Angelina DiFranco started dancing when she was just three years old and wearing a diaper under her leotard. “I was terrified of my dance teacher,” DiFranco joked. "No, she's great." She got her start at Starship Dance Studio in Guilford, Connecticut, about 90 miles from Lincoln Center in New York City. She knew she wanted to be a professional dancer when she got ‘en pointe’ at 10 years old. Her lifelong dream came true in September of 2022 when she got to perform at Lincoln Center’s Big Umbrella Festival. For DiFranco, a graduating senior honors student who double-majored in Dance...

Connecting the Story of May 4 to Today’s Headlines The May 4 Visitors Center (M4VC) is observing its 10th anniversary this spring. Following a “soft” opening in fall 2012, the center was officially dedicated as part of the May 4 Commemoration in 2013. The center was created through the efforts and passion of Laura Davis, BA ’73, MA ’76, PhD ’87, Professor Emerita of English, and Carole Barbato, BS ’71, MA ’75, PhD ’94, professor of communication studies, who both were Kent State students in spring 1970. Davis was an eyewitness to the May 4 shootings. Barbato, who died in 2014, wrot...

Former nursing student makes his way to public health and found his passion. After a bit of a windy road and some key helping hands, Elton Sunnyway has a smile on his face as he contemplates his future. “I feel excited. I’m so happy I made the switch to the Kent State University College of Public Health and I found my confidence and I have patience with myself,” said Sunnyway.  A first-generation college student, Sunnyway came to Kent as a transfer student from Bowling Green and is originally from Liberia. According to him, some critical changes happened after first meeting Shaunte ...