Community & Society

Love of Aviation Inspires Kent State Students and Alumni to Volunteer for Props and Pistons Festival
The Props and Pistons Festival has been held since 2013 and is planned and funded by Inspire Aviation, a non-profit organization whose goal is promoting aviation and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) education. To learn more about the event or to volunteer go to https://www.flyohio.org/.

Interior Design Professor Focuses on ‘Empathetic Moments’
Tina Patel leads with empathy in the classroom, the design studio and every space in between.

Kent State Paves the Way for First-Generation Student Success
Kent State is one of 21 institutions that has advanced to the First Scholars phase of the First Scholars Network. Faculty and staff are hard at work to provide a higher-quality experience for first generation students.

Kent State Research on Full Display at Peace Conference in Rwanda
A host of Kent State University faculty and students took center stage at a global peace conference on July 12 in Kigali, Rwanda, sharing their knowledge and research with delegates from more than a dozen countries and as well as the U.S.

Visit to Kigali Genocide Memorial Sets Stage for Kent State-Sponsored Peace Conference
On July 10, Kent State students visited the Kigali Genocide Memorial, which serves as a place of remembrance and education, during the Kent State Kigali Summer Institute, a three-week education-abroad experience that includes the course Rwanda After the Genocide Against the Tutsi.

Showing Students How to Soar
As the first Black woman to graduate from Kent State University’s flight program in 1991, Capt. Stephanie Johnson knows what it takes to aim high for a dream and reach it. Now, she wants other young students from diverse backgrounds to be able to envision and achieve their biggest dreams as well.

IN A FLASH: Smokey the Squirrel?
Smoke from the Canadian wildfires created hazy scenes like this on campus last week.

Ohio Educators Heading to Kent State Peace Conference in Rwanda
Jeffrey Hartmann, Ph.D., principal of Stow-Munroe Falls High School, said he was interested in attending the conference to learn skills to deal with his school district’s changing landscape.

Kent State Legal Expert Offers Insight Into Supreme Court Decision on Affirmative Action
On Thursday, June 29, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 6-3 ruling, struck down the long-standing policy of affirmative action in college admissions on the grounds it violates the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause. Kent State University Professor Christopher Banks, Ph.D., J.D., said the high court already had tipped its hand that the court was “positioned to jettison” the policy, so the ruling was not surprising.

Kent State and University of Rwanda Build on Tragic Pasts to Forge Global Peace
Kent State University is building on the legacy of May 4, 1970, and the mission of its School of Peace and Conflict Studies, when it joins forces with the University of Rwanda in July to help advance peace education across the globe.