eInside Events

Former Football Star Maurice Clarett to Speak at Kent State Leadership Speaker Series

Maurice Clarett, former Ohio State
University running back, will speak at
Kent State University as part of the
Center for Student Involvement's
leadership speaker series.

Kent State University’s Center for Student Involvement welcomes Maurice Clarett as part of its leadership speaker series on Tuesday, Feb. 24, at 7 p.m. in the Kent Student Center Ballroom. The event is free and open to the public.

Clarett, who grew up in Warren, Ohio, is a former Ohio State University running back who led his team to the 2002 BCS National Championship. At the pinnacle of his success, Clarett was suspended from Ohio State in 2003 for incriminating circumstances. In 2006, Clarett was arrested for armed robbery and other convictions and was not released from prison until 2010.

Since his stint in prison, the former football player is working to start his life over and has taken to motivational speaking. Clarett published a book titled My Life. Story. Redemption. ESPN Films did a “30 for 30: Youngstown Boys” segment on Clarett and Jim Tressel, who was Ohio State’s head football coach during Clarett’s time at the university.

Della Marie Marshall, senior associate director for Kent State’s Center for Student Involvement, felt Clarett would be a valuable speaker for the university community.

“He got to the top, and then he fell,” Marshall says. “When you see what he did and where he is now, he has a story that I believe will resonate with the community. He has a strong, redemptive quality, and he’s a hometown boy.”

For more information about Kent State’s Center for Student Involvement, visit www.kent.edu/csi.

Sixth Annual United Way Cornhole Tournament

The winning team at a previous United Way Cornhole
Tournament proudly displays their trophies and a certificate
that indicates how much was raised from the tournament
to benefit the United Way of Portage County.

For the sixth year, Kent State University’s Division of Enrollment Management and Student Affairs will host the United Way Cornhole Tournament on Wednesday, March 11, at the Student Recreation and Wellness Center. Check-in begins at 3:15 p.m. and the tournament begins at 4 p.m. The event is open to all faculty, staff, students and affiliates of the university, as well as all supporters of United Way.

The single-elimination tournament will involve a round of the best of three games. Up to 64 teams will be accepted, and the registration fee is $50 per team. The registration fee includes an official T-shirt, and all proceeds benefit the United Way Campaign.

“I am hoping that each area finds some students or employees that love cornhole to form a team and compete,” says Barbara Boltz, project director for enrollment data and systems support in the Division of Enrollment Management and Student Affairs. “Every penny of the team fee goes to the United Way. The tournament shirts, the food, space and cornhole sets are all donated.”

More than $4,500 has been raised over the past five events.

To register for the cornhole tournament, visit https://commerce.cashnet.com/uway. For more information, contact Boltz at bboltz@kent.edu.

Kent State New Music Series Presents Third Concert

Yu Jin, a Kent State University faculty
member, will perform as a guest artist
playing the viola at the third concert of
the 2014-2015 season of the Kent State
New Music Series on Feb. 28.

The third concert for the 2014-2015 season of the Kent State University New Music Series will be presented on Saturday, Feb. 28, at 7:30 p.m. The Kent State New Music Ensemble, directed by Frank Wiley, will be joined by guest artists Kent State faculty member Yu Jin, playing the viola; and Raquel Teare, also a Kent State faculty member, and Brent Schloneger, both playing the piano. The program will include music by Astor Piazzolla, John Cage, Lukas Foss, Jordan Nobles, Libby Larsen, John Adams and Amy Beth Kirsten. The concert will be held in the Ludwig Recital Hall in the Center for the Performing Arts on the Kent Campus. Admission is free.

The concert will open with Le Grand Tango by the Argentine composer Piazzolla, performed by violist Jin and the Kent State University New Music Ensemble, conducted by Wiley. Known as the world’s foremost composer of tangos, Piazzolla developed the style nuevo tango, in which he incorporated jazz and classical elements into the traditional tango. Piazzolla composed Le Grand Tango for the Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, who presented the premiere in 1990. Bassoonist Kristen Sector and guest pianist Elizabeth DeMio will perform the Concert Piece for Bassoon and Piano by American composer Libby Larsen. Flutist Matthew Watkins will perform as soloist with the New Music Ensemble in a performance of For Toru by the American composer Lukas Foss. This evocative work was composed as a tribute to the Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu.

Following intermission, the concert will continue with the free-instrumentation work on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam by Canadian composer Jordan Nobles, performed by the full New Music Ensemble. The title of this work is part of a quotation from Carl Sagan in his 1994 book Pale Blue Dot upon regarding the final photograph from the Voyager 1 spacecraft, which, upon leaving the solar system and becoming the farthest man-made object from Earth (about six billion kilometers), turned its camera toward Earth one final time and captured it as a tiny blue speck in the empty vastness of space. Soprano Alanna Furst and bassist Ryan Critchfield will perform Yes I Said Yes I Will Yes by American composer Kirsten, with text from James Joyce. The witty “Story” from Living Room Music by Cage, with text by Gertrude Stein, will be performed by speaking vocalists Chelsea Young, Mackenzie Henry, Michael Lada and Jason Howie.

Pictured are Kent State faculty member Raquel Teare
and Brent Schloneger, both pianists who will perform as
guest artists at the third concert for the 2014-2015 season
of the Kent State New Music Series on Feb. 28.

The concert will close with a performance of Hallelujah Junction by American composer Adams, presented by pianists Teare and guest artist Schloneger. Winner of many awards, including the Pulitzer Prize and a Grammy, post-minimalist composer Adams composed this work in 1996. The name comes from a small truck stop on U.S. 395, which meets Alternate U.S. 40 (now State Route 70) near the California–Nevada border. Adams says of the piece, "Here we have a case of a great title looking for a piece. So now the piece finally exists: the 'junction' being the interlocking style of two-piano writing, which features short, highly rhythmicized motives bouncing back and forth between the two pianos in tightly phased sequences." The work centers on delayed repetition between the two pianos, creating an effect of echoing sonorities. There is a constant shift of pulse and meter, but the main rhythms are based on the rhythms of the word "Hal–le–LU–jah."

For more information about the concert, contact Wiley at fwiley@kent.edu.

Middle East Historian to Speak at Kent State About High-Risk Activism

Kent State University’s College of Arts and Sciences in conjunction with the Northeast Ohio Consortium on Middle Eastern Studies (NOCMES) will host a lecture by Joel Beinin about the Middle East’s most enduring conflict. Beinin is a renowned and prolific historian of the Middle East from Stanford University. The event, which is free and open to the public, will take place at the Kent Student Center Kiva on March 3 at noon.

“The college and NOCMES are joining forces to bring an incredibly accomplished scholar onto campus to have a conversation about a topic many people are passionate about,” says Josh Stacher, associate professor in Kent State’s Department of Political Science. “In doing so, the sponsoring parties show the vital role a university plays by being a place where researched conversations about global processes happen.”

Beinin’s presentation is titled “High-risk Activism and Popular Struggle Against the Israeli Occupation in the West Bank.”

Beinin currently has an endowed chair in the Department of History at Stanford University. He also served as a past president of the country’s largest association of Middle East scholars, the Middle East Studies Association.

Stacher says Beinin’s presentation will reference the book Freedom Summer by Doug McAdam to compare high-risk activism in the U.S. to activism in the occupied Palestinian West Bank. In Freedom Summer, McAdam discusses the high-risk activism white activists engaged in by going to Mississippi to assist African-Americans during the civil rights movement. This can be extended and compared to how some Israelis, Palestinians and international activists participate in solidarity activities in Palestine today.

“Protesting the Israeli occupation has always been very high risk for Palestinians,” Stacher says. “Professor Beinin will talk about the transnational connections of high-risk activism that Doug McAdam discussed in his book about the U.S., and theoretically apply it to the situation in the West Bank today.”

Stacher says he would encourage people to attend the event because it will provide a safe space for the Kent community to talk about what is often understood to be an overly politicized topic.

“Lectures on difficult topics like this allow for engaged learning about the world, which advances the university’s mission,” Stacher says. “In my opinion, this event showcases the College of Arts and Sciences and Kent State operating at its very finest.”

Stacher says he hopes attendees will leave the lecture recognizing how much Kent State values high-level research and informed scholarly discussion.

“Having seen Professor Beinin lecture before, this is an incredibly special opportunity to see one of the leading intellectuals on this topic at work,” Stacher says. “This is beyond a media expert giving an opinion on an issue. This is one of the finest scholars in the United States providing a very high-level researched lecture.”

For more about the event and NOCMES, visit https://nocmes.wordpress.com/2015/02/03/joel-beinin-israel-palestine-lectures-march-2-3-2015/.

National Eating Disorder Awareness Week at Kent State, Feb. 23-27

In an effort to educate and support the Kent State University community, the university will observe National Eating Disorders Awareness (NEDA) Week from Feb. 23-27.

The weeklong events are organized by the Body Acceptance Movement (BAM), a student organization that works to spread acceptance and positivity across campus. Emily Creque, director of National Eating Disorders Awareness Week and member of the Body Acceptance Movement, says the organization’s main goal is to accept all body types.

“With a variety of events, ranging from a serious question-and-answer panel on Monday to an upbeat musical performance on Wednesday, there is at least one event that anyone can feel comfortable getting involved in,” Creque says.

National Eating Disorders Awareness Week will feature events that can support Kent State community members at whatever level they feel most engaged. The schedule of events is as follows:

• Monday, Feb. 23: Eating Disorder Q&A panel in Room 313 of the Kent Student Center at 6 p.m.
• Tuesday, Feb. 24: Love Your Body Yoga, Kent State Student Recreation and Wellness Center at 8 p.m. Preregistration through Facebook is required.
• Wednesday, Feb. 25: “Beauty Redefined: Be-You-Tiful,” featuring singer/speaker Johnathan Celestin at the Kent Student Center Kiva at 7 p.m.
• Thursday, Feb. 26: A nutrition presentation in Room 319 of the Kent Student Center at 5:30 p.m.
• Friday, Feb. 27: Information tables, second floor of the Kent Student Center at 11 a.m.
  

“There are many misconceptions about eating disorders, and it is BAM's goal to educate the campus community about the real facts,” Creque says. “NEDA Week is an important way to raise awareness about eating disorders while getting the campus involved.”

Creque feels it is important to involve the Kent Campus in sharing information about eating disorders. The support of the general community can help to progress the Body Acceptance Movement’s overall goals.

“It is my goal, along with the Body Acceptance Movement, for each event to serve as a safe space for learning about a subject that can be difficult to discuss: eating disorders,” says Creque. “I hope that students and all attendees will gain new knowledge about eating disorders, along with steps they can apply to help themselves or someone else struggling with any issues.”

For more information about National Eating Disorders Awareness, visit www.nationaleatingdisorders.org.

For more information about the Body Acceptance Movement, visit www.facebook.com/KsuBAM.

Annual Engineering Expo at Kent State Tuscarawas

In celebration of National Engineers Week, Kent State University at Tuscarawas is holding the 33rd annual Engineering Technology Opportunity Expo on Feb. 26 from 4:30-8:30 p.m. in the Student Union in Founders Hall. The expo is free and open to the public.

Participating companies will have representatives from engineering, management, personnel and human resources available to address questions regarding availability of jobs, skill requirements and career opportunities in engineering. They also will have displays featuring information on various products they manufacture.

Kent State Tuscarawas will have resource people available to discuss the academic preparation needed for jobs in various fields of engineering technology.

During the Expo, Kent State Tuscarawas will present awards to the winners of five competitions held for high school students. Participants from 14 area high schools were trained in digital electronics, photo illustration, 3D modeling and printing, robotics and video game design. Awards to the top three winners, which include cash and scholarships, will be presented at approximately 6:30 p.m., with all participants being recognized.

In addition, area high schools will participate in the bridge contest, co-sponsored by the Kent State Tuscarawas Engineering Technology Department and the Tuscarawas Valley Society of Professional Engineers. The testing and judging of the submitted bridges will take place at the expo. First- and second-place winners will be given the opportunity to compete in the international contest to be held in Portland, Oregon, on April 25.

For more information, contact Lorraine Bears, interim director of engineering technologies at Kent State Tuscarawas, at 330-339-3391 (ext. 47475).

Kent State’s Wick Poetry Center Presents "Celebrating Our Own" on Feb. 24

Kent State University’s Wick Poetry Center invites faculty, staff, students and other members of the community to "Celebrating Our Own," the annual undergraduate and high school scholarship reading, on Tuesday, Feb. 24, at 7:30 p.m.

The reading will take place in the Rockwell Auditorium, Room 231, in Rockwell Hall and feature student poets who were selected to receive the Stan and Tom Wick Undergraduate Poetry Scholarship. A total of $7,500 was awarded for the poetry submitted to the Wick Poetry Center. Poet Michael Mlekoday, winner of the 2012 Stan and Tom Wick Poetry Prize, judged the contest.

Winners of the undergraduate scholarship poetry competitions include Kent State students Ryan Lind, Amber Dean, Kinsey Brown and Corinne Engber. The high school student winner who will be recognized at the event is Sydney Vargo.

“'Celebrating Our Own' is the yearly event that is at the heart of our center’s mission, which is to support young writers and their stories,” says Jessica Jewell, program manager for the Wick Poetry Center. "Talent in the arts is something that certainly warrants scholarship support from the university, and we are thrilled that our center and the College of Arts and Sciences value the contribution that these young writers make to poetry and the artistic community of Kent State.”

The undergraduate poetry scholarship is an annual award offered to any undergraduate student enrolled at Kent State. To participate in this year’s competition, visit www.kent.edu/wick/2015-undergraduate-poetry-scholarship. The application deadline is April 1, 2015.

For more information about Kent State’s Wick Poetry Center, visit www.kent.edu/wick.