Thirteen students from the Kent State School of Visual Communication Design (VCD) were honored Friday, April 14, 2023 with design scholarships.
The awards were held in conjunction with the opening of the Visual Communication Design Senior Shows, beginning with the BFA Design Seniors on April 14 and continuing with the BA Senior Design show on April 28 and the BFA Senior Photography show which opens on May 12.
The scholarship ceremony brought out quite a crowd of students and their families, faculty, alumni and members of the community to the point of being standing room only. Director Daniel Alenquer was the host of the ceremony and started off his comments reflecting on the past four years of the graduating students journey.
He noted that he had started as the school director in the same year as this most of this year’s graduating seniors, and he felt a special kinship with them, as they had made the four-year journey to this ceremony together. His comments touched on the pandemic, the challenges of working remotely especially when considering letterpress work using the large print presses on Taylor Hall's fourth floor, as well as the difficulties inherent in the return to campus.
Alenquer also introduced members of the Darling family who presented The Christopher Darling Memorial Scholarship in honor of former professor Christopher Darling who died in 2018. At the conclusion of the awarding of the scholarships, Alenquer welcomed up faculty members who presented awards for students featured in the BFA Design Show.