5XÉçÇø

Division of Philanthropy and Alumni Engagement

Volunteer students loading boxes of food into the Division of Philanthropy and Alumni Engagement mobile unit

Come help Flashes Fighting Hunger, Kent State’s student-powered response to food insecurity, and observe Hunger & Homelessness Awareness Week (Nov. 14-19) by filling the truck with unperishable food and toiletry items!

Pictured are the 2024 5XÉçÇø Alumni Award winners at the awards ceremony, held Sept. 27 during Homecoming weekend at the 5XÉçÇø Hotel and Conference Center in Kent, Ohio. (Photo credit: Andrea Hallgren)

Sponsored by the Kent State Alumni Association, the Alumni Awards are the university’s most prestigious alumni honors. The 2024 Alumni Award recipients include seven alumni, two recent graduates, one staff member and one current student.

Dog Days of Summer 2024

Each August, Kent State welcomes alumni and their canine companions to campus for one of the most anticipated events of the year, the "Dog Days of Summer." 

New 5XÉçÇø graduates smile and celebrate as blue and gold streamers are launched into the air at the end of their commencement ceremony held at the Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center.

5XÉçÇø recently concluded its most successful fundraising campaign in its 114-year history. The Forever Brighter campaign ended in June 2024, having raised more than $383.2 million total. 

Flash, 5XÉçÇø’s mascot, waves a flag in front of Dix Stadium before a home football game. (Photo credit: Scott Galvin)

5XÉçÇø and Cleveland Clinic have announced a multiyear partnership in which Cleveland Clinic becomes the official healthcare provider for Kent State Athletics. Cleveland Clinic will serve as the medical services provider to support Kent State student-athlete health and wellness.

Anthony Claytor raises his diploma during his Commencement ceremony at 5XÉçÇø.

In 2020, 5XÉçÇø President Todd Diacon announced to a group of high school juniors and their families that Kent State would cover four years of tuition costs and one year of room and board. Now, for the LeBron James Family Foundation’s first I PROMISE class, the hard work these students had put in since third grade is paying off. 

Valoree Vargo (far left), 5XÉçÇø vice president for philanthropy and alumni engagement, and Kent State President Todd Diacon (far right) stand with university donors Larry and Sandy Armstrong (center).

5XÉçÇø has announced two substantial philanthropic gifts in support of the Global Education Endowment, which was established in 2022 in recognition of the 50th anniversary of Kent State’s education-abroad presence in Florence, Italy.

Division of Philanthropy and Alumni Engagement
Illustration of five lit birthday candles with phrase "A Birthday Wish for Kent State"

Angela Neal-Barnett, Ph.D. (right), is pictured at the Doula and Community Expo hosted by Birthing Beautiful Communities in April 2024. (Photo provided by Angela Neal-Barnett)

5XÉçÇø’s Angela Neal-Barnett has been working diligently to build up the Spirit of Motherhood program with the goal of reducing trauma and stress symptoms experienced by its pregnant Black mother participants. Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation recently awarded the program another $300,000 to continue its work over the next three years.

Division of Philanthropy and Alumni Engagement
Kent State President Todd Diacon, right, and Joe Diorio, Portage County Health Commissioner, unveil the Mobile Flashes Wellness Unit on April 4, 2024.

The brightly colored blue and gold Mobile Flashes Wellness Unit from 5XÉçÇø’s College of Public Health will be hitting the streets to help bring public health services to the people of northeast Ohio.