With her first year coming to a close, President Beverly Warren has been celebrating with students, faculty and the Kent community this week in the days leading up to her inauguration Friday.

“It’s been an exciting week,” Warren said. “When the committee started thinking about the inauguration with me, my first point was to make this about the university… not about one person.”

And that’s what the events have been about: The festivities commenced Saturday with the KSU Flash-A-Thon Dance Marathon Fundraiser for Akron Children’s Hospital, followed later in the week with the dedication of the Kent State Student Memorial Garden and the Center for Undergraduate Excellence, and a Kent State baseball game at Schoonover Stadium.

“I think it’s been really wonderful in that regard that we all have a chance to participate and to feel that it’s a part of the life of the university,” Warren said.

Warren will participate in the “Presidential Perspectives” event Thursday, April 30, where she will be joined by past university presidents Michael Schwartz, Carol Cartwright and Lester Lefton to discuss the past and future of Kent State.

“The reason I wanted to do this so badly is the gratitude (I feel) to these three former presidents for the legacy they left,” Warren said. “It has been really a strong university over time, and I think Kent State’s in a special place.”

Warren also said everything she signed up for nearly one year ago when becoming Kent State’s 12^th president has been all that she thought it would be and more.

“I thought I was joining a university that was vibrant, that was on an upward trajectory, that really was looking forward instead of behind, and that’s been confirmed beyond my expectations,” Warren said.

The inauguration will begin at 2 p.m. Friday, May 1, in the M.A.C. Center.

Contact Christina Godfrey at [email protected].