Top News Stories Illuminated Student Success in 2024

Kalamazoo College students exemplified personal excellence with their accomplishments around campus and around the world in 2024. Based on your clicks, here are their top stories from the past year. Watch for our top news stories of faculty and staff, alumni and the College itself coming soon.


10. Horse Sense Guides Equestrian Team

You might be chomping at the bit to attend a football game when you visit campus—but hold your horses. Find out first about some student-athletes in another sport, who are just as proud as their peers to represent K.

Top News Stories Equestrian Team
Kalamazoo College’s Equestrian Team consists of (from left) Libby McFarlen ’26, Sydney Myszenski ’25, Ella Varnhagen ’25, Shannon Dopp ’28 and Emily Spelson ’28.

9. Project Puts Inclusive Spin on Classic Game

Drawing on scholarly literature, Maddie Hurley ’24 designed new elements to the Game of Life and analyzed the concepts of happiness and heteronormativity for the course Feminist and Queer Inquiries.

Top News Stories Maddie Hurley with the Game of Life
Biochemistry major Maddie Hurley ’24 values the women, gender and sexuality (WGS) courses she has taken at K.

8. Phi Beta Kappa Welcomes New Inductees

Kalamazoo College’s Delta Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa welcomed 38 new members in June, recognizing their exceptional scholastic achievements across a wide range of disciplines.

Top News Stories Phi Beta Kappa inductees
Blagoja Naskovski ’24 is introduced among the 38 inductees into Phi Beta Kappa.

7. Computer Science Team Impresses at Programming Contest

Chau Ta ’25, Benjamin Whitsett ’27 and Cole Koryto ’25 represented K in a computer science contest where they bested five teams from the University of Michigan, a team from Michigan State and a team from Harvard among others.

Top News Stories Programming Competition 2
Chau Ta ’25, Cole Koryto ’25 and Benjamin Whitsett ’27 impressed Dow Assistant Professor of Computer Science Sandino VargasPérez at the International Collegiate Programming Contest regional.

6. Silent Film Festival Screens Student’s Creativity

A love of classic movies helped Grace Cancro ’25 win her age group at the International Youth Silent Film Festival Detroit regional with her production, A Deadly Affair.

Top News Stories Silent Film Festival
Filmmaker Grace Cancro ’25 works with Josie Checkett ’25 for Cancro’s award-winning film, “A Deadly Affair.”

5. Hungary Satisfies Student’s Hunger for Neuroscience

Vivian Schmidt ’25 might one day advance the fight against neurological disorders such as ALS, Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. Her recent study abroad experience is one reason why. 

Top News Stories Vivian Schmidt in Hungary
Vivian Schmidt ’25 (left) earned a scholarship to study abroad in Budapest, Hungary.

4. Model UN Team Earns Honors

K’s squad earned an Honorable Mention Delegation award at the National Model United Nations in New York in April, and several awards at the Midwest Model UN conference in St. Louis in February. 

Students from K pictured in the UN General Assembly Hall during the Model UN Conference
The National Model United Nations team from Kalamazoo College attends the conference’s closing ceremony in the UN General Assembly Hall.

3. Six New Heyl Scholars Choose K

Heyl scholarships have enabled hundreds of high school graduates from Kalamazoo County to attend Kalamazoo College for STEM-focused majors or Western Michigan University for nursing, with renewable benefits for up to four years that cover tuition, fees, housing and a book allowance.   

The 2024 Heyl scholars pose for a photo during their banquet at the Hornets Suite
The 2024 Heyl scholarship recipients include (from left to right) Charles Gordon, Maxwell Lloyd, Nathan Gleason, Isabella Hahn, Grace Mohney, Sean Dhanaraj and Chaise Gould. Not pictured: Katherine “Kate” Suarez.

2. Student-Athlete, Business Major Finds Passion for Filmmaking

In a pivot prompted by Kalamazoo College’s flexible curriculum, Ian Burr ’24 heeded a call for “lights, camera, action” in New York while discovering a potential lifelong passion.

Ian Burr discovers filmmaking
Ian Burr ’24

1. Thailand Lessons Influence Student, City’s First Read Along

From a prestigious science scholarship to a transformative study abroad experience in Thailand, a seat on the Climate Action Plan committee, and an impactful internship with the City of Kalamazoo, Emerson Wesselhoff ’25 has immersed herself in opportunities that bring her passion for sustainability to life.

Emerson Wesselhoff working at a table with a city of Kalamazoo table cloth
Emerson Wesselhoff ’25