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����ɬ����'s School of Theatre and Dance is ranked #50 on Study.com's list of Best Theatre Bachelor's Degree programs in the United States. In addition to this national ranking, the School of Theatre and Dance is one of only two theatre programs from the state of Ohio on the list. In its rankings, Study.com assesses hundreds of universities across the country and selected ����ɬ���� based on academic and career resources, the quality of education, faculty, and more. 

Daymond John, founder/CEO of FUBU, presidential ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship, star of ABC’s Shark Tank and CEO of The Shark Group, will speak at the Better Business Bureau of Akron’s 101 Year Anniversary celebration, BBB Anniversary Summit, on Thursday, April 8, 2021 in collaboration with the ����ɬ���� College of Business Administration’s Michael D. Solomon Entrepreneurship Speaker Series.

����ɬ���� has partnered with Greater Akron community organizations to conduct the first comprehensive and specific LGBTQ+ Community Needs Assessment (CNA). Efforts of this assessment focus on producing a better-informed public health system and improving the health and well-being of the LGBTQ+ community members.

At ����ɬ���� , Golden Flashes are known to take care of other Golden Flashes. With the pandemic looming over the school year, more than 100 ����ɬ���� faculty, staff and administrators checked in on first-year students over the phone last November to talk about their well-being and pathways for success during their first semester.

More than 2,000 area residents, including some ����ɬ���� employees, received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine March 23, during a mass vaccination event at the ����ɬ���� Field House. 

You may have heard it said, “when hard times come, notice those who remain, and the ones who disappear.” Nursing instructors are in a position to see this scenario playing out in the lives of their students at ����ɬ���� at Geauga and the Twinsburg Academic Center.

City and university leaders emphasized the need to vaccinate the campus community during a recent virtual town hall meeting. 

����ɬ���� has joined the Culture of Respect Collective, a two-year initiative offered through the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA), to help end sexual violence on campus.

From April 5 to May 15, visitors to the ����ɬ���� campus will encounter a new, outdoor public art exhibition that stretches along the Lefton Esplanade between downtown Kent and the University Library. “Import/Export” addresses the imbalances and inequalities of global import/export systems. Artists from around the world were chosen based on how their works reflect the impact of these systems on their local spaces.

����ɬ���� alumni, students, parents, faculty, staff and the community are encouraged to save the date for one of the university’s long-standing traditions. ����ɬ���� will celebrate Homecoming 2021 on Saturday, Oct. 2.

One of ����ɬ����’s newest faculty members in the Department of Geology has already made her mark with the recent publication of her and her colleagues’ work to better understand the effects of global warming as it relates to the arctic ocean. Allyson Tessin, assistant professor, specializes in biochemistry, oceanography and sedimentary geology. She is currently studying the relationship between the chemistry of the ocean and climate change.

In 1996, Theodore Albrecht, professor of musicology, was diligently working on his original project of annotating, translating and studying approximately 430 letters written to Ludwig van Beethoven by his friends and family. Then a new opportunity presented itself. Albrecht found that his two projects worked together to add further understanding and context, giving him the opportunity to add depth and discover new details of Beethoven’s life.

����ɬ���� will hold in-person commencement ceremonies in May for the Spring Class of 2021 and will welcome back all 2020 alumni for an in-person graduation ceremony during Homecoming Weekend this fall.

The Akron Community Foundation has awarded the QUEST Mentorship Program, an initiative within the LGBTQ+ Center that provides 1:1 mentor/mentee relationships for students to focus on career guidance and general support, a $2,000 micro-grant for the coming year.

QUEST Mentorship .

Amazon’s Alexa, iPhone’s Siri, the Roomba and many more innovations are examples of Artificial Intelligence (AI). AI is changing the world and simplifying life for everyone, resulting in a growing demand for AI professionals. ����ɬ���� will start admitting students in the master's in Artificial Intelligence program starting fall 2021. The program will be offered within the Department of Computer Science.

With the celebration of Women’s History Month in March, it seemed fitting that the ����ɬ���� Women’s Center would officially kick off its 25th anniversary, continuing throughout 2021.

The year 2020 presented many challenges requiring major changes and adjustments for organizations everywhere. Instead of going the traditional route with an annual report for 2020, WKSU explored this past year with “2020: A Year in Review,” celebrating its 70th anniversary, highlighting its adjustments due to the COVID-19 pandemic and covering major historical events.

In keeping with the commitment to honor and remember the events of May 4, 1970, ����ɬ���� will hold a virtual May 4 51st Commemoration this year. The virtual commemoration will feature a video premiering at noon on Tuesday, May 4, that focuses on the nine wounded students: Alan Canfora, John Cleary, Thomas Grace, Dean Kahler, Joseph Lewis, Donald Mackenzie, James Russell, Robert Stamps and Douglas Wrentmore.

COVID-19 has undoubtedly changed the way people experience their education. Over the summer of 2020, ����ɬ����’s eight-week Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) program transitioned to a completely remote environment, and the results were surprising. 

The ����ɬ���� community celebrates the life of Professor Emeritus Edward W. Crosby, Ph.D., known as the “father of Black History Month,” as his work in founding the Institute of African-American Affairs at ����ɬ���� and his contribution to the success of thousands of students inspired all who knew him.