Kent State Today has been following a group of six Golden Flashes for the 2024-25 academic year, chronicling their efforts and successes during the fall and spring semesters. The group of students is at various places in their Kent State University academic careers and will share their experiences throughout the year as they take part in our distinctive programs, research and global experiences.  The last time we checked in with Kent State University nursing major Rylie Lapikas, the academic year was progressing smoothly. She was enjoying her clinical work and teaching yoga at the Re...

Ethelyn VonHelmers Fitzsimmons was hired as a temporary employee of Kent State University on July 2, 1951, and worked as a secretary in the Office of the President. She was hired full time on May 14, 1953. Before leaving Kent State on Dec. 1, 1971, she had worked for three university presidents: George Bowman, Robert White and Glenn Olds. Fitzsimmons recently celebrated her 110th birthday and graciously welcomed Kent State Today to her home for an interview about her 19-and-a-half years working at Kent State.Worldwide, there are 203 people verified to be 110 years old or older. People who...

Congratulations to Kayon Hall, assistant professor in the Higher Education Administration and Student Affairs program, for being named a 2025 John and Fonda Elliot Design Innovation Faculty Fellow.Kayon's work, The Quiet Holds Us: A Sensory Archive of Black Immigrant Life, is an interdisciplinary, multimedia project that reimagines black immigrant life beyond narratives of spectacle and survival.Look for more on this interesting project in the weeks to come....

  When the water was turned on for the first time in the newly completed Crawford Fountain, Ambassador Edward F. Crawford was on campus to see it.   The fountain is part of a landscaped courtyard outside of Crawford Hall, home of Kent State's Ambassador Crawford College of Business and Entrepreneurship. This was the "cold opening" of the courtyard and fountain as some work on the area continues.  A formal dedication is planned for later this summer.   Want to see one of YOUR photos in “IN A FLASH?” Submit your Kent State-related photos to InAFl...

For decades, Kent State University’s College of the Arts has worked collaboratively with local businesses, groups and programs to bring the arts to the community. This year, Kent State’s Glauser School of Music had the unique opportunity to partner with Chagrin Arts in bringing to life a new opera, “Blind Injustice.” Partnerships, such as this one, help strengthen the College of the Arts’ relationship in local communities and provide unmatched opportunities for students and alumni.“Blind Injustice” is a powerful new American opera based on the true stories of six Ohioans who were wrongfully co...