Fans of the Kent State University Golden Flashes looking to follow their favorite players on the court will have to look for their jersey numbers and not their names at a special men’s basketball game later this week. Players will be wearing student-designed uniforms with the space on the back that is usually designated for their names instead displaying the phrase “1 in 59” to promote autism awareness and education.
On April 17, 2020, from 6:00-8:30 pm, the Kent State LGBTQ+ Center will be celebrating the eighth Lavender Graduation ceremony in the Kent Student Center Ballroom. Lavender Graduation is a pre-commencement dinner celebration that honors the achievements of Kent State University LGBTQ+ graduates. Students that are graduating during the 2020 calendar year are encouraged to participate by walking the stage, giving thanks to individuals that helped them reach graduation and being presented a rainbow stole that can be worn at the official KSU graduation. As part of the event, KSU alumni, attorney, activist and advocate Preston Mitchum, BA ‘08 will speak. The event is offered at no cost, however registration is required.
The Office of Faculty and Graduate Student Retention, Success and Inclusion, in collaboration with Human Resources, will host the annual New Hire Diversity Luncheon on November 6, 2019. The luncheon will welcome and honor new diverse faculty and staff hires from all Kent State campuses. The luncheon is an opportunity for attendees to network and meet other new diverse hires as well as receive valuable resources to help them be successful at Kent State University.
On Saturday, September 21, 2019, the Kent State University LGBTQ+ Center participated in the annual Homecoming Parade, as well as hosting the fourth annual Homecoming TailGAYte at Bricco Kent. Around 20 students, faculty and staff members marched in the Parade, and passed out rainbow bead necklaces as well as information about the upcoming Rainbow Run fundraiser.
The Student Multicultural Center (SMC) kicked off our Academic Year by welcoming over 240 first year and new transfer students to Kent State University during our Kupita/Transiciones (K/T) cultural orientation program. The program focuses on ways to culturally affirm our students, build community and enhance their sense of belonging to Kent State University. By the end of the fourth day of K/T, we really felt the sense of family amongst the new students, our upperclassmen, and our faculty and staff.
In Fall 2020, The Male Empowerment Network (MEN) will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of this initiative. This milestone comes at an awesome time because this past May, MEN was featured on the Steve Harvey Show as part of the university collaboration to provide full four-year scholarships to eight young men who have just started their first year as Golden Flashes! These eight scholars participated in Kupita/Transiciones, were paired with mentors and have successfully transitioned into their first weeks of classes. MEN was the recipient of a $10,000 contribution from The Harvey Foundation as well, and the initiative has committed to raise an additional $10,000 in order to support and enhance the efforts of this initiative to stay strong another 10 years, and more! MEN will be featured on Giving Tuesday and we encourage our community to give towards this initiative so that we can support the development and success of our men of color here at Kent State University.
This past summer, aligned with Kent State’s summer session one, Upward Bound welcomed 142 high school students to campus for a six-week, systemic enrichment experience. Highlights included our Kent State partnerships with the College of Aeronautics and Engineering; College of Architecture and Environmental Design; College of Business Administration; College of Communication and Information; College of Nursing; and the Research Center for Educational Technology offering an engaging academic curriculum. In addition to cultural and personal development opportunities, students participated in the Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURE) in which Kent State faculty and students collaborated to focus on research and scholarship, work-study experiences mentored by many Kent State faculty and staff in departments across campus, and course work through College Credit Plus.
