Best Buddies is just one example of the ways that Kent State University and the city of Kent are supporting each other.
Best Buddies is an international nonprofit designed to foster real-life friendships between students and those in nearby communities with intellectual or developmental disabilities.
The organization had a previous chapter at Kent State. After an inactive period, the club came back to campus thanks to Kent State senior Katie Mapus.
“I have people in my family with IDD (intellectual and developmental disabilities), so it was always something that I’ve been around and volunteered with,” Ms. Mapus told the Record-Courier. “It’s always been something that I like to get involved in, and it’s a natural thing for me.”
The impact of this club stretches farther than just getting students involved on campus. The friendships created by the organization help both students at Kent State and the members of the community.
Upcoming plans for Best Buddies include a trivia night on April 10 in the Schwartz Center Lecture Hall at 7 p.m.
To read the Record-Courier’s full article about Best Buddies, visit www.record-courier.com/news/20190318/best-buddies-helps-form-bonds.
To get involved with Kent State’s Best Buddies chapter, email KSUbestbuddies@gmail.com.
The cross-programming between the university and the city is not new.
The spring Bowman Breakfast will take place April 3 in the Kent Student Center Ballroom with doors opening at 7 a.m.
For more than 55 years, this breakfast is a tradition that takes place twice a year with leaders from both the university and the city. The theme of the spring breakfast is “Downtown Kent, Economic Synergy = Economic Sustainability.”
Featured speakers at the event include Kelvin Berry, director of economic development and community engagement at Kent State; Lawrence Carter, asset manager for the Kent State University Hotel and Conference Center and the Kent State University Foundation; Michelle Hartman, executive vice president and chief operating officer at Burbick Companies and executive board member of Destination Kent Convention and Visitors Bureau; Todd Kamenash, assistant dean of students and director of student conduct at Kent State; and Tom Wilke, economic development director for the city of Kent.
To read more about the Bowman Breakfast, visit www.kent.edu/kent/news/spring-2019-bowman-breakfast-focuses-economic-sustainability-downtown-kent.