Community & Society

Still shot of WKBN-TV story featuring cardboard cutout of Carmen Roberts, Sr.

armen Roberts III, a senior budget analyst for the University Budget Office, told WKBN how his family memorialized their late grandfather, a longtime Cleveland Indians fan.

Akron head coach John Groce and Kent State head men's basketball coach Rob Senderoff

Two archrival men's basketball teams worked together to produce a powerful video supporting the Black Lives Matter movement and encouraging everyone to register to vote in the 2020 election.

Three Kent State University students.

The U.S. Department of Education has awarded Kent State University a $2.6 million, five-year TRIO Student Support Services program grant. The program serves students from first-generation and low-income backgrounds and students with diverse learning and physical abilities.

image of a volunteer organizing donated food

Among the festivities marking the beginning of this unconventional semester, one Kent State University office is partnering with Portage County social service agencies to host a contactless food drive to collect items that will support members of campus and local communities. The Flashes Fighting Hunger Contactless Food Drive, organized by Kent State’s Community Engaged Learning, will take place on Wednesday, Aug. 26, from 4-8 p.m.

A student uses a computer.

We all know the world has changed, perhaps forever. The overall lesson of the COVID- 19 pandemic is that we need a public health workforce, prepared at all levels, to monitor the world for emerging infectious diseases, to prevent the spread of highly contagious diseases, to develop new treatments and vaccines, and to invent novel approaches never seen before. Kent State University’s College of Public Health is addressing this workforce challenge, in part, by hosting the 2020 Virtual Public Health Academy.

Melanie Knowles, Kent State University’s manager of sustainability, stands in front of her favorite building on campus, The John Elliott for Architecture and Environmental Design.

Melanie Knowles is the manager of sustainability at Kent State University. In this role, she works with people all over campus to make cost-effective, better practices for the environment. Learn more about Knowles as she answers these 10 questions.

A person working at a computer taking down information.

When the Ohio Department of Health sought help this summer for work on the COVID-19 pandemic response, more than 110 students from Kent State University’s College of Public Health raised their hands to volunteer.

Photo of the members of the Kent State Police Department

The Kent State University Police Department is scheduled for a virtual assessment as part of a program to achieve international reaccreditation. Administered by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies Inc. (CALEA), the program requires agencies to meet state-of-the-art standards in four basic areas: policy and procedures, administration, operations and support services.

Protesters in Cleveland, Ohio following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo courtesy of Sylvia Lorson)

Kent State University Associate Professor Elizabeth M. Smith-Pryor has authored a perspective piece on racial equality that is featured in the July 15 Washington Post column, “Made by History.”

Volunteers Dave and Terri Cardy pack and weigh produce to hand out at the Campus Kitchen in Beall Hall. The food is mostly donated by Trader Joe’s locations in the Cleveland area.

The Campus Kitchen at Kent State University, a student-run organization that reclaims food to feed the needy in the Kent area, has had to swiftly switch gears from operating a hot food kitchen to an expanded food pantry.