Kent State Magazine
ON THE COVER:
The Innovators: Kent State students are coming together to find creative solutions to real-world problems.
Caption: Case.MD team Samuel Graska, BS ’17, MBA ’18; Ariella Yager, BBA ’17; and Justin Gleason, BS ’16, MArch ’18, MBA ’18, are creating smartphone cases to dispense various medications.
Cover Photo: Bob Christy, BS '95
Features
Design Innovation for the 21st Century
by April McClellan-Copeland
Kent State’s new Design Innovation Initiative is promoting interdisciplinary collaboration to prepare the next generation of problem solvers.
Beyond Bordersby Jan Senn
Pakistani-born artist and 2017 Guggenheim Fellow Mahwish Chishty connects across cultures to call attention to the human cost of border conflicts.
Listening to the Deaf Community
by Kim Catley
What deaf and hard-of-hearing students want the hearing world to know about who they are and what they’re capable of—and how Kent State is helping them succeed.
Change Makerby Susan Menassa
“Change isn’t easy, it takes time!” says Michael Chanak Jr., BS ’71. It took him five years to get an EEO policy changed to protect the rights of gay people against discrimination at his workplace. Then 25 years later, the company made an award-winning short film that chronicled his persistence.
DEPARTMENTS
Readers respond to magazine content or comment on KSU–related topics.
President Beverly J. Warren on enduring community.
Chautauqua | Rising Together | Meet the Class of 2022 | Cool Course | Partners in College Prep | Noteworthy | Fashion Maven | Cutting-Edge Engineer | Student Scholar
Celebration Time | Alumni Honors | Class Notes | In Memory
Thanks for the Memories: Remembering the Robin Hood
An excerpt from "Find the Poem in the World" by Maj Ragain (1940-2018)
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.