This past September, three undergraduate students from Kent State University’s College of Architecture and Environmental Design earned three of the five awards presented at the 2025 AIA Ohio Student Design Awards. These awards are characterized by innovative design that combines conceptual strength with technical and social awareness.First-year student Carmella Buffone earned second place for “Observatory for Natural Forces: Celestial Ascension,” a project that elevates celestial observation into a spatial journey. Inspired by the striking basalt formations of Giant’s Causeway in Norther...

For Beth Murray, returning to college decades after graduating from Warren Western Reserve High School in 1986 was not part of her original plan. But, after witnessing the courage and compassion of nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic, she knew it was time to answer a new calling.Murray, a patient care assistant at Mercy Health St. Joseph’s Hospital, is now pursuing her Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) at Kent State University at Trumbull, with plans to graduate in 2028.Her path to nursing wasn’t straightforward. Murray first enrolled at Kent State in 2013, studying psychology with a f...