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In accordance with the order of Amy Acton, M.D., director of Ohio Department of Health, to stay at home to slow the spread of COVID-19, and in the interest of the health and safety of the community, ������ regretfully announces cancellation of the May 4 50th Commemoration Weekend events, scheduled to take place May 1-4, 2020.

As the country adjusts to the new normal of working from home, schooling from home and living lives of social isolation, ������ professor Tara Smith, Ph.D., said people need to realize this new normal may need to continue for a long time.

“It really would not surprise me if this lasted for at least eight weeks or longer,” Smith said.

Two ������ State professors partnered with the Summit County Juvenile Court and Hands of Gratitude over the summer to teach juveniles how to assemble prosthetic hands for children in Central America and were featured in the Akron Beacon Journal.

������ College of Public Health professor Tara Smith, Ph.D., was featured on Sean Carroll’s Mindscape podcast to talk about the novel coronavirus (and its associated disease, COVID-19) pandemic. Smith gives insight on what measures are useful and which are probably not.

On Ohio Statehood Day, February 26, ������ Libraries was awarded a $13,646 grant from the Ohio History Fund to partially cover the digitization costs of their Sanborn Fire Insurance Map Collection. The grant will provide funding to create free, online access to high-resolution, digitized copies of these sought-after resources. Aside from the United States Library of Congress, ������ State is the holding institution for the largest and most complete set of Ohio Sanborn maps.

On Thursday, March 12, ������’s College of Education, Health and Human Services will host “Leading Through Tragedy,” an event that brings together a panel of leaders who were impacted by campus violence from institutions such as Virginia Tech, Northern Illinois University and Chardon High School in Ohio.

In lieu of traveling to a crowded beach for spring break, some ������ State students will opt for a more informative spring break trip. From March 22-26, 2020, students will head to Jackson, Miss., to learn about the complexities between the ������ State May 4 shootings and the Jackson State shootings, both of which occurred in May of 1970.

Dean Kahler, one of the nine ������ students wounded in the May 4, 1970, shootings by the Ohio National Guard, will return to campus on Saturday, May 9, to serve as speaker for the One University Commencement. Thomas Grace, Ph.D., another of the nine wounded students, will serve as speaker for the Advanced Degree Commencement ceremony on Friday, May 8.

The College of the Arts and the Hugh A. Glauser School of Music are pleased to announce the launch of the “Marching Golden Flash Award.” This new scholarship opportunity will be available to all returning members of the Marching Golden Flashes as well as incoming ������ State students. It is open to students of any major starting in the fall 2020 season.

������ psychology professor John Gunstad, Ph.D., has received at grant of nearly $2.6 million from the National Institutes of Health to expand his Alzheimer’s disease research into a national study.

������, the city of ������ and the Portage Area Regional Transit Authority (PARTA) jointly have committed to the economic development of retail/entertainment areas serving students, employees and guests of the university and the city.

Each year, ������ State students participate in off-campus study away/study abroad programs and internships in locations across the country and around the world. And they take photos—lots and lots of photos.

������ has outlined planned events for the month of March related to the 50th commemoration of May 4. For the latest updates on events, visit www.kent.edu/may4kentstate50/event-schedule.

Ohio, like many states, suffers from a teacher shortage, especially in early childhood education and special education. The Buckeye State also is in need of more school psychologists, analysts say. It’s fortunate, then, that the United States Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs just awarded a million-dollar grant to two ������ researchers to train teachers and school psychologists in those fields.

There are two cycles most people can’t avoid — sleep and the news. And If you’re awake, you can’t help hearing the news reporting about cannabinoids. A ������ State researcher may soon have news about how these substances affect our body’s natural clock. Eric Mintz studies the human body’s circadian rhythms, which affect the sleeping-waking cycle.

������ State videographers braved the winter weather to remind you there’s snow place like the ������ Campus in winter. Watch this video and enjoy winter on the scenic campus.

The Brain Health Research Institute (BHRI) may be a recent development at ������ State, but with fresh leadership, emerging partnerships and a refined vision, it’s well on its way to gaining national renown. The Brain Health Research Institute is helping transform the culture of ������ State.

Renowned marine scientist Michael W. Beck, Ph.D., will discuss the importance of coastal conservation at a free lecture on March 4. Beck, a research professor in the Institute of Marine Sciences at the University of California, Santa Cruz, focuses on conserving our coastlines in an effort to reduce the risks of storm surges and flooding to property, people and our planet and will speak at 7 p.m. March 4 in Auditorium 101 in the Science & Nursing Building at ������ at Stark.

In early February, scientists reported the hottest temperature on record in Antarctica: 65 degrees Fahrenheit. Studies show climate change is disproportionately affecting the poles, warming them faster than anywhere else on Earth, and raising questions about what kinds of changes we can expect in arctic ecosystems as temperatures rise. 
A ������ biologist has teamed up with some colleagues in an inter-institutional effort to answer some of those questions.


If you’ve ever felt stuck somewhere between your job and your ideal career because you’re too busy making a living to go back to college, you’ll understand Restituto "Tuto"Velarde’s position. Thankfully, ������’s Twinsburg Academic Center provided a bridge so he could get to the other side.