Three recent Kalamazoo College grads have earned opportunities to work as English language teaching assistants and cultural ambassadors in Spain starting this fall.
Ali Randel, Andre Walker Jr. and Maggie Zorn, all from the class of 2024, have been selected for the North American Language and Culture Assistants Program (NALCAP) through the Education Office of the Embassy of Spain. They will work under the supervision of teachers in Spain to help Spanish students improve their English skills and understand American culture.
NALCAP recipients receive a monthly stipend and medical insurance for 14–16 hours of assistant teaching per week. They make their own housing arrangements and are encouraged to immerse themselves in the language and culture of Spain while sharing the language and culture of the United States with the students they teach. The program runs from October 1 to May 31, and participants can choose to apply for a renewal.
Ali Randel
Randel double majored in English and Spanish at K; completed a journalism Senior Integrated Project (SIP) about health and wellness resources on campus; was a student participant, wellness intern and president her senior year with Hillel at K; and studied abroad in Cáceres, Spain. On study abroad, she met several NALCAP participants, including a K alum, which first piqued her interest in the program. She knew she wanted to return to Spain after graduation, and Director of Grants, Fellowships and Research Jessica Fowle helped her consider options and apply to programs including NALCAP.
During her time in Spain, Randel hopes to continue improving her Spanish speaking skills, travel throughout Europe, and spend time with her host family from Cáceres.
“When I was on study abroad, my speaking improved a lot, and I’m hoping that I can continue to improve that and also learn more about Spanish culture,” Randel said. “I loved it in Spain so much when I studied abroad, and I can’t wait to get back and experience it through a different lens, with high school students, in a professional role and in a different city.”
Randel is placed at a high school in Bedmar y Garcíez, a small town in the southern Spanish province of Jaén.
Ali Randel ’24 has been selected for the North American Language and Culture Assistants Program (NALCAP) through the Education Office of the Embassy of Spain. She will be at a high school in Bedmar y Garcíez, a small town in the southern Spanish province of Jaén.
Andre Walker Jr.
A psychology and Spanish double major, Walker incorporated both fields of study into his SIP by studying possible reasons bilingual people have been found to be more creative. During his time at K, Walker participated in the Black Student Organization, the Latinx Student Organization, Students for Justice in Palestine, and the volleyball club. He also studied abroad in Chile.
While applying to NALCAP, Walker was finishing his SIP and reading about how other countries prioritize learning a second language, especially English.
“In Spain, they start as early as primary, which I think is amazing, because the earlier you start, the more proficient you can become at a second language,” Walker said. “I want to see what the bilingual experience is outside of the United States, see how different and how beneficial it really is, and use that as a force to encourage more bilingual education here.”
Walker will teach primary students in the city of Santiago de Compostela in the northwestern region of Galicia. He hopes to improve his Spanish, learn some of a regional language called Galego (closely related to Portuguese), travel, and possibly extend the research of his SIP.
“I’m using this as a driving force of my long-term goals of wanting to use Spanish in the workplace,” Walker said. “I want to be able to advocate for the importance of hiring more bilingual people and the success they can bring for the overall work environment and spread the importance of bilingual education.”
Andre Walker Jr. ’24 ill teach primary students in the city of Santiago de Compostela in the northwestern region of Galicia through NALCAP.
Maggie Zorn
Zorn studied business and Spanish at K, was a swimming and diving student-athlete and studied abroad in Cáceres. Zorn also volunteered for the Mary Jane Underwood Stryker Center for Civic Engagement in Swim for Success, which offers swimming lessons to disadvantaged local children in a partnership with the City of Kalamazoo Parks and Recreation Department.
Zorn has been placed in Almonte, a town in the southwestern Spanish province of Huelva in the region of Andalucía, with high school-age students.
“I am very grateful for the opportunity to revisit Spain, as I went to Cáceres as a junior for study abroad,” Zorn said. “I am incredibly passionate about teaching, and as a Spanish major, I see this as a way to combine my interests; long term, I am hoping to potentially turn teaching into a career. I am most looking forward to learning more about the culture and enjoying the natural spaces.”
Maggie Zorn ’24 has been placed in Almonte, a town in the southwestern Spanish province of Huelva in the region of Andalucía, through NALCAP.
Story by Social Media Ambassador Blagoja Naskovski ’24
In a pivot prompted by Kalamazoo College’s flexible curriculum, Ian Burr ’24 heeded a call for “lights, camera, action” in New York while discovering a potential lifelong passion.
Burr, a business major, recently participated in the New York Arts Program, a winter-term study away opportunity, where students learn about acting, musical theatre, dance, play writing, directing, vocal music, instrumental music, improvisation and children’s theatre—or in Burr’s case—filmmaking.
His interest in photography pushed him to take Framing Differences, a sophomore seminar taught by Genevieve U. Gilmore Professor of Art Richard Koenig, which gives K students a working knowledge of the tools used in photography before leaving for study away or study abroad. Burr then bought his first camera and worked on sports videography for the women’s soccer team and recreational hockey games.
These experiences convinced Burr to add a film and media concentration to his K-Plan and seek opportunities in New York. There, he worked as a production assistant intern for an upcoming Netflix show, American Conspiracy: The Octopus Murders, and at Green Point Pictures, an advertising company where he helped create pitches for clients. The time in New York also gave Burr an opportunity to shoot his first film.
“The New York Arts Program was an amazing opportunity for me to gain hands-on experience as someone who is interested in the film industry,” Burr said. “It is very hard to get into the industry and participating in this program while taking classes and working for two companies was a very valuable way to gain skills for something that I am very passionate about.”
Since, Burr has developed a Senior Integrated Project (SIP)—not in business, but in filmmaking—with a production titled I Love You, Bro, dedicated to his friend Jake, who died in a car accident. The short film focuses on the mental health of Rhett, who loses his best friend, Avery, in a crash.
“I wanted to show how people deal with loss,” Burr said. “Some people push their feelings off, so they don’t seem weak, but no one should be alone, and it’s totally OK to share your feelings with someone.”
Last fall, Burr had a chance to present the film—which takes place in his hometown of Franklin, Tennessee—to the K community while emphasizing the importance of mental health awareness.
“The idea to turn my movie into a SIP came while I was attending the New York Arts Program,” Burr said. “Without the opportunity that K gave me and the collaboration with Professor Koening, I wouldn’t be able to do something that means so much to me. The professors are so great and welcoming. The small size class made me establish close relationships with the professors and my classmates easily. Professors here care about your progress and your ability to use your whole potential.”
Burr also credits a close friend for his assistance with the movie.
Aidan Baas ’23, “who also participated in the New York Arts Program, was very supportive during this journey,” Burr said. “When I was with him during the study away program in New York, he helped me to come up with the idea of I Love You, Bro. Furthermore, he came from Michigan to Nashville during the summer of 2023 and helped me with shooting and editing, which made the movie to be successfully completed.”
Elsewhere at K, Burr is a punter and kicker on K’s football team, through which he’s established lifelong connections with his teammates. He also has drawn inspiration to achieve excellence in academics through faculty members such as L. Lee Stryker Associate Professor of Business Management Amy MacMillan, Visiting Professor of Business David Rhoa and Visiting Instructor in Art Daniel Kim, who have provided Burr with real-world experiences related to his coursework. And although he’s been dedicated to undertakings such as football and more, Burr strongly encourages his peers who are interested in filmmaking to find their own opportunities through faculty and coursework.
“Dive into it,” he said. “Ask professors for many opportunities to grow. Filmmaking is building portfolios. If you want to be a director, direct something. Go and create. The only way you fail is if you never try. Be dedicated. Collaborate with your friends, classmates and professors. Create the films you want to see.”
Ian Burr ’24 (left) works with actors Graeme Cadaret and Jayden Scheer while filming a scene of “I Love You, Bro.”
While participating in the New York Arts Program on study away, Burr found his passion for filmmaking while working as a production assistant intern for an upcoming Netflix show, “American Conspiracy: The Octopus Murders,” and at Green Point Pictures, an advertising company where he helped create pitches for clients.
Burr prepares to punt during a Kalamazoo College football game. Photo by Kimberley Moss.
Burr films Cadaret and Scheer in the making of his film, “I Love You, Bro.”
Over the past 35 years, the business and economics department at K has grown from one part-time business professor to a popular business major with several full-time faculty.
One constant over that time has been Professor Timothy Moffit ’80. Moffit took on that part-time business professor role in 1989 as a one-year sabbatical replacement, and other than a couple short breaks in the first few years, he has been teaching students at K ever since.
As Moffit approaches retirement this spring, a group of alumni—both classmates and students of Moffit’s—have established a scholarship in his honor. Given to students for the first time in the 2023–24 academic year, the Dr. Timothy Moffit ’80 Endowed Scholarship in Business has already raised $175,000 from a small group of donors. The goal is to increase that total to at least $300,000, which will provide $15,000 to scholarship recipients majoring in economics and business every year, forever.
The honor speaks to Moffit’s commitment to the classroom and his students, to business within the framework of the liberal arts, and to his department and the College as a whole.
Love of learning has kept Moffit in the classroom for 35 years.
“That’s what brought me to K, and that’s what’s kept me at K,” Moffit said. “As a teacher, you never stop learning, and I tell my students that you never really learn a subject until you teach it. I find that enchanting because I love learning.”
Moffit’s belief—supported by what he hears from former students—is that his classroom has been rigorous, demanding, and full of experiences and applications that bring meaning to theory.
“Many students who go to grad school say, ‘Boy, your classes are tougher than my grad school classes.’ The rigor and the toughness are not for the sake of being tough. It’s out of excitement for the material. I want to learn—let’s learn!—so I’m fairly demanding in terms of what we learn and how we learn. I think for a lot of students, it’s incredibly rewarding. Once they’ve graduated from K, they’re like, ‘Wow, in the workplace, I really do know how to do these things. I can accept this challenge, because I was beat up by Moffit,’” Moffit said with a laugh.
As Professor Timothy Moffit approaches retirement this spring, some alumni have established a scholarship in his honor.
Donate to the Moffit Endowed Scholarship in Business
Moffit’s approach to teaching and continued influence inspired Gary Lewis ’00 to help fund the business scholarship. Lewis is founder and managing partner of Aquila Equity Partners, and Moffit serves as an advisor to the company.
“For so many of us, Dr. Moffit helped to foster an unmatched passion for business, accounting and finance,” Lewis said. “Not only did he provide us with a rigorous academic foundation, but he also taught us the tenacity, big-picture thinking and real-world pragmatism which is so critical for being successful.”
Aaron Ries ’06, another contributor to the scholarship fund, applied lessons learned from Moffit’s classes in his first post-K job with the investment banking company Jefferies. Today, as the company’s co-head of leveraged loan sales and trading, Ries credits Moffit for having played a significant role in his life.
“Tim had an outsized positive impact on my mindset, approach, education, and as a result, my career,” Ries said. “And he did it one lesson, one interaction, one test at a time. His energy and enthusiasm are infectious. That type of compounding at the individual level, at first daily, then over years, and now decades, is so valuable.”
Jeremy Ardshahi ’25, a business major with a political science minor, took two accounting classes with Moffit before becoming one of the first recipients of the scholarship.
“The classes were not easy, but I really liked Dr. Moffit as a teacher,” Ardshahi said. “When we would get stressed out about the work, he would take us off topic a bit, make us laugh, and then bring us back on topic, and that worked well to keep the class learning. The course work is definitely not easy, but it’s rewarding, and he makes it a lot more fun than it could be.”
As a student, Moffit loved the liberal arts experience, taking many English classes in addition to religion, philosophy and history. (He met his wife, Kimberley Yull Moffit ’82, when she tutored him in French.) As a professor, he appreciates how business pulls from many disciplines, including communication, psychology, mathematics, history and philosophy.
“I took a lot of different types of classes, and I have used them extensively, both in my business career and also in my teaching of business,” Moffit said. “I try to integrate all of these because they’re important in business. You need to bring all those skill sets into play to be effective.”
Moffit is proud of how the business department has grown and flourished during his tenure, and he is loyal to the school itself. When he first came to K as a transfer student, Moffit “fell in love with the school immediately, and I have been in love with it ever since. That’s why I came back, because I had such great memories of learning and the community.
“The campus is lovely, the study abroad makes this place special, and the students are unique. They have this entrepreneurial flair about them, whatever discipline they may be interested in. That is true throughout the ages.”
Moffit felt a calling to teach when he was young, and taught Sunday School classes in high school and piano lessons in college. After graduating from K, he taught English in Japan for two years, earned an M.B.A. from Dartmouth College, and worked in investment banking for about six years before taking on his first teaching position at K.
“Teaching is my passion, business is my profession, and I marry the two in the classroom,” Moffit said. Yet after 35 years, it’s “just time” to retire, Moffit said. “I have a lot going on and a lot of outside interests.”
He owns three local businesses with his son—Kalamazoo Kettle Corn, Heilman’s Nuts & Confections and a medical supply company. He also sits on the board of Delta Dental as well as other boards.
“I have a new grandson; I’m a granddad,” Moffit said. “There are just so many things I want to do. I want to go fishing and hunting and take my grandson fishing. I’ve done this for a long time, I think I’ve accomplished what I set out to accomplish, and I’m ready to move on.
“I’ll miss the classroom for sure, but this doesn’t mean I’ll stop teaching.”
Moffit also intends to do what he can to help make the scholarship in his name successful.
“I was just a poor dirt farmer kid,” he said. “The school really supported me and helped me get through. I didn’t have the money to go here, but they found a way for me, and I would like to help create that same opportunity for others. I have a soft spot in my heart for those first-generation students, or the kids from these little schools that don’t have educational opportunities, let alone life opportunities like traveling abroad and seeing the bigger world. If this scholarship in any way can help students who need help to have that experience, that would be phenomenal.”
“I would 100 percent need to have a job if I didn’t receive the scholarship,” Ardshahi said. “If I were working and playing sports and going to class, I would have a lot more stress in my life. Knowing that the fund is dedicated to someone who has taught me and is still teaching at the school makes it more personal, too.”
In this way, Moffit’s commitment to teaching, to business and the liberal arts, to K and its students, will continue long after his upcoming retirement.
“This scholarship is a well-deserved and fitting tribute for someone who has given so much to the K community and deeply impacted numerous K students’ lives over the last 30-plus years,” Lewis said. “I’m very grateful for his life-long mentorship and wish him and his family nothing but the best in their next chapter.”
Moffit is excited about what the scholarship could do for students at K.
“It’s a huge honor, of course, that students would establish this in my name,” Moffit said. “Usually, you do that when someone dies. I’m not there yet. I’m still teaching, even. I think there’s a lot of opportunity to make this a substantial scholarship for students who want to study business, and that would be great. I want it to be about students and outcomes. It’s not about me.”
BIGGBY Coffee Co-Founder and Co-CEO Mike McFall ’93 knows a thing or two about leadership. After growing his coffee franchise from one to 370 locations across 13 states, McFall understands that people are the most critical ingredient to any successful enterprise, and he’s ready to share his hard-won wisdom with students at Kalamazoo College.
The Department of Economics and Business will host an on-campus event with McFall at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, November 14, in the Olmsted Room at Mandelle Hall. All students, regardless of their major, are invited to attend to discuss leadership and progressive practices in business and the workplace.
Visiting Assistant Professor of Economics and Business David Rhoa said he’s had the honor of hosting McFall in his classes at least a half-dozen times with each encounter proving to be a new experience.
“I think our students find Mike such a compelling speaker because of his authenticity and honesty,” he said. “He shares his real-life experiences in a candid, sometimes even brutally honest manner. While many successful entrepreneurs tend to focus solely on their achievements, Mike fearlessly addresses the value of his failures, emphasizing their pivotal role in the journey to success.”
L. Lee Stryker Associate Professor of Business Management Amy MacMillan shares Rhoa’s enthusiasm.
“I feel tremendously grateful toward our alumni who share their time and expertise with our students,” she said. “We’re fortunate to have alumni—and community members—who support our courses in so many ways. But when Mike McFall, co-Founder and co-CEO of BIGGBY, comes to class, that turbo-charges the whole experience. By having made his big dreams a reality, he’ll help others to dream big, too, and believe in these dreams. By focusing not just on profits but also on people and purpose, he inspires others to do the same and to see what great business leaders can look like. He walks the walk, and while he does, he lays a footpath for others to follow.”
In 2019, McFall published his first book, Grind, which focuses on the commonsense strategies needed to turn a start-up idea into a positive-cash flow business. He recently released his second book, Grow: Take Your Business from Chaos to Calm, which addresses his experiences with leadership, a theme he expects to explore heavily with students.
BIGGBY Coffee Co-Founder and Co-CEO Mike McFall ’93 will visit Kalamazoo College to talk with students at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, November 14, in the Olmsted Room at Mandelle Hall. All students, regardless of their major, are invited to attend.
“As leaders, we need to understand the impact we have on others,” McFall said. “Business needs to go beyond what it has been historically, which is to try to get as much productivity for the least amount of money possible. We need to start emphasizing human-centric leadership and what goes into making that happen. I also like to focus on progressive thinking in terms of diversity, equity and inclusion, and things like biomimicry. It’s a little bit of a look into what’s coming or what leaders should be focused on in the next five to 10 years to become more effective leaders.”
As an alumnus of Kalamazoo College, McFall places high value on his liberal arts background.
“So much of what I’ve learned in the world was built off of the foundation I had at K,” McFall said. “I’ve said forever that a liberal arts education is the best training ground for an entrepreneur because you get a much more well-rounded education. As an entrepreneur, you need to fit into all kinds of different scenarios with different kinds of people. As you grow and build your company, you need to be comfortable with that and you need to be comfortable with change. That’s exactly what a liberal arts education provides. I look at some of the extraordinarily successful entrepreneurs that came out of my class and the years around me, and I think a lot of their success has to do with the structure and format of a liberal arts education.”
McFall’s business strategies have helped him and his co-founder, Robert Fish, build their franchise into the third-largest coffee franchise in the United States, according to Forbes, a fact that’s sure to resonate with students.
“I think it’s important for students to see the practical applications of their work and then learn from the experiences of alumni who are at different intervals removed from college,” McFall said. “Someone who graduated from K 30 years ago like me has a very different take than someone who graduated five years ago, but both takes are important. As alumni, that’s what we should be focused on in terms of our engagement with the student body. We should bring our perspectives and share the many different practical ways we use our education from K to move forward and build powerful lives.”
With another year of Kalamazoo College football camp beginning, student-athlete Adam Stapleton ’25 is proudly reflecting on a summer that included some international volunteerism through his sport.
Stapleton, a business major in his academic life and a linebacker for the Hornets in athletics, introduced children in Kenya to flag football by visiting a rural, ministry-based school in the town of Nyahururu through the Pan African Christian Exchange (PACE).
The idea was to help the children experience some diversity in their physical education classes in coordination with a two-week service trip he shared with his family, including his dad—who works as a pastor—his mom and his brother.
“Usually, the students would only be playing soccer, and the school wanted them to have a more enriching experience in general,” Stapleton said. “I feel like football as a game teaches a lot of life skills outside of just athleticism. There’s teamwork because you have to be on the same page, and there’s strategy, which helped them learn to think while contributing to their growing experiences in school as a whole.”
The children, he said, were somewhat familiar with rugby, which provided some parallels along with some challenges because of slightly different rules. They had to learn, for example, that football has four downs and varied guidance as to how teams can sub players in and out of a game.
Regardless, the classes embraced the experience, making Stapleton’s job feel less like a Hail Mary and more like an inevitable run to pay dirt.
“I could just see their joy, especially when I told them we would leave all the materials there so they could play on their own,” Stapleton said. “They don’t have a lot of what we do, but they were so much happier than we usually are. The whole experience helped me see that attitude is what makes you happy.”
Stapleton added that he and his brother also taught chess to the students. In fact, some of the children picked it up so quickly that they nearly beat the duo by the time they left. The whole experience leaves Stapleton with no doubt that he would like to return to Kenya one day, in addition to studying abroad in Madrid or Costa Rica before he leaves K.
“This wasn’t so much about my K-Plan, but it definitely fit with the K experience,” Stapleton said. “It was about putting myself out there to try new things. It also fit for me as a business major. I sat in on one of their business classes and tried to contribute some things about my classes. I want to go back again, and in my professional life, I think this experience will help me interact more with diverse people and reach others different from me. I’m glad I went because I didn’t expect it to be anything like it was. Going there and seeing the joy on the kids’ faces while teaching them something new and experiencing a new place was an awesome opportunity.”
Student-athlete Adam Stapleton introduced children in Kenya to flag football this summer, diversifying their physical education classes.
When significant sports moments are celebrated, fans turn to broadcasters for the words that will help make those moments historic. Zach Metz ’25 doesn’t yet have something like “Do you believe in miracles? Yes!” to call his own, but he’s been preparing to be a broadcaster for years.
“I would always be the kid who turned the volume down on a TV sports broadcast to commentate on the game,” he said. “It’s just a passion I’ve had since I was little.”
You might know Metz as a business major; the voice of the Hornets for Kalamazoo College’s baseball, softball, soccer, basketball, volleyball and lacrosse teams; or a quarterback for K’s football team. But this summer, he’s interning as the play-by-play livestream broadcaster with the Grand Lake Mariners in Celina, Ohio, one of 14 cities with a Great Lakes Summer Collegiate Baseball League team.
“I knew about the Great Lakes league through some of our players at K who had played in it, so I went on the league’s website, and I filled out an interest form,” Metz said. “I said, ‘I would like to broadcast,’ and Dave Maurer, our assistant general manager reached out. I sent him my materials and interviewed, and they offered me the job. I was excited to take it.”
His internship began quickly after K’s baseball team earned a 10-5 victory against Adrian in May, a triumph that gave the Hornets their first outright Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association regular season title since 1927.
“Calling the final out of that game was a lot of fun for me, especially with it being a game we had to win to get the outright title,” Metz said. “Whenever there’s a crucial RBI at the end of the game and you can really put some excitement into it, it’s fun. But I loved knowing that what I was doing at that moment was a small part of what the players and their families got out of it.”
After that, Metz was off to Ohio, where the Mariners are the second-oldest team in their league and are named for being on the shores of Grand Lake St. Mary’s. He stays with the team’s assistant general manager and applauds the franchise for welcoming interns as well as it does.
Zach Metz ’25 is the livestream broadcaster for the Grand Lake Mariners, a Great Lakes Summer Baseball League team in Celina, Ohio.
“Fortunately, this role in this league is pretty similar to what I do in college, so there hasn’t been a lot new to me aside from the players using wooden bats,” Metz said. “I talked a lot to the players on our team. I learned what their pitchers throw. Other than that, it’s not much different from any other game I’ve ever done. It’s finding the stats, putting them into a format that I like and rolling with it.”
Preparing for a game in the summer league involves putting together a packet for each Mariners opponent with their schedule, record, players’ stats, team stats and potential storylines.
“With baseball being slower, there’s more time to tell a story,” Metz said. “It usually takes about an hour for each side per packet in a format that’s easy to read.”
Taking to the road means additional challenges.
“On road trips, we don’t have video for our broadcasts—only the home team does—so it turns into more of a radio broadcast,” Metz said. “In that case, it requires me to prepare more because I need to talk more. I can’t stop and let things play out for a minute because the person listening doesn’t know what’s going on if I don’t talk. It can get a little tiring if the game isn’t going well for the Mariners, but really, I just need to get more preparation done.”
Yet no matter where he roams or where he broadcasts from, K—along with its community—will always be special to him.
Football Coach Jamie Zorbo “has helped me in learning how to approach academics and time management,” Metz said. “Steve Wideen, our sports information director, was the one who got me into broadcasting at K. I talked to him once and he said, ‘Alright, we’ll get you going.’ I did one game and he said, ‘we’re going to keep you.’ And Tanner White, too, another member of the football team who graduated last year was the broadcaster at K before I came here. We were in the middle of football camp once and I happened to get into the same ice bath with him after practice. He immediately said, ‘Let’s talk broadcasting.’ He told me everywhere to go, everything I need to get there, and we worked together for a year.”
Metz is a business major, the voice of the Hornets for Kalamazoo College’s baseball, softball, soccer, basketball, volleyball and lacrosse teams, and a quarterback for K’s football team.
He expects such connections, along with his internship, to be integral to his future.
“When I was deciding between colleges, I didn’t think I wanted to go to K because they didn’t have a set broadcasting or communications program,” Metz said. “But since I’ve been here, the people who helped me get these opportunities to broadcast and propel me forward have been so important. If I had to pick schools again, I’d pick K without a doubt. Aside from the actual education for me as a broadcaster, the connections you make and the people you meet are super important. That’s ultimately why I chose K and I’m thrilled I’m here.”
L. Lee Stryker Associate Professor of Business Management Amy MacMillan
Western Michigan University and Kalamazoo College are embarking on an exciting new partnership that will allow students from both institutions to go outside the classroom to gain powerful experiences in leadership and business strategy by consulting with local companies on their business challenges.
Managed by Drs. Doug Lepisto and Derrick McIver, co-directors of Western’s Center for Principled Leadership and Business Strategy, and Amy MacMillan, L. Lee Stryker Associate Professor of Business Management for Kalamazoo College, the project will ask students to collaborate through an immersive consulting experience at Sleeping Giant Capital’s downtown office.
The partnership taps into the existing leadership and business strategy practicum course at WMU, which Lepisto co-teaches at the WMU Haworth College of Business, and integrates elements from the strategic marketing management course that MacMillan co-teaches at Kalamazoo College.
Both courses are structured so students work for the entire semester on a business issue for a company, in the same way that a management consulting firm would, exploring all possibilities and conducting research to generate the best solutions for the business.
Now, the two schools have joined forces to take things to an even higher level. There will be a total of six teams, and each team will have two student leaders and a group of student analysts from both schools. At the conclusion of the project, students will be prepared to lead, excel in project-based work and create value for small- and medium-sized businesses.
Doug Lepisto ’04
The client this semester is construction and development firm AVB, which has asked students to look at growth strategies for its future. Students from Western and Kalamazoo College will work on teams in a competitive process throughout the spring 2023 semester, where faculty members will provide feedback and decide which strategies best address AVB’s business question. At the end of the semester, the top teams will present to company leadership with a cash prize of $5,000 to be awarded to the winning team.
Along the way, students will be mentored by executives, who are WMU alumni, from management consulting firms including McKinsey & Company, Bain & Company and others.
From the beginning
The idea for this partnership first formed as Lepisto was watching a WMU football game and gazed across campus to see the Kalamazoo College stadium with a Hornets’ game taking place at the same time. Lepisto, who is a graduate of Kalamazoo College, kept thinking about that parallel and began exploring the ways in which both institutions were similar: a focus on experiential learning, a commitment to the Kalamazoo community and a passion for social good in any industry or career.
“Kalamazoo is an education city,” Lepisto says. “By connecting WMU, Kalamazoo College, Sleeping Giant Capital and local businesses, our goal is to offer an unrivaled experience that is transformative and drives widespread benefit.”
Lepisto’s concept for the collaboration soon led him to MacMillan, and after lots of brainstorming together, they created the partnership that is being piloted this semester and likely expanded in the future.
“Experiential education has long been a defining feature of Kalamazoo College,” says MacMillan. “As educators, we constantly need to innovate these experiences to meet student needs. This unique collaboration with WMU and Sleeping Giant Capital provides real-world experience that builds leaders ready to hit the ground running when they graduate.”
Students will be participating in a docuseries, providing an insider’s view of the project and what they are learning from the process and each other. Follow the story on Instagram.
About Kalamazoo College
Kalamazoo College, founded in 1833, is a nationally recognized residential liberal arts and sciences college located in Kalamazoo. The creator of the K-Plan, Kalamazoo College provides an individualized education that integrates rigorous academics with life-changing experiential learning opportunities. For more information, visit kzoo.edu.
About Western Michigan University
Western Michigan University prepares students from around the globe for a life well lived. In an environment focused on well-being and holistic success, students thrive academically, emotionally and physically and go on to pursue their purpose, prosper in meaningful careers and make an impact on society. Founded in 1903, Western offers nearly 250 academic programs to nearly 18,000 students pursuing degrees through the doctoral level. The University’s focus on well-being supports holistic success, empowering students to craft a life of meaning and fulfillment. Nine of 10 Broncos get jobs quickly in their field in jobs they like. Learn more at wmich.edu.
David Kent ‘22 interned this term in Washington, D.C., at Shared Hope International, a nonprofit organization that seeks to prevent sex trafficking while comforting and bringing justice to victimized women and children.
A Kalamazoo College student is reflecting on an eye-opening internship opportunity that explored a global problem while providing experience that will benefit him in his life after K.
David Kent ‘22, a business and political science double major from Beverly Hills, Michigan, worked in Washington, D.C., at Shared Hope International this term. The nonprofit organization seeks to prevent sex trafficking while comforting and bringing justice to victimized women and children.
“I thought it would be a great opportunity to learn more about an important issue,” Kent said. “I learned that the practice of sex trafficking is rooted in human civilization. It’s been around as long as people have lived together in societies. It went hand in hand with the institution of slavery. But even now, as slavery is mostly illegal, it persists. I think there is a preconception that it only happens in back alleys and at night. But the reality is there are large operations that work in plain sight and they can sell to people who are well known and very influential. I learned that it can be anybody.”
Part of Kent’s opportunity was funded by the John Dingell Memorial Scholarship, which provides funds for students from Michigan colleges and universities while they participate in an internship. The internship itself was offered through Shared Hope International’s connection with the Washington Center, a group that unites college students with a variety of nonprofit organizations and other companies in the nation’s capital.
Kent worked at Shared Hope International as a policy and communications intern, meaning he was responsible for assisting the organization’s legal team with whatever it needed. Its biggest project involved issuing grades and report cards to each state based on its sex-trafficking laws. Kent served as a media relations contact as he connected with news professionals from around the country.
“It wasn’t necessarily a surprise, but I learned that Michigan is one of the worst states for trafficking with I-94 coming in from Detroit and going on through Chicago, and the state’s connections to Ohio, which is also one of the worst states because of its own highway system,” Kent said. “Michigan certainly has a lot to do in terms of getting laws on the books and enforcing them to better address the situation.”
In addition to the state report card project, Kent performed individual research on large-scale sex-trafficking operations before presenting to the organization’s staff on it. He also helped the organization prepare for a national conference conducted in Washington, D.C., that brought together activists, nonprofit organizations, policymakers, senators and survivors, while running a breakout session and funneling questions from virtual attendees to presenters.
Looking back, Kent said he has some ideas for how the world can fight sex trafficking.
“It starts with individual action,” he said. “Shared Hope International was founded by a former Congresswoman. It started with one person and that’s how we can advocate for such an organization—through one person at a time. These organizations always need volunteers, whether it’s donors contributing supplies or money, or volunteers for activities or shelters. You have to start there and work your way to bigger solutions.”
Uyen Trinh ’21 stands next to the Olympic Rings in Tokyo.
It takes dedication, perseverance and determination for the world’s best athletes to reach the Olympics, just as it did for Uyen Trinh ’21 to be a part of the behind-the-scenes efforts at the Summer Games in Tokyo. She was there to gain global career experience while working as an accountant in the Finance Department of Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS).
OBS was established through the International Olympic Committee in 2001 to produce live television, radio and digital coverage of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Organizations such as the New York Times and NBC set up, along with OBS, at Tokyo Big Sight, an international exhibition center composed of the International Broadcast Center and the Main Press Center as the Games began.
Uyen Trinh ’21 poses in front of Tokyo Big Sight, the international exhibition center where she worked to support the Olympics behind the scenes.
Trinh, an international student from Vietnam majoring in business and psychology with a minor in Japanese at K, played important roles processing paperwork, receipts, documents and bills for the Olympic Games while stationed in the International Broadcasting Center. A typical six-day workweek involved a one-hour commute on the subway, a trip through security and working from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day with the Olympics, lasting about a month.
Trinh gained the opportunity while studying abroad through K at Waseda University in Tokyo in 2019. At that time, a friend from the university’s Tae Kwon Do club told her about training for a position at the Olympics.
“After Tae Kwon Do practice that night, I looked up OBS right away because it sounded like a fascinating opportunity,” Trinh said. “I found out the application deadline was a day or two later, so I filled out and submitted the application right away in one sitting.”
Uyen Trinh ’21 poses for a photo outside the Olympic Broadcasting Services Finance Department where she worked during the Games.
Trinh then proceeded to interview for the accounting position.
“In the interviews, I told them I wanted to work for the Olympics because watching the Games has always given me unforgettable feelings,” she said. “And the Japanese people had been treating me really well. I thought Tokyo 2020 was a great opportunity to present Japan to the world. It was a chance for me to return the favor of their kindness and help deliver a positive image of Japan.”
Her interest in accounting made the impression she left with her interviewers even more favorable.
“I said that I wanted to do accounting because I’d been keeping track of my personal expenses and it really excited me to see numbers matching up,” Trinh said. “A week later I got a certificate saying I was qualified to work for the Olympics.”
However, in March 2020, COVID-19 began spreading, forcing Trinh to leave Japan and putting the Games in doubt.
“I still kept a close eye on the Olympics and was disheartened when they decided to postpone the Games. I questioned my chances of coming back,” Trinh said. “September 2020 was the first time I heard back from them. They asked, ‘Are you still interested in working for the Olympics?’ I thought, ‘What do you mean? This is everything I have been waiting for.’ All the logistics afterward in preparation for my departure to Japan were completed via email and the OBS portal website. I received their welcome package in February 2021 with an accreditation card, which served as my visa to enter Japan. There were a lot of requirements regarding COVID that made the week before the flight especially stressful.”
Upon her return to Japan, COVID-19 regulations required her to quarantine at a hotel for the first 14 days. She was restricted to commuting only between the hotel, OBS and a convenience store next to the hotel. After those weeks, a former host family from her time on study abroad welcomed her to stay with them.
“I learned to treasure every relationship I had with people. You never know what kind of opportunity anyone could bring to you and what your relationship could grow to be. Most of my colleagues were from countries other than Japan like Spain, Bangladesh and Greece. It’s just wonderful to think that working for the Olympics has enabled people from all over the world to meet and get to know each other regardless of the pandemic. Returning to Japan this time also made me realize how many meaningful relationships I have made during only six months of study abroad. This whole adventure was terrific and I’m so glad I was able to make it. Different from the abrupt departure last time because of COVID, I left Japan this time in peace and with more confidence in myself. This valuable experience will set the stage for my career in finance after K.”
Kalamazoo College students in the Principles of Marketing class this fall worked virtually with small businesses to boost their marketing plans during the pandemic.
With small businesses struggling in 2020, some Kalamazoo College business students accepted a call to build ideas that could help entrepreneurs locally and beyond.
L. Lee Stryker Associate Professor of Business Management Amy MacMillan challenged her Principles of Marketing class in the fall term to create real-life, actionable business plans that could assist business owners in persevering and even growing through the pandemic.
“I was hoping to create a new experience that was right for this particular time, recognizing that the world is just not the same right now,” MacMillan said. Teams of students were randomly assigned to small businesses, some with whom they had existing relationships, and others they were getting to know for the first time. Yet this is the first time one of MacMillan’s classes worked virtually to help several businesses at once.
“Sometimes we’ll pick one business and we’ll have different teams competing against each other,” she said. “It just felt like this moment was right for collaboration.” To re-enforce this, she named the project “PandemiK Partnerships.”
Ultimately, students—sometimes meeting remotely across continents—came up with recommendations that could help the businesses grow and presented those recommendations in a 25-minute Zoom meeting with the business leaders to conclude the course. Here are a few stories of their success.
Energetic Soul
Vanessa Vigier ’21, a business and international area studies major from West Bloomfield, Michigan, recommended that MacMillan approve her group’s idea to work with Energetic Soul, a business near Detroit that’s close to Vigier’s heart and identity.
“Energetic Soul is a dance studio that focuses on Afro-Cuban dance, movement and fitness,” she said, adding that she and her mom have participated in classes there before. “I’m actually of Afro-Cuban origin, so when I discovered this studio, I thought it was perfect. I was super excited when we were approved to work with them because I’ve always wanted to see it expanded to people my age.”
That idea to recruit younger clientele sparked Vigier and her group, gathering virtually from as far away as Vietnam, toward surveying young adults regarding what might prompt them to attend a dance class. They also outlined concepts for Instagram advertising and analyzed price models that could allow college students to attend.
“It seemed like most of the people we surveyed wanted to have a social experience that would allow them to have fun,” Vigier said. “We used that to create a plan of conducting individual group bonding sessions for student organizations, sports teams, Greek-letter organizations and dance teams. We felt the more Energetic Soul did these group bonding sessions, the more people would get a good taste of it and continue.”
Sure enough, even a few in Vigier’s group admitted they weren’t thrilled with the idea of attending dance classes themselves before developing their plan, but that soon changed.
“By the end, they were interested in taking a class,” Vigier said. “For me, it was exciting because I really want people to try it, and the more people can learn about the business in unexpected ways, the more we can grow Cuban dance and make it more popular.”
Honore Salon
Joshua Pamintuan ’22, a business major from California, said he was a little intimidated to hear of a project like this one during a term in virtual learning.
“I was a little hesitant because I’ve never done anything so real-life oriented, where I’m actually working with someone or a company outside of school,” he said. “Projects have been theoretical, but nothing had been quite so hands-on.”
Yet his team of students found a valuable experience working with Honore Salon, a team of stylists offering haircuts, styling, hair coloring, wax treatments and extensions in downtown Kalamazoo.
“Honore Salon has a great team of staff and stylists,” Pamintuan said. “It seems customers are very loyal and they’re family oriented. That makes them successful with the community and the customers they have.”
With weekly meetings, Pamintuan and his team developed a plan to highlight those characteristics through social media. Surveys revealed Honore Salon customers typically use Facebook and Instagram, which could be used to develop repeat business.
“Our big objective for them is to increase comfortability with customers returning to their salon and building their social media presence through Facebook and Instagram,” he said. “To fulfill those objectives, we recommended creating a COVID-walkthrough video so clients could see Honore is taking the right steps to ensure that safety is a priority. We also recommended turning their social media profiles into business accounts so they can gain analytics about who their followers are and better tailor the content they post, making it more personal. We want to see content that helps customers get to know their stylists, and content that is very digestible about their products.”
A final presentation to the business included a video with a short skit of a business walk-through, slides and templates making social media content easier to create, and advice regarding data analytics to measure their success.
“The technical skills I gained from this experience—like coming up with a business proposal, collecting and analyzing data, and learning how to give a professional presentation—will help when I transition into the business world,” Pamintuan said.
Jaded CBD
Alexis Petty ’23, a business and psychology double major from Otsego, Michigan, made her project a family affair by working with her peers on her sister’s business, Jaded CBD in New York City.
That, however, didn’t mean that coming up with a marketing plan for the business was easy. CBD oil is a product of a cannabis plant. It’s different than THC and creates no high, but the Food and Drug Administration regulates what businesses can say about such products.
“You have to be careful and disciplined with what you say and the claims you make,” Petty said. “So much of the advertising for CBD oil is through personal stories using social media channels and social media influencers. It’s non-addictive and there’s no high. You don’t get overly drowsy, and it’s an anti-inflammatory that can help relieve stress and provide a better night’s sleep, although you can’t necessarily make these claims on social media.”
Petty and her group limited their talking points to CBD oil being non-GMO, vegan, cruelty-free, lab tested and safe for a consumer’s body, although a survey of Jaded CBD clients nurtured other ideas for the business including a subscription plan for clients and a new product.
“Right now, they only have a bigger bottle with 30 milliliters,” she said. “We implemented what we found in the survey by recommending a bottle being available at a third of the size for a third of the price.”
Jaded CBD is in the process of implementing the smaller size, along with some advertising concepts recommended by Petty and her partners, and a chewable product of the business’s own development. Despite some challenges, including one group member being in China this term and another consistently traveling between Chicago and Kalamazoo, Petty and her partners received positive feedback.
“Marketing is definitely an attractive field,” Petty said. “I was blessed with the group we had and I was happy to work with a small business to develop it.”
Bilbo’s Pizza
Mackenzie Maiorano ’22, a business major from Commerce Township, Michigan, approached MacMillan about allowing her group to work with Maiorano’s employer, Bilbo’s Pizza. The Kalamazoo restaurant is known for handmade pizzas and craft beer, and is named for the character in J.R.R. Tolkien books.
“I was nervous about working with the place where I’m employed,” Maiorano said. “I didn’t want to overstep any boundaries. It was kind of intimidating at first. But when we started talking with the team, it was easier than I anticipated.”
Her group made three primary recommendations to her manager including revamping the business’s social media presence toward more frequent and personal posts, re-centering its marketing messages toward college-age students, and conducting a College Night at the restaurant. Restaurant closures forced by the pandemic have paused efforts to implement those suggestions, although Maiorano is ready to recommend that she serve as a social media intern for Bilbo’s when it reopens.
“I think this project was intended to benefit the community by helping college students and helping Bilbo’s get more business,” she said. “When I talked to people about my project, they said, ‘we love Bilbo’s and we’d love to see them get more business.’ We’re hoping after they reopen and we do the College Night, we’ll have a spike in the sales from having more college students go. The manager loved our ideas and I think we impressed him. He wanted me to present it to everyone who works there. I told him that’s kind of scary, but I can do that.”
Roche Collection Winery
Baylee Bacheller ’22, a business and history major from Constantine, Michigan, overcame some early hesitation with her group to create a plan for Roche Collection Winery.
“I definitely thought this class would be more about reading text books and lectures,” Bacheller said. When Professor MacMillan told us we’d be in groups, it was kind of scary, but it quickly turned into something really cool. It was exciting.”
The winery is in the process of opening a tasting room in downtown Kalamazoo. The business’s website says it develops contemporary, delicious and luxury Michigan wine collections.
“Our objective was to try to bring exposure to the tasting room and making it an environment where customers feel welcome,” Bacheller said. “We have recommended they do Facebook advertising so she could hone in on target audiences with different demographics, a billboard in Kalamazoo, and specialty nights that target women age 30 to 50. The one we were really suggesting was Ladies’ Nights.”
The business was receptive to the survey students conducted through people in the Kalamazoo area, who could be prospective clients. The winery could have some stiff competition, although the students were able to help develop a plan for it.
“We’ll see how the tasting room opening goes,” she said. “We were able to make a really good connection with the owner and she was receptive to our ideas. Hopefully, we can find out whether she was successful. What sets the Roche Collection and the tasting room apart is the warm atmosphere and welcoming environment. The new tasting room will have table-top seating and a warm, welcoming environment for all ages.”
In the end, the class helped Bacheller change her mind regarding a possible future in marketing.
“I wasn’t a fan of marketing coming into the class, but this is something I learned to like,” she said. “I really enjoyed this project and it helped me see the value for what it is,” she said. “I felt even if just one singular sentence we said helped the business, it was worth it to me.”
Intentional Yoga
When the opportunity to nurture a small business in the Principles of Marketing class came along, Jake Nugent ’22 was excited to recommend Intentional Yoga of Kalamazoo to Professor MacMillan and his work group. He’s a client there himself.
“They’re very community oriented and it’s a place where I thrive,” he said. “I’m all about bringing people together and they have aspects of what I really value in life. Yoga is very grounding to me. Whenever I’m super stressed, it’s where I go to be present in the moment.”
The business specializes in hot yoga, which takes place in a 100-degree room that enhances sweating. Before the pandemic, Intentional Yoga conducted several 60- to 75-minute group sessions per week with a broad clientele, ranging from college students to seniors. It now conducts online sessions with in-person group exercise classes being suspended in Michigan.
After meeting with a co-owner, Nugent and his group went to work on making recommendations for Intentional Yoga’s email marketing and outreach to college students.
“We made a survey that we sent to current clientele,” Nugent said. “We learned they needed to be more personable with their email, so we gave them the idea of including a 30-second video with a class instructor in each email. We also thought they could do a monthly destress week with an online class that college students could attend online for free.”
With a loyal customer base maintaining their memberships throughout the pandemic, the business is on solid footing, yet eager to implement the recommendations Nugent and his team made to emphasize that yoga is for everybody. Nugent found that news, and the class itself for that matter, to be rewarding.
“If you go into marketing, this is something you would have to do,” Nugent said. “That’s something I really value in a class. I’m good at reading books, but that doesn’t really drive me. I would say this project took a lot of people out of their comfort zone and it drove me to find answers for this business. I looked at this not just as a project, but as something I could keep doing in the future.”
Meaningful Experience
As students worked with businesses virtually to develop their plans, the experience in many ways reflected the new reality many professionals are facing with increased telework and new ways of communicating across organizational and geographical boundaries. It also provided an opportunity to support small businesses in a meaningful way. “With virtual teaching, I wanted to create something that had real meaning for us, and also something that could help us feel good about what we’re doing,” MacMillan said.
Helping students develop their skills and build confidence in their own abilities was another important outcome of the course.
“I feel like a coach, trying to bring out the best in people. You want students to bring their experiences to life, and you want them to believe in themselves and believe in their ability to present confidently, to tackle a problem strategically,” MacMillan said.
