University News

Kendra and Michael Pacifico organized the Candlelight Walk and Vigil for decades.

As key supporters and organizers of the May 4 Candlelight Walk and Vigil, Michael and Kendra Pacifico say the event is the time when people can put their politics aside to honor those who died and were wounded on May 4, 1970.

Attendees - Kent State community members and visitors gather on the Kent State Commons for the annual May 4 Commemoration to honor those who were killed and wounded on May 4, 1970.

Kent State University has scheduled a variety of programs, events and exhibits for this year’s remembrance of May 4, 1970, to honor the four students who were killed, the nine students who were wounded and the countless others whose lives were forever changed when the Ohio National Guard fired on Kent State students during an anti-war protest.

Kent State's Communication Awards on Display at UCM

Kent State’s messengers, the staff at University Communications and Marketing (UCM), have helped the university be recognized regionally, nationally and internationally for its work throughout 2020 and 2021. The last two years were filled with major events across campus and around the world. UCM was tasked with continuously updating students, faculty and staff on the constantly evolving landscape. In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, UCM was challenged to create a campaign to help the Kent State community manage these tough times together.

i3 Lab sign

The Kent State University Board of Trustees recently approved the naming of the Burton D. Morgan Foundation Entrepreneurship Suite, a space that includes the LaunchNET offices, the Marty Erbaugh i3 Lab and surrounding areas within the Design Innovation (DI) Hub.

Dr. Michelle Corvette, Assistant Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning

Michelle Corvette is the new assistant director of Kent State’s Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL). The CTL’s mission is to enrich student's lives by supporting faculty members with evidence-based, student-focused and innovative teaching and learning measures. Corvette is excited about providing support to Kent State faculty across all of the Kent State campuses. Learn more about Corvette and the CTL as she answers these 10 questions.

A student visits the new May 4 exhibit from the Wick Poetry Center in the Kent State Student Center

A new interactive exhibit from the Wick Poetry Center that encouraged visitors to explore the history of student protest through the Kent State shootings, has opened in the Kent Student Center as part of May 4 commemoration activities.

Power of our Voices May 4 Banner

Tammy Clewell, Ph.D., professor in Kent State University’s Department of English, will give the inaugural lecture of the Jerry M. Lewis May 4 Lecture Series with her presentation “Remembering the Contested May 4 Memorializing Process.” The lecture and luncheon will be held at 11:30 a.m. on Monday, May 2, in the Kent Student Center Ballroom.

Photo of Kent State from the Special Collections and Archives: Digital Collections

Kent State’s long and extensive history has been continuously documented and studied. Those looking for the highlights of the university’s past can find it all in one place: the University Libraries’ Special Collections and Archives: Digital Collections on the kent.edu website. This next installment of Where on the Web? highlights pages across the Kent State website of special interest and use to the Kent State community. 

Kent State University students walk by the Kent Student Center.

U.S. News & World Report ranks six Kent State University programs in the top 100 among public institutions in its 2023 edition of Best Graduate Schools. Among the top 100 public institution programs, Kent State is recognized in the Best Nursing Schools: Master’s Programs, Best Education Schools, Best Mathematics Programs, Best Psychology Schools, Best Public Health Programs and Best Physics Schools rankings. Kent State is also recognized in an additional five new national rankings.

A marker on the spot where Kent State student Alan Canfora was standing when he was shot on May 4, 1970.

This year’s return of in-person events to commemorate the Kent State shootings will include the dedication of bronze markers placed on the spots where nine students were wounded on May 4, 1970. Markers designating the locations of each of the four students killed were installed in 1999. Since that time, a small group had been working to have similar markers placed for the wounded students.