awards

Finland-Bound Football Force Features K’s Okey

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Cover of 2012 Chicago Force calendarCall it “Study Abroad, The Sequel.” Liz Okey ’07 is returning to Europe, this time to Vantaa, Finland, as a member of “Team USA.” She won’t be playing volleyball, her sport of choice at K. Instead, she’ll be playing on Team USA’s offensive line in the International Federation of American Football (IFAF) Women’s World Championship tournament. Okey plays on the offensive line for the Chicago Force, the Windy City’s women’s tackle football team. She and eight of her Force teammates were selected to play for Team USA, led by Force head coach John Konecki.

The first tournament for women’s American-style football was held in 2010 in Stockholm, Sweden. Team USA returned with first-place honors, a championship Okey and teammates seek to defend. The tournament is held every three years.

Okey graduated from Kalamazoo College with a degree in Human Development and Social Relations. She studied abroad in Germany and was captain of the Hornet volleyball team. Shortly after graduation she moved to Chicago and joined the Force. She was one of 45 women to make the cut for Team USA. Training camp takes place in Chicago from June 23 through June 27.

Six countries will be participating in the 2013 tournament: Canada, the United States, Germany, Spain, Sweden, and Finland. The tournament takes place from June 28 through July 6. Team USA plays Sweden on June 30 and Germany on July 4. Gold and Bronze medal games are scheduled for July 6.

If you need to fire up for this tournament, give a listen to the official song of the 2013 Women′s World Championship:”Straight Up Crazy Amazon“. Written and produced by the Finnish band “Embassy of Silence,”  think of the song as a K “Rikkety-Rak” with a heavy shot of metal and rock.

Faculty Honors in Art and Science

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Peter Erdi, Physics and Complex Systems Studies, has been selected to deliver the “Ignite” talk at the Science of Success symposium (June 17, 2013) at Harvard University (Cambridge, Mass.). The title of his address is “Prediction of Emerging Technologies.”

In other recognition of faculty work, the artwork “Kohler Pile”–a collaborative piece that Associate Professor of Art Sarah Lindley and her husband Norwood Viviano created during their Arts-Industry Residency at John Michael Kohler Arts Center (Sheboygan, Wis.)–was accepted for publication in New Glass Review 2013. Their project was one of 100 selected from a pool of 2,973 submissions by 1010 artists/designers from 48 countries. New Glass Review is an annual survey of glass in contemporary art, architecture, craft, and design created in the previous year by emerging and established artists, as well as students. The works are chosen by a changing jury of curators, artists, designers, art dealers, and critics. The book/journal will come out in July.

K Business Students Claim Project Management Prize

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Christian Giancarlo, Forrest Todd, Jack Massion, Marjorie Toshach, Harold Kaefer and DeLin Shen
K′s PMI team (l-r): Christian Giancarlo ’13, Forrest Todd ’13, Jack Massion ’14, Marjorie Toshach ’13, Harold Kaefer, DeLin Shen. Photo: Chuck Stull.

Four Kalamazoo College students won a fourth-place team prize—and a $1,000 check—in an intercollegiate project management competition in Grand Rapids hosted by the Project Management Institute (PMI) West Michigan Chapter.

Christian Giancarlo ’13, Forrest Todd ’13, Jack Massion ’14, and Marjorie Toshach ’13 worked as a team to improve the fictional business MichiganToStay, Inc.

“Basically we had to revamp the attraction and retention programs for employees,” said Todd.

In addition to meeting with each other and formulating a plan, the K students received help from mentors DeLin Shen and Harold Kaefer of Kalamazoo-based Stryker Corp. The team faced different deadlines and tasks throughout the competition and presented its entire process to a panel of judges.

K Senior Instructor of Economics Chuck Stull organized the team.

“I am proud of how well all of the K competitors did and excited to see their hard work recognized,” Stull said. “This project took an impressive amount of work and I’m very appreciative of all the time contributed by the local business mentors. The students learned so much working closely with business professionals from Stryker, Kellogg, Pfizer, Deloitte, Jacobs Engineering, and Chaucer Consulting.”

Stull also thanked K alumnus Joel Mergen ’86 for bring the project to his attention.

“What drew me to [the project] was the experience of working with the mentors,” Toshach said. “I spent more time on it than some of my classes.”

The project happened independently of class, so team members spent their free time working on it. Toshach said the experience of working on a project allowed her insight into a process that would have been difficult to learn in the classroom.

“The material itself is dry, so you need a scenario to add to it right away,” she said. “I think that made a huge difference with the learning experience.”

Todd agreed. “It was cool because you got to learn how it’s applicable, what this stuff actually means in the business world and how we can actually help the customer, even though it was fictitious,” he said.

K Students Part of Monroe-Brown Foundation Internship Program

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Four Kalamazoo College students will be participating in the Monroe-Brown Foundation’s internship program during the summer of 2013. The group is one of the largest K cohorts ever for this competitive program.

The paid internships are augmented with $5,000 scholarships following successful completion. The Center for Career and Professional Development promotes this program alongside its own Field Experience Program and has been building K students’ participation in both.

This year’s Monroe-Brown internship class from K (and the companies where they will work) are: Cassie Thompson ’14, Abraxas; Mark Ghafari ’14, Eaton Corporation; Giancarlo Anemone ’15, LKF Marketing; and Emerson Talanda-Fisher ’15, Parker Hannifin. Interestingly, three of the four participate in intercollegiate athletics–Ghafari in basketball; Anemone and Talanda-Fisher in soccer.

Heyls Feted at K; Most Will Stay

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10 Heyl Scholars
Photo by Tony Dugal

At a May dinner, Kalamazoo College feted the 2013 Kalamazoo county high school graduates who earned Heyl Scholarships for Kalamazoo College (science and math) or Western Michigan University (nursing). The scholarship covers tuition, book costs, and room charges.

The winners are (l-r): first row—-Raoul Wadhwa, Sharifa Amini, Madison McBarnes; second row—-Graeme Timmeney, Marlena VandeStreek, Eric Thornburg; third row—-Andrew Kaylor, Colleen Orwin, Brice Calco; back row—-Christie Goodyke. Not pictured is Quinton Colwell. Attending K next fall will be Calco, Colwell, Kaylor, McBarnes, Orwin, Thornburg, Timmeney, and Wadhwa. Amini, Goodyke, and VandeStreek will attend the WMU Bronson School of Nursing.

K Math Competitors Return to Campus as Prime Primes

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Six math students pose with a trophy
The first- and fifth-place finishers at LMMC 2013!

Two Kalamazoo College math teams came out as “prime primes” at the annual Lower Michigan Mathematics Competition, held this year at Aquinas College. “Prime primes” as in first place and fifth place finishers among this year’s field of 20 participating teams.

The first place team included Tibin John ’15, Fayang Pan ’15, and Umang Varma ’14. K’s fifth place finishers were Matt Mills ’13, Philip Mulder ’15, and Sajan Silwal ’14.

It was Kalamazoo College’s third consecutive first-place finish in the LMMC, and that’s no mean feat according to Professor of Mathematics John Fink. “The teams sign in and are given their packet,” explained Fink. “At 9:30 each team is shown to its workroom, and for the next three hours, members work together to produce as many solutions as they can to the ten problems they are given. At 12:30 sharp they turn in their solutions. In the afternoon, teams make public presentations of their solutions.”

Winners take home what’s called the Klein Kup Trophy. LMMC was first held in 1979 at Kalamazoo College (the site rotates from year to year). K won the first year, and once again about a decade later, and then experienced a Klein Kup drought until its recent three-peat. For many years, participating schools were the liberal arts colleges in the Lower Peninsula, but then other schools got wind of the competition. UM-Flint, UM-Dearborn, Ferris State, and Lawrence Tech, among others, began sending teams. “For most of its history the Klein Kup has traveled back and forth between Hope and Calvin,” said Fink. “But with our recent results the Baptists seem to have finally broken the predestinarian grip that Hope and Calvin held for so many years!”

Pictured are the “prime primes” with this year’s Klein Kup (l-r): front row–Philip Mulder, Matt Mills, Tibin John; back row–Fayang Pan, Sajan Silwal, and Umang Varma.

Kalamazoo College Selects Winners of Its Inaugural Global Prize for Collaborative Social Justice Leadership

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Four social justice leadership keynote discussion panelists
The Global Prize weekend included a keynote panel discussion on social justice leadership with (l-r) Arcus Center Executive Director Jaime Grant and jurors Angela Y. Davis, Cary Alan Johnson, and shea howell.

Kalamazoo College has announced the winners of its inaugural Global Prize for Collaborative Social Justice Leadership, a juried competition that attracted 188 entries from across the United States and 22 other countries. Instead of awarding one Global Prize for $25,000, as had been planned, jurors awarded three Global Prizes for $10,000 each.
Jurors also awarded a $5,000 Regional Prize for a project originating in Southwest Michigan.
Sharing the top Global Prize (with links to their brief video entries) are:

  • Dalia Association: The Road toward Palestinian Self-Determination. Based in Ramallah, Palestine, Dalia Association is a Palestinian-led community foundation dedicated to civil society development, accountability and self determination through awarding local grants and eliminating reliance on international aid.
  • Language Partners. Based in Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, Language Partners is a prisoner-created and led bilingual educational program that develops language, leadership, and job skills post incarceration in collaboration with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
  • Building Power for Restaurant Workers. Based in New York City and with national impact, Building Power is a restaurant worker-driven wage justice project founded by workers displaced by the 2001 bombing of the World Trade Center in New York.

Winners were announced by Kalamazoo College President Eileen Wilson-Oyelaran on May 11 at the end of a three-day social justice leadership weekend where 18 Global and Regional finalists presented their project strategies and visions to jurors and an audience of campus and community members.

“You are all winners,” she said to the finalists, “because of what you do every day and by how you inspire us to believe that the just world we all seek is within our grasp.”

Longtime social justice activist and scholar Angela Y. Davis, who served as a juror, explained the jury’s decision to depart from the plan to award one $25,000 Global Prize. “We had no idea it would be so difficult to choose one winner” from among so many inspiring finalists. “We came down to three and asked if it would be possible to split the prize three ways for $10,000 each.”

Welcoming Michigan, a regional partnership that seeks to educate and organize across immigrant and U.S.-born communities throughout Michigan, earned the $5,000 Regional Prize. Based in Kalamazoo at the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center, Welcoming Michigan carries out its work across the state with an emphasis on Southwest and Southeast Michigan. Its message—“When Michigan welcomes immigrants, Michigan thrives”—can be spotted on billboards and in other media region-wide.

The biennial Global Prize competition honors innovative and collaborative leadership projects in the pursuit of social justice and human rights around the world and in Southwest Michigan. Leadership teams submitted 8- to 10-minute video entries by a March 8 deadline. Fifteen global and three regional finalists were selected. More information about the Kalamazoo College Global Prize competition and video entries of all finalists is available via www.kzoo.edu/socialjustice and K Facebook.

In addition to Davis, jurors included former Executive Director of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission Cary Alan Johnson and lifelong scholar/activist shea howell, whose work has focused on social justice education and grassroots empowerment in Detroit.

Several Kalamazoo College students, faculty, staff, and community partners also served as jurors.

The Global Prize competition was administered by the College’s Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership, launched in 2009 with support from the Arcus Foundation (www.arcusfoundation.org), including a $23 million endowment grant in January 2012. Supporting Kalamazoo College’s mission to prepare its graduates to better understand, live successfully within, and provide enlightened leadership to a richly diverse and increasingly complex world, the ACSJL will develop new leaders and sustain existing leaders in the field of human rights and social justice.

Kalamazoo College (www.kzoo.edu) was founded in 1833 in Kalamazoo, Michigan, located midway between Detroit and Chicago. K is a nationally recognized liberal arts college and the creator of the K-Plan that emphasizes rigorous scholarship, experiential learning, leadership development, and international and intercultural engagement. Kalamazoo College does more in four years so students can do more in a lifetime.

Kalamazoo College Hosts May 9-11 Award Weekend for Inaugural Global Prize for Collaborative Social Justice Leadership

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Kalamazoo College hosts its inaugural Global Prize for Collaborative Social Justice Leadership awards weekend May 9 through 11 on the K campus. The Global Prize competition honors innovative and collaborative leadership projects in the pursuit of social justice and human rights and features a $25,000 Global Prize for a project that originates anywhere in the world and a $5,000 Regional Prize for a project that originates in Southwest Michigan.

A total of 188 social justice leadership teams submitted 8- to 10-minute video entries to the juried competition. Fifteen global and three regional entries were selected as finalists and will present their social justice strategies and vision in person during a social justice leadership weekend at K. All events are free and open to the public.

Presentations for the $25,000 Global Prize on Friday and Saturday will be live-streamed. View a complete schedule of prize weekend events, information on live-streaming, and links to finalist videos at www.kzoo.edu/socialjustice.

“Our 18 finalists offer cutting-edge social justice vision and practice,” said Jaime Grant, Executive Director of the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership. “They are working across boundaries of gender, race, age, sexuality, ability, socioeconomics, geography, politics, and more, leading us to new ways of thinking and working together.”

Kalamazoo College President Eileen Wilson-Oyelaran said the Global Prize competition and weekend events are a good match for the College’s educational mission and offer a unique opportunity for both the campus and Greater Kalamazoo communities. “K students, faculty, and community members are being exposed to leading social justice scholars and practitioners from across the world,” she said. “This further demonstrates how Kalamazoo College does more in four years, so our students can do more in a lifetime.”

Finalists for the $5,000 Regional Prize will present their entries Thursday, May 9, at 7:30 p.m., in the Kalamazoo College Field House, 1600 W. Michigan Ave. Finalists for the $25,000 Global Prize competition will present their entries Friday, May 10, at 2:45 p.m., in Dalton Theatre at the corner of Academy Street and Thompson Street on the K campus. Seven finalists will present their work Friday afternoon, and eight will present on Saturday, from 2:15 to 6 p.m.

A keynote panel will be delivered by the Global Prize competition’s panel of distinguished jurors on Saturday, May 11, at 11:30 a.m., in Dalton Theatre. Panelists include renowned social justice scholar and activist Angela Y. Davis (University of California-Santa Cruz), former Executive Director of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission Cary Alan Johnson, and lifelong scholar/activist shea howell, whose work has focused on social justice education and grassroots empowerment in Detroit.

President Wilson-Oyelaran will award the $5,000 Regional Prize and the $25,000 Global Prize at 7:15 p.m., May 11 in Dalton Theatre.

K Students Earn International Language Scholarships

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Sophomores Luke Winship and Erin Eagan have been named Boren Scholars. The Boren is a national scholarship promoting the study of less commonly taught languages.

Luke will spend his junior year in China studying Mandarin; Erin will spend six months in Senegal studying Wolof.

Boren Scholarships are funded by the National Security Education Program (NSEP), which focuses on geographic areas, languages, and fields of study deemed critical to United States national security. Boren Scholars represent a variety of academic backgrounds, but all are interested in studying languages often considered roads less taken.

Kalamazoo College alumna Elizabeth Garlow ′07 honored by Crain′s Detroit Business

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Kalamazoo College alumna Elizabeth Garlow
Elizabeth Garlow ′07, award-winning Detroiter.

Elizabeth Garlow ′07 has received a shout-out by Crain′s Detroit Business as one of the newspaper′s annual ″Twenty in their 20s″ honorees that “honors success at a young age, from up-and-comer entrepreneurs to young professionals who make an impact in large organizations” in the Detroit area.

Elizabeth is executive director of Michigan Corps, a Detroit-based organization that launches and leads social change efforts aimed at bringing Michiganders together in imaginative ways.

Elizabeth,who attended Detroit Mercy High School and earned a B.A. in Spanish at K, launched Michigan Corps′ Pure Michigan Social Entrepreneurship Challenge, with funds from the Michigan Economic Development Corp., to fund the best social-minded business ideas. Congrats, Elizabeth!