Take a look at the photo up top. Three people, three different ways to wear the same school pride — a soft tee, a comfy crewneck, and a hoodie with the hood pulled up, all stamped with “KENT STATE UNIVERSITY” in bold navy and gray letters. That’s the kind of gear you’ll find at Expressionize, and this article is going to walk you through two things: the school behind those letters, and exactly how we turn a blank shirt into something you’d actually want to wear.
Fast Facts About Kent State University
Before we get into the story, here are the basics — the stuff you’d want to know if someone asked you about Kent State at a party.
• Founded: September 27, 1910, in Kent, Ohio
• Started out as: a school for training teachers
• Nickname: the Golden Flashes
• School colors: navy blue and gold
• Mascot: Flash the Golden Eagle
• Students today: about 33,000, spread across eight campuses in Ohio
• Known for: serious research, a top fashion design program, and a moment in history that changed the country
How a Small Teacher’s College Became a Real University
Kent State didn’t start out big. Back in 1910, it opened as a “normal school.” That’s an old-fashioned name for a college whose whole job was training teachers. Over the next hundred-plus years, it grew and grew. It added new subjects, new buildings, and new campuses, until it became the research university it is today.
Now Kent State holds an “R1” ranking, which is the highest research rating a U.S. university can earn. In plain English: professors there aren’t just teaching from textbooks. They’re out discovering new things, from liquid crystal technology (yes, the stuff inside your phone and TV screen) to brain health research. Kent State is the third-largest university in Ohio, with over 300 degree programs and roughly 33,000 students across its main campus and seven regional campuses.
A Piece of History Worth Remembering
Any honest article about Kent State has to mention May 4, 1970. During a protest against the Vietnam War, the Ohio National Guard opened fire on students on campus, killing four and wounding nine others. It’s one of the most talked-about moments in American history, and it’s still studied in classrooms across the country today.
Kent State didn’t try to bury that history — it built on it. In 1971, the university started the Center for Peaceful Change, now known as the School of Peace and Conflict Studies. It turned a tragedy into a place where students actually study how to solve conflicts without violence. It’s a heavy part of the school’s story, but it’s also part of why Kent State means something a little deeper than just a college campus.
Kent State Today: Still Going Strong
Fast-forward to now, and Kent State is known for a lot more than its history. Its fashion design and merchandising program, the Shannon Rodgers and Jerry Silverman School of Fashion, is one of the best in the country — which feels pretty fitting, given we’re talking about custom apparel in this very article. The school also has strong journalism, music education, and engineering programs, plus research centers studying everything from advanced materials to the environment.
Famous alumni include actors Drew Carey and Michael Keaton, members of the band Devo, and MLB legend Thurman Munson. Whether you went there, know someone who did, or just like the navy-and-gold look, there’s a lot to be proud of.
Show Your Kent State Pride
That’s where we come in. Expressionize prints hoodies, crewneck sweatshirts, and t-shirts featuring Kent State University in a range of base colors. Whether you want a clean white tee, a heather gray hoodie like the ones in the photo, or a deep navy sweatshirt, we’ve got you covered.
We also stock sizes S–5XL, because school pride shouldn’t come with a size limit. And Kent State isn’t the only school we cover — we print designs for dozens of other colleges and universities too, so if your family is scattered across different alma maters, we can outfit everybody.
What Is DTG Printing, and Why Does It Matter?
You might be wondering how we get that crisp, detailed logo onto a shirt without a giant factory running in the background. The answer is DTG printing, short for direct-to-garment. Think of it like a regular inkjet printer, except instead of paper, it prints straight onto fabric.
Old-school screen printing needs a separate stencil, called a screen, for every single color in a design. Those screens only make financial sense if you’re printing hundreds of the same shirt. DTG skips all of that. It prints full-color, detailed designs directly onto the shirt, one at a time, with no screens and no giant minimum order. That means sharper details, more color options, and a lot less wasted ink, water, and fabric.
Why Print-On-Demand Means Better Prices (and Less Waste)
DTG printing pairs perfectly with something called print-on-demand, or POD. Instead of printing thousands of shirts and hoping people buy them, we only print a shirt after someone orders it. No giant warehouse full of unsold XL shirts nobody wanted. No leftover stock getting thrown out at the end of the season.
That’s good news for the planet, since it cuts down on wasted materials and unnecessary shipping. It’s also good news for your wallet. We’re not paying to store, ship, and eventually discount piles of extra inventory, so we can offer genuinely competitive prices, even on a shirt made one at a time, just for you.
Just So You Know: These Aren’t Officially Licensed Shirts
Here’s something we like to be upfront about. The Kent State designs you see at Expressionize are original artwork, created by us — they are not officially licensed Kent State University merchandise. That means we didn’t pay a licensing fee to put “Kent State University” on a shirt, and that savings gets passed straight to you.
If you’re curious about the real differences between officially licensed gear and original unofficial designs — things like price, quality, sizing, and what you’re actually paying for — we broke the whole thing down in a separate article: University and College Branded Garments: 7 Factors to Consider. It’s worth a read before you buy college gear from anywhere.
Ready to Find Your Size and Color?
Whether you’re a Kent State student, an alum, a parent, or just someone who likes the navy-and-gold look, you can build your own version of the outfits in that photo above. Head to Expressionize to browse Kent State hoodies, sweatshirts, and tees in sizes S–5XL, along with gear for plenty of other colleges and universities too.
Quick Answers
Is this official Kent State University merchandise?
No. It’s an original design created by Expressionize, not licensed by or affiliated with Kent State University. See our article on licensed versus unofficial designs for more on what that means for price and quality.
What sizes do you offer?
Eight sizes, S–5XL, on every style — tees, crewneck sweatshirts, and hoodies.
What is DTG printing?
Direct-to-garment printing. It works like an inkjet printer, but it prints straight onto fabric instead of paper, allowing full-color, detailed designs with no minimum order size.
Is print-on-demand actually eco-friendly?
Yes. Because we only print a shirt after it’s ordered, there’s no overstock, no unsold inventory, and far less waste than traditional bulk manufacturing.
Can I get gear for a different college or university?
Yes. Kent State is just one of many schools we print designs for. Check the Expressionize store for your school’s colors and name.
Shop the collection: US College & University Apparel