When Melody Tankersley, Kent State University’s executive vice president and provost, took the podium at the Summer 2026 Commencement on Aug. 8, she didn’t open with a syllabus or a strategic plan. She opened with a cardigan and a pair of sneakers.Tankersley built her address around an unexpected source of wisdom for a university stage: “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.” What looked to many childhood viewers like a gentle, quaint children’s show on television, she told graduates, was in fact something more enduring – a moral framework for leadership.“With the benefit of adulthood, many of us now r...

This story appeared in the Canton Repository on Aug. 4, 2026. Written by Aaron Hughes. A Stark County educator was one of dozens across the nation who participated in a three-day teaching program hosted by the Library of Congress. Susan Jaroscak of Macedonia, an adjunct professor at the Kent State University at Stark campus in Jackson Township, was one of 90 educators who took part in the Summer Teacher Institute, part of the Teaching with Primary Sources program, in Washington, DC.It allows participants to work with experts to learn effective practices for using primary so...

The School of Art Collection and Galleries at Kent State University is pleased to announce Devan Shimoyama as the 2026 Curlee Raven Holton and Raven Print Editions Fellow.In conjunction with the fellowship, an exhibition featuring Shimoyama’s work will be presented in the CVA Gallery, located at 325 Terrace Drive, Kent, Ohio, from Oct. 20 through Nov. 20, 2026.As part of the exhibition program, Shimoyama will deliver an artist lecture on Friday, Oct. 23, at 12 p.m. in Room 165 of the Center for the Visual Arts. A public reception honoring the artist will follow in the CVA Gallery from 5 to 7 p...