Black United Students

Honors College

Sonyea Moore, a sophomore Honors student from Twinsburg, Ohio, is currently pursuing two majors and three minors in the College of Arts and Sciences and is thriving while doing so. Holding a 3.9 G.P.A., Sonyea is following her interests in the humanities through majors in anthropology and Africana studies, along with her minors in English,...

Department of Africana Studies

What can I do with an AFS degree? Students who major or minor in an Africana studies degree program have unlimited opportunities in the career field of their choice. Students graduate with a keen understanding of the social, cultural and economic issues facing people of African descent and other Peoples of Color. They graduate...

Kent State students walk to and from class.

The nation watched in anger and shock as a white police officer in Minneapolis nonchalantly knelt on the neck of George Floyd, an African American man, who had been accused of passing a counterfeit $20 bill until he uttered the words “I can’t breathe.” Floyd’s brief encounter with the police, which was recorded and subsequently d...

Tayjua Hines, president of Kent State's Black United Students, speaking at a George Floyd protest in Kent.

Note: The following essay was crafted by Tayjua Hines, president of Black United Students (BUS), a student organization at Kent State University. Founded in 1968, the underlying philosophy of BUS is to serve and unify all Black students at Kent State by addressing their needs.  ------------- As a community, Black citizens h...

Amoaba Gooden, Ph.D., interim vice president of the Department of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Note: The following essay was crafted by Amoaba Gooden, Ph.D., Kent State University’s interim vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion, and chair and associate professor in the Department of Pan-African Studies. Created in 2009, the Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion leads the university’s efforts to incr...

Kent State President Beverly J. Warren and Vice President Alfreda Brown give the Diversity Trailblazer Award to Dean Tondiglia, director of public safety and Kent State police chief.

Kent State University’s Director of Public Safety and Police Chief Dean Tondiglia was honored with the university’s 2019 Diversity Trailblazer Award for his years of promoting inclusion and diversity within public safety. Chief Tondiglia was nominated for the award by Mark Polatajko, senior vice president for finance and administration, w...

A student walkout in 1968 contributed to the launch of Black United Students (BUS), which is commemorating 50 years at Kent State. (Photo from the collection of E. Timothy Moore)

Set against the backdrop of five decades of dynamic social change, the powerful “BUS at 50 Reloaded” photography exhibit in Ritchie Hall’s Uumbaji Gallery highlights the impact and influence of the Black United Students (BUS) organization at Kent State University since its founding in 1968. The show runs through Nov. 14.  Curated by ...

Communication Studies majors are playing vital roles in this year’s Black History Month celebration at Kent State University. Roslynn Porch, Dairia Harvin, Mary Rogers, Dwain Ross and Olivia Thompson are executive board members of Black United Students (BUS). Founded in 1968, BUS is one of the oldest student organizations on campus. ...