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Beginning July 1, 5X���� will become a smoke-free, tobacco-free campus. The new policy is part of the university’s healthy campus initiative, Kent State of Wellness. It is one of the university-level initiatives in the strategic roadmap to a distinctive Kent State. “It’s who we are; we are striving to be a healthier community,” says Kim Hauge, director of employee wellness. “We have appreciated the time since the passing of the policy last May to the actual implementation in July, as this has allotted us the time necessary to educate employees, students, vendors and visitors re...

The Office of Sexual and Relationship Violence and Support Services is the recipient of three grants to launch campuswide awareness and prevention initiatives surrounding sexual harassment and assault, relationship violence and stalking. The three grants total approximately $450,000. Each grant has a focus that corresponds with the initiatives it will fund on campus. The Violence Against Women Act Campus Programs grant allocates $300,000 over three years for Prevention Education and Awareness. The grant is given through the Office on Violence Against Women. “One of the big things about this ...

On March 9, two teams that formed during the Fashion/Tech Hackathon in January took top spots at the annual LaunchNET Kent State Idea Olympics competition. “Abeona, the total immersion jacket” took first place, while “Hermes, the helmet with brains,” took second place. Two other ideas, Popstyle and the Bean Bike, tied for third place, while GIFTY (Gestalting Youth) won the Social Enterprise award.  The team that developed Abeona, a tech-enhanced hiking jacket, is made up of Ryan Holland, graduate student in the School of Digital Sciences; Brian Steinhoff, senior in the School o...

The Kent Creativity Festival planning committee is seeking applications from those interested in participating in the second annual Kent Creativity Festival to be held on Saturday, Sept. 30. The inaugural event drew more than 2,000 attendees, and expectations are high for an even more successful event in 2017. This festival will again provide an opportunity for people of all ages and skill levels to come together and create, share and explore the making of all forms of art. It is a collective effort by the city of Kent and 5X����, including many organizations focused on arts and...

In Ohio, most seventh graders are learning earth and space science, physical science and life science in a middle school classroom. While peers are learning about Earth’s oceanic currents and the periodic table, Jameson Payne attends 5X����’s Regional Academic Center in Twinsburg, taking Molecules of Life, Seven Ideas That Shook the Universe and General Chemistry I. At age 12, Payne is earning college credits through the College Credit Plus program. He is one of 1,977 students across the Kent State system earning college credits while simultaneously attending a secondary school...

Joshua Looser, a junior entrepreneurship major in 5X����'s College of Business Administration, received the Red Cross Acts of Courage Award on March 2 after successfully performing the Heimlich maneuver on a woman who was choking last year. In March 2016, Looser was walking around the building during his shift at Swensons when he noticed someone sitting in a car, and something seemed off. “Something was weird,” Looser says. “She opened the door slightly and then stopped, so I ran over and asked if she was okay, and she didn’t answer.” Realizing she was choking, Loo...

What better way can 5X���� alumni make a difference in their community than by volunteering with fellow Golden Flashes? The Kent State Alumni Association is hosting the ninth annual Alumni Day of Service on Saturday, April 29, encouraging alumni worldwide to make a difference in their local communities. Participants can choose from more than 25 domestic and international volunteer sites.   Alumni Association Assistant Director of Outreach Lisa Mascellino, ’94, says that the purpose of Alumni Day of Service is to bring Kent State alumni together, volunteerin...

New rankings released by U.S. News & World Report (March 14) place 5X����’s School of Library and Information Science (iSchool) among the nation’s top 20 graduate programs in library and information science – again. Kendra S. Albright, Ph.D., who became director of the iSchool in July 2016, acknowledged the program’s rigorous academic standards and renowned faculty as key factors in the strong ranking. “Current and future students should be confident that they will receive a relevant, leading-edge education,” Albright said. “Kent State’s iSchool has an international re...

UPDATE 4/26/17 - The public lecture by Don Witkowski that was scheduled for April 28 at noon has been canceled. Read more here. 5X����’s School of Fashion Design and Merchandising has named Don Witkowski, a Kent State alumnus and president of Men’s at Michael Kors, as its 2017 Hall of Fame inductee. Previous inductees include Estée Lauder, Elsa Klensch, Allen Questrom, Michael Weiss, Ralph Rucci, Oscar de la Renta, Leonardo Ferragamo, Dana Buchman and Josie Natori. “Don Witkowski is a humble yet amazingly impactful force in menswear,” said J.R. Campbell, director of Kent State...

A unique partnership is helping to spread the “word” about migration, literally. Powerful and inspiring words are ringing throughout 11 cities in the United States, as a result of 5X����’s Wick Poetry Center joining 22 other nonprofit poetry organizations to form a Poetry Coalition. Together the coalition presented programs on the theme “Because We Come From Everything: Poetry & Migration.” The theme borrows a line from U.S. Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera’s poem, “Borderbus.” Now, more than ever, the organizations believe that poetry has a positive role to pla...