Category: Events

Festival Playhouse Explores Body Image in ‘Most Massive Woman Wins’

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In a waiting room at a liposuction clinic, four women sit with their thoughts, their bodies, and their personal histories. What unfolds is The Most Massive Woman Wins, the next production by the Festival Playhouse at Kalamazoo College. 

It’s a play that confronts body image, misogyny and the personal costs of trying to fit into a society obsessed with women’s appearances. Written by Madeleine George and directed by Milan Levy ’23, the show will run at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, February 26 to Saturday, February 28, with a 2 p.m. matinee on Sunday, March 1. Tickets are available at festivalplayhouse.ludus.com. 

Since graduating from K, Levy has built a directing résumé that includes codirecting Smart People with Face Off Theatre Company, Kalamazoo’s Black-owned theatre company, in fall 2024. When Professor of Theatre Arts Lanny Potts reached out about the opportunity to direct at Levy’s alma mater, they immediately said yes. For Levy—who also serves the College as a program coordinator in the Office of Student Activities—this show is deeply personal. 

“Being someone who grew up a plus size woman, I saw so much of myself and the insecurities I’ve held, spoken through the words of these women,” Levy said. “I wanted to explore this play for myself, and everyone who would connect to this story.”  

Four actors from "The Most Massive Woman Wins" huddle during a rehearsal
Victoria (Gracie) Burnham ’27 (from left), Shay Kruse ’28, Helen Stoy ’26 and Sofia Gross ’29 are among the student actors in “The Most Massive Woman Wins” slated for February 26–March 1 at the Festival Playhouse.

The play unfolds as a series of monologues and scenes that move between the clinic’s waiting room and the women’s memories of schoolyards, workplaces and relationships. Each character has arrived at the same door, having traveled a completely different path to reach it. 

Liliana Stout ’26 plays Sabine, a Ph.D. student and committed feminist who wrestles with an internal conflict between her politics and her desire for intimacy, driving much of the play’s emotional tension. Stout describes the character as deeply angry and in constant dialogue with herself. 

“She can’t overcome the loneliness, and she has to find a way to balance being the deeply moral, feminist person that she is while wanting the love that she hasn’t found,” Stout said. 

Two casts will perform in the production, with Stout being the only actor to take the stage each night. Stout noted that the ensemble spans the full range of K class years, from a first-year student to seniors, and at least one cast member is performing on stage for the first time. The other actors include: 

  • Gracie Burnham ’27 and Emily Reese ’27 who portray Rennie, a teenager consumed by an eating disorder, trying to gain the love and acceptance of her mother.   
  • Sofia Gross ’29 and Shay Kruse ’28 who play Carly, a loving mother who believes her hard work will ensure her daughter doesn’t end up the way her and her mother did. What happens when this belief is challenged? 
  • Helen Stoy ’26 and Zoee Perez ’26 who act as Cel, a woman who struggles with self-harm and needs the help of others to keep her grounded. 

The play is set in the 1990s, but both Levy and Stout say its concerns feel urgently modern, as medications promising rapid weight loss dominate public conversation and the media continues to project narrow definitions of beauty. 

“We’re returning to the 90s in a way,” Levy said. “People are now using Ozempic and GLP-1s to lose weight. It’s all about looking skinny but that doesn’t equate to healthy. Expecting us all to have the same body or work towards it, is putting an impossible standard.” 

For Stout, the play is an invitation to empathy rather than judgment. She hopes audiences leave with a more generous understanding of why people arrive at decisions around changing their bodies. 

“It’s easy to stop and judge someone for doing something like plastic surgery or liposuction and say they’re lazy, or taking the easy way out, or that they just don’t love themselves,” she said. “I hope watching the show encourages people to take a moment to pause and instead find a way to understand what they’re going through and show them love instead.” 

Levy wants audiences, especially those who have felt the pressures these characters embody, to feel seen. 

“I want this show to give voice to the things people never felt they could share or say out loud,” they said.

Arcus Center Slates Women’s Day Conference

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As International Women’s Day approaches, Kalamazoo College will host a landmark conference titled Resisting Harm, Building the Future: Beyond Borders and Binaries from Friday, March 6 to Sunday, March 8, at the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership, 205 Monroe St. 

The three-day gathering unites activists, scholars and community organizers from around the world to explore critical issues of gender justice, environmental activism and liberation movements. Through panel discussions, workshops and collaborative planning sessions, participants will examine how communities can respond to systems of harm while building pathways toward collective liberation.  

Attendees may register online for any or all of the sessions scheduled from 7:30 a.m.–8 p.m. Friday, 7:45 a.m.–8 p.m. Saturday, and 8:30 a.m.–1 p.m. Sunday. The public is welcome. 

Friday’s programming opens with a panel titled Acting with Love in Systems of Harm, featuring speakers who will discuss interventions of care and hope that challenge rape culture, misogyny and policing. The afternoon session, Beyond Binaries, explores gender outside rigid norms through contexts including immigration, technology and sexuality. 

Among the presenters are Aqdas Aftab from Loyola University Chicago, Wazhmah Osman from Temple University, and Frances Vicioso from OutFront Kalamazoo, alongside academic researchers and therapeutic practitioners working at the intersection of intimacy, healing and social justice. 

Saturday’s schedule tackles environmental and technological justice along with an examination of the climate crisis. The panel We All Live on this Earth will demonstrate connections between land, gender, violence, capitalism and race, offering concrete ideas for action. Later in the day, speakers will address knowledge access, censorship, media literacy, and the role of artificial intelligence in shaping contemporary life. 

The conference also spotlights grassroots organizing strategies. Saturday afternoon’s Organizing for Action panel features Bochra Triki, a Tunisian feminist and LGBTQ activist; Shona Espinoza from Food Not Bombs Kalamazoo; and other community organizers sharing lessons from on-the-ground activism. 

A standout session titled How Do We Care for Each Other? on Saturday morning will bring together Black polyamory activist Chanée Jackson Kendall; researcher Os Keyes from the University of Massachusetts, Lowell; and sexual educator Roma de las Heras Gómez to reimagine relationships, love and care networks outside of state structures. 

The conference concludes Sunday morning with a planning and discussion session focused on takeaways and next steps, followed by a student-led action project. The final component underscores the event’s commitment to translating dialogue into meaningful community engagement. 

All panels and meals will take place at the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership, with breakfast, lunch and evening appetizers provided each day. The workshops scheduled for Friday and Saturday afternoons offer hands-on opportunities for participants to develop skills and strategies for social change work. 

The conference represents a collaborative effort to move beyond traditional academic conferences, creating space for practitioners, activists and scholars to learn from one another while building networks of solidarity and support. 

For more information about the Resisting Harm, Building the Future: Beyond Borders and Binaries conference, contact Arcus Associate Director Coco Canders at CoCo.Canders@kzoo.edu. 

Women's Day Conference Presenter Frances Vicioso
International Women’s Day Conference presenter Frances Vicioso
Women's Day Conference Presenter Os Keyes
International Women’s Day Conference presenter Os Keyes

Ensembles Present Concerts, Feb. 15 and 20 

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Kalamazoo College will sound as vibrant as it feels this month, with two campus music ensembles inviting audiences to shake off the winter chill through music inspired by movement, mood and color.  

Academy Street Winds 

The Academy Street Winds will present a dance-themed concert featuring waltzes, a tango, a malambo, and more at 4 p.m. on Sunday, February 15, at Dalton Theatre. Winter Dances will feature a title piece by Brian Balmages, the celebrated work Satiric Dances by Norman Dello Joio, and other selections that capture the emotions and motions of movement. Admission is free; donations are appreciated. 

The ensemble is a beloved creative outlet for woodwind, brass and percussion musicians, bringing together both students and community members to expand the group’s sound and capabilities.Adjunct Assistant Professor of Music Greg Bassett serves as the group’s director. 

Kalamazoo College Jazz Band 

The Kalamazoo College Jazz Band, directed by Visiting Instructor of Music Sandra Shaw, will present Colour My World at 7 p.m. on Friday, February 20, at Dalton Theatre. Admission is free; donations are appreciated.  

The concert will begin with Chicago’s Colour My World. It will continue with tunes that describe different colors to add visual stimulation and evoke specific emotions and feelings while reflecting shared experiences. Listeners are encouraged to dance if the music inspires them during the show. 

For more information about both performances, contact the Department of Music at 269.337.7070 or Susan.Lawrence@kzoo.edu. 

Jazz Band ensembles
The Kalamazoo College Jazz Band will be one of the ensembles performing this month.

K Celebrates Black History Month with Hip-Hop, Poetry, Movement 

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Black History Month speaker Michael "Manny Faces" Conforti
Michael “Manny Faces” Conforti
Black History Month speaker Kandace Lavender
Kandace Lavender
Black History Month speaker Denise Miller
Denise Miller

Kalamazoo College’s Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership is transforming Black History Month into an immersive celebration of culture. This February, the center presents a dynamic lineup that moves beyond traditional lectures, inviting students and community members to engage with Black history through hip-hop’s revolutionary power, the decolonizing practice of poetry, gospel music’s role in resistance movements, and the liberating language of dance. 

The series kicks off at 6 p.m. on Thursday, February 5, with author Michael “Manny Faces” Conforti discussing his book Hip Hop Can Save America!: Inspiration for the Nation from a Culture of Innovation. Conforti examines how hip hop extends far beyond music to represent a powerful force for social, economic and cultural transformation. 

The conversation continues at 4 p.m. Saturday, February 7, with “Hip Hop Can Save America,” featuring Conforti, Kandace Lavender and Associate Professor of Music Beau Bothwell. This event explores culture-forward approaches to defending democracy through inspiring presentations and dialogue about hip-hop’s past, present and future role in advancing justice and equity. The evening concludes with a cypher/jam session and dinner. 

At 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, February 19, poet and educator Denise Miller facilitates “Reading Black SoulTelling,” a community workshop exploring Black poetry as a decolonizing practice. Miller, author of A Ligature for Black Bodies and Art of Fact Director at the Institute for Public Scholarship, leads participants in a communal reflection on how poetry exposes oppression and recovers Black language and personhood. Dinner will be served. 

At 6 p.m. on Monday, February 23, the Face Off Theatre Company will present excerpts from Mahalia: A Gospel Musical. This curated performance and dialogue experience integrates spoken words, poetry and contemporary dance to invite reflections on faith, Black resistance and art’s role in social justice movements. 

The series concludes at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, February 26, with “Movement as Liberation,” led by Heather Mitchell, founder of the Justice Moves dance company. This embodied experience blends somatic movement, West African drum and dance, and community connection, allowing participants to reconnect with their bodies as sites of resilience and joy. The evening closes with a community dance circle, performance and reception. 

All events are free and open to the public. For more information, contact Arcus Associate Director Coco Canders at CoCo.Canders@kzoo.edu. 

Outdoor Leadership Conference Returns to K

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The Midwest Outdoor Leadership Conference is returning to Kalamazoo College February 6–8, offering a weekend of student-led workshops, networking and hands-on learning focused on outdoor leadership and sustainability education. 

The annual event will connect more than 50 students from small, medium and large institutions across the region. K students will be able to participate at no cost and without the need to travel. 

“It really doesn’t matter what students’ majors are. It’s just all about outdoor leadership and sustainability education,” said Josie Belsky ’28, one of the five conference organizers including Madeline Moss ‘26, Zoe Allen ’28, Chloe Brown ’28 and Ava King ’28. 

Belsky’s journey to organizing the conference began when she attended last year’s event at Earlham College. Moss had heard about the conference through her first-year seminar, Wheels of Change. After missing last year’s conference while studying abroad, Moss jumped at the opportunity to help organize when Sofia Fleming ’25, a previous conference attendee, reached out. 

For Moss, an English major, the conference represents an opportunity to bridge academic interests with outdoor pursuits—a combination not always obvious to those outside the field. 

Outdoor Leadership Conference
Kalamazoo College last hosted the Midwest Outdoor Leadership Conference in 2020 with gatherings like this one at the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership. The conference is returning to K Feb. 6–8.

“At K, we don’t have a lot of leadership-specific courses or an outdoor education major, so this is an opportunity for us to be able to touch base with students from other schools who might be interested in that and who have a lot of background in it, while also learning from them,” Moss said. “Being able to intersect my interest of the outdoors and sustainability with English is a nice thing about the conference.” 

This interdisciplinary approach defines the conference’s appeal. Workshops range from technical skills such as scuba diving and rock climbing to more philosophical discussions about what wilderness means and how to decolonize one’s understanding of the outdoors.  

Planning the conference has been a crash course in event management for the organizing students, who have met weekly since the start of the academic year with support from Outdoor Programs staff. The planners have coordinated with campus organizations like the Office of Student Activities. They’ve also reached out to local organizations such as the Kalamazoo Nature Center and engaged with students about their Senior Integrated Projects (SIPs) and other campus initiatives. 

The organizers emphasize that the conference welcomes everyone, regardless of outdoor experience. 

“One of the bigger barriers is that it can be a little intimidating to go to a conference—you feel like you have to come in with something, but in reality, it’s for everyone,” Belsky said. “There’s no experience necessary. You don’t even have to be an outdoorsy person. It’s just meant to be fun.” 

Hosting the conference offers an opportunity to showcase how K’s sustainability infrastructure has evolved, particularly through the Environmental Stewardship Center. 

“K has gone through a lot of changes, and I think this feels somewhat grounding back to our history of sustainability in leadership and student-led learning,” Moss said. “The fact that we hosted this conference back in 2020, before the pandemic, and a lot of things have shifted since then, and the fact we’re adapting it to the way that the school is now, says a lot about our dedication to creating a space of outdoor stewardship.” 

Attending this conference at other schools has been eye-opening for K students. Last year at Earlham, for example, Belsky and others learned about Earlham’s Quaker heritage and toured facilities including horse stables, composting operations and a community building where people sell handmade art and pottery. 

But beyond workshops and campus tours, the conference creates lasting connections. 

“I’m still in contact with the people I met at last year’s conference,” Belsky said. “One of them came to visit me and my roommate last year, too, which was fun.” 

She also emphasizes the conference’s professional value. 

“It’s a good way to network with people and make connections that will help you so much in your future career,” Belsky said. 

The organizers express deep appreciation for Outdoor Programs Director Jory Horner, Outdoor and Environmental Coordinator Greta Farley ’22 and Outdoor Leadership Training Center Coordinator Hannah Wolfe ’21, who provided crucial guidance. Farley’s perspective as a former student organizer has been particularly valuable. 

“Sometimes we get fogged up with the student mindset and think we’re so busy that we couldn’t possibly do this,” Moss said. “But it felt grounding to have them tell us that we’re capable of it, and we could do so much more than we expected.” 

With the conference happening on campus, the organizers have a simple message for the K community: Join us. 

“The fact that it’s here is huge for us because we know, especially for student-athletes and people involved in student organizations, it’s hard to get away on the weekends,” Belsky said. “Your lives get busy, especially at K, because we’re always so involved. But it’s here. It’s so close, so come join us.” 

For more information, registration and schedules, see the conference’s website. 

Trojans and Greeks in Sicily Take Center Stage in Classics Lecture

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Margaret M. Miles, a University of California, Irvine professor emerita of art history and classics, will offer a lecture titled Trojans and Greeks in Western Sicily on Tuesday, February 10, at 4:15 p.m. in the Olmsted Room at Mandelle Hall. The event will also be livestreamed.  

Miles, the Edward A. Dickson Emerita Professor of Art History and Classics, researches Greek and Roman art, architecture and archaeology. She will talk about the refugees from Troy who founded the cities of Segesta and Eryx in Western Sicily. They later were joined by some storm-driven Greek Phokians, a group that called themselves Elymians but insisted on their ancestry as Trojans well into the Roman period. 

Sorting out Elymian, Greek and Phoenician influence on the city of Segesta is a challenge, Miles says. An early 5th-century BCE sanctuary and its handsome large temple—newly reconstructed on paper thanks to recent fieldwork—provide further insight and illustrate the religious history, variegated ethnic identities and engineering capabilities of 5th-century BCE Segesta. 

Miles served a six-year term as the Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Classical Studies at the American School of Classical Studies in Athens. Her publications include A Reconstruction of the Temple of Nemesis at Rhamnous, Agora Excavations XXXI: The City Eleusinion, and Art as Plunder: The Ancient Origins of Debate about Cultural Property. She also has three edited volumes including Cleopatra: A Sphinx Revisited, Autopsy in Athens: Recent Archaeological Research in Athens and Attica, and Blackwell’s Companion to Greek Architecture. She is working on a book about 5th-century BCE Greek temples and religion. 

The Doric Temple of Segesta, an ancient archaeological site on Mount Barbaro in northwestern Sicily, Italy. Trojans.
The Doric Temple of Segesta, an ancient archaeological site on Mount Barbaro in northwestern Sicily, Italy, was built around 420–430 BC by the Elymians, one of the three indigenous peoples of Sicily.

Hosted by the Department of Classics, this public event is free, and a reception will follow. For more information, email Academics Office Coordinator Sarah Bryans at Sarah.Bryans@kzoo.edu. 

Wynton Marsalis to Discuss Jazz, American Culture at Kalamazoo College

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Register to Attend

Jazz musician, band leader and composer Wynton Marsalis will join the Rev. Millard Southern III on the campus of Kalamazoo College for a conversation about Marsalis’ life in music, the history of jazz in the evolution of American culture, and the role arts education plays in a democratic society.

Part of the American Studies Speaker Series, the conversation will be hosted by Charlene Boyer Lewis, the Larry J. Bell ’80 Distinguished Chair in American History. It will take place at 11 a.m. Monday, February 2, in K’s Dalton Theatre at Light Fine Arts. The event is free and open to the public with advance registration required.

Marsalis is the managing and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center, the director of jazz studies at The Juilliard School and president of the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation. A world-renowned trumpeter, he is the winner of nine Grammy Awards, and he is the only musician to win a Grammy in two categories—jazz and classical—in the same year. In 1997, he became the first jazz musician to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music for his oratorio Blood on the Fields. His other honors include the National Medal of Arts in 2005, the National Humanities Medal in 2015 and the U.N. Messenger of Peace in 2001, in addition to honorary doctorates from universities such as Harvard, Yale and Princeton.

A native of New Orleans, Marsalis has produced more than 100 albums and performed in more than 66 countries while advocating for jazz as a living art form and exploring its connections to democracy, social justice and American identity.

Southern, a Chicago native, is an AME-ordained minister, jazz musician, writer, social activist and Western Michigan University doctoral candidate. His dissertation explores the intersection of race, religion, cultural democracy and the music of Wynton Marsalis. Since 2021, he has served as pastor of Allen Chapel AME Church in Kalamazoo, leading efforts to revitalize the city’s Northside neighborhood. He is also a Shared Passages instructor at K, where he has offered courses such as Let Freedom Swing and Paris Noir. The latter was inspired by a 2023 research grant to study Black art, jazz and culture in Paris. He holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Drake University and a Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary in New York.

The conversation is supported by the Kalamazoo College American Studies Department with special funding from the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership and additional support from the Department of Music and College Advancement.

“Wynton Marsalis regards jazz and its improvisational qualities as fundamentally American—and, in form and content, as contributing to current social justice efforts,” Boyer Lewis said. “His visit to our campus is part of a wonderful continuum in an important strand of K’s history that began with abolitionist founders James and Lucinda Hillsdale Stone, including connections to Sojourner Truth and Frederick Douglass, and runs to and through figures such as James Baldwin, Angela Davis and Francis Fox Piven. We are lucky to have him as our 2026 American Studies Speaker.”

Wynton Marsalis with his trumpet
Wynton Marsalis will speak Monday, February 2, at Kalamazoo College as a part of the American Studies Speaker Series.
Portrait of Millard Southern
The Rev. Millard Southern III will join Marsalis for a conversation about the jazz great’s life in music, the history of jazz in the evolution of American culture, and the role arts education plays in a democratic society.

Honors Day Convocation Salutes Student Success

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Hundreds of Kalamazoo College students were recognized Friday, November 7, during the annual Honors Day Convocation for excellence in academics and leadership. Students were recognized in six divisions: Fine Arts; Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures; Humanities; Natural Sciences and Mathematics; Social Sciences; and Physical Education. Recipients of prestigious scholarships were recognized, as were members of national honor societies and students who received special Kalamazoo College awards. Student athletes and teams who won Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association awards also were honored. Many of the awards presented are based on outstanding performance during the previous academic year. The students receiving Honors Day awards or recognition are listed below. 

FINE ARTS DIVISION

Brian Gougeon ’81 Prize in Art

  • John Brewer
  • Sara Bush

The Margaret Upton Prize in Music

  • Maya Davis

Charles Cooper Award in Fine Arts

  • Lena Barret
  • James Hauke

Fan E. Sherwood Memorial Prize

  • Bernice Mike

Theatre Arts First-Year Student Award

  • Maya Davis
  • Sebastian Nelson

DIVISION OF MODERN AND CLASSICAL LANGUAGES

LeGrand Copley Prize in French

  • Jessica Forbis

Hardy Fuchs Award

  • Sara Bush
  • Maren Palmer

Margo Light Award

  • Johe Newton Johnson

Department of Spanish Language and Literatures Prize

  • Sarah Guerrero Gorostieta
  • Jay Hernandez

Clara H. Buckley Prize for Excellence in Latin

  • Eleanor Campion
  • Sally Eggleston

Classics Department Prize in Greek

  • Aubrey Benson

Provost’s Prize in Classics

  • Sally Eggleston

HUMANITIES DIVISION

O.M. Allen Prize in English

  • Sarah Guerrero Gorostieta

John B. Wickstrom Prize in History

  • Brit Inman
  • Aliah Mohmand

Department of Philosophy Prize

  • Jessica Forbis
  • Cecilia Gray
  • Arden Schultz

L.J. and Eva (“Gibbie”) Hemmes Memorial Prize in Philosophy

  • Tavi Butki
  • Jessica Forbis

NATURAL SCIENCES AND MATHEMATICS DIVISION

Winifred Peake Jones Prize in Biology

  • Josephine Belsky
  • Chloe Brown
  • Avery Davis

Department of Chemistry Prize

  • Linda Chukwu
  • Carter Haley
  • May Pasillas

First-Year Chemistry Award

  • Teige Bredin
  • Caroline Johnson
  • Katherine Saurez

Lemuel F. Smith Award

  • William Tocco

Computer Science Prize

  • Lena Barrett
  • Alexander Russell

First-Year Mathematics Award

  • Ayako Jurgle

Thomas O. Walton Prize in Mathematics

  • Ingrid Gardner
  • Lauren MacKersie
  • Juniper Pasternak
  • Benjamin Whitsett

Cooper Prize in Physics

  • Nathan Gleason
  • Charles Gordon
  • Caroline Johnson
  • Katelyn Steinbrecher
  • Katherine Suarez

SOCIAL SCIENCES DIVISION

Departmental Prize in Anthropology and Sociology

  • Leila Bank
  • Veda Shukla

William G. Howard Prize in Political Science

  • Bo Chambers

William G. Howard Memorial Prize in Economics and Business

  • Jordan Doyle

C. Wallace Lawrence Prize in Business

  • Jack Duggins
  • Matthew Matuza

C. Wallace Lawrence Prize in Economics

  • Renzo Palomino Caceres
  • Maya Clarren

Irene and S. Kyle Morris Prize

  • Callie Abair
  • Jackson Keefer

Department of Psychology First-Year Student Prize

  • Kay Hanson

PHYSICAL EDUCATION DIVISION

Division of Physical Education Prize

  • Cameron Crosby
  • Addison Lyons

Lauren Rosenthal ’13 Memorial Prize

  • Eleanor Bernas

Maggie Wardle ’02 Prize

  • Maggie Westra

COLLEGE AWARDS

Henry ’36 and Inez Brown Prize

  • Jaylen Bowles-Swain
  • John Bungart
  • Abbie Caza
  • Ella Spooner

Davis United World College Scholar

  • Soyeon Jin

HEYL SCHOLARS: Class of 2029

  • Methmi Amaratunga
  • Stephanie Castillo
  • Eiden Jonaitis
  • Dewen Luo-Li
  • Gwendolyn MacEwen
  • Kaljona Thaumanavar

POSSE SCHOLARS: Class of 2029

  • Elyzet Alfaro
  • Sarah Baker
  • Marley Bell
  • Zeina Coreas
  • Lavar Ganther
  • Marcus Lloyd
  • Vex Maldonado
  • Sophia Mes
  • Zaira Ramirez
  • Coltrane Randolph
  • Jordan Rivas

NATIONAL MERIT SCHOLARS: Class of 2029

  • Drew Abbott

SLAVA-CICA AND SPASA VOYNOVICH SCHOLARS

  • Olivia Schleede

ALPHA LAMBDA DELTA: Class of 2029

Alpha Lambda Delta is a national honor society that recognizes excellence in academic achievement during the first college year. To be eligible for membership, students must rank in the top 20% of their class and earn a cumulative GPA of at least 3.5 during the first year. The students below are members of the Class of 2029 who have met or exceeded those benchmarks and have been invited to join the Kalamazoo College Chapter of Alpha Lambda Delta.

  • Leila Bank
  • Grace Barber
  • Josephine Belsky
  • Derek Blackwell
  • Teige Bredin
  • John Brewer
  • Ellie Britt
  • Chloe Brown
  • Ava Buccafurri
  • Sara Bush
  • Haziel Cerroblanco
  • Bo Chambers
  • Brendan Clinard
  • Toby Comensoli
  • Cameron Crosby
  • Avery Davis
  • Maya Davis
  • Francis Ernzen
  • Max Feliks
  • Mathias Florian
  • Jessica Forbis
  • Nathan Gleason
  • Brizza Gonzalez
  • Cole Grupenhoff
  • Sarah Guerrero Gorostieta
  • Carter Haley
  • Britt Inman
  • Weslee Innes
  • Caroline Johnson
  • Ayako Jurgle
  • Jackson Keefer
  • Ava King
  • Shay Kruse
  • Katelyn Long
  • Mairead Lynch
  • Jay McDaniel
  • Jacey Merkle
  • Aliah Mohmand
  • Meena Moritz
  • Sebastian Nelson
  • Renzo Palomino Caceres
  • Mario Pomorski
  • Brody Quinn
  • Cory Rapp
  • Julia Reisor
  • Wyatt Ruppenthal
  • McKenna Ryan-Elbert
  • Simon Sawyer
  • Halen Sherwood
  • Veda Shukla
  • Katelyn Steinbrecher
  • Calvin Strader
  • Katherine Suarez
  • Nora Zemlick

FINE ARTS SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS

  • Annice Bellows
  • Mag Burkander
  • Emmett Carlson
  • Elliot Corpuz
  • Sophia Deguzman
  • Ale Demea
  • Desmond Distel
  • Molly Duffy
  • Kellen Fisher
  • Ana Lucia Galarreta
  • Ryan Goodrich
  • Lana Gouin-Hart
  • Sofia Gross
  • Sarah Hagan
  • Abram Haynes
  • Scarlett Hosner
  • Aelitta Kazarov
  • Genevieve Nagel
  • Alessi Neder
  • Sam Pattison
  • Benjamin Perry
  • Ellison Redwine
  • Alice Seigner
  • Saba Sikharulidze
  • Ana Slouber
  • Laurel Stowers
  • Zara Strauss
  • Chloe Stuckey
  • Nolan Surach
  • Mathias Takacs
  • Arielle Tenner
  • Lauren Thompson
  • Jey Trebley

MIAA AWARDS

These teams earned the 2024–25 MIAA Team GPA Award for achieving a 3.300 or better grade point average for the entire academic year.

  • Baseball
  • Men’s Basketball
  • Men’s Golf
  • Men’s Lacrosse
  • Men’s Soccer
  • Men’s Swimming & Diving
  • Men’s Tennis
  • Women’s Basketball
  • Women’s Cross Country
  • Women’s Golf
  • Women’s Lacrosse
  • Women’s Soccer
  • Softball
  • Women’s Swimming & Diving
  • Women’s Tennis
  • Volleyball
Teige Bredin performs at a piano
Teige Bredin ’28 performs Intermezzo in “A Major, Opus 118, No. 2” by Johannes Brahms at Honors Day Convocation.
Honors Day Convocation
Four students at Stetson Chapel
Four students at Honors Convocation
Students at Honors Convocation
Students at Honors Convocation
Four students at Honors Day Convocation
Students at Honors Day Convocation
Students participate in Honors Day Convocation
Students participate in Honors Day Convocation at Stetson Chapel on Friday, November 7.
Sarah Guerrero Gorostieta '28 accepts the Department of Spanish Language and Literatures Prize from Professor of English Amelia Katanski '92 at Honors Day Convocation
Sarah Guerrero Gorostieta ’28 accepts the Department of Spanish Language and Literatures Prize from Professor of English Amelia Katanski ’92 at Honors Day Convocation.
Parents, families, faculty, staff and students gather for Honors Day Convocation at Stetson Chapel
Parents, families, faculty, staff and students gather for Honors Day Convocation at Stetson Chapel.
Honors Day Convocation
Students were recognized in six divisions at Honors Day Convocation: Fine Arts; Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures; Humanities; Natural Sciences and Mathematics; Social Sciences; and Physical Education.
Students gathered at Stetson Chapel
Students participate in Honors Day Convocation at Stetson Chapel.
Parents, families, faculty, staff and students gather at Stetson Chapel
Parents, families, faculty, staff and students gather for Honors Day Convocation at Stetson Chapel.
Honors Day Convocation
Hundreds of Kalamazoo College students were recognized Friday, November 7, during the annual Honors Day Convocation for excellence in academics and leadership.

MIAA ACADEMIC HONOR ROLL: Student Athletes 2024–25

The Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association each year honors students at MIAA-member colleges who achieve in the classroom and in athletic competition. Students need to be a letterwinner in a varsity sport and maintain at least a 3.5 grade-point average for the year.

A

  • Callie Abair
  • Fuzail Ahmed
  • Isaac Ahn
  • Maya Alkema
  • Adnan Alousi
  • Mahmoud Alsafadi
  • Emiliano Alvarado Rescala
  • Paige Anderson
  • Eleanor Andrews
  • Jeremy Ardshahi
  • Peyton Arendsen

B

  • Poppy Balkema
  • Carter Bandemer
  • Grace Barber
  • Joseph Basil
  • Conner Bell
  • Eleanor Bernas
  • Derek Blackwell
  • Douglas Blackwood
  • Eleni Bougioukou
  • Jaylen Bowles-Swain
  • Ella Boyea
  • Teige Bredin
  • Ellie Britt
  • Lukas Broadsword
  • Anna Buck
  • Tavi Butki
  • Zachary Butters

C

  • Raymond Cargill
  • Samantha Carpentier
  • Isabella Caza
  • Abigail Caza
  • Trustin Christopher
  • Nathaniel Clark
  • Thomas Clark
  • Logan Coller
  • Jordan Cook
  • Josee Cooke
  • Cate Cotter
  • Derek Courtney
  • Sebastian Courtright
  • Lucy Cripe
  • Mia Crites
  • Cameron Crosby
  • Chase Cummins

D

  • James Dailey
  • Erik Danielson
  • Ethan Daugherty
  • Jacob Davis
  • Carson Deines
  • Ethan DeNeen
  • Alexander Di Dio
  • Taylor Dinda-Albright
  • Jordan Doyle
  • Jack Duggins

E

  • Alden Ehrhardt
  • Rebecca Elias
  • Elise Elliot
  • Chad Ewing
  • Bradley Eziuka

F

  • Sara Finks
  • Alex Fleming
  • Jordan Flink
  • David Fooy
  • Jessica Forbis
  • Landrie Fridsma

G

  • Dillon Gacki
  • William Geiger
  • Mallory Gentry
  • Logan Gillis
  • Makala Goddard
  • Lukas Graff
  • Charles Graves
  • Lillian Grelak
  • Kaitlyn Grice
  • Cole Grupenhoff

H

  • Sydney Hagaman
  • Alison Hankins
  • Colten Hansen
  • Madeline Hanulcik
  • Sophie Hartl
  • Pauline Hawkes
  • Zachary Heikka
  • Gerardo Herrera-Sanchez
  • Maya Hester
  • Alyssa Hinkley
  • Garrick Hohm
  • Timothy Hollern
  • Ronin Honda
  • Jaelyn Horn
  • Tyler Houle
  • Gavin Houtkooper
  • Ethan Huebsch
  • Alek Hultberg
  • Kennedy Hynde

I

  • Carson Ihrke
  • Macy Ivins

J

  • Nolan Jannenga
  • Halley Johnson

K

  • Seth Keana
  • Jackson Keefer
  • Alyson Kemery
  • Samuel King
  • Ava King
  • Alexander Kish
  • Kathryn Klahorst
  • Mart Klenke
  • Toni Koshmider
  • Julia Kozal
  • Daryn Krause
  • Jack Kreckman

L

  • Jordon Larco
  • Braeden Lavis
  • Annmarie Lawrence
  • Maya Lee
  • Aidan Liedeke
  • Alexander Ligman
  • Addison Lyons

M

  • Kyler Maiorana
  • Natalie Maki
  • Larson Makie
  • Alexandria Mason
  • Matthew Matuza
  • Zachary Maurice
  • Benjamin Maurice
  • Grace McGlynn
  • MacKale McGuire
  • Jacey Merkle
  • Rachel Meston
  • Gabriel Meyers
  • Brittany Miller
  • Marin Miroslavich
  • Jackson Mitchell
  • Mary Ellen Muenzenmaier
  • Elizabeth Muenzenmaier
  • Andrew Munger

N

  • Mackenzie Newhall
  • Robert Newland
  • Emma Newlove
  • Maeve Nolan
  • Allison Nutt

O

  • Gabriel Olivier
  • Nicholas Olmeda
  • Tyler Omness

P

  • Brennan Pannucci
  • Alex Pepin
  • Patrick Perez
  • William Plesscher
  • Evan Pollens-Voigt
  • Mario Pomorski
  • Juliana Pullen

Q

  • Brody Quinn

R

  • Elizabeth Rachiele
  • Spencer Rasmussen
  • Liam Regan
  • Keegan Reynolds
  • Jaycee Rider
  • Cody Rigley
  • Sheldon Riley
  • Donovan Rinehart
  • Amelia Rooks
  • Luke Rop
  • Charlotte Ruiter
  • Wyatt Ruppenthal

S

  • Zenaida Sackett
  • Simon Sawyer
  • Cecilia Schihl
  • Leo Schinker
  • Annika Schnell
  • Sophia Schwartz
  • Eric Sheppard
  • Colby Skinner
  • Dawson Skupin
  • Jillian Smith
  • Jonah Spates
  • Ella Spooner
  • Adam Stapleton
  • David Stechow
  • Jacquelyn Stoddard
  • Grace Sweet

T

  • Levi Thomas
  • William Thomas
  • Vincent Tran

V

  • Anthony Valade
  • Gavin Van Kampen
  • Lucy Vandemark
  • Hannah Vander Lugt
  • Lauren Vanderstelt
  • Tyler Vanderzanden
  • Cameron VanGalder
  • Mitchel VanGalder

W

  • Annslee Ware
  • Riley Weber
  • Jordan Wesaw
  • Ava Williams
  • Gretchen Wilson
  • Alexander Winter
  • Darius Wright

Y

  • Hailey Yoder

Grammy-Award Winners to Perform at K

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A Grammy-award winning musician and storyteller will team up with a Grammy-award winning string quartet for a concert coming soon to Kalamazoo College with support from the Department of Music. 

Robert Mirabal—an elder of the native American Taos Pueblo community—and ETHEL will share a united performance at 7 p.m. Thursday, November 13, at Stetson Chapel. The collaborators, through years of friendship, have developed a blend of joy, compassion and virtuosity in their previous programs including Music of the Sun, The River and Song for Taos. 

Together, they offer a ceremony of original music, movement and wisdom through a new program titled The Red Willow, commissioned by the Taos Chamber Music Society. The pinnacle of the program is the central work, The Red Willow Suite. 

ETHEL and Mirabal have performed across the United States, Europe, Africa and Asia together, and are sure to be appreciated by local audiences. Advance tickets are available online through the Connecting Chords Festival website. General admission is $22; seniors, veterans and active military are $18; ages 25 and under are $5; and a family of two adults and children are $40. Tickets also will be available at the door for $25, $20, $5 and $40 for these same groups. 

For more information on the performance, contact Connecting Chords at 269.382.2910 or director@mfsm.us. 

Grammy Award Winners Robert Mirabal and Ethel
Robert Mirabal and Ethel will perform at 7 p.m. Thursday, November 13, at Stetson Chapel.

Shakespearean Comedy Enters the Disco Era at Festival Playhouse

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Jack Dewey ’27 will have a handful of flamboyant costumes to wear, including a bright blue velvet suit, when he plays a not-so-typical King Ferdinand of Navarre in the Shakespearean Love’s Labour’s Lost, coming to the Festival Playhouse.

Running November 6–November 9, the show takes the Bard’s witty comedy about love and vows and spins it into a vibrant 1970s spectacle filled with music, dancing and retro flair.

“We’ve got flashing lights, dance numbers, sequined costumes—everything is colorful, loud and alive,” Dewey said. “It’s less like seeing Shakespeare and more like watching Mamma Mia.”

Originally written in the 1590s, Love’s Labour’s Lost follows four noblemen who swear off women and worldly pleasures to focus on their academic studies—until a visiting princess and her ladies arrive, undoing their oaths. In this production, Dewey and his fellow lords are reimagined as having the swagger and energy of college fraternity brothers, complete with banter, bravado and bad decisions.

“I’ve never played someone who’s just an absolute jerk before,” Dewey laughed. “In most of my roles, I’ve been the hopeless romantic or the sad guy. This time I get to be a switchblade-comb-wielding, smooth-talking, terrible flirt, and it’s so refreshing.”

Four cast members of Shakespearean comedy Love's Labour's Lost Rehearse at Festival Playhouse
The cast of the Shakespearean comedy “Love’s Labour’s Lost” includes Hannah Ulanoski ’26 as Marcade (from left), Jack Dewey ’26 as King Ferdinand of Navarre, Morgan Smith ’29 as the Princess of France and Max Wright ’26 as Boyet.

The decision to set the play in the 1970s, Dewey said, came from the creative team’s desire to capture an era defined by liberation and self-expression.

“All of our costumes are incredibly sequined and shiny,” he said. “The ’70s were about freedom and individuality, and that fits perfectly with the play’s humor and feminist themes.”

A native of Minneapolis, Minnesota, Dewey said he hadn’t heard of Kalamazoo College until he began receiving recruitment emails. One campus visit changed his future, helped in part by having family living in southwest Michigan. 

“I stepped foot on campus and thought, ‘This is what I want my college experience to look like,’” he said.

Since becoming a student at K, Dewey has performed in Eurydice and Little Shop of Horrors. Even with that experience, Love’s Labour’s Lost is his most physically demanding role.

“We’re running, sliding and lunging, all while speaking in Shakespearean English,” he said. “It’s wild, but this cast makes it so much fun.”

That cast includes several first-year students, including Morgan Smith as the princess of France; Jey Trebley as Berowne; Sam Pattison as Dumaine; Dewen Luo-Li as Rosaline; Laurel Stowers as Maria; and Abram Haynes as Longaville. Dewey said their energy has transformed rehearsals into what he calls the best kind of organized chaos.

“Half the cast are first-years, and they’re so loud, outgoing and funny,” he said. “It’s incredible to see the youngest people leading the charge.”

He also credits acting leaders such as Bernice Mike ’26 as Katherine, Owen Ellis ’27 as Costard and Max Wright ’26 as Boyet for the experience they bring to the cast. Despite the challenges of Shakespeare’s language, Dewey said the company’s modern take makes the story accessible and hilarious.

“I don’t always know what every word means, but I know what my character is trying to say,” he said. “That’s what makes it fun, translating Shakespeare’s intentions into something audiences can feel.”

For anyone hesitant about seeing Shakespeare, Dewey insists this production will change their mind.

“If anyone wants to dip their toes into Shakespeare, this is the play to see,” he said. “It’s an hour of chaos, comedy and color.”

Love’s Labour’s Lost will be staged at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, November 6–Saturday, November 8, and at 2 p.m. Sunday, November 9. Tickets are available through the Festival Playhouse box office website and by phone at 269.337.7333. For more information on the production, contact Theatre Company Manager Kirsten Sluyter at Kirsten.Sluyter@kzoo.edu.