Category: Students

Virtual Reality Demonstration Wows Students

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Buildings developed through virtual reality
Fourteen students in Nayda Collazo-Llorens’ digital art course were transported into a world filled with structures developed from their imaginations through virtual reality.

Exclamations such as “Wow!” and “Cool!” were emanating from Light Fine Arts last week. That’s because students were witnessing the dazzling results of a partnership between the Art Department and the College’s Center for New Media Design (CNMD): a virtual reality demonstration depicting projects from Nayda Collazo-Llorens’ digital art course.

The 14 students in the course were transported into a world filled with structures developed from their imaginations including domed mazes, star-shaped-shadow-casting trellises and cleverly arranged hexagonal pillars, allowing them to climb, observe and interact with everyone’s creations.

Virtual Reality Demonstration Buildings 2
Fourteen students in Nayda Collazo-Llorens’ digital art course were transported into a world filled with structures developed from their imaginations through virtual reality.
Virtual Reality Demonstration 5
Fourteen students in Nayda Collazo-Llorens’ digital art course were transported into a world filled with structures developed from their imaginations through virtual reality.

Their project, which Collazo-Llorens titled Architectural Aura, required students to design complex, three-dimensional structures capturing fantastical facades rather than traditional buildings. Students considered their structures from multiple viewpoints, including the interiors, and added perspectives based on volume and mass, proportions and balance.

Maren Prophit
Maren Prophit was among 14 students in Nayda Collazo-Llorens’ digital art course who received a demonstration of her work in virtual reality.

Students then used computer-aided design tools such as TinkerCAD — an app for 3D design, electronics and coding — to develop them, and turn them into tangible models through three MakerBot 3D printers including one in the CNMD. Educational Technology Specialist Josh Moon and Peer Design Consultant Faith Barnett ’21 later spent about two weeks transforming the 3D models into virtual reality.

The experience was a hit for the class’s students including Gaby Cordova, an English major from Los Angeles, and Maren Prophit, a biology and art double major from Grosse Pointe, Michigan, who were impressed to see how small objects could be enlarged into a world where students could interact with them.

The project was especially practical for Prophit, who interned last summer with Mackinac State Historic Park, a family of living history museums and nature parks in northern Michigan’s Straits of Mackinac. There, she saw sketch art re-created and exhibits designed with help from virtual reality, reflecting her own need to learn digital processes.

Barnett also received hands-on work in developing virtual reality for a public presentation for the first time.

“There was a lot of fine tuning to solve some minor issues because some of the graphics were jittery,” Barnett said. “But the best part of VR is you can do things with it that are impossible in the real world.”

A Different Diagnosis for Akhenaten? Ask Your Mummy

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Even with modern-day royals generating headlines, Chelsea Miller ’19 would rather focus her attention on a royal who lived thousands of years ago. Miller’s research, first conducted through her junior-year seminar, is applying new theories to the legacy of Akhenaten, who ruled Egypt from about 1353 to 1336 B.C.

Chelsea Miller Researches Akhenaten
When Chelsea Miller ’19, of Flint, Michigan, began her studies at Kalamazoo College, she thought she would pursue the pre-med program. Instead, she fell in love with the Classics Department, where she studies historical figures such as Akhenaten, who ruled Egypt thousands of years ago.

Traditional belief says Akhenaten suffered from awkward physical conditions such as Fröhlich’s syndrome, a rare childhood metabolic disorder, or Marfan’s syndrome, a genetic disorder that affects the body’s connective tissue. Yet Miller’s research leads to a different diagnosis, even thousands of years after Akhenaten’s death.

“I believe the cause of his behavior was a combination of propaganda and a mental tendency of taking things too far,” said Miller, a classical civilizations major with a concentration in neuroscience. “I believe he had characteristics such as an elevated mood, inflated grandiosity and overactivity. I believe he had egomania.”

That theory, in fact, seems to be supported by those symptoms as found in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, which mental-health experts in the U.S. use to identify mental illnesses.

“I think the average person would find it a little surprising that we can do such a retrospective diagnosis,” Miller said. “He was such a famous person and he probably had a mental illness, yet there are still stigmas regarding people who have mental illness. I think other people can be drawn to his eccentric lifestyle like I was, and what might’ve been going on inside of his mind.”

Miller presented her research this winter at the University of Tennessee Undergraduate Classics Conference, also attended by representatives of institutions such as Duke University, Bryn Mawr College and the University of Wisconsin.

“It was an amazing experience,” Miller said. “So many people from very well-respected and well-known schools made me feel proud to be representing K because it shows the kind of work we do here. I think more students at K should know they have opportunities like this. It was very rewarding to present my work and experience other people’s work.”

Miller said Akhenaten was married to Queen Nefertiti and was believed to be the father of Tutankhamun, also known as King Tut. Egypt at the time was a conservative civilization that valued stability and continuity, although Akhenaten rejected many Egyptian traditions that rulers were expected to uphold. He introduced monotheism, for example, to a culture that had worshiped hundreds of gods for many centuries.

Akhenaten also spent great resources founding a new royal capital city, and he adopted a bizarre, androgynous image for himself and his family that violated idealistic Egyptian artistic canon. That image included a grotesquely elongated face that surmounted a tall and thin neck, weak and sloping shoulders, a distended belly and spindly calves.

His decisions, in fact, presumably caused Akhenaten’s subjects to hate him because they posthumously condemned his memory and attempted to remove all mentions of him from historical records. When researchers rediscovered proof of Akhenaten in the 19th and 20th centuries, archaeologists and medical professionals attempted to explain his unusual appearance and radical behaviors in art and history with retrospective diagnoses of physical conditions.

Miller, though, said Akhenaten’s mummy was discovered without any sign of the physical conditions portrayed in images of him, aiding her conclusion of mental illness. She added she hopes her research will lead her to more fascinating ideas about historical influencers.

“I’m interested in looking at other misunderstood figures in history and what they did mentally,” Miller said. “I don’t want to say the Akhenaten story is over for me, but other people have already investigated rulers such as Alexander the Great, and I’d like to go further into that history.”

K Student Selected for National Theatre Event

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A top-honors finish in a recent theatre regional event led Rebecca Chan ’22 to an even bigger stage in April.

Rebecca Chan and Three Other Students at National Theatre Event
Rebecca Chan ’22 (second from right) was one of two first-year students and four students overall selected to attend the Kennedy Center American College Theatre event in Washington, D.C.

Chan, a theatre major from Howell, Michigan, has returned from the week-long Kennedy Center American College Theatre National Festival in Washington, D.C., where she was one of only four students from around the country to participate in its Institute for Theatre Journalism Advocacy (ITJA) events. There, Chan engaged in a series of seminars with well-known journalists from publications such as the Washington Post, American Theatre and National Public Radio, focusing on theatre criticism and how it’s changing with technology.

The opportunity meant extending the experience she received at the regional festival in Madison, Wisconsin, where she wrote deadline-oriented critiques and responses about shows she watched each night. The event, which included students from across Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin, was where Chan received her first experiences in theatre journalism and became one of just eight students from around the country to earn top honors. From those eight students, four were chosen to attend nationals.

“I was taken aback by the opportunity,” Chan said. Before this year, “I didn’t have a background in journalism. This validated my experience from regionals on a second level. I felt really blessed to have the opportunity. The fact that the seminars sparked so much conversation was something I enjoyed. I loved to see people sorting through my ideas.”

Chan credited her theatre classes in her first year at K for helping her develop the skills that enabled her to write so successfully.

“I took three theatre courses involving fundamentals of acting, playwriting and stagecraft,” she said. “Those three prepared me to evaluate a lot of different things, including the technical aspects and structures of a play. They really bolstered what I was able to do.”

From there, Chan ensured she maintained her skills independently from the end of regionals until nationals.

“I made sure that I practiced writing every so often,” she said. “I wasn’t sure how to practice specifically for theater journalism, but I made sure I had a good foundation going.”

The ITJA aims to develop arts journalists who can advocate for excellence in the arts through a variety of media—web, print and broadcast. Chan was one of two first-year students selected to attend the national event among the four participating. The other two were seniors, including one from California who soon will pursue a Ph.D., and one from Missouri who majors in journalism.

“I liked having (the journalism major) in the room because she had that student perspective and she’s in the process of finding a job,” Chan said. “It was neat to be on an equal playing field with someone with so much experience in the field.”

Chan said she would like to pursue another opportunity with the Kennedy Center events in the future. As a first-year, she’s not certain which area of theatre will be her focus, but “journalism is another form of writing for me to play with and explore,” she said. “I like to stay open to possibilities.”

International Jazz Day Gives K Reason to Toot its Own Horn

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International Jazz Day Tom Evans cMcGUIRE 2018 lo 0007
Music Professor Tom Evans rehearses his trombone with Rushik Patel ’22 at Light Fine Arts. Evans directs K’s noteworthy Jazz Band, making the College a great place to mark International Jazz Day.

There are days during the year when it makes sense for Kalamazoo College to toot its own horn. International Jazz Day is one of them, as the College’s Jazz Band is known for its well-attended, quality performances popular with the musicians themselves and audiences alike.

According to its website, International Jazz Day — celebrated each April 30 — unites communities, schools, artists, historians, academics and enthusiasts to celebrate jazz and its roots. It helps the world learn of jazz’s future and its impact, while encouraging intercultural dialogue and international cooperation.

That desire to celebrate jazz could cause anyone, from jazz novices to experts, to gravitate to K’s Jazz Band.

“We tell our audiences, ‘if the music affects you, get up and dance,’” said Music Professor Tom Evans, the band’s director, who ensures his group is deserving of recognition around K and around the Kalamazoo community. “By the end, we usually have many who are dancing in the aisles. It’s always great to play in front of such an appreciative audience.”

The enthusiasm of the musicians is part of what makes the band special. “I have one rule with the Jazz Band: It’s OK to make mistakes, but it’s not OK to play without passion,” Evans said. “I believe (the band) can make you a better person. It makes you more disciplined and it engages your mind. It’s a chance to explore history from the earliest jazz continuing through many contemporary artists.”

For those who need a primer in jazz as they mark International Jazz Day, Evans said the music is exciting because “jazz reinvents itself every night. If you go to a concert and see the same group two nights in a row, the beginning and the end might sound familiar, but the middle would be different.”

That middle represents the jazz process of improvisation, defined as the spontaneous creation of fresh, original melodies beyond the notes on a page. Improvisation is inspired by the musicians performing and how they feel at a given moment. Plus, they can never be identically repeated.

K’s Jazz Band typically follows standard big band instrumentation with five saxophones, four trumpets, four trombones and a rhythm section consisting of a pianist, a bass player, a guitarist and drummers. This year’s rhythm section features two guitarists and adds a vibraphone player. A vibraphone has metallic bars instead of the wooden ones seen on the garden-variety xylophone.

“A xylophone has a distinctive wooden ‘dong’ sound, but a vibraphone has metal with sustained pitches that sound like ‘ting,’” Evans said. Those pitches are controlled through fans underneath the instrument that spin and rotate.

For students interested in Jazz Band, there are music ensemble scholarship opportunities for incoming students, and while auditions are sometimes required for the band, there are more opportunities to participate and take a leadership role than you might find at a larger school.

“If you attend somewhere like the University of Michigan, good luck. You’re probably waiting until at least your junior year to play in the Jazz Band, and even then, there might be a waiting list,” Evans said. “K is a place where students have immediate leadership opportunities from the moment they get to campus.” Jazz Band is no exception. “With the Jazz Band, every voice is critical. If one person doesn’t show up, it affects everyone.”

Evans came to K in 1995, inheriting the College’s Jazz and Symphonic bands, after teaching at Alfred University, another liberal arts institution, in Alfred, New York. His jazz bands have toured Chicago, Washington, D.C., Cincinnati and Detroit in the U.S., and Russia, Estonia, Japan, Finland and Tunisia around the world.

The group’s next concert is scheduled for 8 p.m. Saturday, May 11, in the Dalton Theater at Light Fine Arts. Evans said the band’s play list will include some early jazz, swing, bop, fusion, funk and Latin varieties.

“At the end of each concert, I want the kids to walk off the stage as heroes,” Evans said.

Hear some selections of prior Jazz Band performances and learn more about the group at its website.

Get Versed in National Poetry Month

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If your knowledge of poetry is limited, April is the perfect time to expand your horizons and practice your writing. That’s because it’s National Poetry Month, and Assistant English Professor Oliver Baez Bendorf has creatively developed ways for students to hone their skills and develop their interests in poetry to celebrate.

Kayla Park National Poetry Month
Kayla Park read at the Belladonna* Collaborative Reading last spring. She interned with Belladonna*, an independent feminist avant-garde poetry press, through the New York Arts Program during the winter 2018 term at K.

Among his classes, Baez Bendorf teaches an advanced poetry workshop, which is participating in a 21-day challenge to write every day. Students are assigned poetry-inspired aliases and write about their praxis, or practice, of writing. “Writing about writing” might sound redundant, but its purpose is to help students learn about themselves, their influences and their processes to discover what inspires them.

Audrey Honig ’21, for example, is an English and religion major with a concentration in Jewish studies from Elmhurst, Illinois. She is writing erasure poems under the alias Lyra based on what she sees through social media. Erasure poetry erases words from an existing text in prose or verse and frames the result as a poem. The results can be allowed to stand on their own or arranged into lines or stanzas.

“I thought it would be interesting to bring what normally is a distraction into my writing,” said Honig, of the social media she analyzes. “I thought I wrote a lot before this class started, but I really wasn’t creating much. I was working on my writing, but I was mostly working on the editing process. Now I’m doing something small every day.”

Her biggest takeaway from the course has been how to better give and receive feedback to classmates and other writers.

“As students, we’re used to getting feedback when a professor might say, ‘This is a B,’” she said. “In this class, we’re really thinking about the specifics of what we’re doing as writers, so we can give honest and helpful feedback without tearing anyone down.”

For her 21-day challenge, Kayla Park ’19 selects a book at random off her shelf every day and writes a poem inspired by the last sentence on page 21 in that book.

Audrey Honig Recites During National Poetry Month
Audrey Honig presents during a class at Kalamazoo College’s Humphrey House. Honig is is writing erasure poems under the alias Lyra based on what she sees through social media.

Park, who writes under the alias Pegasus, earned a Heyl Scholarship when she matriculated at K to study within a science major, and she double majors in English and physics. She said she can see how a writing genre such as poetry helps make her a better scientist.

“When you continue doing a lot of work in one field and you get used to a certain mode of thinking, that’s beneficial in making you an expert in your subject, although you can also restrict your thought patterns that way,” she said. “In poetry, I’m expressing knowledge under a set of conventions that is different, but no less valuable than in science. Engaging with different modes of thinking helps me to see connections across disciplines and approach all situations from a broader point of view.”

The creativity poetry stirs for Park complements what she does with two a cappella groups at K, Premium Orange and A Cappella People of Color (ACAPOC), as well as with Frelon, the campus’ student dance company. It also helps her deal with her own perfectionism.

“Sometimes when I sit down to write, regardless of the assignment, I get hung up on making it perfect,” she said. “Forcing myself to write every day is beneficial in letting a little of that perfectionism go. It helps me write more freely and produce something that I can always go back and edit later.”

Baez Bendorf also offers an intermediate poetry workshop. That class this month is memorizing poems such as Truth Serum and 300 Goats by Naomi Shihab Nye and To Myself by Franz Wright with the goal of reciting them in May.

“We approach it as a kind of ultimate close reading of the work, and then aim to know it by heart, hopefully for a lifetime,” Baez Bendorf said.

National Poetry Month was inaugurated by the Academy of American Poets in 1996. It since has become the largest literary celebration in the world with schools, publishers, libraries, booksellers and poets celebrating poetry, according to the American Academy of Poetry.

The organization drew inspiration for National Poetry Month from Black History Month in February and Women’s History Month in March, and it aims to highlight the legacies and ongoing achievements of American poets, encourage the public to read poems, and increase the number of poetry-themed stories in local and national media. Read more about National Poetry Month at the Academy of American Poets’ website.

Winter 2019 Dean’s List

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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 winter 2019 academic term.

Winter 2019 Dean's List cMcGuire 0145
Congratulations to the students who qualified for the winter 2019 Dean’s List.

Students who elected to take a letter-graded course on a credit/no credit basis (CR/NC) are not eligible for Dean’s List consideration during the winter 2019 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 the Dean’s List upon receipt of the final grades. Winter 2019 Dean’s List recognition is posted on students’ transcripts. Kudos to the entire group.

Winter 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
Jayde Agnew
Isaac Agranoff
Karina Aguilar
Zishawn Aijaz
Isak Akervall
Jazzmyn Albarran
Allegra Allgeier
Tyler Allyn-White
Olivia Anderson
Georgie Andrews
Hunter Angileri
Hamza-Ali Annamyradov
Madeleine Armstrong
Katrina Arriola
Lukia Artemakis
Teyia Artis
Avani Ashtekar
Iris Atilano
Max Aulbach
Brooklyn Avery

B

Bailey Baas
Andrew Backer
Nicole Bailey
McKenzi Baker
Revaz Bakuradze
Spencer Baldwin
Heather Banet
Natalie Barber
Robert Barnard
Grace Barrett
Evelyn Bartley
Aleksandra Bartolik
Mitchell Baty
Lillian Baumann
Benjamin Behrens
Katherine Bennett
Maci Bennett
Dominic Bertollini
Daniel Bidwell
Julia Bienstock
Maya Bieszki
Jonah Bolton
Lydia Bontrager
Maria Bonvicini
Kimberly Bowers
Emily Boyle
Amaris Bradley
Sarah Brandstadt
Irie Browne
Rosemary Bryant
Autumn Buhl
Jane Bunch
Pierce Burke

C

Grace Cain-Kellman
Abigail Calef
Catherine Carlberg
Amelia Carlson
Kayla Carlson
Rachel Carson
Kebra Cassells
Kyle Ceci
Zoe Celeste Schneberger
Jessica Chaidez
Rebecca Chan
Kit Charlton
Shruti Chaturvedi
Tapiwa Chikungwa
Lizi Chinchilakashvili
Nutsa Chinchilakashvili
Belinda Chipayi
Jennifer Cho
Lakshya Choudhary
Iffat Chowdhury
Anna Christinidis
Gabriel Chung
Maile Church
Hannah Clark
MaryClare Colombo
Noah Coplan
Rachel Cornell
Chase Coselman
Anna Costanzo
Haley Crabbs
John Crane
Ethan Cuka

D

Wentao Dai
Sela Damer-Daigle
Minh Dang
Shayaan Dar
Kiernan Dean-Hall
Gina DeGraaf
Nolan Devine
Kaitlyn Dexter
Christina Diaz
Abigail Dickstein
Anthony Diep Rosas
Alexis Dietz
Rachel Dobb
Savannah Dobreff
Amelia Donohoe
Anna Dorniak
Amanda Dow
Sydney Dowdell
Imalia Drummond
Elizabeth Dulski
Gina Dvorin

E

Nathanael Ehmann
Emma Eisenbeis
Bradley Ekonen
Noah Ellinger
Jennalise Ellis
Tiffany Ellis
Abraham Ellison
Anna Emenheiser
Serita Evelyn
Ihechiluru Ezuruonye

F

Daniel Fahle
Thomas Fales
Colton Farley
Greta Farley
Emma Farrell
Marcos Ferguson Morales
Emma Fergusson
Anna Fetter
Maxwell Fitzell
Gwendolyn Flatland
Brianna Flinkingshelt
Faith Flinkingshelt
Matthew Ford
Talea Fournier
Rachel Frank
Jakob Frederick
Gavin Fritch

G

Gabriel Gabela Salvador
Anna Gambetta
Nayely Garcia
Camden Gardner
Trish Gatsi
Kobe Gementiza
Sarah George
Julia Ghazal
Jasper Giglio
Matthew Giguere
Jacob Gilhaus
Hannah Ginsberg
Anthony Giovanni
Rachel Girard
Nebiyat Girma
Francesco Giusseppe-Soto
Sophia Goebel
Alexis Gonzalez
Jessica Gracik
Abigail Gray
Jordan Gray
Claire Greening
Malachi Greenstone
Stanton Greenstone
Ella Griggs
Lily Gross
Stephanie Guyor
LinzeyPearl Gyimah

H

Rebekah Halley
Grace Hancock
Bailey Handley
Isabella Haney
Kelly Hansen
Madeline Harding
Haley Harris
Mara Hazen
Megan Heft
Kaylee Henderson
Maeve Hening
Caleb Henning
Amelia Hensler
Emiley Hepfner
Maya Hernandez
Delaney Hewitt
Sophie Higdon
Adelaide Hilarides
Sophia Hill
Sam Hoag
Samantha Hoehle
Emerson Holmes
Fiona Holmes
Mathew Holmes-Hackerd
Hannah Hong
Audrey Honig
Josephine Hosner
Addissyn House
Matthew Howrey
Micah Hudgins-Lopez
Eleanor Hughes
Ayla Hull
Benjamin Hyndman

 

I

J

Denise Jackson
Sadie Jackson
Samantha Jacobsen
Samuel Jacobson
Sophia Jenkins
Mathu Jennings
Maria Jensen
Benjamin Johanski
Jilia Johnson
Lisa Johnston
Ellie Jones
Jackson Jones
Jaylin Jones
Joseph Jung

K

Isaac Kaczor
Meredith Kahan
Liza Kahn
Sharat Kamath
Maria Katrantzi
Donald Kearns
Ava Keller
Joseph Keller
David Kent
Hannah Kerns
Reesha Kesho
Gyeongho Kim
Sky Kim
YoungHoon Kim
Mikayla Kindler
Megan Kleppe
Nicklas Klepser
Allison Klinger
Ella Knight
Ethan Krasman
Benjamin Krebs
Katherine Kreiss
Charlie Krone

L

Zoe Larson
Madeline Lauver
Julia Leet
Marissa Lewinski
Donna Li
Kai Lin Shi
Lu Liu
Sichun Liu
Trevor Loduem-Jackson
Molly Logsdon
Sara Lonsberry
Lizbeth Lopez
Jacob Lopez Pink
Ellie Lotterman
Isabella Luke
Emily Lulkin
Cameron Lund

M

Andrea MacMichael
Rachel Madar
MacKenzy Maddock
Samuel Maddox
Madisyn Mahoney
Angela Mammel
Eleftherios Manopoulos
Georgios Marios Bantis
Victoria Marquez Gomez
Cydney Martell
Clara Martinez-Voigt
Thibaut Martinon
CJ Martonchik
Samuel Matthews
Rose Maylen
Seamus McCurren
Genevieve McDaniel
Abigail McDonough
Dylan McGorisk
Maygan McGuire
Grace McKnight
Tori McNett
Aidan Merritt
Benjamin Meschke
Hannah Meyers
Nathan Micallef
Nicholas Middleton
Chaniya Miller
Chelsea Miller
Dylan Milton
Margaret Miron
Rebecca Mitchell
Alonte’ Mitchell-Presley
Armina Mkrtchian
Iris Moffa
Sierra Moore
Zachary Morales
Maximillian Moran
Elayna Moreau
Cesareo Moreno
Amanda Morrison
Amanda Moss
Heather Muir
Emma Mullenax
Hannah Muscara
Nkatha Mwenda

N

Yukiko Nakano
Mihail Naskovski
Sara Nelson
Sang Nguyen
Kelly Nickelson
Nikoli Nickson
Alyssa Norman
Ian Nostrant
Andrew Novetsky

O

Nanako Ochi
Udochi Okorie
Gabe Orosan-Weine
Lindsay Ortega

P

Dylan Padget
Maxwell Palese
Yansong Pan
Andrew Parsons
Rushik Patel
Saahil Patel
Meera Patwardhan
Houston Peach
Calder Pellerin
Natalia Pena Ochoa
Anthony Peraza
Kelson Perez
Ranya Perez
Devon Peters
Julia Petroff
Uyen Pham
Sarah Pobuda
Priya Pokorzynski
Diarra Pouye
Arianna Prater
Natalie Price
Zachary Prystash

Q

Daniel Qin
Aarzoo Qureshi

R

Mashroor Raiyan
Elioenai Ramirez Quinones
Harrison Ramsey
Shivani Rana
Molly Ratliff
Samuel Ratliff
Victorialyn Regan
Jordan Reichenbach
Benjamin Reiter
Dulce Reyes Martinez
Trevor Rigney
Sage Ringsmuth
Lucas Rizzolo
Kate Roberts
Margaret Roberts
Angelica Rodriguez
Margaret Roethler
Lily Rogowski
Brynn Rohde
Sydney Rotigel-Finegan
Maelle Rouquet
Nelly Rupande
Timothy Rutledge
Jacob Ryan

S

Shiva Sah
Loveleen Saini
Thomas Saxton
Nehe-Miah Scarborough
Margaret Schaefer
Ashley Schiffer
McKenna Schilling
Kimberly Schmidt
William Schneider
Lia Schroeder
Beth Schulman
Peter Schultz
Michael Schwartz
Darby Scott
Justin Seablom
Frank Seidl
Yung Seo Lee
Madalyn Seveska
Yasamin Shaker
Isabella Shansky-Genovese
Reagan Shapton
Lily Shearer
Andrew Sheckell
Austin Shepherd
Josie Shuster
Josephine Sibley
Koyan Sidibe
Simran Singh|
Caroline Skalla
Jordan Skidmore
Kai Skiver
Benjamin Smith
Emily Smith
Jack Smith
Michael Smith
Violaysia Smith
Adam Snider
Kyong So
Casey Spagnuolo
Sophia Spencer
Quintin Sproull
Simona Stalev
Catherine Stamper
Evan Stark-Dykema
Nicholas Stein
Abby Stewart
Grace Stier
Alexander Stockwell
Hayden Strobel
Savannah Sweeney
Collin Sweet
Nina Szalkiewicz

T

Jack Tagget
Fiorina Talaba
Hikari Tanaka
Leah Tardiff
Saudia Tate
Carolina Tavera
Thomas Teftsis
Emily Tenniswood
Omar Thaj
Emma Theiss
Audrey Thomas
Drake Thompson
Dustin Tibbetts
Paige Tobin
Maria Tolentino Guzman
Teague Tompkins
Emma Toomey
Anna Torsky
Jonathan Townley
Marie Townsend
Uyen Trinh
Ethan Tucker
Matt Turton
Annie Tyler

U

V

Clara Valenti
Madison Vallan
Brianne Vanderbilt
Megan Vandyke
Zachary VanFaussien
Taylor VanWinkle
Samantha Vasquez
Travis Veenhuis
Christopher Vennard
Samuel Verhey
Carter Vespi
Tejas Vettukattil
Vanessa Vigier
Lucille Voss
Thanh Vu

W

Carter Wade
Evelyn Wagner
Gabrielle Walton Schwartz
Claire Ward
Martin Ward
Leah Wathen
Eleri Watkins
Anne Waugh
Maija Weaver
Ailih Weeldreyer
Ehren White
Samantha White
Sarah Whitfield
Megan Williams
Clayton Wilms
Nick Wilson
Ryan Witczak
Hannah Wohlman
Hannah Wolfe
Ronan Wolfe
Emma Woodhams
Sophia Woodhams
Zachary Worthing
Andrew Wright

X

Y

Kimberly Yang
JayLashay Young
Stella Young
Ynika Yuag

Z

Kaylin Zajac
Zoe Zawacki
Christian Zeitvogel
Chi Zhang
Agron Ziberi

K Student’s Fellowship Targets Cyber Threats

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As global cyber threats target U.S. businesses and the government, organizations such as the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace respond, and so will Natalie Thompson ’19.

Natalie Thompson's Fellowship Addresses Cyber Threats
Natalie Thompson ’19 will help the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace respond to global cyber threats.

Thompson, a math and political science double major from West Olive, Michigan, is the first Kalamazoo College student to earn a James C. Gaither Junior Fellowship. Each year, Carnegie chooses about a dozen graduating seniors or recent grads from a pool of several hundred nominees to serve as junior fellows. The junior fellows work with Carnegie’s senior scholars for one year in Washington, D.C., to conduct research for books, co-author journal articles and policy papers, participate in meetings with high-level officials, contribute to congressional testimony and organize briefings attended by scholars, journalists and government officials.

An ‘Unparalleled Opportunity’

Beginning Aug. 1, Thompson will work in Carnegie’s Cyber Policy Initiative, run through its Technology and International Affairs Program, to promote technology while reducing or eliminating cyber threats that could harm the country’s financial stability, data and transaction integrity, and communication chains.

Students applying for the fellowship are first nominated by their institution and prepare statements of interest and issue-specific essays for their program of interest. Carnegie selects about three or four students to interview for each position and must demonstrate some knowledge of and passion for their focus topic. Plus, according to its website, Carnegie selects only the top 5 percent of its applicants each year for junior fellowships with students.

“I think it’s an unparalleled opportunity,” said Thompson, who added this is just the second year K has been a nominating institution for the fellowship. “Think tanks and nonprofits in Washington, D.C., like Carnegie often prefer employees with several years of work experience or a master’s degree in their field in research positions like these. I hope to take my undergraduate degree and the great writing and research skills I learned at K and transfer them into policy expertise. It’s difficult to describe how exciting it is for me and I hope it’s exciting for the College.”

Before they graduate from K, students including Thompson complete a senior individualized project (SIP), serving as a capstone to their educations in the liberal arts and sciences. Anne Dueweke, K’s director of grants, fellowships and research, who serves as the College’s nominating official for the fellowship, said Thompson’s SIP, about media technologies and their impact on public deliberation, probably factored into Carnegie’s decision to select her.

“I think her SIP certainly had something to do with it along with other experiences in which she has been able to develop her research skills,” Dueweke said. “But Natalie really stands out in her intellectual curiosity. She is incredibly well read and engaged in the topic of cybersecurity, and on many related topics as well. She is also a very sophisticated thinker and writer. The Gaither Fellowship is a perfect fit for her.”

Global Cyber Threats on the Rise

As an example of the cyber threats she might address as a fellow, Thompson described “deepfakes.” Deepfakes are an artificial intelligence-based technology that produce or alter video or audio to convincingly present something that didn’t occur. Video and audio manipulation techniques are not new, but technological advances have made the manipulations more convincing. Usually this means criminals or hackers fool the public into believing a famous influencer, business executive or politician said something they never did. She could explore what such a tactic means for government intelligence connections, diplomatic relations and state-to-state hacking.

State-to-state hacking concerns also have escalated in recent weeks because of China’s government and how it allegedly spies on U.S. businesses. National Security Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation and Homeland Security Department officials brought to light some of those issues this month at a cybersecurity conference, as reported through the Washington Post.

As a result, “what policies will we need to consider?” Thompson asked. “Could there be diplomatic, legal or military responses? Right now, we don’t have clear policy standards or regulations for what to do in these situations.”

Thompson said she’s comfortable in Washington, D.C., as she was among K’s first students to study away there through an internship with Whitmer & Worrall, a bipartisan government relations and strategic consulting firm. However, several K faculty and staff members were instrumental in encouraging her to seek the fellowship. Those influencers included Dueweke, Luce Professor of Complex Systems Studies Peter Erdi, and Kalamazoo College’s Political Science Department.

“Dr. [Jennifer] Einsphar especially has been a tireless mentor for me during my time at K,” said Thompson of the associate professor of political science. “We’ve had so many conversations. She’s an incredible scholar and I’ve loved her courses. Dr. Erdi has also been a tireless advocate for me. He encouraged me to combine hard science and social science, and helped me think from an interdisciplinary perspective.”

Learn more about the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the James C. Gaither Junior Fellowship through the organization’s website.

Outdoor Leadership Conference Provides Adventure

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Outdoor Leadership Conference Attendees Ready for an adventure
Eighteen Kalamazoo College students traveled to the eighth annual Midwest Outdoor Leadership Conference at Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana, where they affirmed K’s standing among its peers as a leader in environmental education.

Adventures are common for Kalamazoo College student organizations, and one February adventure was notable for stirring Outing Club’s devotions to pursuing outdoor activities and professions. The student group of 18 traveled to the eighth annual Midwest Outdoor Leadership Conference at Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana, where they affirmed K’s standing among its peers as a leader in environmental education and met peers with similar passions from around the region.

The conference, conducted annually at a different higher-education institution each year, provides undergraduates interested in outdoor-recreation careers a chance to learn from each other while networking, developing their leadership skills and building new technical skills.

“To most of the colleges attending this conference, a small college has about 5,000 students,” said Outdoor Programs Director Jory Horner, noting K’s student body of just over 1,400. “Attending this program differentiates us as a liberal arts school because the students are keeping their interest in it alive by dedicating their time. Other colleges are blown away that this is something our staff can handle with just the ingenuity and resourcefulness of our students, who receive no academic credit for it.”

All attendees are encouraged to serve as presenters during the outdoor leadership conference, including Riley Gabriel ’21 and Matt Giguere ’21, who presented on linking the principles of Leave No Trace, dedicated to leaving wild places the way others would like to find them, to everyday life. Kit Charlton ’21 also was among K’s representatives, and all of them noted how K stands out among schools attending the conference as a leader in environmental education.

“We have an emphasis on sustainability, plus comprehensive composting and a hoop house,” said Gabriel, an English major with a concentration in environmental studies from Grosse Pointe, Michigan, mentioning just a few of K’s environmental projects. “A lot of the programs we have undertaken aren’t available at other schools.”

Workshops over the conference’s two days included lessons in best practices for hiking, diversity and inclusion in outdoor education, and methods for adaptive recreation activities such as rock climbing. The event fits well with the Outing Club’s mission of providing K students with environmental awareness while teaching how to lead outdoor activities and wilderness trips.

“We’ve been very fortunate to have a committed group over the years,” said Charlton, an English and critical ethnic studies major from Berkley, Michigan, referencing K’s participation in seven of the conference’s first eight years.

The Outing Club allows K students to continue where many leave off with LandSea, the College’s outdoor orientation program offered to incoming students through Outdoor Programs. LandSea, conducted in Adirondack State Park in New York State, helps students meet their peers, gain self-confidence, earn a partial physical education credit and develop classroom skills, even before moving to campus. Outdoor Programs also offers wilderness trips over student breaks, outdoor-themed physical education classes, equipment rental and opportunities to learn wilderness first aid.

Horner “reminds us often of the differences between Outdoor Programs and Outing Club,” said Giguere, a biology major from Portage, Michigan, who attended the conference for the second consecutive year. Outing Club “encourages other students by example to get outdoors, and the support we’ve had from LandSea and Student Development has been exciting.”

Outing Club, Outdoor Programs and the Center for Environmental Stewardship will work together to extend the College’s reputation for environmental education next February as they host the Midwest Outdoor Leadership Conference Feb. 7-9 at K. Although organizers have just started making plans, they say they will incorporate K’s dedication to diversity, inclusion and social justice into their conversations.

“We’re excited to draw on the resources we have at K to bring social justice ideas into the conference and view it through that lens,” Charlton said.

K Nets Two Place-Winners in Japanese Language Speech Contest

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Japanese Language Speech Contest Participants
Four finalists representing Kalamazoo College and a supportive contingent traveled to the Novi Civic Center in February for the 23rd Japanese Language Speech Contest organized by Detroit’s Consulate General of Japan. The group included (back row, from left) Brian Drenth, Craig Esler, Natalie Quist, Uyen Trinh, Michael Smith, Hannah Pszenica, Professor Tyler Walker and Demi Grivas; (second row, from left) Ploen Villvalin, Caryn Drenth, Professor Noriko Sugimori and Pam Esler; and (front row from left) Elayna Moreau, Lydia Drenth, Amanda Esler, YoungHoon (Richard) Kim and Molly Brueger.

Out of dozens of college and university students who applied this year, four Kalamazoo College students were invited to participate in the 23rd Michigan Japanese Language Speech Contest, a record for any college or university in the competition’s recent history, with two finishing among the top three competitors.

The contest, organized by Detroit’s Consulate General of Japan, offered 10 students from Michigan colleges and universities the opportunity to showcase their language abilities in the finals through self-made speeches delivered entirely in Japanese at the Novi Civic Center. K’s representatives have all been students in Associate Professor Noriko Sugimori’s third-year Japanese language class.

Sugimori noted a snow day prevented Amanda Esler ’19, YoungHoon (Richard) Kim ’19, Molly Brueger ’19 and Elayna Moreau ’21 from having their final dry run for the event. However, “the students worked hard and other students of Japanese also supported them in various ways,” Sugimori said, crediting her second-year Japanese language class, which developed questions about the speeches for the competitors to answer. Some even went to Novi to support their peers. “I am proud of everyone,” Sugimori said.

No K student had ever finished higher than third in the Japanese Language Speech Contest, until Esler finished second with her speech titled “The Importance of Friends.” The speech described how she turned a difficult study abroad experience into something special through the help and encouragement of her friends.

Japanese Language Speech Contest Participants 2
Amanda Esler ’19 (second from left) and YoungHoon (Richard) Kim ’19 (second from right) gave Kalamazoo College two place-winners for the first time in the finals of the Michigan Japanese Language Speech Contest.

“Personally, I love public speaking,” Esler said. “The fact that through your words you can inspire or encourage someone is amazing. And in this contest, it wasn’t in English, but rather Japanese, a language that I have spent nine years of my life learning. It was such an honor and a privilege to be able to compete and share my thoughts and experiences in Japanese.”

Esler said her K experiences inspired her speech, including the support she received from Sugimori and a close friend, Naori Nishimura, who was a visiting international student from Japan.

Without them, “I wouldn’t have studied abroad in Kyoto and none of the events in my speech would have occurred. So, this is really thanks to K. … I hoped to show just how much that bond [with Nishimura] meant to me.”

Kim delivered a speech titled “Shape of Japan” and won third prize, giving K a second representative among the place-winners for the first time. He spoke about his study abroad experience in Japan and articulated his deep appreciation for the country. In his view, his appreciation for Japan can’t be fully expressed in words.

“It was an honor for me, as a student who studies Japanese,” to participate in the contest, Kim said. “It meant that I am able to perform a public speech, openly expressing my thoughts and remarks on a suggested topic, through using a language that I did not know before. … It was only possible because I had an amazing faculty member and brilliant students who spent time with me.”

Brueger, in her speech titled “Breaking Barriers,” talked about how soccer empowers participants to break language barriers and make new friends, leading to greater cross-cultural understanding.

“This was an opportunity for me to feel confident about my Japanese language skills and to compete in a fun environment with other students who share an equal love for Japanese language and culture,” Brueger said.

Moreau delivered a speech titled “The Power of Communication” about their experiences working at Osaka Suisen Fukushikai’s Work Center Hoshin, a day care center in Osaka, Japan, for adults who have intellectual disabilities. The speech focused on how staff and clients communicated and how their experience can help interactions between people in general.

“When I worked with them, I got to experience their efforts to communicate and understand each other firsthand,” Moreau said. “No matter what mistakes I made or how troublesome it was for them to try to talk to me, staff and clients alike always made the utmost effort to include me in their conversations, events and work. They were so patient with me even when they didn’t need to be, and I quickly grew to admire everyone at the Work Center. I wanted to express this admiration in my speech, to express how amazing everyone at the center was. In some way, I wanted this speech to be some small ‘thank you’ to them.”

Luce Fellowship Fuels K Student’s Health-Career Goals

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Luce Fellowship Recipient Anthony Diep Rosas
Anthony Diep Rosas ’19 is Kalamazoo College’s first Luce Fellowship recipient.
Photo courtesy of Amanda Bensel.

Anthony Diep Rosas ’19 has accomplished an impressive first for a Kalamazoo College student, earning a prestigious Luce Fellowship that will enable him to live and work in Asia, furthering personal and professional aspirations to improve public health.

Launched by the Henry Luce Foundation, the nationally competitive Luce Scholars Program offers funds, language education and individualized professional placement in Asia for 15 to 18 scholars each year. The program is designed to enhance the understanding of Asia among potential leaders in American society.

This year, Diep Rosas was one of 18 students chosen from 162 applicants. The program attracts applications from college seniors, graduate students and young professionals in many fields who have had limited exposure to Asia. Diep Rosas will hear official word of where he will go as a Luce Scholar in the next couple of months and then spend a year abroad after an eight-day orientation in New York City, which is scheduled after graduation in June.

“For me, there’s beauty in not knowing what to expect,” Diep Rosas said of the uncertainty regarding his destination. “Coming from Los Angeles, especially Compton, to a place like Kalamazoo—it was such a huge shift. K taught me how to be uncomfortable and learn what it means to connect with a different environment. As a result, I appreciate and value difference as a way to catalyze change.”

The change Diep Rosas seeks involves better health outcomes for underserved communities in the U.S., especially communities of color. During his time abroad, he plans to explore how his assigned community in Asia engages its people in developing policies that serve their local needs, an experience he expects will strengthen his efforts at home. After his Luce year, he plans to study medicine and public policy in graduate school. There he hopes to holistically address health disparities by working with patients and community members to tackle the underlying systemic issues that contribute to patient health through equitable policy change.

As a Luce scholar, “I will be able to learn what it means to listen to folks in the community,” said Diep Rosas, a biology major with a concentration in community and global health. “This will teach me to know what it means to build connections. That’s special about Luce. It will do an amazing job helping me learn what it means to champion vulnerability and listen.”

Diep Rosas first came to K as a Posse Scholar, one of 10 students to attend that year from Los Angeles through the Posse Foundation, which provides scholarships and support to outstanding student leaders from diverse backgrounds. Upon learning about Kalamazoo College as a Posse nominee, Diep Rosas was enamored with its name and intrigued by its small-school environment that nurtures community and offers study abroad opportunities.

In his time at K, Diep Rosas has amassed an impressive resume. Among his accomplishments, he works as an administrative assistant with Director of Faculty Grants and Institutional Research Anne Dueweke, Assistant Professor of Sociology Francisco Villegas and Director of Intercultural Student Life Natalia Carvalho-Pinto on beginning qualitative research regarding the racial climate on campus. He received the U.S. Gilman Scholarship to study abroad in Costa Rica. In the Kalamazoo community, he worked with Cradle Kalamazoo and Eliminating Racism and Creating/Celebrating Equity (ERACCE) to reduce Black infant mortality and promote respect for families, women and their children. Diep Rosas was one of the first research fellows at the Arcus Center for Social Justice and he co-founded the Minority Association for Pre-Health Students for students of color with pre-health majors. He served English Professor Bruce Mills as a teaching assistant and Residential Life as a resident assistant. He was also awarded the Jon L. Stryker Future Leaders scholarship, and was recently recognized at the annual Senior Leadership Recognition Awards.

Diep Rosas credits people and resources including Dueweke, his recommenders and mentors, the Intercultural Center, the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership, and the Center for International Programs for their work in helping him receive these opportunities, the Luce Fellowship in particular. These opportunities have “inspired me to have a vision for K after I graduate,” Diep Rosas said. “I think about my own story and where I would be had I not gone to K, because K has provided me with the support and resources I’ve needed. I would love to support others, and I would encourage them to reach out to me and [Dueweke] about the Luce Fellowship program especially, because I think it speaks loudly to how K nurtures a student’s education.”