Category: Faculty & Staff

K alumni (and one long ago faculty member) in the news

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Kalamazoo College alumnus Roy Yewah
Roy Yewah ’13

Roy Yewah ’13 is among 33 young adults who recently learned they were selected from 700 applicants to spend the next two years of their life living and working in Detroit. Roy is among the “Year Two” class of Challenge Detroit, an organization dedicated to recruiting young talent to the Motor City to work for businesses and nonprofits. Read about the program in this MLive report. And listen to Roy talk about his commitment to Detroit in a Challenge Detroit video clip. Leigh Ann Ulrey ’11 and Sam Brennan ’11 are part of “Year One” Challenge Detroit. Read about them in this January 2013 issue of BeLight. Which young K alumni will we read about from “Year Three” of Challenge Detroit?!

Kalamazoo College alumna Carolyn DeChants
Carolyn DeChants ’09

Carolyn DeChants ’09 is very busy in Philadelphia. Not only is she creating a digital archive for the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Center at the University of Pennsylvania, she’s pursuing a master’s degree in social policy at Penn’s School of Social Policy & Practice. She hopes to have the online archive set up and in a sustainable form by August, when she will also finish her degree—and join the work world. Carolyn, who says she’s passionate about using research to help illuminate and ameliorate the experiences of any marginalized populations, is currently looking for a position conducting policy research or program evaluation in the Philadelphia area.

Harvey Dickson ’80 is a copy editor of The New York Times Magazine and an occasional contributor to “The 6th Floor” blog where the Magazine’s staff members share ideas, arguments, curiosities and links. Read Harvey’s July 18, 2013 post “Where Have You Gone, Willie Horton?” about the Detroit Tigers slugger and 1968 World Series hero who—still wearing his Tiger uniform after a game against the Yankees—went into the streets of Detroit to help quell some of the violence taking place there during the riots of summer 1967.

Kalamazoo College alumnus Gerald Rosen
Gerald Rosen ’73

Gerald Rosen ’73 is chief district judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. Will he be appointed as the mediator to rule on disagreements between Detroit and its creditors during the city’s Chapter 9 bankruptcy case? U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes signaled in a court filing that he plans to do just that. Read about Jerry Rosen and his possible appointment in this recent Detroit Free Press article.

Edward Olney was Professor of Mathematics at Kalamazoo College for ten years beginning in 1853. He established the first mathematics curriculum at K and had a reputation for being a stern disciplinarian and a stickler for correct details. Despite his nickname “Old Toughy,” Olney was said to take great pains to see that the poorer students obtained help in making up their deficiencies. Read more about Olney in the July 24, 2013 entry of “On This Day in Math,” a popular blog about, well, math.

Summer in the Zoo

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What do students do at Kalamazoo College during the summer? They are certainly here—some 200 or so. Students from around the world enjoy these hot months on campus. They work as interns, they continue work-study jobs, they spruce up the infrastructure with Facilities Management (FacMan) colleagues, they conduct research in the Dow science building, they dive into the early phases of the Senior Individualized Projects. For fun, they run around, go on adventures, eat great food, and hang out with friends. Here’s what a few students are up to this summer.

Jane Huffman sitting at a desk
Jane Huffman

Meet Jane Huffman ’15, administrative intern for the theatre arts department, splitting her time between Saugatuck (Mich., where she’s working on the plays Xanadu and Game Show) and the Kalamazoo College campus. She has been having some fun cooking home made meals with her housemates and going to see some shows at the local theatres. She will study this fall in Chicago and is sad to be missing the opening festivities of the 50thanniversary season of Festival Playhouse at Kalamazoo College.

Dorraine Duncan sitting at a desk
Dorraine Duncan

Dorraine Duncan ’14 is the student intern at the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership.  This summer she has been cooking up an international food storm. The best meal she has made was her own version of the Thai dish “Gra-Pow”. Her friend from Thailand gave her an eight out of 10! Dorraine will soon return to Kingston, Jamaica, for an environmental internship. It will be her first trip home in two years.

Utsav Adhikari driving a cart
Utsav Adhikari and “The Beast”.

Utsav Adhikari ’14 is in his third year on the FacMan recycling crew this summer. On that experience rests his claim to be the “wisest of the FacMan recycling crew.” This summer he went to Irish Fest, one of many summer festivals in downtown Kalamazoo, and had a splendid time. He plays a lot of soccer with neighborhood acquaintances on the Davis Street soccer fields, and chills with friends at the beach in St. Joseph, Mich. At the end of June, he left for an internship at Pinnacle Solutions, a business intelligence company based in Indianapolis, Ind.

Compost Intern Samantha Jolly
Compost Intern Samantha Jolly

Samantha Jolly ’15 holds two positions this summer. She is one of three interns for the Lillian Anderson Arboretum. And she’s the College’s sole summer compost intern. Whatever you might imagine about that second post, Samantha likes both her jobs—minimal supervision! She is her own boss! At three o’clock everyday she heads home to start cooking something delectable; her best meal so far has been her black bean burgers. Every weekend Samantha heads downtown for brunch at her favorite local restaurant, Main Street Café.

Tyler Nichols in the library
Tyler Nichols

Tyler Nichols ’15 has been a busy kid this summer. He works full time as a chef at Henderson Castle, (he prefers the dinner shift). He also has a research stipend from K for an interdisciplinary research project with a political science emphasis. In between work and research he often finds himself at Bell’s Brewing Company or at impromptu block parties in the Vine Street neighborhood.

RA Erika Robles with Sammy Li
RA Erika Robles with Sammy Li

Erika Robles ’14 hails from Costa Rica and just returned to K from study abroad in Japan. In addition to working for FacMan she also serves as Hoben Hall’s summer Resident Assistant. “It’s much more chill in the summer here, with fun small events like barbeques,” she said. She can’t believe how many times she and her friends have made the trek by bus to the movie theater this summer. She has also been enjoying the festivals in downtown Kalamazoo.

Brad Stech
Brad Stech

Brad Stech ’15 is a proud member of the custodial FacMan crew. He stayed over to earn some money before he heads out on his extended-term study abroad (nine months!) in Japan. He likes his job because of the funny and friendly people he gets to work with. In his free time he has been hanging out with friends, playing music, and enjoying sushi from downtown Kalamazoo.

Dakota Clement
Dakota Clement

Dakota Clement ’14 lives with his friends in the Vine Street neighborhood. He is working his third summer for the FacMan grounds crew, and he is also starting preliminary research for his Senior Individualized Project. He is writing a poetry SIP based on nine of his favorite movies from directors Stanley Kubrick and Terrence Malick. These films include Clock Work Orange and The Thin Red Line.

Hadley Harris
Hadley Harris

Hadley Harris ’16 lives only twenty minutes away from K but decided to stay on campus to continue her work-study job in media services. There are not too many media requests during the summer, so the crew has spent a lot of time cleaning the library’s DVD collection. When she can’t stand to be in the humid dorm rooms at night, she heads to the movies with her friends.

Sammy Li
Sammy Li

Sammy Li ’16, a native of China, stayed at K to work for FacMan’s renovation crew. She resides in the Vine Street neighborhood but often thinks about camping out in Hicks Center because of the summer heat! She has gone to the movies a lot, and not just because of the air conditioning. Her favorite films of the summer have been World War Z, The Lone Ranger, and Despicable Me 2.

Avon Helps K Promote Healthy Dating Relationships

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World map shows sites of schools and organizations that have received Green Dot training
Sites of schools and organizations that have received Green Dot training

The Avon Foundation for Women has awarded Kalamazoo College a $5,000 grant to promote healthy sexual relationships on campus.  The grant will allow K to begin training in the Green Dot Campaign.

The Green Dot Campaign is a new way to help prevent sexual assault. The program is designed to teach bystanders and peers how to help intervene in an unsafe situation.

Deb Rose, one of K’s counseling psychologists, applied for the grant last summer. She will be attending a training course  this summer, where she will learn how to use the Green Dot strategy and how to teach it to groups and student organizations on campus.

Dean Sarah Westfall said, “National data suggests that on college campuses sexual assault is widely under reported. I think it is true at K as well. No one wants that. The Green Dot Campaign looks at what tools are already available. It makes a lot of sense.”

Dean Westfall hopes to keep the campaign going year round with informative training sessions for everyone, not just student organizations. “The more people who know the program, the better for everyone,” said Westfall.

Last Look Back

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2013 Graduates on study abroad in Spain
2013 Graduates on study abroad in Spain.

Graduating seniors of the Class of 2013 completed an anonymous survey titled “First Destination.” As the name implies most of the questions look forward. But at least one looked back: “What was your most meaningful or transformative experience at K?”

The majority of the 2013 graduating students reported that study abroad was the most meaningful experience at K. One student responded, “My time abroad was transformative. It opened my eyes to the wider world around me and taught me that apart from our cultural differences, all people have the same general needs and wants. All people want to be respected, and all need health care, shelter, and food.”

That study aboard was valued so highly by seniors is no surprise. The College offers 41 programs in 21 countries on six continents, differing in length and academic emphasis. In the past four years K has had a student participation rate between 80 and 85. The Institute of International Education has ranked Kalamazoo College 10th among colleges and universities for study abroad participation.

Many students cited professors and classes as the most meaningful experience. Again, not surprising given that K has a 12-to-1 student-to-faculty ratio. In addition, academics is integrated with service-learning and social justice, and students mention the importance of both. One students response: “The personalized, experiential education I was able to pursue at K made my learning not some stilted academic experience, but rather four years of intense personal growth and developing relationships with others that helped me both better understand my future path and inspired me to continue on it.”

Students also lauded the importance of co-curricular activities, including sports teams and campus student organizations. K has more than 60 active student organizations that focus on various areas, such as culture, athletics, music, politics, publishing, and spirituality.

A few students said working on campus was meaningful to them. Their jobs here opened up new opportunities and allowed them to give back to the K community.

A small amount of students cited their Senior Individualized Project as the most transformative part of their time at K. “My SIP year gave me the tools and confidence that will carry on into my life after K,” said one student.

Strong Tradition

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Kalamazoo College retired faculty membersKalamazoo College retired faculty members meet weekly on Thursdays. Every quarter the group has a special dinner (including spouses in the fall). And once a year they meet with new faculty members. “There are no papers or program for our weekly meetings,” says Joe Fugate, professor emeritus of German and director emeritus of the foreign study program. No agenda does NOT mean what happens at the meetings isn’t important. The meetings keep faculty together and serve to pass along the traditions that make Kalamazoo College what it is. The teaching experience represented by the group spans the 1950s through 2013. “Our conversations range widely,” says Fugate. Topics include, among others, College matters, political developments, education issues such as the defense of the liberal arts, and practical advice on healthcare subjects. “It’s an important way to keep the K community alive and vital,” adds Fugate. One of the more well attending meetings occurred this June. Pictured are (l-r): front row–Con Hilberry, English; George Nielsen, mathematics; Henry Cohen, Romance languages; Romeo Phillips, education; Sally Olexia, biology; Mary Beth Birch, music; Margarita Campos, Spanish; Marigene Arnold, anthropology and sociology; Tish Loveless, physical education and athletics; second row–Jean Calloway, mathematics; Rolla Anderson, physical education and athletics; Ed Baker, physical education and athletics; Larry Smith, music; Carol Smith, library; Don Flesche, political science; back row–Paul Olexia, biology; Joe Fugate, German and foreign study; Dick Carpenter, mathematics and computer science; Jeff Smith, mathematics; Stan Rajnak, mathematics; and Bob Stauffer, anthropology and sociology.

K History Professor Will Deliver Public Lecture in Berlin

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David Barclay, History, will deliver a public lecture at the Free University of Berlin. The title of his talk is “Old Glory und Berliner Baer: Die USA und West-Berlin 1948-1994 [Old Glory and the Bear of Berlin: The USA and West Berlin 1948-1994].” The event commemorates the collaboration of the German Studies Association (GSA) with the Free University and also the 50th anniversary of the famous “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech by President John F. Kennedy. Barclay is the executive director of GSA. He will be introduced by Elke Loeschhorn, director of international programs at the Free University, and by Professor Harald Wenzel from the John F. Kennedy Institute of American Studies at the Free University. Barclay’s talk will be moderated by Professor Andreas Etges of the America Institute at the University of Munich. Commentary on the talk will be provided by Walter Momper, mayor of Berlin when the Berlin Wall fell in 1989; Professor Dorothee Brantz of the Technical University of Berlin and director of its Center for Metropolitan Studies; and Dr. Klaus Dettmer of the Landesarchiv Berlin (Berlin State Archives).

Top 25!

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Rob Townsend stands with two students
“Recycle Rob” Townsend (center) with two student “RecycleManiacs.”

Kalamazoo College placed 24th overall in 2013 RecycleMania, a friendly (and eco-friendly) sustainability competition among colleges and universities that focuses on waste minimization and recycling. More than 600 schools in the United States and Canada participated this year. 2013 was an off-year for K compared to its performances of previous years; nevertheless, it finished in the top 25 in six of the competition′s eight measurement categories.

RecycleMania began in 2001 as a competition between two schools. More schools were invited in the following years. Kalamazoo College joined the fun in 2005 and quickly became a two-time first-place winner in the recycled bottles and cans category. The College won grand champion in 2008 and enjoyed three consecutive top-five overall finishes before 2013.

The K recycling program was started in 1992, with Rob Townsend–a.k.a. “Recycle Rob”–as its beloved leader. Sustainability is one of the pillars of the Kalamazoo College honor code. In 2007, President Eileen B. Wilson-Oyelaran signed the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment.

Like K, Recyclemania is a small entity that makes a big difference. Calculations for the 2011 Recyclemania  results show the combined efforts of participants that year prevented the release of 127,553 metric tons of carbon dioxide, or the equivalent to the release of greenhouse gas emissions from 25,000 passenger cars. That′s big!

At K, students can help the earth year round. They can use “The Bat Cave” in the basement of Dewaters Residence Hall. The Bat Cave houses the Resource Exchange Program where students have donated numerous items for reuse.

Bat Cave also is home to HUB (Helping Understand Bikes). HUB students fix and rent bikes. And don′t forget to bring your e-waste (computers, printers, cartridges, cell phones, calculators, etc.) to the Bat Cave. The recycling program is always looking for student workers. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!

K professor talks about complex Bonaparte

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Book cover of Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte: An American Aristocrat in the Early RepublicK Professor of History Charlene Boyer Lewis ′87 is the author of the 2012 biography, Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte: An American Aristocrat in the Early Republic. Boyer Lewis is quoted in a recent Baltimore Sun article about a new historical exhibit in Baltimore on its famous 19-year-old citizen who married Napoleon Bonaparte′s younger brother. Read more about Elizabeth′s long, colorful, and controversial life and view photos and a video about the new exhibit at http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/arts/bs-ae-betsy-bonaparte-20130608,0,1051008.story#ixzz2VqTTxKXU.

Faculty Honors in Art and Science

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Peter Erdi, Physics and Complex Systems Studies, has been selected to deliver the “Ignite” talk at the Science of Success symposium (June 17, 2013) at Harvard University (Cambridge, Mass.). The title of his address is “Prediction of Emerging Technologies.”

In other recognition of faculty work, the artwork “Kohler Pile”–a collaborative piece that Associate Professor of Art Sarah Lindley and her husband Norwood Viviano created during their Arts-Industry Residency at John Michael Kohler Arts Center (Sheboygan, Wis.)–was accepted for publication in New Glass Review 2013. Their project was one of 100 selected from a pool of 2,973 submissions by 1010 artists/designers from 48 countries. New Glass Review is an annual survey of glass in contemporary art, architecture, craft, and design created in the previous year by emerging and established artists, as well as students. The works are chosen by a changing jury of curators, artists, designers, art dealers, and critics. The book/journal will come out in July.