News Releases Archives - Page 5 of 19

Honors, Philanthropy Prompt College’s Top 10 Stories

Posted on December 22, 2022July 17, 2024

In 2022, national publications continued to recognize Kalamazoo College as an outstanding institution of higher education. That reputation was furthered through the achievements of faculty, staff and academic departments, and donors funding K’s strategic plan, Advancing Kalamazoo College: A Strategic Vision for 2023. Here are the institution’s top 10 stories this year as determined by your clicks. Find the top stories from our students, faculty and staff, and alumni.

10. K Confers Lucasse, Ambrose Honors

K awarded one faculty member and one staff member with two of the highest awards it bestows on its employees with Professor of Psychology Bob Batsell earning the Lucasse Fellowship for Excellence in Scholarship, and Student Health and Counseling Centers Office Coordinator Jen Combes granted the W. Haydn Ambrose Prize.

Lucasse Recipient Robert Batsell in class_fb — Professor of Psychology Bob Batsell

Ambrose Award Recipient Jen Combes — Student Health and Counseling Centers Office Coordinator Jen Combes receives the Ambrose Prize from Kalamazoo College President Jorge G. Gonzalez.

9. Gift Benefits History Projects, Honors Emeriti Professors

Thanks to a lead anonymous gift, and the philanthropy of other donors, a new endowed fund is supporting exemplary seniors and their Senior Integrated Projects in the Department of History while honoring two of the department’s emeriti professors, David Strauss and John Wickstrom.

Emeriti Professors Barclay, Strauss and WickstromEmeriti History Professors John Wickstrom, David Barclay and David Strauss — Emeriti History Professors John Wickstrom, David Barclay and David Strauss

8. Money Magazine Credits K for Quality, Affordability, Outcomes

K is gaining global repute among some of the top institutions in higher education with Money magazine ranking K 19^th among the country’s liberal arts and sciences colleges and 50^th in the Midwest regardless of public or private status.

7. German Studies Program Receives National Honor

K’s Department of German Studies was one of just three programs in the country this year honored by the American Association of Teachers of German with a German Center of Excellence award. The designation is presented to well-established and growing programs with demonstrated excellence in instruction, and strong support from administration, professional colleagues, alumni and students.

The faculty members in K’s German department include Co-Chair and Lucinda Hinsdale Stone Assistant Professor of German Kathryn Sederberg, Co-Chair and Professor of Classics Elizabeth Manwell, Instructor of German Stefania Malacrida and Assistant Professor of German Petra Watzke.

Kathryn Sederberg teaching a course in German — Kathryn Sederberg is the Lucinda Hinsdale Stone Assistant Professor of German and co-chair of the Department of German Studies.

Assistant Professor of German Petra Watzke

6. K Announces $250,000 Gift to Support Faculty-Led Student Research, Creative Works

Students participating in faculty-advised research or creative projects now have access to dedicated funding thanks to a $250,000 gift from a couple who previously served as members of the K’s faculty and administration.

The Richard J. Cook and Teresa M. Lahti Endowment for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity was established to facilitate faculty-student collaborative work. The fund provides stipends, materials and essential project-related travel assistance to students engaged in such research or creative activity.

Faculty-Student Research and Creative Works Endowment — Richard J. Cook and Teresa M. Lahti

5. Princeton Review: K Offers Value, a Chance to Make an Impact

An independent study from the Princeton Review shows that K provides one of the most outstanding returns on investment in higher education. The education-services company profiles and recommends K in the 2022 edition of The Best Value Colleges, an annual guide to undergraduate schools, and again in The Best 388 Colleges.

The Princeton Review doesn’t rank the Best Value Colleges. However, K received a separate honor in The Best Value Colleges guide as the College was ranked No. 18 on a list of the Top 20 Private Colleges Where Students Are Making an Impact. This means K students said through surveys that their student-government opportunities, the College’s sustainability efforts and K’s on-campus student engagement are providing students with opportunities to make a difference in their community.

Stetson Chapel in Fall for Best Value Colleges — The Princeton Review examined more than 650 institutions for this year’s list.

4. Fulbright Again Honors K as a Top Producer of Scholarship Recipients

K had six representatives from the class of 2021 in Fulbright’s U.S. Student Program, leading to the College receiving top producer status for the fourth time in five years.

K’s representatives in 2021-22 and their host countries were Helen Pelak ’21, Australia; Katherine Miller-Purrenhage ’21, Germany; Sophia Goebel ’21, Spain; Molly Roberts ’21, France; Margaret Totten ’21, Thailand; Nina Szalkiewicz ’21, Austria; and Evelyn Rosero ’13, South Korea.

Katherine Miller-Purrenhage in Germany — Katherine Miller-Purrenhage ’21

3. Forbes Praises K for Successful Student Outcomes

If you’re a student who wants an excellent education at a great price, K will provide it, according to Forbes magazine. Forbes also says choosing K means you’ll follow in the footsteps of successful entrepreneurs and countless influential leaders in their fields.

The magazine chose K as the top private college in Michigan, ranking it third in the state overall and No. 183 in the country among its picks of the top 500 schools in the U.S.

Students Sitting in a Circle on the Lower Quad for Forbes Rankings

2. K Parents Geoffrey and Kathleen Fieger Create Endowed Scholarship

A generous $1 million gift from Geoffrey N. Fieger and Kathleen J. Fieger will support current and future students by funding the Keenie and Julian Fieger Endowed Scholarship, named for Kathleen and the couple’s son Julian.

Geoffrey and Kathleen Fieger_fb — Geoffrey N. Fieger and Kathleen J. Fieger

1. City Approves 2022 Campus Master Plan

K received approval from the city’s commissioners in October to move forward with a master plan that focuses on enhancing and expanding the on-campus living experience while strengthening the connection between K’s campus and the surrounding community.

Kalamazoo College Campus Master Plan — City commissioners have approved Kalamazoo College’s 2022 Campus Master Plan.

K Announces $250,000 Gift to Support Faculty-Led Student Research, Creative Works

Posted on November 28, 2022November 28, 2022

Kalamazoo College students participating in faculty-advised research or creative projects now have access to dedicated funding thanks to a $250,000 gift from a couple who previously served as members of the College’s faculty and administration.

The Richard J. Cook and Teresa M. Lahti Endowment for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity was established to facilitate faculty-student collaborative work. The fund provides stipends, materials and essential project-related travel assistance to students engaged in such research or creative activity.

The fund began awarding grants in 2020, providing support to projects as varied as chemistry research related to solar energy production and efficiency, the study of the physical structure of viruses and a poetry collection exploring themes of identity.

“A gift such as this one improves equity for students with financial need who want to take advantage of these collaborative opportunities—particularly in the summer months, when students are also working and saving for the coming academic year,” Provost Danette Ifert Johnson said. “We are so grateful to Richard and Terry for supporting what is often a transformative experience for K students.”

After earning a bachelor’s in chemistry from the University of Michigan and a Ph.D. in chemistry from Princeton University, Richard Cook joined the faculty at Kalamazoo College in 1973, eventually serving as chair of the division of natural sciences and mathematics. In 1987, he received one of Kalamazoo’s highest honors, the Lucasse Fellowship for Excellence in Scholarship. He was named provost of the College in 1989 and served for seven years in that role before being named president of Allegheny College in 1996. Cook left Allegheny in 2008 and joined Lahti Search Consultants. Today he is a higher education governance and leadership consultant with Cook Leadership Partnership.

Teresa Lahti was the dean of admission at K from 1991-1996, where she helped to lift K’s national profile on the admission stage. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the College of Saint Benedict and completed graduate work at the University of Notre Dame. Lahti began her career at the College of Saint Benedict/Saint John’s University in Minnesota as an admissions counselor and later served as director of recruitment at the University of Miami in Florida and director of admissions at Agnes Scott College in Georgia before joining K. She founded Lahti Search Consultants in 1997, an executive search firm that specialized in placing enrollment leaders at more than 250 colleges and universities.

“We know from firsthand experience the life-changing difference scholarship support and dedicated mentors can make in a student’s trajectory,” Cook and Lahti said. “It is a true privilege to support K’s longstanding commitment to its nationally recognized student-faculty research program. We are confident that future students will benefit from the excitement of discovery through faculty-guided projects as previous generations of students have.”

K Earns National Honor by Supporting Student Voting

Posted on November 16, 2022November 16, 2022

K Votes Supports Student Voting with a Shuttle to the Polls — Civic Engagement Scholar Thomas Lichtenberg ’23 and Eleanor Carr ’23 were two of the integral
people working with K Votes to support student voting by organizing shuttles to the polls
for the 2022 Midterm Election.

A nonpartisan and nonprofit initiative is saluting Kalamazoo College today as one of 394 U.S. institutions doing the most in higher education to encourage student voting.

K is being recognized as a 2022 All-In Most-Engaged Campuses honoree, meaning that the College:

Reported its 2020 student voting data to the National Study of Learning, Voting and Engagement (NSLVE), which is run through the Institute of Democracy and Higher Education (IDHE) at Tufts University.
Shared that data with the All-In Campus Democracy Challenge, an effort that strives to improve and increase democratic-engagement activities on college campuses.
Developed and submitted to the All-In challenge a 2022 voter-engagement action plan.
Signed on to a national list of institutional presidents committing their colleges to efforts that increase student turnout at the polls.

K Votes, the Mary Jane Underwood Stryker Center for Civic Engagement’s (CCE) nonpartisan coalition to inform the College’s students, faculty and staff members about voting and civic engagement, is the primary driver of K’s efforts in increasing voter participation. In 2020, K eclipsed national averages for voter turnout as 83.7 percent of the student body cast ballots in the presidential election. That rate was the highest among all campuses in Michigan and put K in the top 4 percent of colleges and universities nationally that reported their data to the IDHE.

K Votes representatives work in partnership with their student peers, the local League of Women Voters and the national Rock the Vote organization—which is led by Executive Director Caroline DeWitt ’04, a K alumna—to register new voters, mail absentee ballots, provide rides to the polls, and distribute candidate information with maps to local polling places.

Those endeavors are the hallmarks of a robust get-out-the-vote effort, currently led by CCE Program Associate Riley Gabriel ’20 and K Votes Civic Engagement Scholar Thomas Lichtenberg ’23, along with students, faculty, emeriti faculty and staff.

“In addition to CCE staff, we could not have done any of this without the rest of the K staff and faculty who were eager to help with driving, helping register voters, and just getting the word out,” Lichtenberg said. “We appreciated the contributions of students Eleanor Carr, Lyrica Gee and Abby Stump, who worked closely with the CCE’s Students for Reproductive Freedom, and we collaborated with the NAACP and League of Women Voters of the Kalamazoo Area, registering voters at the Women’s March and assisting with their candidate forums, led by the LWVKA’s MerriKay Oleen-Burkey and Denise Hartsough.”

“Young people are shaping our future in myriad ways, and their informed engagement in elections is vital,” CCE Director Alison Geist said. “The CCE is grateful to our student leaders and all of the people in our community, both on and off campus, who energetically encouraged and enabled students to vote, many for the first time. Voting isn’t a panacea for social change, but it helps.”

Festival Playhouse Presents ‘Othello’

Posted on October 31, 2022November 1, 2022

Xavier Bolden rehearses his role as Othello — Kalamazoo College’s Festival Playhouse will stage
William Shakespeare’s “Othello” beginning Thursday, November 3.

Kalamazoo College’s Festival Playhouse will examine an old tragedy through a modern lens when it stages William Shakespeare’s Othello from Thursday, November 3–Sunday, November 6 at the Nelda K. Balch Playhouse, 129 Thompson St.

In the play, the character Iago has served as a soldier and trusted ensign, fighting alongside Othello, the Moor of Venice, for many years. However, he grows angry about being passed over for a promotion and plots to take revenge against his general, Othello. Iago tricks Othello into believing that his wife, Desdemona, is unfaithful. That stirs Othello’s jealousy, leading him to kill Desdemona and then himself.

The production demonstrates the importance of communication, trust and respect, and how they relate to mental well-being while lifting the curtain on the Playhouse’s 59^th season under the theme of Mental Health Matters.

“Throughout the show, we explore how Iago’s influence and being surrounded by racism affects Othello’s mental health,” said Meaghan Kelly ’23, who is working as the play’s dramaturg. As the dramaturg, Kelly researched the historical topics and time periods addressed in the play to assist Director Ren Pruis, a K professor of theatre arts, in teaching the actors about the characters and the play’s settings.

“Racism at the time this show was written is incredibly significant. Shakespeare bases his characterization of Othello on a book written by a European author who had just done a tour of Africa,” Kelly said. “This author implies that all African people are brave and noble, but very jealous, which almost exactly describes Othello. We’re always looking to take on challenging theatre like this and we think there’s a lot to learn from it.”

Kelly also designed an informational display for the Playhouse’s lobby, something that she hopes will make Shakespeare’s ideas understandable.

“I find that a lot of the struggle with Shakespeare comes with reading his plays when it’s naturally meant to be seen and heard,” Kelly said. “My lobby display will feature the actors and their roles along with a list of vocabulary that’s used in the play. That’s one of the benefits to having a dramaturg in college theater. It will help make the language more accessible.”

Guest Artist Xavier Bolden, a Western Michigan University alumnus, will play Othello. Bolden has been involved with community theatre since he was about 10 years old, performing at the Kalamazoo Civic Theatre, in addition to Kalamazoo Public Schools. He also was an extra on episodes of the TV shows Bones and No Ordinary Family.

“As far as acting is concerned, I’ve loved dramatic or theatrical plays that lend a deeper message,” Bolden said. “With how (the Playhouse) is dealing with mental health issues and the overwhelming emotional side of the tragedy in Othello and the loss with it, I hope to rise to the occasion with the role. From watching the rehearsals when I’m not on stage and seeing what we’ve accomplished with lighting and sound, all credit goes to the other actors and everyone who has brought in their talents. Everybody has grown in a tremendous way. The students have had midterms in the middle of rehearsing a 146-page play. That’s nothing short of incredible. It’s going to be an amazing production.”

Sean Gates ’23 and Sedona Coleman ‘23 will perform as Iago and Desdemona respectively. Other actors include Evan Barker ’26 as Cassio, Raven Montagna ’25 as Roderigo and Max Wright ’26 as Lodovico.

The play will be staged at 7:30 p.m. from November 3–November 5, and at 2 p.m. November 6. Tickets are available online or by calling the Festival Playhouse at 269.337.7333. Friday’s show will also be livestreamed. Purchase a livestream pass online. Please note that masks and proof of COVID-19 vaccinations are required to attend.

City Approves 2022 Campus Master Plan

Posted on October 18, 2022October 18, 2022

Kalamazoo College received approval from the city’s commissioners Monday to move forward with a master plan that focuses on enhancing and expanding the on-campus living experience while strengthening the connection between K’s campus and the surrounding community.

The 2022 Campus Master Plan was developed over 10 months by encouraging feedback and input from the West Main Hill Neighborhood Association, the Historic Stuart Neighborhood Association, city officials and members of the K community. The plan updates the 2012 Campus Master Plan and presents a roadmap of how the College envisions the physical campus may evolve over time. The team determined the plan’s goals would include:

Enhancing the campus identity and its image along its public edges.
Identifying sites for future student housing.
Replacing Trowbridge Hall residence hall.
Raising the number of students living on campus.
Improving pedestrian safety and connectivity to and from campus.
Finding holistic parking solutions.
Increasing outdoor gathering spaces on campus.

Since September 2021, the master plan process has been guided by a K committee consisting of Associate Vice President for Facilities and Chief Sustainability Officer Susan Lindemann, Vice President for Student Development Malcolm Smith, Vice President for Admission and Financial Aid Mj Huebner and Professor of Physics Tom Askew and informed by campus and community participation. It also included input from the City of Kalamazoo through City Planner Christina Anderson, who helped ensure that the plan connected to the strategic goals of Imagine Kalamazoo 2025, the vision and guide for Kalamazoo’s future, as imagined by community members and stakeholders throughout the city.

“The campus master plan presents a collective vision created through participants who were eager to collaborate on a plan that benefits everyone,” Lindemann said. “We are grateful to the West Main Neighborhood Association, the Historic Stuart Neighborhood Association, the City of Kalamazoo, and our campus partners for their support and confidence.”

As part of its next steps, the College is expected to begin fundraising for a new residence hall while drafting more detailed planning and design for that hall. The campus master plan is available for public view at the College’s website.

“Our master plan creates opportunities to foster an inclusive and supportive campus with updated facilities, safer and more accessible pathways and improved gathering spaces, while continuing to foster partnerships with the city and community at large,” Kalamazoo College President Jorge G. Gonzalez said. “This plan helps ensure that our future footprint will serve the needs of all our community members.”

About Kalamazoo College

Kalamazoo College, founded in 1833, is a nationally recognized residential liberal arts and sciences college located in Kalamazoo, Mich. The creator of the K-Plan, Kalamazoo College provides an individualized education that integrates rigorous academics with life-changing experiential learning opportunities. For more information, visit www.kzoo.edu.

Gonzalez Celebrates Partnerships at Community Breakfast

Posted on October 6, 2022October 7, 2022

Kalamazoo College Board of Trustees member Don Parfet introduced President Jorge G. Gonzalez at the Community Breakfast on October 6.

Kalamazoo College President Jorge G. Gonzalez spoke about the College’s diverse enrollment, updates to the Campus Master Plan and the many partnerships that exist between the College’s various centers and local community organizations, schools, city government and businesses at the Community Breakfast on October 6.

Kalamazoo College President Jorge G. Gonzalez reflected on the state of the College and shared a bit about its future vision at K’s annual Community Breakfast on October 6. In attendance were local and state officials, business and community leaders and area educators representing more than 40 organizations and institutions.

After an introduction from Kalamazoo College Board of Trustees member Don Parfet, Gonzalez spoke about the College’s diverse enrollment, updates to the Campus Master Plan and the many partnerships that exist between the College’s various centers and local community organizations, schools, city government and businesses.

After Gonzalez’s remarks, senior biology major Nate Zona spoke about his experiences at K, focusing on the vibrancy of the K-Plan and how Kalamazoo College encourages students to experience life outside of campus through experiential education. Zona studied abroad in Quito, Ecuador, and has held research internships at the Division of Interventional Radiology and the Pediatric Center of Excellence in Nephrology at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Recently, he held his first clinical job with Kalamazoo-based Progressive Alternatives, which provides rehabilitative care for adults with physical, cognitive and/or behavioral disabilities.

Four smiling community breakfast attendees — Rebecca Strauss of Miller Johnson (from left), Andy Dominianni ’94 of WWMT-TV 3, Tyrus Parnell ’25 and Jane Ghosh of Discover Kalamazoo were among the community members attending Kalamazoo College’s Community Breakfast on October 6.

Senior Biology Major Nate Zona speaks at the Community Breakfast — Senior biology major Nate Zona ’23 speaks October 6 at the Community Breakfast.

In his remarks, Gonzalez said that Kalamazoo College continues to bring in exceptional classes of students from around the U.S. and the world. This year, the College welcomed 372 first-year students from 22 states and seven countries. Of these, he noted, 33 percent are domestic students of color, 28 percent are from families of modest means (Pell Grant eligible) and 22 percent are the first in their families to attend college. The new class also includes 30 Kalamazoo Promise students from the Kalamazoo Public Schools, as well as eight recipients of the Heyl Scholarship, which provides full-tuition scholarships for Kalamazoo area students who will be majoring in STEM fields.

Gonzalez noted that while K’s six-year graduation rate for Pell-eligible students is laudable—nearly 80 percent compared to a national median of 44 percent—the College is focused on inclusion and supporting the diverse needs of students, particularly those who are first-generation college students, and providing students access to all the experiential opportunities that K offers.

He then touched on future changes to the landscape of the College, including the long-term development of new and renewed residential housing and “changes to build better bridges between the campus and the city.”

A critical component of the student experience at K is the partnership between the College and local organizations. Gonzalez cited the work of the Mary Jane Underwood Stryker Center for Civic Engagement, the Larry J. Bell ’80 Center for Environmental Stewardship, the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership and the Center for Career and Professional Development—all of which provide student-led programming, service-learning opportunities and connections to employment in the Kalamazoo area. The Center for Civic Engagement alone has partnerships with more than 45 local organizations.

These opportunities would not be possible, Gonzalez said, without gifts and grants from corporate donors and community foundations, which support programming and provide stipends and funding for students with financial need.

Such gifts have also boosted The Brighter Light Campaign, which the College launched publicly in 2021. The campaign has raised $133 million against its minimum $150 million goal, more than half of which is designated for K’s endowment, which will sustain the College in perpetuity.

“As we look to the future, we envision K being well-known for excelling at supporting all students through a rich liberal arts experience,” Gonzalez said, thanking attendees for being a part of this vision. K, he emphasized, wants to be a place where every student is supported equitably and provided access to the tools and resources to succeed—not only accepting the best students, but graduating the best—and where the best are more representative of the world.

German Studies Program Receives National Honor

Posted on October 3, 2022November 14, 2022

Kalamazoo College’s Department of German Studies is one of three German programs in the country being honored this year by the American Association of Teachers of German (AATG).

The department is receiving the AATG’s German Center of Excellence award and will be honored during the association’s annual ceremony from noon to 1:30 p.m. Sunday, November 13, available through Zoom. The designation is presented to well-established and growing German programs with demonstrated excellence in instruction, and strong support from administration, professional colleagues, alumni and students.

“There is clear evidence that the program has strong support from the administration, professional colleagues, parents and students, and has strong ties to the wider community,” AATG Executive Director Michael R. Shaughnessy said in a congratulatory letter to K’s German department. “Most impressive is the program’s curriculum. There is a clear, articulated sequence of instructional programming that is standards‐based and reflects current methodologies. Outcomes at each instructional level are clearly articulated and diverse learning styles are respected through varied instructional and assessment techniques. The materials used in the program are culturally authentic and interdisciplinary connections have been established.”

This year’s Center of Excellence honorees “represent the best in our profession,” Awards Committee Chair J.J. Melgar said in a news release. “It is inspiring to see how much these extraordinary German teachers have accomplished and how their students and our profession have benefited from their work.”

The faculty members in K’s German department include Co-Chair and Lucinda Hinsdale Stone Assistant Professor of German Kathryn Sederberg, Co-Chair and Professor of Classics Elizabeth Manwell, Instructor of German Stefania Malacrida and Assistant Professor of German Petra Watzke.

Sederberg also was honored last year after a nomination through her peers when she received the Goethe‐Institut/AATG Certificate of Merit furthering the teaching of German in the U.S. through creative activities, innovative curriculum, successful course design and significant contributions to the profession.

“This is a great honor,” Sederberg said. “In a time when many language enrollments are declining, we are fortunate to be part of a campus culture that encourages study abroad and advanced language study. As faculty members, students see what we do in the classroom, but there is also a lot of our work done behind the scenes to design and coordinate a thoughtful curriculum, and to think about how our philosophy of teaching is reflected in our courses from German 101 to the senior seminar. It is a great feeling to receive recognition for the work we are doing in our department, and for the strength of our program. This award also recognizes the excellence of our students, and our outstanding alumni who have graduated as German majors and minors. We are always grateful to our amazing students who push us to be better educators, and to our TAs from Germany who make up such an important part of our community. Hopefully this national award will also help us attract prospective students who are looking to continue their study of German, or students who are looking for a meaningful, immersive study abroad experience in the German-speaking world. Taking language classes in college is a great way to get out of your comfort zone and gain new perspectives for thinking about culture, language and society.”

“I can only echo my colleague’s statements about this honor,” Watzke added. “The award celebrates the hard work of faculty, students and TAs in the German Studies department here at K. It is especially meaningful for us because it recognizes the impact of our innovative curriculum, which defines student excellence not only as a language goal, but also in terms of community building and social justice efforts.”

J. Malcolm Smith Named an Aspen Index Senior Impact Fellow

Posted on September 29, 2022March 13, 2024

Aspen Index Senior Impact Fellow J Malcolm Smith — Kalamazoo College Vice President for Student
Development and Dean of Students J. Malcolm Smith

Kalamazoo College Vice President for Student Development and Dean of Students J. Malcolm Smith has been named as one of the Aspen Institute’s inaugural Aspen Index Impact Fellows.

The Aspen Index Impact Fellowship brings together more than 90 community stakeholders in a movement to advance the future of youth leadership development. Fellows include college presidents, senior leaders, educators and youth from across the United States.

Impact Fellows—representing a diverse mosaic of sectors, geographies, and areas of expertise—will advance an urgent agenda focused on the research, interventions, and strategies necessary to accelerate the access to, and quality of, youth leadership programs nationally. The goal of this initiative is to lift youth exposure to high-quality leadership programs above 50 percent over the next five years.

“At few times has the need for a generation of values-driven, community-oriented youth leaders been more apparent. We can no longer take leadership development for granted,” shared Aspen Index Founder Dr. John Dugan in a press release. “We must provide opportunities for youth to cultivate their talent to address growing political, social, and scientific issues—not in some distant future, but today.”

Smith has served as K’s vice president for student development and dean of students since 2021. Prior to joining K, he served at Salve Regina beginning in 2013 as dean of students and associate vice president before being named vice president in 2019. He has worked at a variety of institutions, including John Carroll University, Ohio University and University of Illinois at Chicago and holds extensive experience in multiple student development areas. In 2006, Smith received the Annuit Coeptis Award for Emerging Professionals from the American College Personnel Association. He holds a B.A. in elementary education and a M.Ed. in college student personnel, both from Ohio University in Athens, Ohio.

“It is an honor and a privilege to serve as an Aspen Institute Fellow,” Smith said. “The work is important and will have an impact on leadership development nationally. I’m proud to represent Kalamazoo College in this endeavor.”

The Aspen Institute noted that fewer than 32% of youth under the age of 25 in the United States are exposed to any form of leadership development. Even fewer are exposed to programs with the necessary quality to make a meaningful difference in participants’ lives. Both of these realities exist despite evidence that youth leadership development is a critical factor for educational persistence, workforce readiness, and civic engagement.

Impact Fellows will aid in the development, optimization, and beta-testing of the Aspen Institute Leadership Development Index (Aspen Index), a digital tool that will be used to measure core leadership capacities to accelerate personal and professional growth. They will also co-create the supporting learning architecture to ensure its success. This work dove-tails with major reports to be released on the future of youth leadership research and practice. Together, the Aspen Institute is working with Impact Fellows to create a movement of greater access to and quality of youth leadership programs.

For more information about the Aspen Institute Leadership Development Index, visit the institute’s website. 

Reception to Spotlight Alumna’s COVID Purse Diary Exhibit

Posted on September 13, 2022September 13, 2022

Heather Boersma ’89 is the artist behind COVID Purse Diary, which is on display now at the Light Fine Arts Gallery.

A Kalamazoo College alumna who got her start in art as a child by making creations out of everything from McDonald’s containers to acorns, will be the guest of honor in a reception highlighting her recent work at the Light Fine Arts Gallery.

The Department of Art and Art History is presenting COVID Purse Diary, an exhibition by alumna Heather Boersma ’89, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. through October 12. In the exhibit, Boersma uses recycled materials and random objects to represent a variety of subjects related to the COVID-19 quarantine. At her reception—from 3:30 to 6 p.m. Thursday, September 22—Boersma will read a few poems related to her visual art at 4 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.

Rather than shopping for a new spring purse in 2020, Boersma started taking longer walks, slower bike rides and collecting natural specimens and discarded artifacts that spoke to her about the shifting values of the world through the quarantine. Baking bread, walking on trails, trying to cut our own hair, hoarding toilet paper and wearing masks became global trends that fascinated her, inspiring her art for the exhibit. She hopes that in years to come people will look at the series and be able to find pieces that they can relate to and be inspired to use art to help process challenging times.

Since studying art and English at K and earning a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing at Western Michigan University, Boersma has taught writing, reading and aesthetic education at WMU and elementary schools throughout Kalamazoo County. She has received multiple grants and awards in Western Michigan shows and at ArtPrize in Grand Rapids. Since the pandemic, she has shifted to creating and she exhibits her artwork full-time in shows and competitions.

The public is invited to the free exhibit and the free reception. No registration is necessary. For more information on her work, visit her website.

K Parents Geoffrey and Kathleen Fieger Create Endowed Scholarship

Posted on September 1, 2022September 1, 2022

A generous $1 million gift from Geoffrey N. Fieger and Kathleen J. Fieger will support Kalamazoo College’s current and future students and further its strategic plan, Advancing Kalamazoo College: A Strategic Vision for 2023.

The couple are funding the Keenie and Julian Fieger Endowed Scholarship, named for Kathleen and the couple’s son Julian, a rising junior at K. The scholarship will be awarded annually by the College’s Financial Aid Office.

“We are deeply honored by the Fiegers’ amazing gift to the Brighter Light Campaign,” Kalamazoo College President Jorge G. Gonzalez said. “We are grateful that parents of one of our current students have recognized the incredible impact of a K education and have chosen to share with us their commitment to opening doors for others. It’s truly inspiring. This scholarship will provide students access to a K experience for generations to come.”

Geoffrey Fieger is the leader of the Fieger Law firm, which is considered by many to be one of the top personal injury law firms in the U.S. He has been a practicing trial lawyer for more than 42 years and has experience as a trial litigator and a scholar. He has been repeatedly featured on MSNBC, CNN, Fox and various other networks to provide legal insight and commentary throughout his career. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Michigan and his law degree from the Detroit College of Law, which is now Michigan State University Law.

Kathleen Fieger, a native of Garden City, Michigan, attended Schoolcraft Community College and the Center for Creative Studies. She worked for 15 years in advertising on accounts that included Ford Motor Co. and Lincoln-Mercury. She later pursued a degree in architecture and design, graduating from Lawrence Technological University with honors.

For nearly every student of Kalamazoo College, financial aid opens the door to life-changing opportunities, and it is the College’s greatest annual expense with 98% of K students receiving financial aid. By growing its base of endowed scholarships, K can attract and retain talented students from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds, better meet the demonstrated need of every student and ensure lower student debt upon graduation.

“Keenie and I knew of K’s reputation for academic excellence when our oldest son Julian began his college career,” Geoffrey Fieger said. “We soon learned that along with academics comes a beautiful campus environment in which to learn, and a solid vision for the future. President Gonzalez’s commitment to the College is infectious. His passion encouraged us to participate and invest in K’s future. By our creation of these scholarships, we hope to provide for and offer a way for others to experience and share what has truly been, for our family, a life-affirming experience.”