Rotareminder for the Rotary Club of Kent
August 27, 2024
President Rachel Kerns called the meeting to order and thanked audio booth volunteers Adam Alderson, Roger Kramer, Asad Khan and Kaleena Gharky. We sang God Bless America, played by David Dix. After reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, Dave Myers offered the invocation. Our second song was the KSU Fight song. Dom Bollenbacher was our song leader, accompanied by David Dix on piano.
Visitors:
There were no visiting Rotarians. Bill Childers introduced his guest, Pete Mahoney, former employee at KSU in athletics. Dave Myers introduced Lisa Soeder from the Office of Corporate Engagement at KSU.
Happy Bucks:
Todd Kamenash collected happy bucks from the following individuals:
Sherry Joy – for her husband’s 76th birthday and their 53rd wedding anniversary
Amanda Senn – for kids off to school
Randy Smith – for the fabulous dinner at the Khan’s home, a Rotary auction item.
Tom Larkin – for Kent’s win over football rival Ravenna
Doug Fuller – for another great Rotary auction meal at the home of Tom and Kathy Myers
Kathy Myers – for dinner at the Khan’s house and for her dinner party aided by Todd Kamenash
Dave Myers – for the start of school and for his new position as Director of Corporate Engagement at KSU
Asad Khan – for the Rotary auction dinners and for his son and several of his friends who are off to Kenyon College
Jen Lennox – for her daughter’s 18th birthday celebration
Jeff Roeger – after a career of 30 years at Walgreens, retirement is soon approaching. Then Jeff will volunteer to help persons who are hoping to be organ recipients
Anne Moneypenny – for football rivalries
Rachel Kerns – for her daughter’s recent goal in a soccer game
Lisa Soeder – to celebrate no longer being just one person in the office of Corporate Engagement at KSU.
August birthdays:
The birthday question asked about childhood mischief.
Aug. 1 - Tom Tadsen – told of an adventure with his 4 year- old girlfriend.
Aug.1 - David McKeen – at age 14, he went to a keg party.
Aug.2 - Brian Bialik – told us about spinning insects on a wheel as an experiment gone haywire.
Aug. 6 - Chas Madonio – talked about an adventure, driving with underage friends and their 6- packs, when stopped by the police.
Aug. 16 - Dennis Campbell – got into trouble with his sister, who decided they should help dad by changing the oil in his car.
These individuals were not present for birthday time:
Aug. 17 – John Ryan
Aug. 25 – Rebekah Wright Kulis
Aug. 26 – Anita Herington
Aug. 31 – Brad Ehrhart
David Dix led us in singing Happy Birthday for our Rotarians with August birthdays.
Program:
Bill Childers introduced Randale Richmond, the Director of Athletics at KSU. Randale is an Akron native who earned a B.A. from Baldwin Wallace and a Masters in Higher Education Administration at KSU. He lives in Stow with his wife and 3 children.
Randale told us he grew up in situational poverty in Akron. Sports got him to education. He worked at Old Dominion University in Virginia and found it to be a good fit for him, but he took advantage of an opportunity to interview for an athletics position at KSU. Now as the Director of Athletics, Randale told us that he wants to prepare athletes for life. He described his” SAM” approach. “S” stands for setting the mission and vision. ”A” represents allocating resources for success, and “M” is for motivating and inspiring athletes. Athletic programs at Kent are student-centered and coach-led. He praised the extraordinary coaches who are given the resources they need to do their work.
Academics are a priority at Kent. Randale is proud of the GPA of athletes. Seventy six percent of athletes have a 3 or higher GPA. The job placement rate after graduation is 97%.
Last year Kent State had nine MAC championship opportunities and won 4 MAC championships, a record that is better than other MAC schools. Kent had 3 MAC coaches of the year and 2 MAC players of the year. In addition, Kent had 3 athletes participate in the 2024 Olympics in Paris. KSU has had representatives in the past nine Olympic contests.
Athletes at Kent log many hours of community service. There is a culture of giving back to the community that is fostered by coaches and administrators.
Currently there are numerous challenges faced by collegiate athletics. The NCAA is changing to a revenue sharing model. There is the name, image, likeness way that athletes are compensated. The world has changed, and it is not going back. Randale sees what is happening as an evolution. First there was an emphasis on scholarships. Then there were campaigns for the funding of facilities. Now there are funds for athletes directly. Randale stated KSU needs to evolve to stay current with the new trends. Relationships are important for survival. KSU needs to work diligently on acquiring and retaining talent.
Response:
Laing Kennedy offered the response. He thanked Randale for his talk and stated that he is doing an outstanding job as Athletics Director.
The meeting closed with the Four Way Test.
Respectfully submitted
Sue Hetrick
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