Glenda Elliott, Commentary

Submitted via email, May 4, 2000

In the aftermath of May 4, 1970, several graduate students in counselor education, with the encouragement and guidance of Prof. Virginia Harvey, participated in and helped facilitate what we called Reconciliation Groups in the Kent community. These groups, composed of students, faculty, and townspeople, provided a relatively safe place for the expression of feelings, reactions, and different points of view regarding the tragic events surrounding May 4. For some of us, these groups became one way to begin the healing process as we sought to create and experience a nonviolent approach to conflict.

The whole experience of May 4, including being a doctoral student and teaching an undergraduate class as a member of the "University in Exile" had a profound effect on me subsequently as an educator, counselor, and human being. The legacy of May 4 lives in my continuing commitment to nonviolence and peaceful conflict resolution. In memory of that day, I wholeheartedly renew and reaffirm that commitment.

Glenda R. Elliott, Ph.D. ('71)
Assoc. Prof. Emerita
School of Education
University of Alabama at Birmingham