January - March 2013

The Arbor Day Foundation recently honored Kent State University with a Tree Campus USA designation for the fifth consecutive year. Tree Campus USA was created in 2008 to honor colleges and universities across the nation for campus forest management and engagement in conservation goals.

Kent State University is participating in the annual RecycleMania challenge, an international competition where colleges and universities strive to reduce waste and increase recycling. The month of February marks the official start of the 2013 RecycleMania calendar.

Kent State University provides its students with numerous study abroad opportunities to further their college careers and gain multicultural experience. The university’s program in Florence, Italy, is one of the most popular programs, offering inspiring personal, school and work experiences.

A team of Kent State University theatre students is one of 10 finalists in the contest to design the United States National Exhibit for the 2015 Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design. Designs for an architectural and sculptural space with the theme “Art in Performance Design: Dreams of Here and Now” were accepted through February 8.

Nearly two years after his previous visit, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood returned to Kent, Ohio, on March 8, 2013, to tour the construction site of the new Kent Central Gateway multimodal transit center and celebrate the redevelopment of downtown Kent. Kent State University President Lester A. Lefton, Kent State Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration Gregg Floyd, and Kent State Vice President for General Counsel and Governmental Affairs Willis Walker joined Congressman Tim Ryan, officials from PARTA (Portage Area Regional Transportation Authority) and the city of Kent in welcoming LaHood back to Kent. The group gave the transportation secretary a tour of the new Kent Central Gateway that is under construction. A brief press conference followed the tour.

Kent State University’s men’s basketball team won Thursday's quarterfinal game against Buffalo with a final score of 70-68. The Golden Flashes will advance to the semifinals on Friday, March 15, at 6:30 p.m. to face the Akron Zips. 

Kent State University is now accepting applications for a federally funded scholarship program that encourages careers in the sciences. The university’s Scholarships for Broadening Participation in the Sciences will annually provide 21 undergraduate scholarships, averaging $5,000 each, to promising science students.

Students everywhere, put down those highlighters and pick up some flash cards! Some of the most popular study strategies – such as highlighting and even rereading – do not show much promise for improving student learning, according to a new report authored in part by two Kent State University researchers.

Kent State University’s 11th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration, themed “Empowering the Individual, Strengthening the Community,” took place on Thursday, Jan. 24, at 2 p.m. in the Kent Student Center Ballroom. The event was free and open to the public.

Kent State University’s College of the Arts recently celebrated the successful conclusion of its Steinway Campaign, raising $2.7 million dollars – enough to purchase nearly 70 new pianos. Generous gifts of donors such as the estate of Elizabeth Fennell, Audio-Technica U.A., the Kent State University Foundation Board, David and Carol Pulk, an anonymous donor and many others who sponsored the effort, enabled the college’s Hugh A. Glauser School of Music to be designated as an All-Steinway School.