Category: Institutional Announcements

Kalamazoo College Seeks Public Comments for Accreditation

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Kalamazoo College is seeking comments from the public about the College in preparation for its periodic evaluation by its regional accrediting agency.

The College will host a visit October 1-3, 2012, with a team representing the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association. Kalamazoo College has been accredited by the Commission since 1915. The team will review the institution’s ongoing ability to meet the Commission’s Criteria for Accreditation.

The public is invited to submit comments regarding Kalamazoo College to:

Public Comment on Kalamazoo College
The Higher Learning Commission
230 South LaSalle Street, Suite 7-500
Chicago, IL 60604-1411

The public may also submit comments on the Higher Learning Commission’s website.
Comments must address substantive matters related to the quality of the institution or its academic programs. Comments must be in writing. All comments must be received by August 31, 2012.

Kalamazoo College Has Banner Year for Career Development Opportunities

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Externs Lauren Gaunt and Brianna Melgar with host John Kerley
Externs Lauren Gaunt ’15 and Brianna Melgar ’14 with host John Kerley ’61 on the construction site of a replica of a Spanish galleon at the San Diego Maritime Museum.

From Santa Monica, California, to Silver Spring, Maryland, from Kenya to the United Kingdom, Kalamazoo College student interns and externs are hard at work this summer, honing marketable skills, gaining experience, and building relationships with professionals in various fields.  Through the Center for Career and Professional Development’s Discovery Externship and Field Experience Programs, 39 externs and 85 interns are trying on careers in fields as diverse as medical research, non-profit administration, and small-business management.  Many are hosted by the 48 K alumni who are serving this summer as supervisors and mentors.  Many are supported financially by endowed career development funding put in place by generous donors over the years. Externs work and live with alumni hosts for one to four weeks, and interns spend at least six weeks in a supervised workplace setting.  This summer the CCPD is partnering again with the Mary Jane Underwood Stryker Institute for Service-Learning to support the latter’s Community Building Interns, at work in Kalamazoo area nonprofit organizations. CCPD also collaborates with the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership, whose interns are work at social justice advocacy organizations from Detroit to Port-au-Prince, Haiti. CCPD provides pre-departure orientations, learning contracts, opportunities for regular structured reflection, and feedback and evaluation processes for both student and supervisor.  One externship host, Heidi Gregori-Gahan ’76, described her summer experience:  “The 2-week program was intense in terms of my focus and the time spent with [my extern] during the evenings and on weekends. We had many meals together, went to a play, toured a couple of historic sites, went to a concert, and more. I think the host needs to be prepared to devote a lot of time and energy to ensuring the success of the program, and I enjoyed every moment of it. It was so nice to be able to share a part of the profession I love (international education) with an aspiring young professional–but also to know that I was giving back to the college which has meant so much in my life, both personally and professionally.”

College Rezoning Approved

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By Suzanne Curtiss ’14

Erran Briggs ’14 speaks about the stadium lighting improvements.

After three-and-half hours and 48 college and neighborhood speakers, the Kalamazoo City Commission approved an amended version of Kalamazoo College’s Institutional Campus (IC) rezoning application at its Monday, June 18, meeting in the City Commission chambers.

With the approved IC zone, the College can now move forward with its 10-year campus plan, including the construction of the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership and the installation of stadium lighting at the Angell Field athletic complex. The latter had been a particular point of controversy.  As proposed by Commissioner Bob Cinabro, the stadium lights on the football field will be limited to 20 nights per year and must be turned off no later than 8:30 p.m., instead of 10:30 p.m.

Commissioner Don Cooney deemed the amendment a “reasonable compromise” and commended the College for its efforts in the last month to work closely and considerately with neighbors.

During the 14-month master plan process, K held a total of 21 meetings with neighbors, and on June 14 ceded to neighborhood concerns by excluding the closing of Thompson Street from the plan. Commissioner Barbara Miller, too, acknowledged the compromises of the College. “I think they [Kalamazoo College] have been good neighbors and Kalamazoo is a better place because of them,” said Miller.

Junior football player Erran Briggs ’14 (see photo) spoke of the impact the stadium lights will have on the lives of student athletes.

“We are more than just students,” he said, “Athletics can have as much of an impact on us as academics.”

Kalamazoo College President Eileen B. Wilson-Oyelaran said she is “very happy about what the decision means for our student athletes” and pledged that she and College staff will work hard to keep lines of communication open with neighbors.

“K” Rates High for Study Abroad

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Kalamazoo College has again been recognized as a leader in study abroad programs for U.S. college students. According to the Institute of International Education (IIE), Kalamazoo ranks #12 among U.S. colleges that offer baccalaureate degrees in terms of the percentage of its graduates that studied abroad. IIE reports that 83.2 percent (238 out of 311) Kalamazoo graduates in 2010 had studied abroad during their “K” experience. Last year’s IIE report ranked Kalamazoo #16.

“Kalamazoo College is a pioneer in providing quality education abroad programs for students,” said Associate Provost for International Programs Joe Brockington. “We’ve been doing it for more than 50 years and continue to be a model for other colleges and universities.”

Kalamazoo operates 48 programs in 24 countries on six continents. During the past four years, an average of 51 percent of “K” students traveled to Europe, 22 percent to Austral-Asia, 16 percent to Latin America and the Caribbean, and 11 percent to Africa and the Middle East. Popular programs are in China, Ecuador, Scotland, and Thailand.

Kalamazoo’s program is distinctive, said Brockington, “because it’s integral (i.e. part of the ‘K’ curriculum), intentional (i.e. supported by learning outcomes that are assessed regularly), and integrative (i.e. striving to connect our students with local communities abroad).”

He said Kalamazoo stands out even from other institutions because “K” students engage in long-term study abroad programs that last from one quarter to a full academic year. Many schools that send a high percentage of students abroad (including schools on the IIE list) only do so for three to four weeks in the summer.

Kalamazoo students in all majors participate on study abroad, including a majority of student athletes even if it means they miss all or part of a competitive season. Many “K” students continue their major course of study while abroad, including science and math majors.

Most students take advantage of the Fall-Winter program and reside with host families. An Integrative Cultural Research Project, or ICRP, is a required component of selected programs. Bearing an academic credit, ICRP projects place great emphasis on participation, informed by observation and more traditional research activities.

“Study abroad remains a signature element of the K-Plan, said Brockington. “And it will for years to come.”

Read more about Kalamazoo College’s study abroad program, including blogs by “K” students currently studying abroad, at www.kzoo.edu/international.

IIE is the leading not-for-profit educational and cultural exchange organization in the United States. Its annual census is based on a survey of approximately 3,000 accredited U.S. institutions and draws support from the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

Calvin College (28) and Alma College (35) are the only other baccalaureate institutions in Michigan included on the 2011 IIE report.

Happy Birthday, K!

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Zaide Pixley and Eileen Wilson-Oyelaran
Zaide Pixley, Dean of the First Year and Advising at Kalamazoo College, receives the Lux Esto Award of Excellence. College President Eileen Wilson-Oyelaran presented the award. Photo Credit: Anthony Dugal.

By Elaine Ezekiel ’13

“Founders Day 2012” was the theme of the Week 4 (April 20) Community Reflection in Stetson Chapel. Sponsored by the Founders Day Committee, the event celebrated 179 years of community at Kalamazoo College by honoring members of its faculty and staff. After a welcome by Student Commission President Meredith L. Quinlan ’12, President Eileen Wilson-Oyelaran gave a brief history of K’s early founders. Kate Fodor ’12 and Rachel Horness ’13 sang a beautiful interpretation of Leo Delibes’ Dome epais (Lakme), accompanied by Jack Brooks on piano.

Dean of Advising Zaide Pixley (pictured at right, with President Wilson-Oyelaran) read from her essay “Celebrating 179 Years of Community.”

“Kalamazoo College is a place where we can ask hard questions, questions that don’t have easy answers, questions that can’t be reduced to sound bites, slogans and attacks,” she said.

After reciting the names of K employees celebrating five, ten, 15, 20 and 25 years of service, Wilson-Oyelaran announced recipients of three key annual employee honors. Professor of English Bruce Mills received the Outstanding Advisor Award.  Gail Griffin, the Ann V. and Donald R. Parfet Distinguished Professor of English, received the Outstanding First-Year Advocate Award, and Zaide Pixley was awarded the Lux Esto Award of Excellence which honors an employee of 25 or more years of service for a superlative record of stewardship and innovation.

This year marked the first of an “Honorable Mention” category of the Lux Esto Award of Excellence. Honorable mention for their years of dedicated service to the College was made of nine of the eligible members of K’s Facilities Management and Custodial Staff (John Charlier, Kolden Heldart, Doug Hilton, James Modderman, James Ringler, Michael Sawyer, Jeff Sherman, Jerry Vincent, and Ken Wielinga).

Community Reflection offers a unique forum for discussion, worship, performance, and community expression each Friday at 10:50 AM (refreshments at 10:30) in Stetson Chapel. The entire campus community and general public are invited. The Week 5 (April 27) Reflection will be “Yom HaShoah—Remembering the Holocaust Through Varied Perspectives,” during which members of the Jewish Student Organization will reflect on the Holocaust and invite the community to consider how we can make the sacrifices of the past mean something for the future.

Spaces of Great Character

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Reading Room at Kalamazoo College Upjohn Library Commons

It’s not high tech. It’s not “trendy.” It is large – with the height spanning two stories and featuring large windows streaming an abundance of natural light. The Yehle Reading Room in Kalamazoo College’s Upjohn Library Commons is rightly called a “Space of Great Character” in an article in Psychology Today.

Writer Ann Sloan Devlin encourages the development of spaces that promote concentration and creativity and wrote how such spaces are becoming rare in newer college and university buildings. She cited the Yehle Reading Room and a similar space at Connecticut College as “precisely the kinds of spaces that students today need to encourage thinking.”

Let’s hear it for meditative space—and time, part of the More in Four that is Kalamazoo College.

Institute of Arts Exhibits Kalamazoo College Rare Book Collection “Birds of a Feather”

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AudubonThe Kalamazoo Institute of Arts has gone to the birds with a new exhibition, Birds of a Feather: John Costin and John James Audubon, featuring works loaned by the A.M. Todd Rare Book Collection at Kalamazoo College.

The exhibition is open from March 24 to June 24 and pairs images of species featured in Michigan native Costin’s recent “Large Florida Birds” project with corresponding work created in the 1830s by Audubon, still America’s most famous ornithologist.

Kalamazoo College Contributed $32 Million to Area Economy During 2010-11 Academic Year

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CONTACT: Jeff Palmer, 269.337.5724

February 9, 2012

– College generated 685 direct and indirect jobs, $25.7 million in personal income –
– Students and campus visitors spent $5.6 million –
– Analysis conducted by W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research –

Kalamazoo, Mich. – Kalamazoo College contributed $32 million to the Kalamazoo area economy during the 2010-11 academic year, according to the findings of an economic impact analysis conducted by the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.

The College impacts the economy through three major activities, according to the analysis: operations, student expenditures, and visitor expenditures.

The College employed 396 full and part-time workers earning an annual payroll of approximately $19.6 million during the 2010-11 academic year. Another 289 jobs and personal income of $6 million were indirectly generated by the presence of the College and the expenditures of students and visitors.

Additionally, “K” students spent approximately $3.6 million in the local community, and out-of-area campus visitors spent approximately $2 million.

“Kalamazoo College has been a vital part of the Kalamazoo economy since the College’s founding in 1833,” said “K” President Eileen B. Wilson-Oyelaran. “I expect that to continue for many years.”

“Our strategic goals call for us to grow the College’s enrollment to 1,500 students. Reaching this goal will make our financial contribution to the community even greater.”

Wilson-Oyelaran pointed to recent campus construction projects as further evidence of the College’s positive impact on the area economy, by helping provide much needed construction jobs. These include a $14 million renovation of the Hicks Student Center completed in 2008, and a $16 million renovation of the “K” athletic fields that is currently underway and due to be completed in fall 2012.

The College also hopes to begin construction this summer on a building to house the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership estimated to cost about $4 million. A new fitness and wellness center estimated to cost $7 million and a new natatorium estimated to cost $14 million are in early stages planning.

“Beyond the economic contributions ‘K’ makes to the local economy are the cultural, educational, and social contributions our students, faculty, and staff make to the local community,” said Wilson-Oyelaran. “Our students alone performed nearly 33,000 hours of community service-learning last year with nearly 50 local partner organizations.”

According to Brad Watts, regional analyst for the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, because “K” is a unique, competitive liberal arts college, it is assumed that none of the $32 million would be channeled to the region if not for the presence of the College.

“Even if the students’ families live in the Kalamazoo metropolitan area, it is assumed that they would choose to attend other small liberal arts schools elsewhere if Kalamazoo College did not exist. Their expenditures are considered to be “export” dollars in the sense that the money would not be spent in the region if not for the presence of the college.”

The Upjohn Institute analysis was commissioned by Kalamazoo College and is based on data provided during the 2010-11 academic year that ended June 30, 2011.

The W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, a nonpartisan, not-for-profit research organization, was established on July 1, 1945. It is an activity of the W.E. Upjohn Unemployment Trustee Corporation, which was founded in 1932 to administer a fund set aside by the late Dr. W.E. Upjohn (1852-1932), founder of the Upjohn Company, for the purpose of conducting research into the causes and effects of unemployment and measures for the alleviation of unemployment. Today, the Institute’s Research Division analyzes the dynamics of the labor market and conducts evaluations of employment programs around the world. For more information see www.upjohn.org.

Founded in Kalamazoo, Michigan, in 1833, Kalamazoo College (www.kzoo.edu) is a nationally recognized liberal arts college and the creator of the K-Plan, which emphasizes rigorous scholarship, experiential learning, and both international and intercultural engagement. “K” has approximately 1,400 students from 36 states and 31 countries; 18 percent are domestic students of color. At Kalamazoo College, we do more in four years so students can do more in a lifetime.

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President Wilson-Oyelaran Elected Vice Chair of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities

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President Eileen B. Wilson-Oyelaran at NAICU
President Eileen B. Wilson-Oyelaran at NAICU

Kalamazoo College President Eileen B. Wilson-Oyelaran was elected vice chair of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU) board of directors at the Association’s recent annual meeting in Washington, D.C.

As a member of the NAICU board’s executive committee, she will help lead the association’s agenda on federal higher education policy; actively encourage support of NAICU priorities and initiatives; and oversee the association’s financial administration. After her one-year term as vice-chair, she will assume the position of board chair for a year. Following her one-year term as chair, she will serve as past-chair for another year, before rotating off of the board.

NAICU is the largest national organization representing the presidents of private, nonprofit colleges and universities. NAICU represents American independent higher education on policy issues with the federal government, such as those affecting student aid, taxation, and government regulation. NAICU’s more than 1,000 member colleges and universities enroll nine out of every 10 students attending private, nonprofit institutions in the United States.

Wilson-Oyelaran has been president of Kalamazoo College since July 2005.

Kalamazoo College Receives $23 Million Grant From Arcus Foundation to Fund Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership

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CONTACT: Jeff Palmer, 269.337.5724

January 17, 2012

Kalamazoo, Mich. – Kalamazoo College has received a $23 million grant to endow the work of its Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership (ACSJL). The grant, made by the Arcus Foundation, will support a broad array of activities including: student scholarships and two endowed professorships, student internships and leadership development programming, faculty and staff fellowships, public lectures and conferences, local and global partnerships, and residencies for social justice scholars and practitioners.

“The breadth of the grant makes it exceptional,” said Kalamazoo College President Eileen Wilson-Oyelaran. “The entire Kalamazoo College community is extremely grateful to the Arcus Foundation and its founder, Jon Stryker, for their belief in the mission of the College and the Arcus Center. Their support will help put Kalamazoo on a path to become a higher education leader in the field of social justice and leadership development.”

The mission of the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership is to support the pursuit of human rights and social justice by developing emerging leaders and sustaining existing leaders in the field of human rights and social justice, creating a pivotal role for liberal arts education in engendering a more just world.

It’s a mission consistent with the College’s history, liberal arts tradition, and mission to develop enlightened leaders, said President Wilson-Oyelaran.

“The Arcus Center builds on the College’s strengths in the area of academics, career development, international engagement, and independent study—all elements of each ‘K’ student’s distinctive K-Plan. When combined with other curricular and co-curricular programs such as our Mary Jane Underwood Stryker Institute for Service-Learning, our Center for International Programs, and our unique Guilds initiative, this will take the K-Plan to a new level of excellence.”

The Arcus Foundation grant is the largest grant in the College’s 179-year history, and one of the largest given for a social justice purpose to an undergraduate institution in the United States.

“I know from my own experience the emphasis that ‘K’ College places on developing global citizens who can be effective agents of transformational change,” said Jon Stryker, a Kalamazoo College alumnus and trustee, who founded the Arcus Foundation in 2000.

“Our intent in making this grant is to foster diverse leaders who advance social justice in all its dimensions – from anti-racism to economic justice to equality for all sexual orientations and gender identities. We envision ‘K’ College becoming the place to be for young people who aspire to develop the strategies and lead the work that will make our world more just and humane. This ambition maps directly to the values shared by the Foundation and the College.”

Arcus CEO Dr. Yvette C. Burton added, “Social justice is critical to our future because it maximizes the societal value and impact of advances in a wide range of disciplines, including medicine, information technology and environmental conservation. Institutions of higher learning have a tremendous role to play in advancing social justice theory and practice. Kalamazoo College’s legacy in international study, service education, and other key areas position it for leadership in this exciting field.”

Among the numerous ACSJL programs that the $23 million grant will support are:

  • two endowed faculty chairs in areas  related to social justice (currently held by John Dugas in political science and Adriana Garriga-Lopez in anthropology-sociology);
  • fellowships for “K” faculty and staff to support projects and scholarship related to social justice leadership;
  • four-year Enlightened Leadership Scholarships ($5,000 per year) awarded to one “K” student each year (currently held by sophomore Colin Lauderdale and first-year student Mariah Hennen);
  • annual Social Justice Fellowships for visiting scholars, activists, artists, thought leaders, and faculty, as a way to introduce new scholarship, energy, and social justice activity and engagement to the Kalamazoo College campus and the Kalamazoo community. (currently held by Michelle Johnson from Fire Historical and Cultural Arts Collaborative in Kalamazoo and Irfana Majumdar, a scholar/artist in experimental theater based at the NIRMAN program in Varanasi, India);
  • an annual spring lecture series (The 2012 lecturer will be playwright, author, and activist Eve Ensler, perhaps best known as the author of The Vagina Monologues.);
  • a Social Justice Leadership Fund that provides grants to students, faculty, and staff who propose innovative social justice projects and programs;
  • a summer internship program that offers qualified “K” students the opportunity to integrate social justice theory with practice as interns at social justice organizations across the United States and abroad;
  • the Catalyst Project, a community-outreach and support initiative that will provide consulting and technical support to selected Kalamazoo-area social justice organizations; and
  • the Praxis Center, an online resource center for scholars and practitioners of social justice work and leadership that will be launched later in 2012.

The grant will also fund ACSJL staff positions, including its co-directors Jaime M. Grant, executive director, and Lisa Brock, academic director.

Jaime Grant, Ph.D., has worked for more than 20 years with a variety of national and international organizations focused on social justice and human rights for women, youth, and the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) community, as well as victims of sexual and domestic assault, and people living with mental illness. She’s published in major academic journals, and her commentaries have appeared broadly in the consumer press.

Lisa Brock, Ph.D., is a historian and activist who has merged her academic interest with Southern African social justice struggles. Her articles on Africa and the African Diaspora have appeared in dozens of academic journals and as book chapters. Her latest writing project is a comparative study of Afro-descended peoples in the United States and Cuba.

The Arcus Foundation and Jon Stryker have long supported Kalamazoo College. In 2009, the Foundation provided a $200,000 planning grant and a $2.1 million project grant to help launch the ACSJL. It provided a $5.6 million grant in 2008 to fund tuition and programming support for 50 students from Los Angeles public schools to attend “K” through the Posse Foundation, and a $5 million grant in 2001 to support the “K” study abroad program.

The Arcus Foundation (www.arcusfoundation.org) is a leading global foundation advancing pressing social justice and conservation issues. Specifically, Arcus works to advance LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) equality, as well as to conserve and protect the great apes. The Arcus Foundation works globally and has offices in Kalamazoo, Mich., New York City, and Cambridge, UK.

Founded in Kalamazoo, Mich., in 1833, Kalamazoo College (www.kzoo.edu) is a nationally recognized liberal arts college and the creator of the K-Plan that emphasizes rigorous scholarship, learning by practice, and both international and intercultural engagement. Its 1,400 students hail from 30 states and 24 countries. Kalamazoo College does more in four years so students can do more in a lifetime.

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