Category: Students

National Wellness Month Prompts Fitness Tips for K Students

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The end of August is the perfect time for Kalamazoo College to mark National Wellness Month, which prompts individuals to seek healthful habits and routines. As students are preparing to return to campus, this time also provides opportunities to extol the benefits of exercise and K’s own Fitness and Wellness Center.

National Wellness Month cMUMMA Fitness and Wellness Center 2017-6008
National Wellness Month is the perfect time for Kalamazoo College to tell incoming and returning students about what they’ll find at K’s Fitness an Wellness Center.

K’s Fitness and Wellness Director Jen Bailey notes physical wellness is just one aspect of the dimensions of wellness and it’s important our needs as human beings are met with each dimension. However, more studies are showing that regular exercise provides important cognitive benefits that can make studying more efficient, while improving memory retention and focus. It also can boost a student’s mood, relieve stress, reduce the risk of illness, improve posture, curb junk-food cravings, and help students set their daily routines.

K’s $8.7 million, 30,000-square-foot Fitness and Wellness facility—funded by alumni donors, parents, friends of the College and several foundations—opened in fall 2016 featuring:

  • A weight and cardio fitness area to meet the needs of all the College’s students, faculty, staff and retirees
  • Three flexible-use multi-purpose rooms available to student organizations such as the Frelon Dance Company, Cirque du K and K-Cheer
  • Two racquetball courts and a squash court
  • A dance studio
  • Expanded locker rooms for general use
  • A health-assessment room for consultations.

The facility’s space also allows Bailey to conduct small-group programs throughout the year while partnering with student organizations such as K-Team, a student organization focused on body positivity, exercise, self-care and a healthy self-image. Many physical education classes are also held in the building such as yoga, tai-chi, racquetball, strength training, dancing, martial arts and fencing.

As students arrive at K, they will find more information on fitness and wellness programs through word of mouth, flyers and the campus calendar. In the meantime, Bailey offers a few points of advice for students looking to start fitness routines when they arrive on campus.

Do something you enjoy

“You’ll be more likely to stick with it and make it a part of a routine when you do something you enjoy,” Bailey said. “Fitness is fun and the overall goal is to continue to be active across your lifespan.”

Have a SMART goal

Follow the acronym when you create small goals by making sure your fitness goal is specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time sensitive.

Visit the Fitness and Wellness Center during orientation

Students can take advantage of Fitness and Wellness Center orientation hours from 8 to 10 p.m. Friday, Sept. 13; and noon to 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 14, and Sunday, Sept. 15. Kalamazoo College IDs will be required to access the building during these times, providing students an opportunity to use the equipment, receive a tour and ask questions.

Biology Students: It Takes a Village to Stop Invasive Species

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If you’ve ever wondered whether invasive species of plants are a problem in Michigan, four Kalamazoo College biology students have your answer: Yes.

Fiorina Talaba and Fiona Summers mapping invasive species
Fiorina Talaba (left) and Fiona Summers are two of the four students mapping invasive species of plants this summer at the Lillian Anderson Arboretum and Kleinstuck Preserve.

Fiorina Talaba ’22 from California, Mathew Holmes-Hackerd ’20 from Massachusetts, Fiona Summers ’20 from Illinois and Kelson Perez ’21 from Michigan are mapping invasive species with Biology Professor Binney Girdler this summer at K’s Lillian Anderson Arboretum and Western Michigan University’s Kleinstuck Preserve.

The results show several types of the problematic plants are common and growing quickly locally with few natural predators or pests as they choke out native species. That could be causing interruptions to important ecological processes, and potentially, endangering some native plants to the point of extinction.

“In today’s climate, we need to focus on biodiversity and how we’re affecting the environment,” Talaba said. “It’s not just the gases we’re emitting into the atmosphere that present environmental issues. It’s also how invasive species have gotten here and changed our environment to a point where it’s hard to recognize it from what it used to be. We have an obligation to protect native species.”

Kelson Perez and an arboretum official map invasive species
Kelson Perez (right) is one of four Kalamazoo College biology students working on mapping invasive species of plants under Biology Professor Binney Girdler this summer.

Some of the invasive plants the four are commonly finding in Kalamazoo include:

  • Creeping myrtle, sometimes called periwinkle, which is a flowering plant.
  • Buckthorn, a hardy shrub known for its bright, glossy leaves.
  • Winged euonymus, a bush-like shrub that is sometimes called burning bush.
  • Honeysuckle, identifiable as an arching shrub or twining vine that can have a strong fragrance.
  • Oriental bittersweet, a vine that tends to suffocate trees and sap their nutrients, potentially creating hazards related to dead trees for arboretum visitors.
  • Japanese knotweed, which is a plant with bamboo-like stems and small white flowers.
  • Garlic mustard, a biennial flowering plant known for its medicinal and culinary uses, despite its invasive aspects in nature.

How did the invasive species get here?

It’s not always clear how these invasive species, mostly from Asia and some from Europe, arrive in Kalamazoo.

“It shows how interconnected our society has become,” Perez said. “We can transport things like invasive species over massive distances in ways that would’ve been impossible in any other age. It’s like another Pangea where continents are pressing up against each other.”

However, it generally can be said that people have been responsible for allowing them to spread. Some people might even be planting the invasive species in their own gardens and yards because the plants look pretty, or transporting seeds on their shoes as they walk through the arboretum.

“Dr. Girdler says a majority of people will just look at invasive species and see green,” Holmes-Hackerd said. “They will look at all the green plants and think how pretty they are. We want to take it a level deeper. If we look at invasive species within the ecosystem and how they affect the large preserve, it can open people’s eyes. It can be bizarre to see a tree completely covered in leaves when the tree is dead because an invasive plant killed it.”

Hope for the future

While invasive species are a formidable foe, the four K student researchers say the projects they’re completing have provided opportunities for community outreach and established baselines that one day will help other researchers measure whether their efforts have been effective.

Their own outreach has consisted of sharing their research with other students through social media, talking with neighbors of the arboretum about the problematic plants, and encouraging community involvement in planting more native species, pulling invasive plants and protecting natural spaces.

“A lot of times you think of a scientist as someone who is rigid and wears a white coat,” Summers said. “We want to be super approachable and make people enjoy learning about invasive species.”

A platform like social media, for example, “provides such an easy way for young people to feel the experience,” Summers added. “Another reason I like it is it makes it easy to communicate our science to the general public. A lot of scientists lack the ability of explaining what they do so that anyone can understand it.”

Get involved

Here’s what you can do:

  • Ask your local nursery or gardening store about what you’re planting to ensure it’s not invasive, and plant more native species.
  • Volunteer to pull invasive plants at community events that target them.
  • Clean your shoes, hiking boots and pet’s paws after walking on nature trails to prevent the seeds of invasive plants from spreading.

Targeting invasive species “really is reliant on community involvement,” Holmes-Hackerd said. “The arboretum alone is 150 acres. It’s not something a handful of researchers can handle on their own. We’re hoping we can get the community to care and help out in any way.”

National Moth Week Spotlights Winged Insects

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National Moth Week blacklighting at Quad
Moth enthusiasts from around the world are likely to try blacklighting during National Moth Week.

If you ever see Kalamazoo College students hanging sheets by clotheslines suspended between trees on the Quad, they’re not doing laundry. They’re rounding up moths for their entomology class collections in a practice called “blacklighting.”

The process emits a black light into the UV spectrum to attract moths, and it’s one of many ways that citizen scientists are likely to celebrate National Moth Week, which is ongoing through Friday.

According to its website, National Moth Week celebrates the beauty, lifecycles and habitats of moths as the public is encouraged to learn about, observe and document moths in backyards, parks and neighborhoods. And don’t let the word “national” fool you. Since its founding in 2012, National Moth Week has gone global by expanding to all 50 states and 80 countries worldwide.

National Moth Week Luna Moth
Luna moths, known for their green wings, long tails and transparent eyespots, are common in southwest Michigan.

Although the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission to the moon likely is the more celebrated science-related event this week, moths are interesting to study because they make a “giant leap” of their own through metamorphosis. The process completely changes their bodies from wormlike caterpillars into winged adults during the cocoon stage. This abrupt change in body plan during development is found in only one-third of all insect groups, Kalamazoo College Biology Professor Ann Fraser said, but these groups account for the vast majority of insect species, suggesting this life cycle innovation was a highly successful one.

Furthermore, “many caterpillars of moths are a very important food source in the food chain,” and “some scientists use moths as indicators of bigger things going on in the environment,” Fraser said. “It’s easy to see trends with declines in their numbers as indicators of climate change or habitat loss.”

Moths definitively are insects because they have six legs and, as adults, they have three body regions consisting of the head, the thorax and the abdomen, Fraser said. Plus, they’re among the most diverse living creatures on Earth with more than 150,000 species including their day-roaming brethren: butterflies.

National Moth Week Hawk Moth
Hawk moths hover around plants and flowers so they commonly are mistaken for hummingbirds.

Some of the more eye-catching varieties of moths in southwest Michigan include hawk moths, which can be mistaken for hummingbirds because they’re about the same size as hummingbirds and hover around plants and flowers, Fraser said. Others include the luna moth known for its green wings, long tails and transparent eyespots. Plainer and more problematic varieties include gypsy moths, which are known as exfoliator pests because they strip trees and plants of their leaves.

“You can actually spot their poop on the sidewalk,” Fraser said of gypsy moth caterpillars. “Frass is the technical term for it. You see it on the ground, so you know something in the tree is feeding on the tree.”

Regardless, many hobbyists find collecting moths such as these and others to be fascinating and as easy as leaving a porch light on after dark. Fraser, for example, still remembers collecting a big moth for the first time when she was about 10 years old.

“It’s an experience that always stuck with me,” said Fraser, who curates the college’s insect collection that includes cases of pinned moths raised or collected by herself and her predecessor, Professor David Evans. “It’s always exciting to find the big colorful ones.”

For advice on how you can study moths, visit nationalmothweek.org or email info@nationalmothweek.org.

Nature Center Nurtures Student’s Love of Writing

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A nature center and biological field station in Hastings, Michigan, is home for a Kalamazoo College student this summer.

Paige Chung and Oliver Baez Bendorf at Pierce Cedar Creek Institute Nature Center
Paige Chung ’20 is at Pierce Cedar Creek Institute this summer, serving as the nature center’s Nature in Words Fellow. Assistant Professor of English Oliver Baez Bendorf, who leads poetry classes at K, is serving Chung as a consultant.

Paige Chung ’20, an English and critical ethnic studies (CES) major, is at Pierce Cedar Creek Institute, which is dedicated to environmental education and stewardship. She is serving the center as a Nature in Words Fellow by developing a collection of soundscape poetry and creative non-fiction based on her on-site explorations.

Soundscapes capture a sound or a combination of sounds that arise from an immersive environment, making Pierce Cedar Creek Institute an ideal atmosphere. The opportunity allows Chung to explore 742 acres of land, including lakes, forests and hiking trails, as she nurtures a hobby she hopes to one day parlay into a career: writing.

Bill and Jessie Pierce developed the Willard G. Pierce and Jessie M. Pierce Foundation to benefit Hastings and West Michigan in 1988. Just before they died in 1998, they had an idea to build an environmental education and nature center that became the Pierce Cedar Creek Institute.

Paige Chung Presenting at Pierce Cedar Creek Institute Nature Center
Paige Chung presents to other fellows at the Pierce Cedar Creek Nature Institute.

Now, 14 students from Michigan colleges and universities are on the property as they study animals from box turtles to rattlesnakes or pursue creative opportunities such as painting. Chung, however, is the only writer, and she feels fortunate to be there.

“I remember getting an email from the English Department about it right before bed one night in February or March,” Chung said. “At that point, I was trying to decide if I should go back home to do some community work for the summer or if I would find somewhere to stay in Michigan, so I applied. It’s phenomenal because it provides me with an abundant number of opportunities to write without the pressures of paying the rent or bills, and it fuels my ability to create my art. It shows me that writing is possible as a career.”

Pierce Cedar Creek Institute fellowship students have consultants of their choosing serving them as advisers during the summer. Chung’s consultant is Assistant Professor of English Oliver Baez Bendorf, who leads poetry classes at K.

Pierce Cedar Creek Institute Nature Center Bridge
Pierce Cedar Creek Institute covers 742 acres of land, including lakes, forests and hiking trails.

“He’s been phenomenal so far with how he pushes me to write,” said Chung, who also credits Intercultural Student Life Director Natalia Carvalho-Pinto, Assistant Professor of Critical Ethnic Studies Reid Gomez and Assistant Professor of English Shanna Salinas for inspiring her at K. Bendorf “encourages me to write and not worry about creating a perfect product. He asks questions and supports me every step of the way. He’s someone I’ll check in with throughout the writing process.”

That process for Chung includes immersing herself at the nature center, both in solitude and in the company of other students, observing and sampling sounds that end up in her poetry. “Poetry for me captures a moment,” Chung said. “There’s less pressure to have an entire plot and story line with poetry. It’s a playground for language. I also like to write plays, but those are longer-term projects for me. With poetry, I can write in one day and be done with it. I don’t necessarily need anything more than time, a piece of paper and a pen.”

At K, Chung works as a Writing Center assistant director and Intercultural Center-Arcus Center liaison, and she co-founded Resist, Magic Mastermind, a zine publication uplifting the stories of queer students, trans students and students of color. As a Los Angeles native, Chung’s inspirations have traditionally been city based, which means Pierce Cedar Creek Institute expands her writing horizons.

Chung said, “In CES, we learn from Chinua Achebe—who speaks English as a non-native speaker, allowing for something new and interesting to happen with language—that stories are stories even with a non-native tongue. We learn from the book Almanac of the Dead that stories are power. Through the power of language and stories, I am constantly asking what can be done with writing.”

This fellowship gives Chung the opportunity to explore this question in new ways.

“Through this fellowship, I ask what can be translated from the sounds of nature to sounds from hip-hop, jazz, Spanglish, Vietnamese and Los Angeles. This will help me push the boundaries of my poetry and writing to new landscapes.”

Spring 2019 Dean’s List Unveiled

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Spring 2019 Dean's List Campus
Congratulations to the Kalamazoo College students who qualified for the spring 2019 Dean’s List.

Congratulations to the following Kalamazoo College students, who achieved a grade point average of 3.5 or better for a full-time course load of at least three units, without failing or withdrawing from any course, during the spring 2019 academic term. Students who elect to take a letter-graded course on a credit/no credit basis (CR/NC) are not eligible for Dean’s List consideration during that term. Nor are students who receive an F, NC or W grade for that particular term. Students with incomplete (I) or in-progress (IP) grades will be considered for Dean’s List upon receipt of the final grades. Dean’s List recognition is posted on students’ transcripts. Kudos to the entire group.

Spring 2019

A  B   C  D  E  F   G   H   I   J  K   L   M  N   O  P   Q  R   S   T   U   V  W   X   Y   Z

A

Elizabeth Abel
Isak Akervall
Jazzmyn Albarran
Josue Alcala Cendrero
Allegra Allgeier
Tyler Allyn-White
Georgie Andrews
Hunter Angileri
Hamza-Ali Annamyradov
Abigail Antias
Mary Elizabeth Arendash
Madeleine Armstrong
Lukia Artemakis
Avani Ashtekar
Brooklyn Avery

B

Julia Bachmann
Andrew Backer
Nicole Bailey
Revaz Bakuradze
Heather Banet
Georgios Bantis
Angel Banuelos
Natalie Barber
Samuel Barczy
Elijah Barker
Aleksandra Bartolik
Eric Batson
Mitchell Baty
Lillian Baumann
Quentin Baur
Marina Isabella Bayma-Meyer
Blake Bean
Logan Beck
Benjamin Behrens
Dylan Beight
Sage Benner
Maci Bennett
Brigette Berke
Owen Bersot
Julia Bienstock
Maya Bieszki
Daniel Black
Maximilian Bogun
Elliott Boinais
Jonah Bolton
Jacob Bonifacio
Cavan Bonner
Maria Bonvicini
Alexander Bowden
Kimberly Bowers
Haylee Bowsher
Emily Boyle
Amaris Bradley
Sarah Brandstadt
Irie Browne
Molly Brueger
Jane Bunch
Pierce Burke
Lauren Bussell

C

Abigail Cadieux
Abigail Calef
Jacob Callaghan
Mackenzie Callahan
Madeleine Camilli
Madison Campbell
Catherine Carlberg
Justin Carlson
Kayla Carlson
Rachel Carson
Kebra Cassells
Ubaldo Castillo
Claire Cebelak
Kyle Ceci
Jessica Chaidez
Rebecca Chan
Sharmeen Chauhdry
Nutsa Chinchilakashvili
Jennifer Cho
Samantha Choknumtumnukit
Lakshya Choudhary
Iffat Chowdhury
Anna Christinidis
Qynce Chumley
Gabriel Chung
Paige Chung
Maile Church
Hannah Clark
Christopher Coburn
MaryClare Colombo
Noah Coplan
Valentina Cordero
Maricela Cordova
Rachel Cornell
Chase Coselman
Haley Crabbs
Austin Cramer
Aby Cruz
Ethan Cuka
George Cutler
Peter Czajkowski

D

Mansi Dahal
Wentao Dai
Minh Dang
Linh Dao
Shayaan Dar
Amelia Davis
Gwendolyn Davis
Riley Davis
Steven Davis
Ximena Davis
Adam Decker
Gina DeGraaf
Jane Delmonico
Catherine Dennis
Kaitlyn Dexter
Eva Deyoung
Sofia Diaz
Abigail Dickstein
Anthony Diep
Alexis Dietz
Savannah Dobreff
Amelia Donohoe
Adam Dorstewitz
Amanda Dow
Sydney Dowdell
Imalia Drummond
William Duffield
Alexa Dulmage
Elizabeth Dulski
Alex Dupree

E

Joseph Edwards
Nathanael Ehmann
Noah Ellinger
Jennalise Ellis
Tiffany Ellis
Abraham Ellison
Anna Emenheiser
Vivian Enriquez
Sarah Eringaard
McKinzie Ervin
Stacy Escobar

F

Daniel Fahle
Alex Fairhall
Thomas Fales
Greta Farley
Julien Feret
Marcos Ferguson Morales
Emma Fergusson
Anders Finholt
Maxwell Fitzell
Brett Fitzgerald
Brianna Flinkingshelt
Faith Flinkingshelt
Clifton Foster
Talea Fournier

G

Riley Gabriel
Talia Gadd
Anna Gambetta
Kaitlin Gandy
Amanda Gardner
Camden Gardner
Brendan Gausselin
Cory Gensterblum
Sarah George
Lena Gerstle
Julia Ghazal
Malak Ghazal
Joshua Gibson
Levon Gibson
Jasper Giglio
Hannah Ginsberg
Anthony Giovanni
Francesco Giusseppe-Soto
Sophia Goebel
Jessica Gougeon
Jessica Gracik
Ryan Graves
Abigail Gray
Claire Greening
Malachi Greenstone
Stanton Greenstone
Preston Grossling
Eduardo Guerrero
Katie Guo
Mengqiao Guo
Garrett Guthrie
Stephanie Guyor
LinzeyPearl Gyimah

H

Kalli Hale
Rebekah Halley
Emily Hamel
Grace Hancock
Caryn Hannapel
Kelly Hansen
Martin Hansknecht
Madeline Harding
Haley Harris
Mara Hazen
Noah Hecht
Megan Heft
Alyssa Heitkamp
Kaylee Henderson
Maeve Hening
Caleb Henning
Amelia Hensler
Emiley Hepfner
Maya Hernandez
Mireli Hernandez
Delaney Hewitt
Samantha Hicks
Adelaide Hilarides
Hunter Himelhoch
Kento Hirakawa
Sam Hoag
Alexandra Hobrecht
Emerson Holmes
Fiona Holmes
Mathew Holmes-Hackerd
Alysia Homminga
Audrey Honig
Taylor Horton
Daniel Horwitz
Josephine Hosner
Addissyn House
Eleanor Hughes
Ayla Hull
Destiny Hutcherson
Benjamin Hyndman

I

Austin Ickes
Ngozi Joy Idika
Ayami Iijima

J

Denise Jackson
Sadie Jackson
Samuel Jacobson
Eric Janowiak
Danielle Janowicz
Sophia Jenkins
Maria Jensen
Johanna Jeung
Diana Jimenez
Benjamin Johanski
Lisa Johnston
Ellie Jones
Jackson Jones
Jaylin Jones
Tytiana Jones
Joseph Jung
Zoe Jurgensen

K

Liza Kahn
Claire Kalina
Sharat Kamath
Grace Karrip
Lucas Kastran
Maria Katrantzi
Donald Kearns
Ava Keller
Joseph Keller
Jackson Kelly
Mitchell Kennis
David Kent
Samantha Killmer
YoungHoon Kim
Mikayla Kindler
Sarah Kleppe
Nicklas Klepser
Ella Knight
Anexy Koizumi
Brandon Kramer
Ethan Krasman
Katherine Kreiss
Matthew Krinock
Charlie Krone

L

Zoe Larson
Andrew Laxton
Stefan Leclerc
Michael Lee
Yung Seo Lee
Julia Leet
Kathryn Levasseur
Marissa Lewinski
Donna Li
Joy Lim
Lu Liu
Sichun Liu
Molly Logsdon
Jacob Lopez Pink
Lizbeth Lopez
Ellie Lotterman
Isabella Luke
Lezlie Lull
Jillian Lynk

M

Selina Ma
Rachel Madar
MacKenzy Maddock
Samuel Maddox
Deven Mahanti
Madisyn Mahoney
Angela Mammel
Merrick Manchester
Eleftherios Manopoulos
Victoria Marquez Gomez
Cydney Martell
Clara Martinez-Voigt
CJ Martonchik
Kevin McCarty
Seamus McCurren
Genevieve McDaniel
Maygan McGuire
Grace McKnight
Isabel McLaughlin
Aidan Merritt
Ana Maria Mesenbring
Hannah Meyers
Nathan Micallef
William Mierz
Briann Millan
Chaniya Miller
Chelsea Miller
Katherine Miller-Purrenhage
Margaret Miron
Rebecca Mitchell
Iris Moffa
Dominic Moore
Zachary Morales
Maximillian Moran
Cesareo Moreno
Ryan Mulder

N

Ravi Nair
Yukiko Nakano
Mihail Naskovski
Kyle Neuner
Sang Nguyen
Kelly Nickelson
Nikoli Nickson
Alyssa Norman
Emily Norwood
Brooke Nosanchuk
Ian Nostrant

O

Madeline Odom
Evan O’Donnell
Abigail O’Keefe
Udochi Okorie
Aisat Oladokun
Madeline Olivares
Gabe Orosan-Weine
Michael Orwin

P

Dylan Padget
Evan Palmer
Kayla Park
Angela Pastor
Rushik Patel
Anne Kearney Patton
Caleb Patton
Paul Pavliscak
Houston Peach
Anthony Peraza
Ilene Perea-Sanchez
Devon Peters
Eve Petrie
Julia Petroff
Uyen Pham
Joseph Piet
Sarah Pobuda
Karen Portillo
Diarra Pouye
Arianna Prater
Natalie Price
Maren Prophit
Zachary Prystash

Q

Daniel Qin
Jorence Quiambao
Abdullah Qureshi

R

Erin Radermacher
Hannah Rainaldi
Valentina Ramos
Harrison Ramsey
Molly Ratliff
Samuel Ratliff
Stephanie Rauhoff
Zachary Ray
Farzad Razi
Dawson Read
Jordan Reichenbach
Emiliana Renuart
Kelli Rexroad
Dulce Reyes Martinez
Samuel Rice
Luke Richert
Daniel Righter
Sage Ringsmuth
Lucas Rizzolo
Danna Robles-Garcia
Angelica Rodriguez
Petra Rodriguez
Lily Rogowski
Brynn Rohde
Sydney Rotigel-Finegan
Panayiotis Rotsios
Maelle Rouquet

S

Tanush Samson
Marlyn Sanchez
Danielle Sarafian
Marco Savone
Thomas Saxton
Margaret Schaefer
Faruq Schieber
McKenna Schilling
Kimberly Schmidt
Zoe Celeste Schneberger
Emma Schneider
Hannah Scholten
Lia Schroeder
Beth Schulman
Peter Schultz
Darby Scott
Justin Seablom
Frank Seidl
Ruby Seiwerath
Madalyn Seveska
Kaitlyn Shafer
Yasamin Shaker
Isabella Shansky-Genovese
Reagan Shapton
Regina Shaw
Lily Shearer
Andrew Sheckell
Austin Shepherd
Riley Shepherd
Jenna Sherman
Kai Lin Shi
Julia Showich
Josie Shuster
Nathan Silverman
Manveer Singh
Simran Singh
Caroline Skalla
Kyle Skiver
Madeline Small
Asia Smith
Emily Smith
Margaret Smith
Michael Smith
Adam Snider
Asante Solomon
Sophia Spencer
Patricia Spitzer
Casey Sprague
Gabriel Stanley
Evan Stark-Dykema
Katherine Stewart
Alexander Stockwell
Claudia Stroupe
Fiona Summers
Savannah Sweeney
Jacob Sypniewski
Nina Szalkiewicz

T

Jack Tagget
William Tait
Fiorina Talaba
Hikari Tanaka
Mio Taylor
Thomas Teftsis
Emily Tenniswood
Subi Thakali
Louise Thomas
Cade Thune
Dustin Tibbetts
Paige Tobin
Maria Tolentino Guzman
Emma Toomey
Anna Torsky
Jonathan Townley
Caitlin Tremewan
Uyen Trinh
Lydia Turke
Annie Tyler

U

Eva Ugelow

V

Marcela Valdivieso
Clara Valenti
Madison Vallan
Adriana Vance
Brianne Vanderbilt
Megan Vandyke
Ethan VanSant
Taylor VanWinkle
Hope Vanzo-Sparks
Travis Veenhuis
Miriam Velasquez
Christopher Vennard
Ashley Ver Beek
Naomi Verne
Carter Vespi
Lucille Voss
Dat Vu

W

Carter Wade
Alex Wallace
Barnaby Walsh
Gabrielle Walton Schwartz
Ta-Yin Wang
Maya Wanner
Claire Ward
Madeline Ward
Lesli Washington
Leah Wathen
Micheal Watson
Anne Waugh
Maija Weaver
Zhi Nee Wee
Justin Wesley-Johnson
Ehren White
Tanner White
Annarosa Whitman
Jessica Wile
Brian Will
Megan Williams
Blake Willison
Clayton Wilms
Abigail Wilson
Mars Wilson
Nick Wilson
Ryan Witczak
Hannah Wohlman
Hannah Wolfe
Julia Woods
Zachary Worthing
Andrew Wright
Robert Wright

X

Lingrui Xiang

Y

Kimberly Yang
Eleanor Yaruss
Ethan Young
JayLashay Young
Ynika Yuag
Austin Yunker
Sophia Yurdin

Z

Kaylin Zajac
Zoe Zawacki
Chi Zhang

Conference, Faculty Catalyze Chemistry Students

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The opportunity to present to and learn from pharmaceutical professionals is normally reserved for graduate students, professional scientists and postdoctoral fellows. For Kalamazoo College chemistry students in Dorothy H. Heyl Professor of Chemistry Laura Furge’s lab, attending the Great Lakes Drug Metabolism and Disposition Discussion Group annual meeting as undergrads is a tradition that opens doors and underscores their passion for science.

Chemistry Students Attend Drug Metabolism Conference
Three chemistry students attended the Great Lakes Drug Metabolism and Disposition Discussion Group on May 9 and 10 in Ann Arbor with Dorothy H. Heyl Professor of Chemistry Laura Furge (second from right). The students are Kevin McCarty ’20 (left), Cydney Martell ’19 (second from left) and Michael Orwin ’20 (right).

Three students attended the spring meeting on May 9 and 10 in Ann Arbor. Furge’s students, known for their research excellence, have had several opportunities in recent years to show off their work regarding the P450 enzyme, which catalyzes drug-metabolism reactions, with implications toward drug discovery.

This year’s K representatives included Cydney Martell ’19 of Gull Lake, Michigan; Kevin McCarty ’20 of Clarkston, Michigan; and Michael Orwin ’20 of Portage, Michigan.

“I feel I was really fortunate to get into (Furge’s) lab,” said Martell, whose connection with Furge also helped her secure an internship last year with Eli Lilly, a pharmaceutical company headquartered in Indianapolis and committed to discovering medicines for people around the world. “The most rewarding thing about the conference is our ability to network with individuals and build important relationships. It’s nice to be able to have that connection and be on equal ground. It’s a love of science that facilitates our ability to work across experience levels.”

Martell will seek a Ph.D. in biochemistry at Northwestern University beginning this fall.

The poster presentation McCarty made from his research in Furge’s lab will evolve into his Senior Individualized Project this summer, he said, which is a testament to Furge’s guidance.

“Instead of telling you how to do things, she’ll ask you questions, engaging you in the work,” McCarty said. “She gives you the freedom to do every part of the research you can by yourself, which helps you understand and take away what’s important.”

In fact, McCarty has been so happy with his experiences in the chemistry program at K, the drug-metabolism conference and in Furge’s lab, he’d tell prospective students considering K to also major in chemistry.

“I would tell them, ‘you’d be surprised by all the opportunities you’ll have,’” McCarty said. “When I first considered K, I heard all about our small class sizes and the faculty. What they didn’t tell me is how many opportunities there would be to work with faculty members like Dr. Furge or in a lab like hers.”

Orwin echoed his peers’ excitement for attending the conference and appreciation of Furge’s leadership in their lab at K.

“I really loved attending the conference and it was a great undergraduate experience being able to present my work to industry professionals,” Orwin said. “Overall, I find the most exciting part of research is the ability to contribute to our collective knowledge alongside being able to share one’s passion with others. I find myself very fortunate for being able to have this experience.”

Kalamazoo Promise Fulfills its First Class at K

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Kalamazoo Promise Student Druanna Darling with a dog
Druanna Darling ’19 said she had not considered attending Kalamazoo College until the Kalamazoo Promise was extended to Michigan Colleges Alliance schools in 2015. Photo by Catalina Gonzalez.

When students in the Kalamazoo Public Schools (KPS) receive their diplomas, 92 percent of them are eligible for an outstanding graduation gift: a tuition-free post-secondary education thanks to the Kalamazoo Promise.

KPS graduates who have lived in the district and have been students for at least four years can have as much as 100 percent of their in-state tuition and fees paid for thanks to the Promise, a program funded by anonymous donors. The program is applicable to community colleges, public universities, and since 2015, to 15 private institutions in the Michigan Colleges Alliance, including Kalamazoo College.

Fortunately for Druanna Darling ’19, this promise was made at just the right time.

“I remember there being a press conference during the summer before my senior year (in high school) and my mom was the one who showed me the Promise was being extended” to private schools, said Darling, whose family moved to Arizona when she was 6, only to return because of what the Promise offered her. “We had heard a lot of great things about Kalamazoo College and it was a part of our community, but it never seemed accessible to me. K wasn’t even on my radar.”

A chance to attend K with smaller class sizes and one-on-one opportunities to work with professors was extraordinarily appealing. The opportunity to have her tuition covered convinced her to visit campus. Two campus tours and an overnight stay later, Darling was sure she had found her second home.

“It felt like the students were more of a priority at K,” she said. “Elsewhere, the colleges accepted a huge group of students and the students paid their tuition. At K, faculty and staff were more personal and invested in students. I felt accepted immediately.”

Darling, a psychology major and Loy Norrix alumna, applied to the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Western Michigan University. Ultimately, she decided K was the only place she wanted to experience college. That college experience will culminate Sunday, June 16, when she will be one of eight KPS graduates to graduate from K, representing the College’s first class of Promise-eligible students.

Promise-eligible students have added a perspective of their own to K’s student body, Director of Admission Suzanne Lepley said. They are smart, well-prepared for college and know the community well, although most just start to learn of K’s distinctive offerings—including the K-Plan, the College’s approach to the liberal arts and sciences—shortly before applying.

“They have been educated in the richly diverse KPS system and that learning perspective transfers to the community at K,” Lepley said. “Despite being raised in the city, many spend little, if any time on our campus before attending. They tend to experience the College in a special way as they explore a part of the community they might not have known.”

Darling said she will graduate with a very limited amount of debt that she feels won’t be a burden thanks to the Kalamazoo Promise. And four years after first falling in love with K, her passion for K hasn’t changed.

“I keep thinking I might want to declare a second major and stay for a fifth year,” she joked. “I don’t think my view of it has changed at all. As an entering student, I was overjoyed. The environment is so warming. I have felt supported every day.”

Much of that support has come directly from the faculty. Darling worked with Assistant Professor of Psychology Brittany Liu in Liu’s research lab, and she has received assistance from professors in applying for jobs and graduate school as she hopes to one day work with autistic children.

“Personally, I know a lot of individuals who went to big universities,” Darling said. “There are a lot of things their education has lacked such as an opportunity to learn about social justice issues. At other universities, you might learn about physics or writing a good paper. But at K you learn about how to be a better citizen.”

10 Earn Heyl Scholarships; 7 Will Attend K

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Ten students from Kalamazoo County high schools will receive Heyl scholarships to attend institutions of higher education in the 2019-20 school year, majoring in STEM-related fields. The group includes seven who will attend Kalamazoo College.

2019 Heyl Scholarships 002 cDUGAL
A dinner May 31 at Kalamazoo College honored 10 recipients of Heyl Scholarships.

The prestigious scholarships — available to accomplished Kalamazoo-area math and science students who meet certain requirements — cover tuition, room and board, and book fees. The scholarships were established in 1971 through the will of F.W. and Elsie L. Heyl. F.W. Heyl was the first director of research at the Upjohn Co. and taught at Kalamazoo College.

Heyl Scholarship Fund Executive Director Karika Ann Parker is pictured at the far left. Honored at a dinner at the College, the scholarship winners include Rachel Kramer (from left), Gull Lake High School/Kalamazoo Area Mathematics and Science Center (KAMSC), attending Kalamazoo College; Samuel Ankley, Kalamazoo Central High School, Kalamazoo College; Suja Thakali, Kalamazoo Central/KAMSC, Kalamazoo College; Macy Hoppe, Loy Norrix High School, attending Western Michigan University School of Nursing; Emma Knutson, Loy Norrix High School, WMU School of Nursing; Sierra Knight, Loy Norrix High School, WMU School of Nursing; Carter Eisenbach, Loy Norrix High School, Kalamazoo College; Alexis Nesbitt, Parchment High School/KAMSC, Kalamazoo College; Rachel Lanting, Kalamazoo Central High School/KAMSC, Kalamazoo College. Elizabeth Wang (not pictured), of Portage Northern/KAMSC, will attend Kalamazoo College.