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Community & Society

Akron head coach John Groce and Kent State head men's basketball coach Rob Senderoff

Two archrival men's basketball teams worked together to produce a powerful video supporting the Black Lives Matter movement and encouraging everyone to register to vote in the 2020 election.

Three Â鶹´«Ã½ students.

The U.S. Department of Education has awarded Â鶹´«Ã½ a $2.6 million, five-year TRIO Student Support Services program grant. The program serves students from first-generation and low-income backgrounds and students with diverse learning and physical abilities.

image of a volunteer organizing donated food

Among the festivities marking the beginning of this unconventional semester, one Â鶹´«Ã½ office is partnering with Portage County social service agencies to host a contactless food drive to collect items that will support members of campus and local communities. The Flashes Fighting Hunger Contactless Food Drive, organized by Kent State’s Community Engaged Learning, will take place on Wednesday, Aug. 26, from 4-8 p.m.

A student uses a computer.

We all know the world has changed, perhaps forever. The overall lesson of the COVID- 19 pandemic is that we need a public health workforce, prepared at all levels, to monitor the world for emerging infectious diseases, to prevent the spread of highly contagious diseases, to develop new treatments and vaccines, and to invent novel approaches never seen before. Â鶹´«Ã½â€™s College of Public Health is addressing this workforce challenge, in part, by hosting the 2020 Virtual Public Health Academy.

Melanie Knowles, Â鶹´«Ã½â€™s manager of sustainability, stands in front of her favorite building on campus, The John Elliott for Architecture and Environmental Design.

Melanie Knowles is the manager of sustainability at Â鶹´«Ã½. In this role, she works with people all over campus to make cost-effective, better practices for the environment. Learn more about Knowles as she answers these 10 questions.

A person working at a computer taking down information.

When the Ohio Department of Health sought help this summer for work on the COVID-19 pandemic response, more than 110 students from Â鶹´«Ã½â€™s College of Public Health raised their hands to volunteer.

Photo of the members of the Kent State Police Department

The Â鶹´«Ã½ Police Department is scheduled for a virtual assessment as part of a program to achieve international reaccreditation. Administered by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies Inc. (CALEA), the program requires agencies to meet state-of-the-art standards in four basic areas: policy and procedures, administration, operations and support services.

Protesters in Cleveland, Ohio following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo courtesy of Sylvia Lorson)

Â鶹´«Ã½ Associate Professor Elizabeth M. Smith-Pryor has authored a perspective piece on racial equality that is featured in the July 15 Washington Post column, “Made by History.â€

Volunteers Dave and Terri Cardy pack and weigh produce to hand out at the Campus Kitchen in Beall Hall. The food is mostly donated by Trader Joe’s locations in the Cleveland area.

The Campus Kitchen at Â鶹´«Ã½, a student-run organization that reclaims food to feed the needy in the Kent area, has had to swiftly switch gears from operating a hot food kitchen to an expanded food pantry.

J.R. Campbell, executive director of Â鶹´«Ã½â€™s Design Innovation Initiative, tries on a face shield produced by the Kent State team.

Members of Â鶹´«Ã½â€™s Design Innovation Initiative are forging creative collaborations with local and regional organizations and funders as they work toward the production of personal protective equipment (PPE) for first responders battling the COVID-19 pandemic.