Category: News Releases

News Releases

German Studies Program Receives National Honor

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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.”

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.
Petra Watzke
Assistant Professor of German Petra Watzke

J. Malcolm Smith Named an Aspen Index Senior Impact Fellow

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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

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Heather Boersma standing in front of a display from COVID Purse Diary
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

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Geoffrey and Kathleen Fieger
Geoffrey N. Fieger and Kathleen J. Fieger are funding
the Keenie and Julian Fieger Endowed Scholarship,
named for Kathleen and the couple’s son Julian,
a rising junior at Kalamazoo College.

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.”

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.

The Brighter Light Campaign is raising $150 million to provide endowed and annual support for students, faculty and staff, curricular and co-curricular activities, athletics and campus facilities. For more information, visit the Brighter Light Campaign page: www.kzoo.edu/brighterlight

Money Credits K for Quality, Affordability, Outcomes

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Student entering Trowbridge Hall for Money magazine story
Money ranks Kalamazoo College 19th among the country’s liberal arts and sciences colleges and 50th overall in the Midwest.

Kalamazoo College is gaining global repute among some of the top institutions in higher education with Money magazine’s recent lists of the best colleges of 2022.

Money ranks K 19th among the country’s liberal arts and sciences colleges and 50th in the Midwest regardless of public or private status. K is the only liberal arts and sciences institution in Michigan to reach either of the top 50 lists.

Money’s methodology focused on graduation rates to score more than 600 colleges in quality, affordability and outcomes with those data points aggregating the net price of a degree, loan-repayment rates, median earnings and some value-added calculations that measure a school’s actual performance against its predicted performance.

The end result, its editor says, is an analysis students and families can rely on to make their best personal choice while ensuring value and positive employment outcomes.

“This year’s Best Colleges list is a new take on our long-standing commitment to helping families make a smart college choice,” Money Executive Editor Mike Ayers said. “We changed things up so more students could use this list to make educated choices about investing in their future.”

The K-Plan, K’s approach to a high-quality education in the liberal arts and sciences, offers well-rounded academics, international and intercultural experiences such as study abroad, a hands-on education through civic engagement and service learning, and independent scholarship, resulting in that excellent value and opportunities for graduates to accomplish more throughout their lives.

“These recognitions are a great honor for K because they prove students can rely on us to provide an excellent education and a terrific value for their investment regardless of the program they choose,” Dean of Admission Suzanne Lepley said. “Their success as students positions them as graduates for great outcomes throughout their careers and beyond.”

Award-Winning Journalist Lila Lazarus to Speak at Convocation

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Convocation Speaker Lila Lazarus
Lila Lazarus ’84, an award-winning journalist,
producer and motivational speaker, will be the
keynote speaker for Convocation on September 8.

Watch replay of Convocation

Lila Lazarus ’84, an award-winning journalist, producer and motivational speaker, will be the keynote speaker for Kalamazoo College’s 2022 Convocation on September 8 at 3 p.m. on the Quad.

A broadcast journalist for over three decades, Lazarus has anchored the news in Michigan, Maryland and Massachusetts and covered stories around the world. She runs a production company, Lila Productions, and recently appeared in several Netflix series, including “Manhunt: Deadly Games” and “Mindhunter.” Her professional accomplishments include covering Nelson Mandela’s inauguration in South Africa and receiving multiple Emmy Awards, the Michigan Association of Broadcasters Award and two Clarion Awards. She was a recipient of the 2014 Telly Award for Social Responsibility. Most recently, she was inducted into the Silver Circle of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for her contribution to Michigan media. 

Never afraid of a challenge, Lazarus swam the Straits of Mackinac to raise money and awareness for Mentor Michigan. Each fall, she climbs from one end of the Grand Canyon to the other and back again. For her athletic accomplishments, she was appointed to the Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and speaks across the country on the importance of adding courage and adventure to your life. An avid motorcyclist, she was named Michigan’s Ambassador of Motorcycle Safety. Extremely active in community and charitable organizations, Lazarus serves on multiple boards and is President of Kids Kicking Cancer.

Lazarus graduated from Kalamazoo College, University of Michigan, University of Massachusetts and the University of Bonn in Germany. She holds two master’s degrees in political science and journalism, and speaks five languages. The College looks forward to welcoming Lazarus back to her alma mater, where she double majored in political science and German.

Convocation marks the start to the 2022-23 academic year and formally welcomes first-year students to campus. President Jorge G. Gonzalez, Provost Danette Ifert Johnson, Dean of Admission Susanne Lepley and Dean of Students J. Malcolm Smith will also address attendees. Chaplain Elizabeth Candido ’00 will provide an invocation. All students, families, faculty and staff are invited to attend.

Princeton Review Honors K Among Best Colleges

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Kalamazoo College honored among 388 best colleges
Kalamazoo College has once again been nationally recognized by the Princeton Review in its popular guide, “The Best 388 Colleges.”

Kalamazoo College has once again been nationally recognized by the Princeton Review in its popular guide, The Best 388 Colleges. The 2023 edition of the book will feature Kalamazoo College among the top 14 percent of colleges and universities in the country and will be available to purchase on August 23.

The Best 388 Colleges, released annually by the Princeton Review, chooses colleges from the nation’s 2,700 institutions based on data it collects from administrators about their academic offerings, and surveys of its students who rate and report on their experiences.

The colleges selected are currently listed on the Princeton Review’s website.

“We salute Kalamazoo College for its outstanding academics and we are genuinely pleased to recommend it to prospective applicants searching for their ‘best-fit’ college,” said Rob Franek, the Princeton Review’s editor-in-chief and lead author of The Best 388 Colleges.

The book won’t rank colleges individually, however, it gives K faculty high marks—95 out of 99—for student accessibility. Students in surveys for the Princeton Review say their professors “present challenging information and generally work to achieve camaraderie with students.” Furthermore, faculty “definitely understand that classes may be difficult and really, truly want to help students learn the best they can.” Professors also view students “as equals and peers and are open to listening to everyone’s ideas in classes.”

In K’s academic profile, The Best 388 Colleges lauds the K-Plan, the College’s approach to an education in the liberal arts and sciences, for an open curriculum in which “students have more time to explore exactly what they want to learn.” That approach allows each student to find their niche quickly in a small-school environment and helps everyone find campus and community activities they care about, the book says.

“K’s inclusion in The Best 388 Colleges is based on how students rate their experiences in classrooms and labs, with their professors, in community engagement and in their extracurricular activities including athletics,” Dean of Admission Suzanne Lepley said. “The idea that K is repeatedly honored year after year through the publication reflects the opportunities available to our students and the quality education they receive.”

Fiske Guide to Colleges Credits K for Imperative Projects, Engaged Faculty

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Fiske Guide to Colleges logo for 2023
The 2023 version of the “Fiske Guide to Colleges”
praises Kalamazoo College for its independent
scholarship opportunities, academic excellence,
experiential education efforts and
intercultural experiences.

Kalamazoo College again is featured in a global guide to institutions of higher education that has been trusted by students, families and guidance counselors for nearly 40 years, the Fiske Guide to Colleges. 

Edward B. Fiske was the New York Times education editor for 17 years. During that time, he thought college-bound students needed better information in selecting a college or university. He wrote the Fiske Guide to Colleges to help them and updated it annually with an editorial team. 

The guide now includes a selective, subjective and systematic look at more than 300 colleges and universities in the United States, Canada and the UK along with indexes that break down schools by state; academic, social and quality-of-life ratings; financial aid availability and acceptance rates. 

In the 2023 version, available now, the publication says K students “pursue a liberal arts curriculum that includes language proficiency, a first-year writing seminar, sophomore and senior seminars, as well as a senior individualized project—directed research, a creative piece, or a traditional thesis—basically anything that caps off each student’s education in some meaningful way.” 

In addition to senior integrated projects promoting independent scholarship opportunities, the guide praises other tenets of the K-Plan, the College’s integrated approach to an excellent education, including: 

  • Academic excellence. The flexibility and rigor of K’s curriculum provides students with a customized academic experience. According to the guide, professors rate highly for their enthusiasm and accessibility while giving students the individual attention they need. 
  • Experiential education. Students connect classroom learning with real-world experience by completing career development internships or externships, participating in civic engagement and service-learning projects, and getting involved in social justice leadership work. 
  • International and intercultural experience. Students choose from 56 study abroad programs in 29 countries across six continents. The guide quotes a biology major as saying, “Kalamazoo College does study abroad so well that it seems ridiculous not to take advantage of this opportunity. They make it financially accessible and ensure that you won’t fall behind by going abroad.” 

“K’s academic terms may be fast-paced and the workload demanding, but students are given the flexibility to pursue their interests through individualized projects and off-campus exploration,” the publication says. “The result is a student body defined by open-minded, global citizens.” 

New Fellowship Provides Post-Grad Opportunity Abroad for K Students

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Bob Sherbin establishing fellowship abroad
Robert Sherbin ’79

A generous leadership gift from Kalamazoo College alumnus Robert Sherbin ’79 will open the door to independent exploration outside the United States for Kalamazoo College graduates.

Sherbin has established the Jerry Sherbin Fellowship, named in honor of his father, which each year will provide one K senior with a stipend to pursue an academic year post-graduation, independently exploring a subject of deep personal interest outside the United States. Applicants will be assessed based on their proposal’s creativity and personal significance, their passion for the subject, and how the work may shape their future plans. The first fellowship abroad will be awarded in spring 2023.

“The College’s K-Plan emphasizes international study and engagement, so this fellowship wonderfully complements a student’s K education,” said Provost Danette Ifert Johnson. “It provides yet another avenue for students to pursue a project of personal interest in a deep and meaningful way prior to starting their graduate study or career. We are grateful to Bob for creating this opportunity for current and future generations of students.”

While an English major at K, Sherbin studied abroad at the University of Nairobi, one of only six American undergrads—and the only K student—there at that time. As a senior, Sherbin applied for a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship, an external grant through the Watson Foundation that provides the opportunity to design and execute a one-year project overseas. Before attending graduate school at Northwestern, Sherbin spent a year in Central and West Africa as a Watson Fellow, conducting a sociological study of long-distance truck drivers. This opportunity was transformative, helping guide Sherbin’s path to becoming an international journalist and later, a global corporate communications executive. Today he is the vice president of corporate communications at NVIDIA, a technology company based in Silicon Valley.

Sherbin said, “The Watson Fellowship was the most formative experience of my life. I’d not taken an intro to sociology class. My French was appalling. And I didn’t know a soul within thousands of miles, when aerograms were the WhatsApp of the age. But K had given me the tools to learn and sparked my passion to figure out the rest. It’s my hope that this fellowship will enable students to widen their perspectives, taking them from Dewaters to Danang, from the Upjohn Library steps to the Russian steppes and beyond, and discover ways to make a difference before they head into the rest of their lives.”

Colleges of Distinction: K Provides Top-Notch Undergrad Experiences

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Students outside Light Fine Arts at K, one of the Colleges of Distinction
Students study outside Light Fine Arts on a spring day at Kalamazoo College.

A guide for college-bound students and families is recognizing Kalamazoo College as one of about 400 schools from across the country to earn high marks for top-notch undergraduate experiences.

K is included in the 2022–23 Colleges of Distinction online guide, which lauds schools for going beyond what typically drives rankings to offer a personalized education catered to students’ interests. It spotlights K through the K-Plan, the College’s framework for exceptional academics within the liberal arts and sciences.

“When we focus all of our attention on how schools stack up against one another, we lose track of what really matters: the students themselves,” Colleges of Distinction Founder Wes Creel said. “Every student has individual needs and their own environment in which they’re most likely to thrive. We want to extend our praise to the schools that prioritize and cater to students’ goals.” 

High school guidance counselors, college administrators and the Colleges of Distinction selection team nominate excellent schools for inclusion before each institution is vetted to determine its quality through its support for students in all aspects of their lives. Colleges of Distinction judges its nominees on their teaching quality, student engagement, community engagement and outcomes through a selection process that includes in-depth research and detailed interviews with the schools and stakeholders.

K received accolades in each area along with honors for its undergraduate programs in science, math and technology; health and medicine; arts and humanities; multidisciplinary studies and social science.

“We pride ourselves on being an institution that prioritizes hands-on student experiences inside and outside the classroom to reflect a well-rounded education through independent scholarship, study abroad opportunities, civic engagement, career development and more,” Dean of Admission Suzanne Lepley said. “When students enroll at K, they should feel confident we will do everything we can in their four years to set them up for success for the rest of their lives. This recognition from Colleges of Distinction confirms that.”

K is also recognized among the top Colleges of Distinction in terms of equity and inclusion as it caters to the unique needs of their students regardless of race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, gender or ability.

“A great undergraduate experience is more than just graduating and getting your first job,” the Colleges of Distinction website says. “Colleges of Distinction graduates are prepared for anything. They are strong writers, speakers and thinkers because their professors have encouraged and challenged them one-on-one. They have meaningful professional experience from internships and advanced research, and they know how to work together with people different than themselves because they have been active on campus, traveled abroad and pursued service opportunities. In other words, when you graduate from a College of Distinction you will be equipped to find better solutions in the workplace, your community and the world at large.”