Design Innovation for the 21st Century 
Beyond Borders
Listening to the Deaf Community
Change Maker
Featured Videos
Design Innovation: Zero Emission Vehicle
As part of Kent State’s Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE), students and staff at Kent State University’s College of Aeronautics and Engineering collaborated on a Zero Emission Vehicle to highlight the use of fuel cells in renewable energy.
Firestone students’ visit to the Kent Campus
Sophomores from Akron Public Schools’ Firestone Community Learning Center spent a week at Kent State University this summer learning about college programs and numerous potential careers.
Change Maker
The story of how gay rights activist Michael Chanak Jr., BS ’71, and a group of colleagues lobbied to add “sexual orientation” to Procter & Gamble’s equal employment opportunity (EEO) statement of diversity.
Listening to the Deaf Community
Students in Kent State’s ASL/English Interpreting program got hands-on experience interpreting for deaf visitors during Deaf and Hard of Hearing Awareness Day at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.
Take Note
At Kent State, diversity and inclusion are not words used to sound politically correct—they are ways of being, fundamental values the university strives to embody in every educational encounter.
It’s no wonder that so many Kent State students, faculty, staff and alumni encompass those values in their lives and careers, and are known for standing up for equal rights, being a voice for the voiceless and speaking truth to power.
We highlight several in this issue—including deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals, many of whom are part of a growing Deaf community, an LGBTQ+ activist who changed a global company’s equal employment policy, an artist who is connecting across cultures and calling attention to the cost of border conflicts, plus innovative entrepreneurs, researchers and educators—all of whom are purpose-driven people making a difference on Kent State campuses and in the world at large.