alumni-news

As part of its annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration held Jan. 24, Kent State University has announced the 2020 recipients of its Diversity Trailblazer Award, Beverly J. Warren Unity Award for Diversity and Rozell Duncan Student Diversity Award.

U.S. News & World Report has named two Kent State University programs as U.S. News Best Online Programs for 2020. Kent State is recognized in the Best Online MBA Programs and Best Online Graduate Education Programs rankings. U.S. News released its 2020 Best Online Programs rankings Tuesday, Jan. 14.

Kindness means something different to everyone, but to Stephanie Sweany, ’05, it means making a stranger’s day a little better by simply smiling at them. Stephanie started the Canton Kindness Coalition to “make kindness contagious” in November 2018.

Claudia Kovach, ’03, M.A. ’09, has been part of her family business, City Machine Technologies, Inc since 2006. Her time and dedication to the company has proven successful, as Claudia was recently named the National Federation of Independent Business Small Business Champion of Ohio.

Leslie Srodek-Johnson, ’01, a Kent State University journalism graduate, mother of two and lead decorator and baker at Stan’s Northfield Bakery, received the call of a lifetime in December 2018. It was from the Food Network asking her to be a part of the “Christmas Cookie Challenge.”

Kent State University’s Giving Tuesday 2019 raised more than $1.6 million when it ended on Dec. 3 at 11:59 p.m., shattering the previous year’s record of $1.03 million. Supporters were able to choose from more than 40 featured giving options throughout the Kent State system, including student scholarships, educational programs, athletic teams and more. 

With the launch of its 2019 Giving Tuesday campaign on Nov. 1, Kent State University has again transformed a one-day fundraising initiative into a monthlong giving campaign to support student scholarships, expanded programs, study away initiatives and modern facilities.