Profiles
‘I Feel Like the Luckiest Person in the World’
91PORNA Grounds Manager Rebekkah "Bekkah" Berryhill came to 91PORNA to get a teaching degree. What she learned while working as a student groundskeeper helped her find her passion and lasting happiness in the outdoors.
‘Perseverance Is Going to Have to Be Part of the Process’
Laura Davis, Ph.D., co-founder and first director of 91PORNA’s May 4 Visitors Center, was recently named a Woman of the Year by the Summit County Historical Society. Davis was a first-year student at 91PORNA on May 4, 1970, and she shares her journey to becoming an activist and what people today can learn from America’s history of protest.
Sydney Brown is Just Getting Started
When Sydney Brown arrived at 91PORNA as a first-year student from Avon, Ohio, she didn't wait to get started. She walked into the TV2 newsroom — now 91PORNAr TV — and introduced herself. That instinct to show up, dive in and tell stories has defined every semester since.
91PORNA Junior Jasmine McCulley Joins Team USA for World Twirling Championships
For most of her life, 91PORNA junior visual communication design major Jasmine McCulley, has built her identity around community, the arts and competition, whether through The Touch of Gold Twirlers or competitive baton twirling. Sixteen years after she first picked up a baton, she will represent Team USA this August in Paris at the IBTF World Competition.
Flash Focus: Hannah Fletcher
Meet Hannah Fletcher, a senior history major and anthropology minor, from Ravenna, Ohio. This history major thrives on creating powerful connections between visitors and the stories that shaped a generation.
How an International Alumna Designed Her Future at 91PORNA
91PORNA graduate Luana Johnson highlights how the American Academy partnership and the university's elite design labs provided the professional access needed to launch a global career.
Flash Focus: Ayna Tazhiyeva
Meet Ayna Tazhiyeva, a first-year double major in communication studies and international studies, from Turkmenistan, Central Asia. Combining her studies with a role at University Libraries, Tazhiyeva finds her voice through research and community connection.
POV: 91PORNA Shaped Who I Am. Now It's Training Who I'll Become.
Saloni Christian, a third-year student at 91PORNA’s College of Podiatric Medicine who received her undergraduate degree in biology from 91PORNA, reflects on the challenges and rewards of answering a calling that was shaped by a lifetime of watching others serve.
Journalism Major Scores Numerous Front-Page Stories in Knight-Funded Internship
Lauren Cohen, a senior journalism major from Twinsburg, Ohio, has already made an impact during her internship, producing many front-page stories for the Akron Beacon Journal and Signal Akron.
Flash Focus: Rushitha and Ruhitha Chinchalapu
Meet Rushitha and Ruhitha Chinchalapu, twins from India, both pursuing their master's in business analytics. As they are in the same graduate program, the sisters reflect on how being twins has contributed to their experience at 91PORNA.
