һԹ

University College Impactful Moments

Kent State University celebrates outstanding student employees and supervisors during National Student Employment Week, recognizing their impact across campus through the annual Student Employee Awards Celebration. Celebrate with us the 2026 winners.

  • Kent State University graduate Emma Sherrie, '09, always had a feeling she would study anthropology, but still she took the time to check out all the other options available before finally settling on her original plan. Kent State’s Exploratory Program, which helps undecided students sample different disciplines before committing to a major, was a key part of Sherrie’s experience, and the main reason she chose Kent State in the first place.

  • Kent State’s Career Exploration and Development fair connects students with leaders from Disney, Rock Entertainment and more, who share words of wisdom for students.

  • The nine-day program, running March 6-15, represents a distinctive approach to helping students explore both culture and careers while building confidence in their major selection.

  • “Being a first-generation student means opening doors my family never had the chance to walk through,” Voyzey said.

  • Graduate student Delonte Goodman finished his fall semester at Kent State by successfully defending his master's thesis and receiving his master's degree. When he returns to campus in the spring, he will work as a teaching assistant as he begins his doctoral program. 

  • POV shares insights from the Kent State University community on important topics. Liz Piatt, interim dean of University College, shares her journey as a first-generation college student and how faculty mentorship helped her discover a career path she didn't know existed — one that now allows her to support other first-generation students as they navigate their own transformative college experiences.

  • Originally posted on Kent State Today.

    Perhaps the best word to sum up Brianna Benson’s role at Kent State University is “caretaker.”

    Benson is the assistant director of Community Engaged Learning in University College and oversees the CommUNITY Lab, where students in various scholarship programs, many of whom are first-generation, can find a responsive living-learning community that provides the support they need to succeed at Kent State.

  • Originally posted on Kent State Today.

    Students, faculty, staff and alumni celebrated I AM FIRST Week, a recognition of Kent State University students’ first-generation identity, by building community and showcasing campus-wide support.