News Archive

Remote learning means students can study and take their exams virtually -- make that literally -- anywhere. 

In August 2021, 1,000 incoming Kent State students, faculty and staff began a collaborative community effort to implement a social justice quilting project. This initiative stemmed from the Community Engaged Learning department's welcome week and was completed in late August 2022. The mission was to create something by Kent State students that could be sold or auctioned off to raise money for improvements to the gymnasium at the King Kennedy Community Center.

The project team, led by Yanhai Du, Ph.D., developed a lightweight-high-energy-density onboard power source that enables vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) type aircraft to potentially increase flight time and payload.

The students who founded Kent State's first Greek organization used the university administration's own initiatives as a way around anti-fraternity sentiments.

Kent State University’s newest anthropologist, Assistant Professor Aldo Cimino, Ph.D., has made it his life’s work to understand the causes and consequences of hazing, including the possible generation of solidarity. He and his co-author recently published an article on this question in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior. 

Still in training, this 4-month-old Labrador Retriever will be partnered with Sgt. Anne Spahr. Salem’s cuteness has been featured on all the Kent State social media accounts, and he’s already stealing many hearts!

You’ve probably seen someone knitting a scarf or a sweater as a hobby. However, knitting is big business and has a large impact on manufacturing. Kent State School of Fashion professors are using a new $236,816 grant from the Ohio Department of Higher Education (ODHE) to spread awareness of the possibilities of knitting and creating training opportunities.

Kent State was more than 100 miles away from Philip Middleton Williams’ high school and his home in Perrysburg, but the May 4, 1970, shootings, which killed four students and wounded nine, reverberated through his psyche and brought the Vietnam War front and center. Williams was inspired by the May 4 events to write and produce a play "The Sugar Ridge Rag." 

Kent State University launched the public phase of its $350 million Forever Brighter comprehensive fundraising campaign in October 2021, and during the first year of the public campaign, a record-breaking $77.6 million was raised. This philanthropic feat was made possible with the support of 10,687 donors, 3,753 of whom made a gift to Kent State for the first time.

What were the most common first names among Kent State students 100 years ago?  And what were the names announced most often at the commencement ceremonies of 2022? 

Kent State University’s LaunchNET program is celebrating 10 years of helping members of the university community pursue their entrepreneurial ventures. 

ATHENA Akron, a women’s leadership organization in Summit County, Ohio, has named Angela Neal-Barnett, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences within the College of Arts and Sciences at Kent State University, its winner of the 2022 ATHENA Akron Leadership Award. She will receive the award on Nov. 17 at the Hilton Akron/Fairlawn.

Vincent Marino, Kent State University’s new emergency management coordinator, has been on the job for six months working to ensure the university community is ready for whatever might come next. 

Choosing a career path at age 18 can be overwhelming for some students. As a part of Kent State's University College’s Exploratory Program, Flash Connections are enhanced sections of the required First Year Experience course created especially for Exploratory students. The Flash Connections program is designed to help students considering multiple majors find a community while discovering their major. This program’s exemplary work with undecided students was recently recognized, receiving awards from the Global Community for Academic Advising.

Kent State University and the University of Akron School of Law (Akron Law) recently finalized a Juris Doctor degree partnership program to create a seamless, sequential system for students to obtain a bachelor’s degree from Kent State and a Juris Doctor degree from Akron Law in only six years.

Deanne Parr never gave up on her dream of earning a degree, which included overcoming the many challenges of being a teen mother.

Kent State University has again been recognized as one of America’s Best-in-State Employers for 2022 by Forbes and market research company Statista. In Ohio, Kent State ranks No. 3 among the top 100 employers in Ohio, landing above such notable employers as Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Procter & Gamble in Cincinnati, University Hospitals and Cleveland Clinic, both located in Cleveland.

Kent State journalism Professor Jacqueline Marino spent her fall 2021 sabbatical learning the techniques of audio storytelling. The piece she produced, “The Rural Doctor Is In,” is now the winner of two national journalism awards:

From 1921 to 1942, a WWI-vintage cannon stood on a knoll overlooking Rockwell Hall, then home to the University Library. It was loaned by the U.S. War Department to the Kent American Legion Post 496, which intended to present it to the city of Kent. When city officials could not decide on a suitable location, the cannon found a home on the campus of Kent State Normal College. 

For a third consecutive year, Kent State University has been selected as one the nation’s top universities for LGBTQ+ students for creating a safe, welcoming environment for students, faculty and staff, according to Campus Pride, a leading resource for LGBTQ+ leadership development, diversity inclusion and advocacy within higher education.