Coffee chats, local dinners and cheering on the Kent State football team are just some of the things a student who is paired with a mentor can expect from the International Friendship Program. The International Friendship Program pairs international students and scholars with Kent State faculty, staff and their families for the purpose of exchanging culture in a unique and fulfilling way, according to the Office of International Student Affairs. This program allows faculty and international students to converse and learn from each other, and it creates a welcoming environment for those who ...

Honors College student Jordan Gilkison has a drive for success - both in the classroom and on the golf course. As a sophomore business analytics major, he balances his time between keeping up with school and serving as a core member of the Kent State University Men’s Golf team. The life of a student-athlete is very competitive. To perform well in tournaments and on tests, the pressure is on Jordan to bring his A-game. While this means a packed schedule, Jordan says that Kent State student-athletes make up their own community. He described it as feeling like a “fraternity.” He has met a ...

Ten years ago, if someone had asked Brandi Neloms, ‘09, where she’d be in 2022, she would have responded that she was on her way to sitting next to journalist/anchor Romona Robinson in a Cleveland newsroom.   Neloms attended the 2008 Robert G. McGruder Distinguished Lecture and Awards Program which celebrates media diversity, where Robinson was honored, and was inspired by her accomplishments. For three years, the public relations alumna was a senior business development manager in Amazon’s Special Projects organization. She says her position gives her the “privi...

When Caty Payette, ’20, began working for Student Media, she didn’t imagine she’d one day work for a member of Congress. Yet since graduation, the journalism major has worked for three different U.S. Representatives, representing Ohio, Wisconsin and Alabama.   She is currently the communications director for U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH), whose term is set to expire Jan. 3, 2023. “Because I am so opinionated and so vocal, I wanted to operate within the communication sphere, where I get to directly talk to people and help people in a way that allowed me to shape the difference that I wan...

Congratulations to our past and present EHHS Hall of Fame Award recipients!  EHHS is proud to provide a place our alumni and friends can call home. We hope our alumni visit the site often and come back to campus to reconnect with faculty, fellow alumni, and current students. The virtual 2022 Hall of Fame Awards celebration video features a few words from our inductees. ...

Bundle up for the last home football game of the season: it’s a Freeze-Out! In this annual Prez D Freeze-Out game, the Kent State University football team will take on Eastern Michigan at Dix Stadium. Come support the Golden Flashes in their last home game of the season at 6 p.m. on November 16.  Get there early to celebrate our upcoming graduates for Senior Night and have a chance to win prizes. Warm yourself up with some free hot chocolate, food, Kent State Athletics giveaways and more.  President Todd Diacon will also be there giving out presidential swag.  So, grab your ...

Past tragedies link Kent State University and the University of Rwanda in a distinct way.   For Kent State, the May 4, 1970, shootings have become a permanent part of the university’s history and American history.  In Rwanda, the country’s 1994 genocide against the Tutsi resulted in the slaughter of nearly one million people. Although on different scales, both violent events have shaped the cultures of each university and given each a unique perspective on the effects of violence on a community.  Now, both universities are drawing on their past to forge a path toward globa...

The following is a first-person account from Eric Mansfield, a retired Army Major and Iraq Veteran, who serves as Assistant Vice President, Content Strategy & Communications for Kent State's Division of University Communications and Marketing.  He was recently invited to a Veterans Day breakfast with First Lady Dr. Jill Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris at the White House and was encouraged to share his experiences and photos with Kent State Today.    In many ways, I'm still coming to grips with the experience I had over this past weekend and all of the amaz...

When most people think of wedding dress, they imagine a traditional white dress. Sara Hume, Ph.D., curator at the Kent State University Museum, thinks of how wedding dresses transcend global borders in all different shapes and colors. “As the World Weds: Global Wedding Traditions” is an art exhibition at the museum focused on wedding customs across the world that connect people with their culture and tie families together. This exhibition features traditional wedding garments and other celebration mementos from around the world. Hume, Ph.D, lead curator on this exhibit, was recently intervie...