War, hatred, oppression, poverty, environmental destruction and individual differences were buried under the grass of the Commons Thursday by members of five Kent State University student organizations.

Thursday was the 27th anniversary of the burial of the U. S. Constitution by graduate students who symbolically buried the death of democracy in 1970.

The students who took part in the 1970 burial were known as the World Historians Opposed to Racism and Exploitation. They believed President Nixon killed the Constitution when he ordered the invasion of Cambodia without an act of Congress, said Alan Canfora, who was one of the students wounded at Kent State University in May 1970.

The burial yesterday was the initial event for the 27th annual May 4 commemoration weekend, which will continue through Sunday afternoon and will wrap up with a performance by Crosby, Stills and Nash at the commemoration ceremony.

Members of the May 4 Task Force, Student Anti-Racist Action, Habitat for Humanity, Students Eliminating Environmental Destruction and the Lesbian, Gay Bisexual Union-Kent participated in the ceremony.

Mac Lojowsky, a freshman English major and Task Force member, said before the initial burial groups were fighting a huge battle against enemies such as hate and discrimination.

"Each of us chooses our part of the battle by the student organizations we join," Lojowsky said. "We have to protect the voice and the rights of each student. Each group needs to communicate and pledge its support to each other."

The groups stressed the need to work together instead of working against each other for common goals important to higher education.

"We are here to end student apathy and get united," said Dena Berliner, a sophomore English education major and president of SEED. "It seems like everybody is only out for themselves, and they don't care about (what is) good for the whole."

Kelly Janner, a sophomore philosophy major and member of LGBU, said the gathering was "a good opportunity for those who took part."

"We (the groups) aren't as far apart as we think," Janner said. "All our struggles are connected."