A May 4 Visitors Center is a long-overdue addition to the campus. It’s incredibly important to educate the visiting public on exactly what happened May 1 through 4, 1970. The problem is, however, this educational sanctuary may be impeding another group’s education.

The center is to be built in a new architecture computer lab in Taylor Hall.

A year ago, the architecture students were given an up-to-date computer lab, complete with all the bells and whistles necessary for their major: printers, plotters and scanners – everything necessary for an architecture student’s assignments. It was long awaited, as the other architecture computer lab is a bit outdated, and these students need the best of the best to compete in the job market after graduation.

The visitors center should also be looked at as a necessity on campus; the May 4 incident is ingrained in the university’s national identity. Although it would be ideal to have the center in Taylor Hall because of the building’s proximity to the site of the shootings – it overlooks the remembrance events on Blanket Hill every spring – it shouldn’t be a problem to move it elsewhere.

May 4 is a part of the entire university’s history, not just the history of one part of the campus. If the center can’t fit in Taylor Hall, there shouldn’t be a problem moving it.

We’re happy to hear that architecture students took the initiative to speak with the May 4 Task Force about relocation and even suggested some different areas in Taylor Hall. We’re even happier to hear that the task force is happy to hear their suggestions and take them into consideration. Putting these two teams together may actually produce a very interesting visitors center, something the university can be proud of for years to come.

We hope the task force looks hard at the architecture students’ suggestions. These are some of the brightest students on campus, and they’re likely to have good ideas to share – this is directly related to their major. Plus, the students are already spread between three different buildings to get work done: Taylor Hall, the Gym Annex and Tri-Towers. They deserve a nice lab – a lab they already have – in Taylor and not to be shuffled around to yet one more place.

We’re very excited to check out the May 4 Visitors Center when it is finished, but we would hate to step on anyone’s toes when we walk in.

The above editorial is the consensus opinion of the Daily Kent Stater editorial board whose members are listed to the left.