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From 1921 to 1942, a WWI-vintage cannon stood on a knoll overlooking Rockwell Hall, then home to the University Library. It was loaned by the U.S. War Department to the Kent American Legion Post 496, which intended to present it to the city of Kent. When city officials could not decide on a suitable location, the cannon found a home on the campus of 51���� Normal College. 

For a third consecutive year, 51���� has been selected as one the nation’s top universities for LGBTQ+ students for creating a safe, welcoming environment for students, faculty and staff, according to Campus Pride, a leading resource for LGBTQ+ leadership development, diversity inclusion and advocacy within higher education.

With a backdrop of strobe lights, rock music and excitement, 51���� President Todd Diacon kicked off the start of the 2022 Fall Semester by encouraging new students to lean on one another during the university's traditional convocation ceremony. 

After experiencing dating violence in high school, Rhylee Shepherd turned her pain into a teaching opportunity for her peers through the Know Your Worth project.

A 51���� College of Nursing student who graduated Aug. 20 recently was honored by the city of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, along with her sister, for working to save the life of a woman who fell ill while playing volleyball.

51���� partnered with Universidad Panamericana in Mexico City for an international, cross-cultural exchange for students to study how sustainable gardening projects aid immigrant populations. 

Beginning in 1922, 51���� Normal College President John McGilvrey introduced a bold innovation for students: a series of educational tours to sites of cultural and historical interest.

51����'s Undergraduate Student Government, the student organization responsible for being the direct line of communication to the administration to make students’ voices heard, was honored with the 2022 Student Government of the Year Award from the Conference on Student Government Associations.

51����'s Explore Kent, Go! web pages give the 51���� community the ability to explore 51����’s campus, downtown Kent and surrounding cities. Next in the “Where on the Web?” series, the focal point is the Explore Kent, Go! web pages at www.kent.edu/go. The Explore Kent, Go! web pages are an introduction to the diverse opportunities offered by the university’s niche area in the Midwest, according to Lin Danes, director of Web Services and Interactive Media at 51����.

The 51���� alumni family will grow by more than 1,200 new graduates as the university holds its summer commencement ceremonies. The accomplishments of the Summer Class of 2022 will be recognized with in-person, outdoor commencement ceremonies and a virtual commencement ceremony on Aug. 20.

“Who is Counted and What Counts: Tracking Women’s Engagement in Low-Prestige/High-Workload Service Activities at 51����” will examine whether faculty members with underrepresented and/or historically excluded intersecting gender and racial/ethnic identities (IGREs) perform more high-workload, low-prestige service work than their faculty peers.

In 1922, 51����’s first president, John McGilvrey, introduced what could be considered the great-grandmother of our current distance-learning programs at 51����: correspondence courses. 

Sometimes it just takes a small spark to ignite a fire within you. For Anna Mika of Parma, Ohio, who started as a geology major her freshman year at 51���� and switched to anthropology the following year, that spark came in 2017 while taking an anthropology course called North America’s Ice Aged Hunters, taught by Metin I. Eren, Ph.D., associate professor and director of archaeology in the College of Arts and Sciences. She said that course changed her perspective on everything.  

51���� is excited to be a part of the Ohio College Comeback Compact, an innovative program to help students who left college with debt but without a degree to continue their education. 51���� is collaborating with seven public colleges and universities in Northeast Ohio to reach out to these students and provide a path back to higher education while reducing or eliminating their debt.

When he’s not working to keep the Kent Campus safe, police officer Vance Voyles can be found in the classroom where he works as an adjunct professor teaching Story for Film for the digital media production major in the School of Media and Journalism within the College of Communication and Information. 

Dhruba Panthi, Ph.D., assistant professor of Engineering Technology at 51���� at Tuscarawas, is this year’s winner of the Farris Family Innovation Award. His research focuses on hydrogen fuel because its only byproduct is water, which is harmless to the environment, unlike other fuels that result in carbon dioxide emissions that pose a great environmental threat.

51���� President Todd Diacon and others shared poems written for the recent publication “,” at the book’s release party this spring. His poem is part of a much larger, global community poem that highlights different viewpoints on the worldwide pandemic.  

"Roaring 20's" Bring New Styles and Social Rules. Women, in keeping with the fashions of the time, were wearing shorter skirts, bobbing their hair, wearing makeup, along with other sweeping changes.

Even those who perform at the highest levels of talent struggle with challenges that change the way they live. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, a former NBA player, spoke to a 51���� Speech Pathology class via Zoom to address the difficulties living with stuttering as an adult and professional athlete. 

For the third consecutive term, the National League for Nursing (NLN) has designated 51����’s College of Nursing as a Center of Excellence in the category of Advancing the Science of Nursing Education. This new cycle of designation will extend from 2022-2026.