Alumna Emilie Oxel O’Leary, '93, is the CEO of Sunshine Solar, a woman-owned mechanical installation company that partners with major brands such as L’Oreal and Amazon by installing solar power to support their overarching goals of being sustainable companies. “I’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit,” O’Leary said. “But I knew I needed a good education. I couldn't just go out and start a business and not have good support.” O’Leary graduated from Kent State University with a degree in fashion merchandising. With an interest in fashion, she started her first business when she was just ...

Governor Mike DeWine has appointed Haley Crews as graduate student trustee of the Kent State University Board of Trustees. Announced at the Board of Trustees meeting on September 15, Crews will serve a two-year term, replacing Jasmine Hoff, whose term as graduate student trustee recently concluded. Crews holds a B.S. degree in Neuroscience and Sociology from the University of Mount Union and is currently enrolled in the Sociology Ph.D. program at Kent State, pursuing a master’s degree in Sociology. As part of her undergraduate career at the University of Mount Union, Crews served as the Exe...

Since the start of his career in marketing and public relations almost four decades ago, Media and Journalism alumnus Mike Jackson, '78, has been setting and exceeding expectations in the industry.   After studying journalism at Kent State in the seventies, Jackson wanted to be the next Walter Cronkite, in that he had a big love for news. Kent State was where he gained more introspection about the world, after he had attended integrated Catholic schools in his hometown of Youngstown during his youth.   But after being exposed to advertising and att...

Kent, Ohio — Come dressed in your Halloween best for the Kent State University Orchestra’s Oct. 31, 3 p.m. concert. The members of the orchestra will be decked out in costume, performing spooky, family-friendly favorites. Candy will be handed out at the end of the performance to kick off Kent city’s official trick-or-treat that night. Tickets are $10 for adults and free for those 18 and under with a ticket.  The program includes Bizet’s “Carmen Suite,” Mussorgsky’s “Night on Bald Mountain,” and selections from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “The Phantom of the Opera.” Also on the program is Sai...

Today, for the first time, the United States commemorates national Indigenous Peoples' Day simultaneously with Columbus Day, October 11, 2021. Since the 1990s, Indigenous Peoples' Day has been on the rise as an alternative to Columbus Day, which Native Americans have protested for honoring a man who enabled their colonization and forced assimilation. Over the years, a growing number of cities and states have adopted Indigenous Peoples' Day.  This year, President Joe Biden has proclaimed October 11 as a day to honor “our diverse history and the Indigenous peoples who contribute to shapin...

From the South to the Midwest, climate change has affected the United States in various ways, with partisan politics and social media increasing its awareness to new levels. During the summer of 2021, student journalists from Kent State joined peers from three different regions of the U.S. to report on this issue. They did this through Project Citizen, a collaborative project organized by Kent State alumna and former CNN anchor Carol Costello. Project Citizen first launched in 2019 and started with two colleges, Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles and Kent State. Since then, two more...