As the temperature began to drop and the sky grew darker Monday afternoon, Kent and university community members along with out-of-state travelers looked to the sun as the moon eclipsed it.
Even though the eclipse lasted a few minutes, large clusters of people were seen across campus, particularly at Risman Plaza with their eyes to the sky.
Among spectators at the Risman Plaza, university President Todd Diacon chose to attend the Total Solar Eclipse Viewing Party as he said this would be his last chance to witness a total solar eclipse since the next eclipse is not expected to happen in Ohio until 2099.
“I don’t expect to be alive for the next [total solar eclipse],” Diacon said. “I mean if I don’t do it now, when am I going to do it?”
Diacon said he was surprised with the sunshine and warm temperatures of the day which helped drive a number of crowds in areas across campus like the Centennials and the Design Innovation Hub.
“If you would’ve asked me if I thought it would be sunny, I would have said, ‘no way’ and now it’s sunny,” he said.
Other attendees like Jon Jivan, senior coordinator of videography for the university’s communications department, said he came to the party to capture photos and video footage of the eclipse as it will be the first one the university has experienced.
“Since this is a historical event, we won’t see another eclipse until 2099,” Jivan said. “The last one you would have seen at Kent State was in 1806 which was before Kent State existed.”
This was not the first time Jivan has witnessed an eclipse as he said he previously captured one in 2017 in Hopkinsville, Kentucky.
“The 2017 one was a life-changing experience for me, so I’m hoping to reduplicate that experience again today. It’s incredible when you see it in person,” he said.
Michael Breth, a freshmen architecture major, and his friends chose to watch the eclipse from the rooftop of The Student Center as he said he wanted to have a good view of the crowd on Risman Plaza and the eclipse.
“Thought it would be a really unique area to watch it from where there’s not that many people,” Breth said. “Like being higher up, wanted to see where everybody else is and kind of get this nice view.”
Breth and his friends are already planning for where they will be for the next solar total eclipse in 2099 as Maddie Hunter, a sophomore architecture major, said she would be retired and living in Florida, Spain or somewhere not in Ohio.
Others like Alyssa Rosatone, a freshmen interior design major, said her and friends chose to make a day out of the eclipse as they arrived at Risman Plaza at 11 a.m.
“We want to come out here and enjoy the day, like it was so nice out today,” Rosatone said. “We decided to do some homework, reading and enjoy being outside.”
Around 3 p.m. the sky began to become darker and the temperatures slowly dropped, Christina Maldonado, a senior nursing major, said when the temperatures began to drop she and her friends began to huddle closer together.
“Everyone took off their [jackets] when they got here, we were waiting,” Maldonado said. “Then when it started getting colder we were inching our way next to each other.”
Before the eclipse, Maldonado said she thinks she might have looked up at the sun a few times by accident.
“A little too much I would like back down and there was a little dot, so I hear it takes 24 hours to know so we’ll figure it out,” she said.
Maldonado was not the only one to accidentally look at the sun without their eclipse glasses as Paige Thallman, a sophomore interior design major, said she accidentally did the same.
“One time I had the glasses up, and they just like took off … so it’s like ‘oh, well,’” Thallman said.
Ferb Reez, a retired firefighter from St. Mary’s County, Maryland, said he came to the party with the intention of witnessing his first total solar eclipse and was amazed by it.
“It was awesome,” Reez said. “The most incredible thing I’ve ever seen.”
Adriana Gasiewski is a beat reporter. Contact her at [email protected].
Michael Neenan is a TV2 reporter. Contact him at [email protected].
