Kent State students are in disbelief by clothing company Urban Outfitters today. The company released a sweatshirt that has Kent State’s logo on it and appears to have blood stains on it. On May 4, 1970 a great tragedy occurred on our beautiful campus. Four students were shot and killed by the National Guard because of their peaceful protesting against the Vietnam War. Today, Urban Outfitters released this sweatshirt that was being sold for $129 that was in beyond poor taste from their Sun-Faded Vintage collection. The company claims that they weren’t aware that this sweatshirt was going to be perceived negatively.
Most of the students on campus today do not take this as an appropriate response from the company. How does this company not see this as being directly associated with the tragedy that happened in 1970? Kent State’s representatives have responded to the company with “We take great offense to a company using our pain for their publicity and profit”. This is not the first time that Urban Outfitters have put out clothing that is insensitive. They are actually known for it. Urban Outfitters needs to get better-educated designers in their company. The students at Kent State are happy that the sweatshirt was taken off the company’s website and is no longer being sold. This campus will continue to be in uproar for a while about this sweatshirt because honestly, what was Urban Outfitters thinking?