Britta Seifert ’12 knows she can do this, because she already has.
Britta Seifert ’12 is headed to the Central Asian country of Kyrgyzstan for a 27-month assignment with the Peace Corps. She has no idea where she’ll be living or what she’ll be doing, but she couldn’t be happier.
“There’s something intriguing about going to a part of the world people here know absolutely nothing about,” she recently told a Battle Creek Enquirer reporter.
Britta, from Marshall, Michigan, said her best preparation for this trip was her Kalamazoo College study abroad experience in India.
“It will be a great help knowing that if I’m completely overwhelmed, I can push through to the point where I can enjoy it. I know I can do this.”
Read more about Britta and her next big adventure in this Battle Creek Enquirer article.
What would you do to remind yourself and others just how much you loved and appreciated your college experience—assuming you only have about $100 to spend?
You’ll have to go a ways to top Jillian McLaughlin ’10 who recently treated herself to a tattoo just below her left ribcage of “Lux Esto,” K’s Latin motto that means “Be Light.”
“In the past few years, I have really come to appreciate the unique undergraduate experience I had at K and the friendships forged,” said Jillian, a Grosse Pointe (Mich.) native now working for an anti-poverty think-tank in Boston.
“I suppose I could have bought a T-shirt or a mug but a tattoo of ‘Lux Esto’ seemed more epic. So that’s what I did.”
Jillian’s K experience was a full one. She ran on the Hornet cross country team, wrote for The Index student newspaper, worked as a student sustainability coordinator in the College’s Facilities Management Division, and conducted research into political ideology with K Professor of Psychology Gary Gregg. She also served as an intern in U.S. Senator Carl Levin’s office in Washington, D.C.
During her senior year, the political science major earned a departmental award to travel to Spain and conduct interviews on international human rights law for her Senior Individualized Project, or SIP.
“It sounds corny, but no matter where I am, I feel like I’m at home when I’m around other K grads,” Jillian said. “As I get ready to attend graduate school [in pursuit of an MBA on nonprofit management and impact investing], I wanted a reminder of that experience.”
She said the tattoo idea was the brainchild of her K classmate and friend Anne Renaud ’10.
“She joked about getting ‘Lux Esto’ tattoos before we graduated. It didn’t happen but the seeds of my decision were planted.”
Thanks for honoring your alma mater, Jillian. You’ll be glad to know that your tattoo complies with the College’s new branding guidelines for typefaces!
Eugene Bissell ’76 didn’t know much about propane when he started in the industry in the 1980s. And yet, the Kalamazoo College and Wharton School of Business graduate listened and learned along the way, ultimately becoming president and CEO of AmeriGas, the country’s largest propane retailer, and one of the industry’s most influential people. Read about Eugene’s long and winding road to the top of his profession (including a stint as a truck driver) while maintaining a commitment to elder care, community service, and to K.
Even though the Oscar-nominated documentary “How to Survive a Plague” (by David France ’81) did not win the Oscar, it continues to garner a great deal of attention. ABC Studios has bought rights to France’s film with the idea of potentially making it into a dramatic miniseries.
France, who co-wrote and directed the documentary, would prepare the adaptation, which could go broader and deeper into the subject of his documentary, he said in an article in the Hollywood Reporter. France also was recently interviewed about his work on National Public Radio’s Here and Now. His film has been widely honored, receiving awards for the best documentary film of 2012 from the Gothic Independent Film Awards and the Boston Society of Film Critics.
The documentary frames the early years of the AIDS epidemic in the United States and the efforts of activists to call attention to the disease and mobilize appropriate treatment and prevention responses by the government and health care establishment. These efforts were mounted in the face of withering and hostile anti-gay sentiment and general public indifference. France collected footage and documented stories of activists and veterans from the revolutionary era.
If you missed the film or the articles on France’s work, you’ll have a chance to see it and speak with him. France will visit K’s campus for a public screening and director talk-back on May 5. A 7pm screening in the College’s Dalton Theatre is free and open to the public.
Jaime Franks ′10 is featured in the Jan-Feb 2013 magazine of the National Association of Social Workers — Michigan Chapter. Jaime is pursuing an advanced degree in social work at Wayne State University. After graduation, she intends to help children and adolescents in a hospital setting.
While at Kalamazoo College, Jaime played on the women’s soccer team, and served as the Athletic Leadership Council’s treasurer. She majored in psychology and worked as a teaching assistant in the department. Her SIP was on body image and eating disorders.
An image from an ACT UP (Aids Coalition to Unleash Power) protest, featured in “How to Survive a Plague.” (Donna Binder)
David France ’81 was interviewed on the National Public Radio program “Here and Now” on Friday March 8 talking about “How to Survive a Plague,” his Oscar-nominated documentary about the early days of the AIDS crisis and the response to that crisis by activists, health officials, politicians, and the public.
David will host a showing of his film on Sunday, May 5, at Kalamazoo College. More details will follow soon.
Meanwhile, click here to listen to David’s NPR interview.
Sarah Allexan ’11 is the lead author of a research paper published in the Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics that looks into the cause of blindness in Mary Ingalls, older sister of Laura Ingalls Wilder, author of the popular “Little House” book series.
Ingalls Wilder wrote that Scarlet Fever caused her sister to lose her eyesight. Allexan and her research team determined otherwise. Their findings have attracted a lot of news media attention, including an article in USA Today and an article in the New York Times. Sarah also participated in an interview with WMUK radio (102.1 FM), the NPR affiliate at Western Michigan University.
Originally from Englewood, Colo., while at K, Sarah majored in biology, studied abroad in Ecuador, ran on the Hornet cross country team, and sang in the Limelights student a cappella group. She also served as a bi-lingual tutor for first-graders at a Kalamazoo Public School, and completed both an internship at the Seattle Aquarium and an externship at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital.
Shortly after her K commencement, she took a job as a research assistant at University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. While there, she became involved in the Ingalls research project.
“It was fun tracing Laura’s journey and playing medical detective,” Sarah said. “This was my first real exposure to lineal reasoning and prepared me well for medical school.”
Sarah is now enrolled at University of Colorado School of Medicine. “But I bleed ‘Orange and Black!’” she said.
“Why We Play” 2013 speakers, left-to-right (top), Erran Briggs ’14, Allison Liddane ’13, Alex Gothard ’15, Johanna Kupe ’13, Allison Thomas ’13, Brad Merrit ’13, (bottom) Jeanne Hess, Rebecca Gray ’81.
“Why We Play” was the topic of the Winter Quarter Week Six (Feb. 15) Community Reflection in Stetson Chapel. Co-sponsored by the Kalamazoo College Department of Athletics, the annual Reflection offers a space for K student and alumni athletes to share in the collective stories and songs that capture the spirit of sport, recreation, and joy from their Division-III intercollegiate athletic experiences.
Professor of Physical Education and Head Coach of Volleyball Jeanne Hess opened the reflection before an audience of about 200 people. She read an excerpt from her book, “Sportuality: Finding Joy in the Games,” in which she explains why she thinks student athletes choose play sports. “The spiritual life is a purposeful life, and the ‘sportual’ life is a purposeful and playful life,” she said.
Student athletes Johanna Kupe ’13, Alex Gothard ’15 and Allison Thomas ’13 performed “Solider,” a song by Gavin DeGraw. Kupe said she selected the song after a teammate left the encouraging lyrics on a note in her locker before a volleyball game.
President of the Athletic Leadership Council and two-sport athlete Allison Liddane ’13 spoke about the approaching end of her collegiate athletic experience. “My list of ‘why I play’ could be never ending,” she said. Golfer Brad Merrit ’13 read an essay about the recent death of K’s Head Men’s Golf Coach Steve Tyler. Merrit, who won the MIAA Sportsmanship Award, said Tyler was his reason for playing. “We wanted to make him proud,” he said.
Football player Erran Briggs’14 spoke about his unique love for the game and Division-III level. “When you allow yourself purely to play because you love it, not because you need it, you experience the game on a new level,” he said.
Rebecca Gray ’81 was the featured alumna speaker. A former basketball and field hockey player, Gray is K’s sole Rhodes Scholar. Speaking fondly of her time as a student athlete, shortly after the passage of Title IX that opened more intercollegiate athletic opportunities to women, Gray said sports continue to enhance her life. “For decades now, playing sports, for me, has been a completely reliable and utterly uncomplicated pleasure,” she said. She added that she looks forward to the day when she is no longer referred to as K’s only Rhodes Scholar, but simply as its first.
Community Reflections offer a unique forum for discussion, worship, performance, and community expression each Friday at 10:50 a.m. (refreshments at 10:30) in Stetson Chapel. The entire campus community and general public are invited. On Friday of Week Seven Feb. 22), the Chapel will host “40 Days of Lent: Preparing for Easter.” This reflection will focus on the traditions, history, and ways in which Christians today celebrate Easter and Lent.
Patricia Webb ’78 is part of an international effort that may have found the final resting place of famed aviator Amelia Earhart, who disappeared near the end of a historic around-the-world flying trip in 1937. Listen to Patricia talk about her experience in a recent interview with WMUK (102.1 FM) radio, the NPR station at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo.
Willina Cain ’15 sings “Wake Up Everybody” while Corrine Taborn ’13 accompanies.
“What’s Love got to do with it? Anti-Racist Activism in the Creation of Beloved Communities” was the topic of the Winter Quarter Week Four (Feb. 1) Community Reflection in Stetson Chapel, co-sponsored by the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership (ACSJL) and the Black Student Organization (BSO). The Reflection centered around love as an underlying motivator for social change and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s philosophy of “the beloved community” as an end result of non-violent social change. Members of BSO shared their own spoken word pieces, poems, stories, and facts on the subject of leaders from the African-American movement against racism.
Rob Relief III ’13, president of the Young Men of Color student organization, discussed the 87-year history and original aims of Black History Month. Willina Cain ’15 sang the R&B song “Wake Up Everybody” while Corinne Taborn ’13 accompanied her on piano and sang backup vocals. Rian Brown ’16 spoke about how her identity relates to Black History Month. “My ancestors fought for me to gain the privilege to stand before you today,” she said. “But has their work been completed? I know the answer to that question is ‘No.’” She encouraged audience members to shed their complacency and continue the fight for justice and equality.
Jeffery Washington ’15 read a poem he wrote with the refrain “I Black.” “My light friend says I can’t-be-seen-in-the-night-time black/ I’m too black to find that funny,” he read. “I guess I got a dark sense of humor.” Marquise Griffin ’15 read a reflection on his recent trip to Washington D.C. to attend the National Youth Leadership Forum, and his meditations on Christ’s love, which he discussed at the forum. “Dr. King stressed love when combating hate and racism, violence and discrimination,” he said. Bryce Pearson ’16 read a poem called “The Overlooked King,” reflecting on racism. “They didn’t know who I was/ They don’t know who I am/ And they really have no clue of who I will be,” he read. Brittany King-Pleas ’13 closed the Reflection by saying she hoped the audience left with more questions than answers.
Community Reflections offer a unique forum for discussion, worship, performance, and community expression each Friday at 10:50 a.m. in Stetson Chapel. Refreshments at 10:30. The entire campus community and general public are invited.
The Week Six (Friday Feb. 15) Community Reflection is entitled “Why We Play” and features K student athletes discussion why they love to play Division III athletics. This is an annual event always full of heartfelt passion and humor. Special guest speaker is Rebecca Gray ’81. Currently a research scholar at Duke University, Becky majored in mathematics and played basketball for the Hornets. She is also Kalamazoo College’s only Rhodes Scholar.
