Stevie Simmons ’12 graduated from Kalamazoo College in June with a Bachelor’s degree in history. Now a Battle Creek, Mich., resident, Stevie is pursing a Bachelor’s degree in human service administration from Sienna Heights University, while working for AmeriCorps VISTA at Kellogg Community College, a national service program that aims to fight poverty. He’s also half of a “dynamic duo” helping to organize the upcoming Greater Battle Creek/Calhoun County Project Connect Homeless Health Fair.
Julia Anderle de Sylor ’09 has posted a letter to Fulbright applicants that offers encouragement, advice, and an assessment of the value of the rigorous application process, regardless of whether one is ultimately accepted. Julia received a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant fellowship in Germany after she graduated from K, and she writes how it changed her life. At K she majored in German and studied abroad in Clermont-Ferrand, France.
Virginia “Jinny” (Taylor) Hilf ’44 was the first editor of The Index, the student newspaper of Kalamazoo College. Today, at age 90, Jinny is making news for her lifetime of accomplishments in northwest Indiana and elsewhere.
“Politics and Public Service: K-Plans and Career Paths” was the theme of the Week Six (Oct. 19) Community Reflection in Stetson Chapel. Co-sponsored by the Center for Career and Professional Development and Alumni Relations, the reflection hosted a panel of Kalamazoo College alumni working in the areas of politics or public service.
College Republicans Co-Leader Aubry McIntyre ’15 and College Democrats President Alex Werder ’15 began the Reflection with a mock political debate. They sparred over the issues central to this year’s presidential election, modeling “civilized political discourse” for the audience of students and alumni present for Homecoming weekend.
Arnold Campbell ’72 spoke about his meandering path from study abroad at K to the United States Foreign Service, where he currently serves as Officer and Chargé d’Affaires for the U.S. Embassy in Malta. After studying abroad in Germany, he said he found his calling. “I no longer wanted to be a tourist in the world; I wanted to be participating in those other cultures, and that was because of what I’d experienced here.” His wife, Martha Campbell ’72, also held office in the Foreign Service after K, most recently as U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Marshall Islands. She said her K education prepared her for a rigorous, demanding, and exciting job.
Lastly, Amanda Stitt ’02 read from an essay chronicling her journey in Michigan politics rooted in a few influential K classes. She founded K’s chapter of the College Democrats and opted to leave school during her junior fall to help with the 2000 election. Stitt served as former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s political director, ran a statewide nonprofit, and now works with the UAW. She said her K-Plan helped her develop the communication, networking, and leadership skills she would later need in the political world.
Community Reflection offers a unique forum for discussion, worship, performance, and community expression each Friday at 10:50 AM in Stetson Chapel. The campus community and general public are invited. [Story and photo by Elaine Ezekiel ’13]
Steven Yeun ’05 is an actor who plays Glenn Rhee, a pizza delivery guy turned survivalist in “The Walking Dead,” the wildly popular apocalyptic zombie drama on AMC. In a recent New York Times interview, Steve gives a shoutout to Kalamazoo College professor Andy Mozina and his book “The Women Were Leaving the Men.”
Claire Riggs ’11 received a pre-doctoral fellowship from the National Science Foundation, a prestigious award that allows her to continue research on killifish embryos as she works on her doctorate at Portland State University. Her research was the subject of an article (“Life in the Extreme”) by Maya Seaman that appeared in the publication, Vanguard. Killifish embryos can survive pretty tough conditions–in extreme heat, without water, and, believe it or not, without oxygen. Riggs studies the role of the fish embryos’ microDNA in their ability to go dormant and survive in anoxic environments. For killifish embryos, such dormancy is characterized by a reduction of metabolism, inhibition of cell development, and stoppage of the heart beat … up to 90 days … without harm! Clues to how this process works, should it ever prove applicable to humans, could eventually have important potential for cancer therapy and treatment of heart attack and stroke.
Dan Blustein, Joel Haas, and Tess Killpack have a great deal in common. They’re classmates (2006); they’re working on their doctorates; and they’re finalists in a video contest! “Dan entered us in an NSF fellows video contest (of course he did…),” wrote Tess to Professor of Biology Paul Sotherland, “and we made it to the finals.” The contest celebrates the 60th anniversary of the National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research Fellowship Program. Dan, Joel, and Tess share that too; each is an NSF GRF. The title of their video is “Sharing Our NSF GRF Skills With the World.” “We took a little different approach from most of the other entries and did a collaborative entry filming on our own and working over the Internet,” said Dan. “Judges pick winners, and there is one People’s Choice award determined by online votes.” There’s great variety in their research work and geographic dispersion—robot lobsters, cellular energy balance, and avian immune system development, in Boston, San Francisco, and Madison (Wis.) for Dan, Joel, and Tess, respectively. In true K fashion, they do much more than their research. Each works on issues important to science and society, including effective teaching, diversity in the sciences, and scientific policy. Congratulations, Dan, Joel, and Tess. And good luck in the finals.
Bruce Timmons ’64 was so intrigued by his Kalamazoo College professor’s explanation of a local annexation dispute between two municipalities, that when he spotted an opening for a legislative internship with the Michigan House Judiciary Committee a few years later, he applied and was one of eight hired. He’s still there more than four decades later, and seems content to help the committee guide the course of Michigan law for years to come.
Genevieve Leet ’11 is the winner of the poetry category in the 3rd Annual Terrain.org Contests in Poetry, Fiction, and Nonfiction. Her poem set was titled “[when I died they found a nest of snakes in my intestines, their backs]” and “Somewhere beyond the curve of the earth, there is a ceremonial bamboo boat.”
The poet Suzanne Frischkorn served as the contest judge and wrote about the poems’ “terrible beauty;” their complex layers of sound, language, and meaning; and the slow and sequential opening of the poems so deeply rewarding to the reader.
Leet wrote to her friends and mentors at K, “I am so proud and excited! Thank you to all of you who have supported my poetry journey with your kind words, by coming to readings, and by giving critiques.” The poems will be published in January at Terrain.org.
Russell Cooper ’89 is a self-described “photographer, musician, computer nerd, roller coaster expert, [and] proud and tired father of two.” Now add to this impressive resume: 2012 ArtPrize entrant! Cooper’s entry is a photography exhibit titled “Sibling Point of View.” It explores how a five-month-old brother and three-and-a-half-year-old sister view each other.
