Community Impact

Earth Fest 2024

IN A FLASH: Earth Month Wrap Up

Kent State celebrated Earth Month with an exceptionally full schedule of events, not the least of which were the activities on campus surrounding the total solar eclipse!

Tags: Earth Day , Total Solar Eclipse , Environmental Science and Design Research Institute , Community Impact , Community & Society , Organizational Sustainability , Research & Science

Kent State Today

2026 Post-Paddy's Cleanup Volunteers

Community Spirit Inspires Kent State Student Volunteers in Post-Paddy's Cleanup

In the spirit of community, Kent State student volunteers picked up litter and trash around Kent neighborhoods following the annual Fake Paddy's Day celebration.

Tags: Undergraduate Student Government , Center for Student Involvement , Town-Gown , Community Impact , Community & Society

Kent State Today

Euclid Police Car

Ohio Senate Votes Unanimously to Name Highway for Trumbull Graduate Jacob Derbin

The Ohio Senate voted unanimously on March 25 to designate a stretch of Interstate 480 in Cuyahoga County as the Officer Jacob J. Derbin Memorial Highway, honoring the Euclid police officer who was killed in the line of duty in May 2024.

Tags: Community Impact , Community & Society

Kent State Today

Before becoming a student at Kent State University, Richard Hlavaty served in the U.S. Marine Corps. One of his two combat tours was in Afghanistan (pictured). (Photo provided by Richard Hlavaty)

‘What Makes Kent State Friendly to Veterans Is That the Support Is Real and Personal’

Kent State University has earned the Military Friendly® School designation for 2026-2027, its 17th consecutive year. Marine Corps veteran and Kent State senior Richard Hlavaty shares how Kent State’s veteran support services have shaped his academic and professional journey.

Tags: Community & Society , University News , Community Impact , Center for Adult and Veteran Services , Division of Student Life

Kent State Today

Lauren Cohen, senior journalism major

Journalism Major Scores Numerous Front-Page Stories in Knight-Funded Internship

Lauren Cohen, a senior journalism major from Twinsburg, Ohio, has already made an impact during her internship, producing many front-page stories for the Akron Beacon Journal and Signal Akron. 

Tags: Community Impact , Community & Society , Student Life , Profiles

School of Media and Journalism

Spring 2026 Nursing Job & Career Fair

IN A FLASH: Career Opportunities in Nursing

Around 200 students from Kent State's College of Nursing explored opportunities with visiting hospitals and healthcare facilities at the Spring 2025 Nursing Job and Career Fair.

Tags: Kent State University College of Nursing , Community Impact , Community & Society , Health

Kent State Today

Press helmet and gas mask with two presumed journalists

New ‘Informed Reporting’ Podcast Confronts Journalism’s Emotional Toll

Journalism is not often perceived as an emotionally challenging career, but journalists can experience any number of traumatic stress symptoms from stories that they cover, especially those involving death or human suffering. These are the topics Gretchen Hoak, Ph.D., associate professor of journalism at Kent State University, explores in her new podcast “Informed Reporting,” which launched March 16.  

Tags: Community Impact , Community & Society , Research & Science , Health

Kent State Today

A student rides her bike on Risman Plaza in front of the Kent Student Center. (Photo credit: Bob Christy)

MEDIA ADVISORY: More Than 450 Students From 10 Northeast Ohio Counties to Showcase Research, Compete in 2026 Regional Science Day at Kent State

More than 450 students in grades 5-12 from public and private schools and homeschools will exhibit science projects and compete in the Ohio Academy of Science’s 2026 Regional Science Day on Saturday, March 21, at Kent State University. 

Tags: Research & Science , Community Impact

Kent State Today

The lower level of the Veterans Memorial Bridge in Cleveland, Ohio, will have wintertime temporary art installations and a public event, thanks to a National Endowment for the Arts grant awarded to Kent State University's Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative. (Photo credit: Cuyahoga County)

Kent State’s Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative Awarded NEA Grant to Create Temporary Winter Art Installations on Lower Level of Cleveland’s Veterans Memorial Bridge

Kent State University’s Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative has received a $20,000 award from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) through the Grants for Arts Projects program. The funding will support wintertime temporary art installations and a public event on Cleveland’s Veterans Memorial Bridge as part of the NEA’s America250 initiative.

Tags: Arts & Culture , Community & Society , Community Impact , Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative , College of Architecture and Environmental Design

Kent State Today

Disease of Me Book Cover

Ashtabula Graduate Turns Addiction, Cancer and Loss Into a Story Worth Sharing

When Michael Bugary looks at his first published book, "The Disease of Me," he still feels a little surprised. “I was reading the final edit and thought, ‘Who wrote this?’” he said with a laugh.

Tags: Arts & Culture , Community & Society , Community Impact

Kent State Today