I attended the Kent State University summer commencement ceremony this past August and experienced tremendous joy watching the first cohort of new 12-month M.S. in Emerging Media & Technology (EMAT) graduate. This new graduate program replaced our Master of Digital Sciences program that graduated more than 1,000 students in the past decade. The commencement ceremony is always a joyful experience because we celebrate our students’ accomplishments and also see our students leave Kent State to flourish and put their education into practice. Our recent graduates are now working at area companies like Sherwin-Williams, MRI Software, and Nationwide Insurance.
Commencement is also a reminder of the transformative nature of higher education. At Kent State, we pride ourselves in providing access to all students, including those with high financial need. Ninety-six percent of freshman students receive financial assistance through scholarships, grants, loans or employment. At Kent State, one in every three students is a first-generation college student. For many of our students, financial assistance is critical to their graduation. Unfortunately, the School of Emerging Media & Technology has not had a School-specific scholarship to support students in our programs. But, that is about to change.
Sandy Taylor worked at Kent State for more than 20 years and served as Business Manager for most of our School’s existence. She was widely respected by colleagues across the university. Sandy was our School’s Business Manager when we changed our name to Emerging Media & Technology when I began serving as School Director in 2020. Her work helped support the transformational change of education in thousands of Digital Sciences and Emerging Media and Technology students’ lives. Sandy passed away in 2021.
We are excited to announce that the Sandy Taylor Memorial Scholarship Fund will be the first scholarship to financially support EMAT students. With your support, we aim to raise enough funding to endow the Sandy Taylor Memorial Scholarship Fund so it can help EMAT students from this point forward. We’re planning to celebrate Sandy’s life and this achievement with the Taylor family by awarding our first EMAT scholarship for the 2024-25 academic year.
I hope you’ll join me in supporting this new scholarship as part of Kent State University’s Giving Tuesday initiatives this month.