News and Events

2013

• $5 Million Gift Is Largest Made to the College of Architecture and Environmental Design at Kent State University Kent State University President Lester A. Lefton announced today a $5 million gift from John and Fonda Elliot through the family’s foundation which will create the “Elliot Studios for Design†at the new building planned for the College of Architecture and Environmental Design at Kent State. The gift also will fund endowments for The Elliot Program for Healthcare Design, The Elliot Scholars and The Elliot Professorship in Healthcare Design.
  
• The Firefighter and the Philosopher What’s the most unique friendship you’ve ever seen? The 500-pound gorilla who kept a kitten for a pet? Felix the neat freak and Oscar the cigar-chomping slob? How about a 45-year-old firefighter with three kids and a distinguished 60-something professor of philosophy?
  
• Kent State University Holds Third Annual Alumni College The Kent State University Alumni Association will host the third annual Alumni College. The event offers Kent State graduates and friends an opportunity to reconnect with each other and the university. The 2013 Alumni College will focus on topics from the university’s College of Arts and Sciences with renowned faculty members, as well as former NASA astronaut and Kent State graduate Carl Walz.
  

2012

• $5 Million Gift Is Largest Made to the College of Architecture and Environmental Design at Kent State University Kent State University President Lester A. Lefton announced today a $5 million gift from John and Fonda Elliot through the family’s foundation which will create the “Elliot Studios for Design†at the new building planned for the College of Architecture and Environmental Design at Kent State. The gift also will fund endowments for The Elliot Program for Healthcare Design, The Elliot Scholars and The Elliot Professorship in Healthcare Design.
  
• The Firefighter and the Philosopher What’s the most unique friendship you’ve ever seen? The 500-pound gorilla who kept a kitten for a pet? Felix the neat freak and Oscar the cigar-chomping slob? How about a 45-year-old firefighter with three kids and a distinguished 60-something professor of philosophy?
  
• Kent State University Holds Third Annual Alumni College The Kent State University Alumni Association will host the third annual Alumni College. The event offers Kent State graduates and friends an opportunity to reconnect with each other and the university. The 2013 Alumni College will focus on topics from the university’s College of Arts and Sciences with renowned faculty members, as well as former NASA astronaut and Kent State graduate Carl Walz.
  
• Kent State Golden Flashes Heading to GoDaddy.com Bowl On Sunday, Dec. 2, Kent State University accepted an invitation to play in the GoDaddy.com Bowl, marking the program’s first bowl appearance in 40 years. The Kent State Golden Flashes will take on Arkansas State University on Sunday, Jan. 6, 2013, at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Ala.
  
• Easing the Financial Burden on Students Psychology Professor David Riccio, Ph.D., has had one job since he graduated from Princeton University nearly 50 years ago – teaching and conducting research at Kent State University.
  
• Kent State’s Homecoming Celebration Takes Place Oct. 20 Kent State University’s Homecoming will take place Saturday, Oct. 20. Sponsored by the Kent State University Alumni Association, the day will be filled with tradition and exciting activities.
  
• Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is: Of Football and Family Ask Golden Flashes Head Football Coach Darell Hazell what the key to a championship team is and he’ll sum it up in one word: “Family.â€
  
• Entry Deadline Approaches for the “Battle of the Decades†in the 2012 Kent State Homecoming Parade Kent State University and the city of Kent invite businesses, organizations and individuals to participate in Kent State University’s 2012 Homecoming Parade. The registration deadline for entries is Friday, Oct. 5.
  
• Tailgate Event Kicks Off Sheryl Crow Concert at Kent State’s Dix Stadium If three fantastic bands, terrific food and wine sampling sounds like a great way to spend a Saturday evening, then join in the fun at a special tailgate party going on before the Centennial Campaign Concert at Kent State University’s Dix Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 8. The concert features headliner Sheryl Crow, along with O.A.R. and Los Lonely Boys.
  
• Kent State Alumni Association Appoints National Board of Directors Officers and New Members The Kent State University Alumni Association Inc. announces the following new members for its National Alumni Board of Directors.
  
• Limited Offer for Faculty, Staff and Alumni of Kent State University
  
• O.A.R. Joins Sheryl Crow and Los Lonely Boys for Sept. 8 Centennial Campaign Concert at Kent State Platinum-selling group O.A.R. has been added to the Sept. 8 Centennial Campaign Concert at Kent State University, joining Grammy Award-winning artists Sheryl Crow and Los Lonely Boys. The three acts will perform at Kent State’s Dix Stadium.
  
• Kent State University’s Centennial Campaign Raises Record-Breaking $265 Million With the launch of the Centennial Campaign, Kent State University took on an aggressive agenda to raise $250 million to fund the university’s endowment, capital projects and operating needs, with a particular emphasis on student scholarships.
  
• Kent State University’s Centennial Campaign Raises Record-Breaking $265 Million With the launch of the Centennial Campaign, Kent State University took on an aggressive agenda to raise $250 million to fund the university’s endowment, capital projects and operating needs, with a particular emphasis on student scholarships. The university has officially closed the Centennial Campaign and reports it raised a record-breaking $265 million, surpassing its goal by $15 million.
  
• Largest Cash Gift Ever Made to Kent State University Museum The Kent State University Museum has received a $1.1 million donation – its largest cash gift ever – from local business leader and Kent State alumnus Gerald Schweigert. The donation, in the form of a charitable gift annuity, will be instrumental in the preservation and future support of museum collections and activities.
  
• Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is: Balancing the Books on Opportunity From early childhood, Casey Frame’s (Accounting, ‘12) mother told her that she would have to pay for college someday. Frame estimates that by the time she was ready to start school at Kent State University, she had saved roughly $10,000.
  
• Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is: Improving Grades and Retention, One Student at a Time For many students, their first few undergraduate years can be an eye opening, and sometimes overwhelming, experience, especially when they find themselves in first-year lecture classes like General Chemistry or Math.
  
• Sheryl Crow Headlines Kent State’s “Centennial Campaign†Concert on Sept. 8 Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Sheryl Crow will headline a concert at Kent State University on Sept. 8 at 6 p.m. at Dix Stadium in Kent, Ohio. The “Centennial Campaign†concert to benefit the Campaign for Change Scholarship Fund serves as a celebration of the conclusion of Kent State’s Centennial Campaign, a $250-million fundraising effort timed around university’s 100th anniversary in 2010 and the largest campaign in Kent State’s history.
  
• Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is: A Mentorship Made in Media Heaven Stepping into the TV2 news studio in Franklin Hall is like transporting onto the bridge of the starship Enterprise – a little disorienting, very cool, and so high-tech it makes the facilities at many small-market TV stations look positively stone age by comparison.
  
• Sheryl Crow Headlines Kent State’s Centennial Campaign Concert
  on Sept. 8
  
• Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is: Achieving the Unimaginable Physics Professor Jon Secaur, Ph.D., is every bit the scientist. In contrast, Deona Miller (Aeronautics, ’12) is the picture of a modern college student. What brought them together one day at Smith Hall is a remarkable story of what giving is all about.
  
• New Tools Announced for Scholarship Administrators
  
• Kent State’s 2012 Homecoming Scheduled for Oct. 20 Kent State University will celebrate its 2012 Homecoming on Saturday, Oct. 20. The Kent State Golden Flashes will take on the Western Michigan Broncos at Dix Stadium.
  
• New Student Space at Kent State Debuts, Features Mural By Award-Winning Comic Strip Artists and Alumni Popular comic strip artists Tom Batiuk and Chuck Ayers will be at Kent State University on Tuesday, March 27, from noon to 2 p.m. for the official opening of the new student lounge area called The Nest in the Kent Student Center. Batiuk, creator of the Funky Winkerbean comic strip, collaborates with Ayers on Crankshaft.
  
• Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations Gets New Web Page
  

2011

• Kent State Wins Gold Award at 2011 PRSA Cleveland Rocks Awards Kent State University took home a gold award at the ninth annual Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Cleveland Rocks Awards. The university won its award for its work on Kent State Magazine, the university’s alumni publication, with the winning entry titled “Engaging and Informing the Alumni†in the magazines category.
  
• Kent State Student Philanthropy Campaign Nearing Goal Kent State’s Campaign for Change, the university’s student philanthropy initiative, is nearing its goal of 475 donors with only two weeks left in the fall 2011 campaign. Two student donors, Katharine Blind and Diane Baldridge, were recently recognized for their donations to the Campaign for Change with separate $500 book awards provided by the Department of Annual Giving.
  
• Foundation Grant Program Issues Request for Proposals
  
• Kent State’s Homecoming Celebration Takes Place Oct. 15 Kent State University’s Homecoming will take place Saturday, Oct. 15. Sponsored by the Kent State Alumni Association, the day will be filled with tradition and exciting activities.
  
• Kent State Alumni Association Presents University President Lefton at Oct. 5 Cleveland Networking Luncheon The Kent State University Alumni Association hosts its next Cleveland Networking Luncheon on Wednesday, Oct. 5, at noon at the City Club of Cleveland with featured speaker Kent State President Lester A. Lefton.
  
• Kent State Student Philanthropy Campaign Kicks Off Kent State’s Campaign for Change, the university’s student philanthropy initiative, kicked off its fall campaign on Aug. 27 with a Pre-Show Party on the Plaza. Over 100 student donors participated in the event, raising several hundred dollars for the Campaign’s spring 2012 scholarship.
  
• Kent State Alumni Association Appoints National Board of Directors’ Officers and New Members The Kent State University Alumni Association Inc. announces the following new members for its National Alumni Board of Directors.
  
• Kent State Breaks Fundraising Record for Third Straight Year For the first time in its history, supporters to Kent State University have contributed more than $40 million in one year, breaking the institution’s fundraising record for the third year in a row. During the fiscal year ending June 30, private contributions to the public research university reached $42.1 million, beating last year’s total by more than $2 million.
  
• Kent State Alumni Association Hosts Its First Alumni College Kent State University alumni became students again as they returned to campus for Alumni College. Held May 21, the event gave attendees the opportunity to reunite with one another and revisit the campus.
  
• Gift Helps Launch Enterprise Architecture Program at School of Digital Sciences A gift to Kent State University’s new School of Digital Sciences will allow students to pursue a first-in-the-nation concentration in enterprise architecture at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.
  
  
• Student Needs Drive Support of Faculty and Staff Campaign Don Bubenzer, interim dean of the College of Technology, learned the importance of supporting higher education at a young age.
  
• Helping Students Achieve their Dreams at Regional Campuses Kent State at Ashtabula's Kathy Madison gives so students can succeed
  
• 'Insuring' Future Student Success 'Mama Drake' Honors Family With Scholarship Endowments
  
• To Intern or Not Intern Alumnus’ Donation Removes Financial Obstacles for Unpaid Student Internships
  
• ‘What do we love about the university?’ Couple’s decades-long partnership helps direct their Centennial Campaign gift
  
• From Vice President Gene Finn: Your Passions Drive Faculty and Staff Campaign Head of Institutional Advancement tells why annual internal fundraising effort gets its strength from individuals' vision of Kent State.
  
• 2011 Faculty and Staff Campaign Launches "Mama Drake" Tells Why She Gives
  
• $500,000 Gift Supports Kent State Students in Unpaid Internships An Illinois-based businessman and Kent State University alumnus has made a $500,000 philanthropic grant to internships for students in the university’s College of Business Administration. The awards are given to students who embark on unpaid internships, which are a large career boost but may be out of reach for those who cannot afford to leave paid employment to gain valuable experience.
  
• Kent State Student Philanthropy Campaign Awards First Scholarship Kent State University’s Campaign for Change, its student philanthropy initiative, celebrated a major milestone this January in awarding its first scholarship to Kenneth Smith, a junior aeronautical systems engineering major from Streetsboro, Ohio.
  
  
• Bringing the Roar of the Crowd Back to Dix Stadium Alumnus' gift aims to revitalize Golden Flashes football program
  
• Kent State Honored for Excellence at Pride of CASE V District Awards Kent State University recently received five awards, including three golds, for achievements in communications and marketing from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE).
  
• Smaller Gifts Create Big Possibilities for Kent State Students Annual Fund Contributions Smaller than $1,000 Soar