Plato once said, “You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.” Although our students, faculty, and staff adapted to remote learning and meetings this past school year, we missed true social interaction on campus. Informal conversations in hallways and parking lots were limited and even during those brief encounters, masks covered friendly smiles. I am cautiously optimistic for our return this fall and to again see students, faculty, and staff on campus, gathered in the halls, sitting outside of the Student Union, and building friendships.
Considering the obstacles that all of us faced, our campus continued moving forward. We accomplished a great deal including our solar array, a new mindfulness walk, new community and business partnerships, and plenty of student and faculty achievements - a few are mentioned below.
Thankfully, our most meaningful accomplishment occurred last month as we were able to hold three face-to-face commencement ceremonies at Packard Music Hall and graduated our first class of Police Academy cadets with 22 credit hours toward the Peace Officers’ Training Academy concentration in the Associate of Criminology and Justice Studies degree. Seeing the faces of graduates and families and hearing the student stories was awe-inspiring.
Looking ahead, staff who have been working remotely will return to campus on Aug. 2! Then we will anxiously look forward to Aug, 26 when many of our students return to campus.
As we look forward to the days ahead, I want to take this opportunity on behalf of Kent State University at Trumbull to thank all of our first responders for their work, sacrifice, and dedication to this community. Thank you to our students, faculty, and staff for making this a great year. And last but not least, congratulations to our Class of 2021! We are so proud of your accomplishments.
As always, we will continue to find ways to connect with the businesses, organizations, and individuals in the community. If you have questions about our campus or ideas for new programming, please don’t hesitate to reach out and let us know. I wish you all the best and enjoy this summer.
Stay safe and as always, go Flashes!