91�ֿ�

This winter at 91�ֿ�, an art show and featured speaker on mental health will honor the life and legacy of assistant professor and artist Christopher Darling, who died June 2018. The events will take place Thursday, Jan. 30, 2020, hosted by the School of Visual Communication Design, in which Darling taught.

The School of Art Collection and Galleries present “Constructed Answer,” a contemporary metals exhibition inspired by tragedy, trauma and violence that celebrates the resiliency of a human spirit.

On the heels of being honored by the for its highest workplace wellness award, the Healthy Business Council of Ohio (HBCO) has awarded 91�ֿ� the 2019 Healthy Worksite Gold Level Award for its healthy worksite practices.

On Friday, Jan. 24, members of the 91�ֿ� community and the general public gathered to celebrate the life and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. The university’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration started at 4 p.m. in the Kent Student Center Ballroom. This year’s keynote speaker was Melissa Harris-Perry, Ph.D., the Maya Angelou Presidential Chair at Wake Forest University, television host, author and political commentator.

Custodial grandparents and their grandchildren are a unique and little-understood population as are the physical and social health challenges they face. Gregory Smith, EdD, professor and director of the Human Development Center in the School of Lifespan Development and Educational Sciences in 91�ֿ�’s College of Education, Health and Human Services, has designed a program that could help assess the well-being of such families and provide resources to help them thrive.

Leslie Srodek-Johnson, ’01, a 91�ֿ� journalism graduate, mother of two and lead decorator and baker at Stan’s Northfield Bakery, received the call of a lifetime in December 2018. It was from the Food Network asking her to be a part of the “Christmas Cookie Challenge.”

U.S. News & World Report has named two 91�ֿ� programs as U.S. News Best Online Programs for 2020. 91�ֿ� is recognized in the Best Online MBA Programs and Best Online Graduate Education Programs rankings. U.S. News released its 2020 Best Online Programs rankings Tuesday, Jan. 14.

Chemistry Professor David Bowers truly believes in his students and wants to see them succeed, whether it be the nervous freshman in his First-Year Experience course or the junior pre-medicine major in his General Chemistry II course. It is his passion for student success and willingness to do what it takes to help his students that led him to win one of the 2019 Outstanding Teaching Awards.

91�ֿ� broke ground in April on the Design Innovation Hub, a $44.5-million renovation of the former Art Building on the Kent Campus. J.R. Campbell, MFA, appointed last year as the inaugural director of the Design Innovation (DI) Initiative, recently discussed how it fits into 91�ֿ�’s broader research and innovation goals.

91�ֿ� made history in Texas with a 51-41 win over Utah State in the Tropical Smoothie Cafe Frisco Bowl.

Hours before they will do battle on the gridiron, 91�ֿ�’s football players and other students paused to spend time with kids from Texas facing tough battles of their own.

The only thing more fierce than ’s ability to bust through an offensive line to make tackles might be his smile. The Golden Flashes’ easy-going nose tackle has been smiling a lot from the moment he learned of the team's berth in the .

At the same time that 91�ֿ� is competing in a bowl game, as many as 1,000 kids in Texas will be eating a meal that the Golden Flashes helped provide.

91�ֿ� worked out Tuesday at the Dallas Cowboys’ Training Facility – – for the first of three workouts ahead of Friday’s Tropical Smoothie Cafe Frisco Bowl against Utah State.

Ten 91�ֿ� students were awarded $1,000 each for their creative use of videos, podcasts and Adobe Spark® pages to reflect on the events of May 4, 1970, as part of the university’s Design Innovation Common Reading Challenge. 

With donations made by the 91�ֿ� community, University Dining Services was able to deliver 500 turkeys to Mobile Meals in Akron for the holiday season.

Terry Schwarz, director of the Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative (CUDC), home to 91�ֿ�’s urban design graduate program, as well as public service activities of the College of Architecture and Environmental Design, was recently featured on News 5 Cleveland.

When human development and family studies major Katherine Schroeder heard about the Ohio College2Careers program coming to 91�ֿ� for her first semester of sophomore year, Schroeder was determined to learn about what the program could offer her. After applying, Schroeder has been given the support she had been looking for in her college experience.

91�ֿ� is working with area autism-focused organizations as well as KultureCity®, a nonprofit dedicated to providing accessibility and inclusion for those with special needs, to create a sensory-friendly gameday experience that can be enjoyed by all. Fans attending 91�ֿ�’s Dec. 21 mens basketball game versus Hampton University will feel an expression of the university’s ongoing commitment to its core values of kindness, mutual respect and inclusion.

The 91�ֿ� alumni family grew by nearly 3,000 new graduates as the university held its Fall Commencement ceremonies. For the Kent Campus, Commencement ceremonies took place Friday, Dec. 13, and Saturday, Dec. 14, at the Memorial Athletic and Convocation (MAC) Center.