The Alumni Association is bringing a new event to this year’s homecoming activities called Kiss on the K.

Carrie Circosta, assistant director of student and recent graduate programs, who organized the event, said anyone connected with Kent State is invited to share a kiss with their significant other on the big K, located in Risman Plaza, Saturday at noon.

“It’s a very simple way, but I think it will be a meaningful way to really honor and celebrate that you have two people that have a connection and are in love, and Kent State had something to do with it,” Circosta said.

Circosta said after the parade, she and student ambassadors will try to get alumni, students, faculty and staff to participate in the kiss. She said they will have candy, buttons, temporary tattoos and pom-poms to get everyone excited for the big moment.

A Hershey’s representative who works with the university helped sponsor the Kiss on the K event. Circosta said they were given 3,000 Hershey’s kisses to give out to people who partake in the big kiss.

Participants will also receive buttons with the Kiss on the K logo to show they participated.

Honorary couples — couples who met at Kent State — will also be a part of the kissing event. Circosta said she and others who work in the alumni center know couples who had cute stories about how they met at the university. She said next year they may have a process of nomination to pick the honorary couples, but to get the event started this year, alumni officers picked people they thought should be honored.

Two people that will be attending the event as an honorary couple are Brice and Katie Kertoy. Brice Kertoy graduated in 2007, and Katie in 2010. The Kertoys met at Kent State and got married this past July.

Katie said she loves homecoming, but she thinks the kiss event adds a different element that she’s excited about.

“We’re excited because… [we] started our whole romance at Kent,” Katie said. “It’s neat to be an honorary couple.”

Circosta said the honorary couples will receive a bouquet of roses, and “just for something fun,” they will help select two student couples who will receive gift certificates for romantic dinners at the Rusty Nail.

Before the big kiss, Circosta said couples will have to chance to share their stories and tell how Kent State played a role in how they met.

“You come here for a degree and for your career, but you never know what is going to happen and because of that, you get to meet the love of your life,” Circosta said. “That’s something we need to recognize and celebrate.”

Contact Aubrey Johnson at [email protected].