The Forever Brighter campaign’s Prioritizing Student Success priority has exceeded its initial fundraising goal of $100 million in the first 14 months of the public campaign, having secured $140.2 million as of Dec. 14, 2022. The entire campaign’s overall goal is to raise $350 million to support student success, university initiatives and building projects. Thanks to generous support from donors, alumni, faculty, staff, foundations and friends, the current overall campaign fundraising status is $347.3 million, or 98 percent of goal. Forever Brighter is the most ambitious comprehensive fu...

Multi-platinum MCA Nashville recording artist Josh Turner is coming to the Performing Arts Center at Kent State University - Tuscarawas on Friday, January 13 at 7:30 p.m. Josh Turner is one of country music’s most recognizable hit-makers. With a rich, deep voice and distinctive style, Turner has sold more than 12.5 million units, is a disciple of traditional country music and one of the youngest members of the esteemed Grand Ole Opry. From his 2003 platinum-selling debut Long Black Train to his most recent 2017 Billboard No. 1 release, Deep South, Turner has garnered multiple GRAMMY, CMA, a...

A Portrait Prompts Philanthropy   In 1977, Kent State architecture students in a second-year studio design class were assigned a challenging project: Draw a self-portrait while looking in a mirror without looking down at the paper. John Kaufman, BS ’81, was probably the only one who followed the instructions to the letter. And his simple drawing sparked what became known among his classmates as the “Kaufmania mystique”—which included, it was said, that he often scrimped on food to buy books and record albums. Although many members of his class had the opportunity to study...

And the Winner Is . . .  Congratulations to David Morrow, BS ’84, MEd ’92, Vero Beach, FL, the winner of the random-generated drawing from correct submissions to the magazine’s Squirrel Search contest. He received a box of black-squirrel-themed swag from McKay Bricker Framing & Black Squirrel Gifts in downtown Kent.  The black squirrels can be found in the spring/summer 2022 PDF on page 10 (in the lower right corner of the Crawford Hall groundbreaking photo), on page 22 (on top of the soil monitoring station being wired by Dr. Timothy Gallagher in photo at left), and on pag...

Here is the most recent news from our students, faculty, and alumni! Katie Butler, M.F.A. Painting 2021 Katie Butler, M.F.A. Painting 2021, has her debut solo show in New York opening on Jan. 6, 2023. The show is called "Pomp and Circumstance" and will be open January through February 2023 in Hesse Flatow, New York, New York. The show depicts the disparity between legislative members and the communities they represent, as well as capitalism's role in the current political climate. Recently, Katie was featured in the national publication New American Painting. Mike Alejandro, M....

Like the weather in Ohio, TikTok trends change quickly. ;) What’s popular one day may not be popular the next. As quick as the trends come and go, it’s crucial to act fast and create your own take on a popular trend as long as it makes sense for your brand.  Since launching the university’s TikTok account in 2019, Kent State’s social media team has made a concerted effort to monitor trends and incorporate the ones that make sense for our brand. Between popular sounds and songs to challenges and even clips from the “Corn Kid,” there’s no shortage of creativity we’ve been able to use to ...