K Awarded Top Civic Engagement Honor

Kalamazoo College is Michigan’s 2016 Engaged Campus of the Year! Michigan Campus Compact (MiCC) recently announced K’s selection for the honor by a team of national reviewers at MiCC’s Awards Gala, held at Michigan State University’s Kellogg Center in East Lansing.

K students, faculty, staff and community partners represent the College — K students, faculty, administrators and community partners represented the College at the 2016 Michigan Campus Compact awards ceremony in Lansing.

The Engaged Campus of the Year Award recognizes an institution of higher education for exemplary commitment to the education of students for civic and social responsibility; genuine and sustained investment in community relationships; and a commitment to service learning and civic engagement opportunities for students across all disciplines.

In particular, the award is a tribute to the work of the College’s Center for Civic Engagement. Through service-learning courses and student-led programs, the CCE has engaged more than 5,500 K students in long-term, reciprocal partnerships to foster academic learning, critical problem-solving, and a lifetime of civic engagement while strengthening the community. “The students have worked with thousands of community residents, some 50 different organizations, and in more than 30 different community-based courses,” says CCE director Alison Geist.

Mallory McClure Innovations in Community Impact — K senior Mallory McClure ’16 accepted the Innovations in Community Impact award for K’s Swim for Success program.

Kalamazoo College also earned an MiCC Innovations in Community Impact award for its program Swim for Success (SFS). The Innovations Award recognizes creative and measurably effective approaches to community problem solving. SFS is a swimming program for local children that takes place on K’s campus three evenings a week. It is a partnership between K and the City of Kalamazoo led by Civic Engagement Scholars Kevin Ewing and Mallory McClure. More than 20 K students are involved as tutors or swim coaches in the program. Kevin and Mallory are both members of the college swim team and are also coaches in the SFS program. K students also provide tutoring onsite one hour before swimming lessons begin.

In addition, Susmitha Daggubati ’16 received MiCC’s 2016 Commitment to Service Award for students. The Commitment to Service Award recognizes outstanding students for their commitment to service. Students are chosen specifically for either the breadth or depth of their community involvement or their service experience(s) and the demonstration of meaningful reflection of those experiences.

Susmitha Daggubati Commitment To Service — K senior Susmitha Daggubati ’16 received the MCC’s 2016 “Commitment to Service” award.

Michigan Campus Compact is a coalition of college and university presidents who are committed to fulfilling the public purpose of higher education. The organization promotes the education and commitment of Michigan college students to be engaged citizens.