Profiles

First-generation, non-traditional student Yalanda Cunningham knows that Kent State has her back. After graduating with her associate's degree from a community college in Kalamazoo, Cunningham decided to finish her bachelor’s degree at Kent State University. “I believe you can go so much further in your life,” Cunningham said, “if you had a solid background in education,” she said. 

Jailynn Taylor didn’t originally set out to write about the fashion industry. She set out to design for it. But today, Taylor is living her dream working in the fast-paced world of the fashion industry as a contracted commerce and beauty writer for InStyle and Shape.com in New York City.

Tina Patel leads with empathy in the classroom, the design studio and every space in between.

Sisterhood is a strong bond. For Kent State alumnae Brittany and Christina Watts, their sisterly love has been the cornerstone of their academic success, leading them to earn their doctoral degrees and graduate together this May.

After 27 years of travel and pivoting to various international endeavors, Sonia Karkare, a native of Mumbai, India, is now back at Kent State as an adjunct professor with the Ambassador Crawford College of Business and Entrepreneurship’s Executive MBA (Master of Business Administration) program. She is teaching diverse types of courses, including the Digital Transformation in Healthcare course.

Two-time Kent State University alumnus Eli Kalil, who is finishing up his first year as a Presidential Management Fellow at Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center, said his degrees prepared him well for the field of healthcare administration

As Kara Crissman’s maternity leave came to an end, she took to LinkedIn to reflect on the pros and cons of being home with a newborn. 

Serving as the Chair of the May 4 Task Force has been something communication studies major Avery Hall, ’23, describes as one of the most impactful and rewarding experiences she’s had at Kent State University.

Kent State University alumna Lillian Kuri has been unanimously elected as the Cleveland Foundation’s 10th president and CEO.

Aliyah C. Tipton, MA ’20, serves as assistant director of communications in Kent State's Division of Philanthropy and Alumni Engagement. An alumna of both Jackson State University and Kent State University, she was invited to join University College’s Community Engaged Learning (CEL) division as a trip leader for an Alternative Winter Break, “May 1970, Student-Led Collective Action and the Civil Rights Movement,” in Jackson, Mississippi, from Dec. 19-22, 2022. We asked her to share her experiences