shootings. Correspondence, minutes, reports, newsclippings, flyers, and programs cover events such as the 1968 Black United Students (BUS) walkout, the May 4th shootings, the Ron Mohr incident, and the 1978 May Fourth Memorial Service dealing with the aftermath of the Tent City Protest the previous year. Other committees in the collection are the Kent Students Medical Fund, the Kent Community for Non-Violent Change, the Committee for Non-Violence, and the Presidential Commission on Values and Ethics in the Curriculum. Notable documents are a letter to Roberts from the Oakland Civil Service Board confirming the police department's recruitment visit and flyers from a student Marxist group (The Joe Hill Collective), which evolved from Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). Also, a series of cassette tapes contain recorded sessions of CSAC meetings in 1972.

Box 134

Folder -- Contents

1. BUS Campus Walkout: Flyers Relating to BUS and SDS Student Walkout, November 1968
2. BUS Campus Walkout: Student Groups and University Statements Relating to BUS and SDS Oakland Student Walkout, November 1968
3. BUS Campus Walkout: Newsclippings, November 1968
4. BUS Campus Walkout: Letter to Earle Roberts from the Oakland, California Office of Civil Service Board Police Recruiter Visit, October 24, 1968
5. BUS Campus Walkout: Interdepartmental Correspondence, November 1968
6. Statement of Resistance, by Chuck Noell, March 4, 1969
7. Kent State Shootings: Memorial Service Program for Slain Kent State Students at the York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington D.C., May 8, 1970
8. Kent State Shootings: Memorial Speech for Slain Kent Students by Unknown Speaker, 1970
9. Kent State Shootings: Statement by M. J. Lunine, Dean of KSU Honors College in Pittsburgh After Allison Krause's Funeral, [no date]
10. Kent State Shootings: Announcement Inviting KSU Parents and Students to United Christian Fellowship House to Discuss May 4 Issues, [no date]
11. Kent State Shootings: List of Organizations Created to Maintain Campus Order, 1970
12. Kent State Shootings: Interdepartmental Correspondence, May 12 and October 19, 1970
13. Kent State Shootings: Letter to KSU Parents from President Robert White, November 1968
14. Kent State Shootings: Flyers and Announcements by the Joe Hill Collective for the May Fourth United Front, [1970?]
15. Kent State Shootings: Kent State University Staff Bulletin, May 1970
16. Kent State Shootings: For Your Information: Internal Communications Newsletters, May-August 1970
17. Kent State Shootings: Official Bulletin Newsletters, May, June, and August 1970
18. Kent State Shootings: The Phoenix, Newsletter, September 28, 1970
19. Kent State Shootings: Kent State University In Exile Newsletter, [no date]
20. Kent State Shootings: KSU Position Paper, October 14, 1970
21. Kent State Shootings: Letter to University Community from President Robert White, May 29, 1971
22. Board of Trustees Minutes, February 12, 1972
23. Correspondence Concerning Faculty and May 4, 1978, March-May 1978
24. Drafts and Notes Concerning Faculty Action about May 4, 1978, [no date]
25. Personal Typed Narrative of Earle Roberts Addressing Feelings about 1978 May 4 Services, October 5, 1978
26. Meeting Attendance Sheets for May 4, 1978 Faculty Response, [no date]
27. Kent Students Medical Fund: Committee Member Lists, 1970
28. Kent Students Medical Fund: Articles of Incorporation, May 26, 1970
29. Kent Students Medical Fund: Committee Report, May-June 22, 1970
30. Kent Students Medical Fund: Minutes, May 1970
31. Kent Students Medical Fund: Correspondence, [various dates]
32. Kent Students Medical Fund: Information Bulletin, 1970
33. Kent Community for Non-Violent Change: Sub-Committee Lists, [no date]
34. Kent Community for Non-Violent Change: Curriculum Committee Report, [no date]
35. Committee for Non-Violence: Objectives and Chronology, 1970
36. Committee for Non-Violence: Narrative about Formation of Committee by Earle Roberts, [no date]
37. Committee for Non-Violence: Member Contact List, [no date]
38. Committee for Non-Violence: Coordinating Committee List for Peace Marshals, [no date]
39. Committee for Non-Violence: Concerned People for Marshals for Peace, Phone List, [no date]
40. Committee for Non-Violence: Minutes, June 3, 1970
41. Committee for Non-Violence: Correspondence, July 1, 1970
42. Committee for Non-Violence: Sub-Committee Correspondence, 1970
43. Committee for Non-Violence: Proposals to Committee, [no date]
44. Committee for Non-Violence: Training Committee Report, July 21, 1970
45. Committee for Non-Violence: A Proposed Faculty Marshals Program, [no date]
46. Committee for Non-Violence: Marshals Training Handbook, [no date]
47. Committee for Non-Violence: Training for Demonstrations and The Marshal: New Problems, New Approaches by Charles C. Walker, [no date]
48. Committee for Non-Violence: Notes, [no date]
49. Commission on Campus Security: Report of the Commission on Campus Security, June 1970
50. CSAC: Proposal and Description of CSAC, [various dates]
51. CSAC: Member Lists, [various dates]
52. CSAC: Minutes, March-November 1972
53. CSAC: Correspondence, December 1971-August 1972
54. CSAC: Correspondence, September 1972-January 1973
55. CSAC: Rough Draft Written to The Kent Stater, December 6, 1972
56. CSAC: Press Releases Relating to CSAC, [various dates]
57. CSAC: Proposed Policies and Official Policies Related to Campus Security, [various dates]
58. CSAC: Written Statement by Committee Member Mike White, [no date]
59. CSAC: Memorandum about Law Enforcement on Campus, February 4, 1972
60. CSAC: Preliminary Draft of a Report to the Select Committee to Investigate Campus Disturbances, January 21, 1971
61. CSAC: Report, Campus Police - An Experimental Course by Bob Peabody, [no date]
62. CSAC: Report, The Campus Police at Kent State: A Survey of Opinion, August 1972
63. CSAC: Report, Campus Security Policies and Operations, November 17, 1972
64. CSAC: Report with Recommendations, June 12, 1972
65. CSAC: Ron Mohr Incident, [no date]
66. CSAC: Report, Subcommittee on Ideal Models for Campus Security, [no date]
67. CSAC: Sub-Committee Reports, [various dates]
68. CSAC: KSU Police Hierarchical Grid, June 1972
69. CSAC: Questionnaire for Campus Police Study, Spring 1972
70. CSAC: Staff Comments to Operations Subcommittee, [no date]
71. CSAC: Tally Sheets of Reported Offenses to KSU Campus Police, January-May 1972
72. CSAC: Panel Discussion Flyer on Campus Surveillance, October 19, 1972
73. CSAC: Article, "Espionage at Kent State", The Nation, Vol. 216 No. 5
74. CSAC: Academic articles related to campus security, [various dates]
75. CSAC: Newsclippings, 1971
76. CSAC: Newsclippings, March-April 1972
77. CSAC: Newsclippings, May-December 1972
78. CSAC: Committee Notes of Earle Roberts, [various dates]
79. Presidential Commission on Ethics and Values in the Curriculum: Letter to Michael Schwartz, September 7, 1983
80. Presidential Commission on Ethics and Values in the Curriculum: Report with Recommendations, [1983?]
81. Classes: The Re-Institution of Law Enforcement Recruitment at Kent State University, Student Research Paper by Jim Levine, December 1, 1972
82. Classes: A Comparison of Attitudes Towards the Campus Police: Spring 1970 - Fall 1971, Student Research Paper by Charles G. McCoy, December 8, 1971
83. Cassette Tapes: CSAC Meetings, [various dates] Note: Materials are fragile and can not be played at this time.

Box 135: Oversized Materials

Note: Materials listed in order according to size.

Folder -- Contents

1. BUS Campus Walkout: The Daily Kent Stater, November 15, 1968
2. BUS Campus Walkout: "Racist Recruit: Oakland Police in Kent" Newsletter by Students for a Democratic Society, November 12, 1968
3. Kent State University FYI: Office of Internal Communications, September-November 1970
4. Kent State University FYI: Office of Internal Communications, January-June 1971
5. Rapport: The Publication for Parents of Kent State University Students, 1970-1971
6. The Daily Kent Stater Articles on the 1978 May 4th Commemoration, April 11 and 18, 1978
7. Article, "The Kent State Affair," The Plain Dealer, May 28, 1970
8. Kent-Ravenna Record-Courier, August 4, 1970