Music Professor Tom Evans rehearses his trombone with Rushik Patel ’22 at Light Fine Arts. Evans directs K’s noteworthy Jazz Band, making the College a great place to mark International Jazz Day.
There are days during the year when it makes sense for Kalamazoo College to toot its own horn. International Jazz Day is one of them, as the College’s Jazz Band is known for its well-attended, quality performances popular with the musicians themselves and audiences alike.
According to its website, International Jazz Day — celebrated each April 30 — unites communities, schools, artists, historians, academics and enthusiasts to celebrate jazz and its roots. It helps the world learn of jazz’s future and its impact, while encouraging intercultural dialogue and international cooperation.
That desire to celebrate jazz could cause anyone, from jazz novices to experts, to gravitate to K’s Jazz Band.
“We tell our audiences, ‘if the music affects you, get up and dance,’” said Music Professor Tom Evans, the band’s director, who ensures his group is deserving of recognition around K and around the Kalamazoo community. “By the end, we usually have many who are dancing in the aisles. It’s always great to play in front of such an appreciative audience.”
The enthusiasm of the musicians is part of what makes the band special. “I have one rule with the Jazz Band: It’s OK to make mistakes, but it’s not OK to play without passion,” Evans said. “I believe (the band) can make you a better person. It makes you more disciplined and it engages your mind. It’s a chance to explore history from the earliest jazz continuing through many contemporary artists.”
For those who need a primer in jazz as they mark International Jazz Day, Evans said the music is exciting because “jazz reinvents itself every night. If you go to a concert and see the same group two nights in a row, the beginning and the end might sound familiar, but the middle would be different.”
That middle represents the jazz process of improvisation, defined as the spontaneous creation of fresh, original melodies beyond the notes on a page. Improvisation is inspired by the musicians performing and how they feel at a given moment. Plus, they can never be identically repeated.
K’s Jazz Band typically follows standard big band instrumentation with five saxophones, four trumpets, four trombones and a rhythm section consisting of a pianist, a bass player, a guitarist and drummers. This year’s rhythm section features two guitarists and adds a vibraphone player. A vibraphone has metallic bars instead of the wooden ones seen on the garden-variety xylophone.
“A xylophone has a distinctive wooden ‘dong’ sound, but a vibraphone has metal with sustained pitches that sound like ‘ting,’” Evans said. Those pitches are controlled through fans underneath the instrument that spin and rotate.
For students interested in Jazz Band, there are music ensemble scholarship opportunities for incoming students, and while auditions are sometimes required for the band, there are more opportunities to participate and take a leadership role than you might find at a larger school.
“If you attend somewhere like the University of Michigan, good luck. You’re probably waiting until at least your junior year to play in the Jazz Band, and even then, there might be a waiting list,” Evans said. “K is a place where students have immediate leadership opportunities from the moment they get to campus.” Jazz Band is no exception. “With the Jazz Band, every voice is critical. If one person doesn’t show up, it affects everyone.”
Evans came to K in 1995, inheriting the College’s Jazz and Symphonic bands, after teaching at Alfred University, another liberal arts institution, in Alfred, New York. His jazz bands have toured Chicago, Washington, D.C., Cincinnati and Detroit in the U.S., and Russia, Estonia, Japan, Finland and Tunisia around the world.
The group’s next concert is scheduled for 8 p.m. Saturday, May 11, in the Dalton Theater at Light Fine Arts. Evans said the band’s play list will include some early jazz, swing, bop, fusion, funk and Latin varieties.
“At the end of each concert, I want the kids to walk off the stage as heroes,” Evans said.
Hear some selections of prior Jazz Band performances and learn more about the group at its website.
If your knowledge of poetry is limited, April is the perfect time to expand your horizons and practice your writing. That’s because it’s National Poetry Month, and Assistant English Professor Oliver Baez Bendorf has creatively developed ways for students to hone their skills and develop their interests in poetry to celebrate.
Kayla Park read at the Belladonna* Collaborative Reading last spring. She interned with Belladonna*, an independent feminist avant-garde poetry press, through the New York Arts Program during the winter 2018 term at K.
Among his classes, Baez Bendorf teaches an advanced poetry workshop, which is participating in a 21-day challenge to write every day. Students are assigned poetry-inspired aliases and write about their praxis, or practice, of writing. “Writing about writing” might sound redundant, but its purpose is to help students learn about themselves, their influences and their processes to discover what inspires them.
Audrey Honig ’21, for example, is an English and religion major with a concentration in Jewish studies from Elmhurst, Illinois. She is writing erasure poems under the alias Lyra based on what she sees through social media. Erasure poetry erases words from an existing text in prose or verse and frames the result as a poem. The results can be allowed to stand on their own or arranged into lines or stanzas.
“I thought it would be interesting to bring what normally is a distraction into my writing,” said Honig, of the social media she analyzes. “I thought I wrote a lot before this class started, but I really wasn’t creating much. I was working on my writing, but I was mostly working on the editing process. Now I’m doing something small every day.”
Her biggest takeaway from the course has been how to better give and receive feedback to classmates and other writers.
“As students, we’re used to getting feedback when a professor might say, ‘This is a B,’” she said. “In this class, we’re really thinking about the specifics of what we’re doing as writers, so we can give honest and helpful feedback without tearing anyone down.”
For her 21-day challenge, Kayla Park ’19 selects a book at random off her shelf every day and writes a poem inspired by the last sentence on page 21 in that book.
Audrey Honig presents during a class at Kalamazoo College’s Humphrey House. Honig is is writing erasure poems under the alias Lyra based on what she sees through social media.
Park, who writes under the alias Pegasus, earned a Heyl Scholarship when she matriculated at K to study within a science major, and she double majors in English and physics. She said she can see how a writing genre such as poetry helps make her a better scientist.
“When you continue doing a lot of work in one field and you get used to a certain mode of thinking, that’s beneficial in making you an expert in your subject, although you can also restrict your thought patterns that way,” she said. “In poetry, I’m expressing knowledge under a set of conventions that is different, but no less valuable than in science. Engaging with different modes of thinking helps me to see connections across disciplines and approach all situations from a broader point of view.”
The creativity poetry stirs for Park complements what she does with two a cappella groups at K, Premium Orange and A Cappella People of Color (ACAPOC), as well as with Frelon, the campus’ student dance company. It also helps her deal with her own perfectionism.
“Sometimes when I sit down to write, regardless of the assignment, I get hung up on making it perfect,” she said. “Forcing myself to write every day is beneficial in letting a little of that perfectionism go. It helps me write more freely and produce something that I can always go back and edit later.”
Baez Bendorf also offers an intermediate poetry workshop. That class this month is memorizing poems such as Truth Serum and 300 Goats by Naomi Shihab Nye and To Myself by Franz Wright with the goal of reciting them in May.
“We approach it as a kind of ultimate close reading of the work, and then aim to know it by heart, hopefully for a lifetime,” Baez Bendorf said.
National Poetry Month was inaugurated by the Academy of American Poets in 1996. It since has become the largest literary celebration in the world with schools, publishers, libraries, booksellers and poets celebrating poetry, according to the American Academy of Poetry.
The organization drew inspiration for National Poetry Month from Black History Month in February and Women’s History Month in March, and it aims to highlight the legacies and ongoing achievements of American poets, encourage the public to read poems, and increase the number of poetry-themed stories in local and national media. Read more about National Poetry Month at the Academy of American Poets’ website.
Lux Esto Award Winner Don Mack (right) stands with Kalamazoo College President Jorge G. Gonzalez at the Founders Day Community Reflection.
Don Mack, Kalamazoo College director of technical and media services, is this year’s recipient of the Lux Esto Award of Excellence. The award, given Friday at the annual Founders Day Community Reflection marking the College’s 186th year, recognizes an employee who has served the institution for at least 26 years and has a record of stewardship and innovation.
The winner–chosen by a committee with student, faculty and staff representatives–is an employee who exemplifies the spirit of Kalamazoo College through excellent leadership, selfless dedication and goodwill.
Gonzalez credited Mack for his work, ensuring that the College’s facilities have the appropriate networking and audio-visual components to fulfill their purposes. Gonzalez added, “Through careful listening, institutional memory and insight, and just the right amount of dry humor, (Mack) promotes goodwill on campus.”
Mathematics Professor Eric Barth stands with Kalamazoo College President Jorge G. Gonzalez after receiving the Outstanding Advisor Award at the Founders Day Community Reflection.Associate Professor of English Amelia Katanski ’92 stands with Kalamazoo College President Jorge G. Gonzalez after receiving the Outstanding First-Year Student Advocate Award.
“Advisers are mentors who work very closely with our students, monitoring academic progress, and helping students identify and fulfill their goals while working to complete their degrees at the College,” Gonzalez said of Barth’s award. Barth “completes all this with grace and skill.”
First-year advocates are “educators who make significant contributions to the academic achievement and personal development of students in the students’ first year at the College,” Gonzalez said about Katanski’s honor. Katanski “has gone above and beyond to make a difference in the lives of first-year students and has helped them find their place at K while developing a foundation for advocacy and community responsibility.”
Each year, up to $100 billion worth of harvested food is lost worldwide to pests and microbes. A Kalamazoo College student’s research could hold part of the solution.
Marco Ponce ’19 examines insects through a microscope at Dow Science Center. He will attend Kansas State University with an NSF Graduate Fellowship beginning this fall.
Marco Ponce ’19, a biology major from San Diego, conducted his Senior Individualized Project (SIP) last summer under Rob Morrison, Ph.D., ’06, a research entomologist working for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Center for Grain and Animal Health Science in Manhattan, Kansas. Their work targeted alternative methods for managing red flour and lesser grain beetles, which primarily attack stored grains.
“Prior research has found that these beetles release some pheromones that make them come together in groups, and others that trigger them to spread out,” Ponce said. As a result, “we wondered how their density affects their behavior when they look for food. We’ve found the beetles responded less to otherwise attractive food cues when they’re grouped in higher densities, so we’re trying to synthesize the signal that turns off their food-finding behavior and use it as a repellent. Our goal is to figure out how to use their biology against them.”
Marco Ponce ’19 (third from right) stands with Rob Morrison, Ph.D., ’06, (third from left) outside the Insect Zoo at Kansas State University. Ponce will attend Kansas State through an NSF Graduate Fellowship this fall.
Ponce learned last week that he earned a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship to attend Kansas State University as a graduate student this fall, meaning he and Morrison will conduct more research beginning in July. The two will study how stored-product beetles and microbes interact to ruin harvested grains.
“Every year after harvest, we lose anywhere from 10 to 30 percent of our food commodities,” Morrison said. In addition to the U.S., “if you look at some developing countries, this means about $100 billion in commodities are lost every year. Marco’s project has global ramifications. If he can find some of the attractants useful for (pest) management, that will go a long way toward ensuring less pest damage and making agriculture more sustainable.”
“When he was selected, he was up against some students who already are in their graduate programs,” said Biology Professor Ann Fraser, Ponce’s academic adviser. “It’s always gratifying to see students take an interest in science, even if they just make a hobby out of it. But it’s especially rewarding for me to see students go into entomology. There are so many opportunities to get involved in entomology because insects affect our lives in so many ways.”
Marco Ponce ’19 will attend Kansas State University through an NSF Graduate Fellowship beginning this fall.
Ponce and Fraser got to know each other when Ponce was reconsidering his pre-med path. His classes helped him realize he could seek other opportunities in science, and he found the best opportunity in Fraser’s entomology lab.
“That was the transition for me,” Ponce said, admitting his first year at K was difficult, especially as English was his second language, having grown up primarily in Tijuana, Mexico. “I considered changing majors until I saw the email from Dr. Fraser inviting me into her lab. I was surprised because I wasn’t the best academically at the time. It’s one of the reasons why I’m still here: I found my passion.”
Ponce first performed research in Fraser’s lab with painted lady butterflies, a species common in all climates throughout the world. His work analyzed how their antennae responded to different odors produced by flowers compared to those produced by potential predators such as ants, and Fraser was thrilled with his work.
A college track, though, wasn’t always in Ponce’s view. At one point, Ponce expected to join the work force immediately after high school when Pablo Roncoroni, his high school teacher, took him under his wing and helped him navigate the college application process. As a result, not only did Ponce find K, but so did five other students from that high school who since have followed in his footsteps.
The support of teachers and mentors has led Ponce to a place where his research and passion can benefit others around the world including in his backyard. As co-founder of the College’s Entomology Club, he’ll soon start working with that group to inspire students at Kalamazoo’s El Sol Elementary, with a goal of introducing students to science in a different, more hands-on way.
“Marco is very creative,” Fraser said. “I invited him into my lab because he is such an original thinker and he has a great science mind. He is a real ambassador of science.”
UPDATE:The venue for the chemistry symposium has been changed to Dewing Hall, Room 103.
Kalamazoo College department symposiums typically kick off student presentations of senior individualized projects. This year’s chemistry symposium has added significance, serving as the official sendoff for Dorothy H. Heyl Professor of Chemistry Tom Smith, who is retiring after 40 years at the College.
This year’s chemistry symposium has added significance, serving as the official sendoff for Dorothy H. Heyl Professor of Chemistry Tom Smith, who is retiring after 40 years at the College.
The chemistry symposium will start at 4:10 p.m. Thursday, April 18, 2019, in Dewing Hall, Room 103. Kalamazoo College President Jorge G. Gonzalez will welcome attendees before Interim Provost and Chemistry Professor Laura Furge introduces alumni Chris Bodurow and Bob Weinstein, both ’79. Bodurow and Weinstein were students in the first class Smith taught in the 1978-79 school year.
After the opening remarks, Smith will offer a lecture titled “Reflections on Teaching and Research in Inorganic Chemistry: From Small Molecules to Crystals to Metalloproteins.” A reception will follow at Dow Science Center.
“We have invited alumni to attend and send notes that we will present” to Smith, Furge said. “Alumni will continue to see how strong the Chemistry department is. All faculty are research active as campus is abuzz in summer with research students, and their grants and publishing show how deeply invested our faculty are in teaching pedagogies.”
Bodurow and Weinstein were a part of the fundraising effort that endowed a research fellowship in Smith’s honor. The Thomas J. Smith Student Research Fellowship in Chemistry honors Smith by supporting an initiative close to his heart: independent summer research.
“The endowment to fund student research positions is a very fitting tribute to the work [Smith] has done,” Furge said. “He has faithfully taken on at least two students each summer, committing himself to mentoring and influencing generations of students.”
Testifying to the devotion Smith has inspired, he was designated an Alpha Lambda Delta National Honorary Society Favorite Teacher by first-year students 13 times. In addition, he directed the senior individualized projects of 70 students, was named a Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation Scholar and was awarded the Florence J. Lucasse Fellowship for Excellence in Scholarship or Creative Work and the Dr. Winthrop S. and Lois A. Hudson Award for Outstanding Contributions in Research at Kalamazoo College.
Four finalists representing Kalamazoo College and a supportive contingent traveled to the Novi Civic Center in February for the 23rd Japanese Language Speech Contest organized by Detroit’s Consulate General of Japan. The group included (back row, from left) Brian Drenth, Craig Esler, Natalie Quist, Uyen Trinh, Michael Smith, Hannah Pszenica, Professor Tyler Walker and Demi Grivas; (second row, from left) Ploen Villvalin, Caryn Drenth, Professor Noriko Sugimori and Pam Esler; and (front row from left) Elayna Moreau, Lydia Drenth, Amanda Esler, YoungHoon (Richard) Kim and Molly Brueger.
Out of dozens of college and university students who applied this year, four Kalamazoo College students were invited to participate in the 23rd Michigan Japanese Language Speech Contest, a record for any college or university in the competition’s recent history, with two finishing among the top three competitors.
The contest, organized by Detroit’s Consulate General of Japan, offered 10 students from Michigan colleges and universities the opportunity to showcase their language abilities in the finals through self-made speeches delivered entirely in Japanese at the Novi Civic Center. K’s representatives have all been students in Associate Professor Noriko Sugimori’s third-year Japanese language class.
Sugimori noted a snow day prevented Amanda Esler ’19, YoungHoon (Richard) Kim ’19, Molly Brueger ’19 and Elayna Moreau ’21 from having their final dry run for the event. However, “the students worked hard and other students of Japanese also supported them in various ways,” Sugimori said, crediting her second-year Japanese language class, which developed questions about the speeches for the competitors to answer. Some even went to Novi to support their peers. “I am proud of everyone,” Sugimori said.
No K student had ever finished higher than third in the Japanese Language Speech Contest, until Esler finished second with her speech titled “The Importance of Friends.” The speech described how she turned a difficult study abroad experience into something special through the help and encouragement of her friends.
Amanda Esler ’19 (second from left) and YoungHoon (Richard) Kim ’19 (second from right) gave Kalamazoo College two place-winners for the first time in the finals of the Michigan Japanese Language Speech Contest.
“Personally, I love public speaking,” Esler said. “The fact that through your words you can inspire or encourage someone is amazing. And in this contest, it wasn’t in English, but rather Japanese, a language that I have spent nine years of my life learning. It was such an honor and a privilege to be able to compete and share my thoughts and experiences in Japanese.”
Esler said her K experiences inspired her speech, including the support she received from Sugimori and a close friend, Naori Nishimura, who was a visiting international student from Japan.
Without them, “I wouldn’t have studied abroad in Kyoto and none of the events in my speech would have occurred. So, this is really thanks to K. … I hoped to show just how much that bond [with Nishimura] meant to me.”
Kim delivered a speech titled “Shape of Japan” and won third prize, giving K a second representative among the place-winners for the first time. He spoke about his study abroad experience in Japan and articulated his deep appreciation for the country. In his view, his appreciation for Japan can’t be fully expressed in words.
“It was an honor for me, as a student who studies Japanese,” to participate in the contest, Kim said. “It meant that I am able to perform a public speech, openly expressing my thoughts and remarks on a suggested topic, through using a language that I did not know before. … It was only possible because I had an amazing faculty member and brilliant students who spent time with me.”
Brueger, in her speech titled “Breaking Barriers,” talked about how soccer empowers participants to break language barriers and make new friends, leading to greater cross-cultural understanding.
“This was an opportunity for me to feel confident about my Japanese language skills and to compete in a fun environment with other students who share an equal love for Japanese language and culture,” Brueger said.
Moreau delivered a speech titled “The Power of Communication” about their experiences working at Osaka Suisen Fukushikai’s Work Center Hoshin, a day care center in Osaka, Japan, for adults who have intellectual disabilities. The speech focused on how staff and clients communicated and how their experience can help interactions between people in general.
“When I worked with them, I got to experience their efforts to communicate and understand each other firsthand,” Moreau said. “No matter what mistakes I made or how troublesome it was for them to try to talk to me, staff and clients alike always made the utmost effort to include me in their conversations, events and work. They were so patient with me even when they didn’t need to be, and I quickly grew to admire everyone at the Work Center. I wanted to express this admiration in my speech, to express how amazing everyone at the center was. In some way, I wanted this speech to be some small ‘thank you’ to them.”
Thirty students known for their invaluable contributions to the Kalamazoo College community were honored Friday at the 15th annual Senior Leadership Recognition Awards.
Thirty students known for their invaluable contributions to the Kalamazoo College community were honored Friday at the 15th annual Senior Leadership Recognition Awards. They were (top row, from left) Ian McKnight, Max Aulbach, Alexander Cadigan and Allen Vinson; (second row, from left), Emma Eisenbeis, Nicholas Ludka, Ian Freshwater, Sabrina Leddy, Zach Morales and Jacob Bonifacio; (third row, from left) Marco Ponce, Lauren Arquette, Sarah George, Hannah Meyers and Jordan Wiley; (fourth row, from left) Anthony Diep Rosas, Regina Shaw, Shivani Rana and Qynce Chumley; and (bottom row, from left) Sharat Kamath, Cydney Martell, Hayleigh Alamo, Nkatha Mwenda, Cecilia Ringo and Molly Brueger. Winners not pictured include Tapiwa Chikungwa, Joy Lim, Amanda Moss, Sharif Shaker and JayLashay Young.
The selection committee, consisting of Associate Deans of Students Karen Joshua-Wathel and Dana Jansma, asked faculty and staff through a letter in December to nominate students, while noting an exemplary nominee isn’t necessarily the “team captain” or “organization president.”
“The individual may be the person who always seems to have a positive attitude, is consistently involved in helping a group move forward, serves as a continual role model to other students, and who shows dedication, even in times of adversity,” the letter said.
The Senior Leadership Recognition Award winners represent talented athletes, outstanding academic performers, members of the President’s Student Ambassadors and student-organization standouts.
Here are the honorees along with brief statements from their nominators:
Hayleigh Alamo, nominated by Softball Coach Kelli Duimstra:
“Hayleigh is a third-year softball team captain, which speaks to her natural leadership ability and how much her teammates look up to her. … She is the person who connects every person on our team.”
Lauren Arquette, nominated by Assistant Professor of Political Science Justin Berry:
“Lauren is one of the strongest students with whom I’ve had the opportunity to work.”
Max Aulbach, nominated by Assistant Professor of Political Science Justin Berry:
“Max is a very strong and committed student. … The regularity and quality of his contributions to classroom discussions are unmatched.”
Jacob Bonifacio, nominated by Men’s Lacrosse Coach Vince Redko:
“More than any other player, I can rely on Jake to do the right thing and encourage others to be their best.”
Molly Brueger, nominated by Women’s Soccer Coach Bryan Goyings and Wen Chao Chen Associate Professor of East Asian Social Sciences Dennis Frost:
“Molly is an exceptional individual excelling in the classroom, on the soccer field and internationally. She is diligent, generous, intelligent, selfless and kind.”
Alexander Cadigan, nominated by Computer Science Chair Alyce Brady, Computer Science Associate Professor Pam Cutter and Men’s Tennis Coach Mark Riley:
“K is a better place because of Alex’s leadership as a [resident assistant], a [teaching assistant] in computer science, and as a mentor.”
Tapiwa Chikungwa, nominated by Residential Life Area Coordinator Erika Perry, and Alison Geist, Teresa Denton, Moises Hernandez and Emily Kowey of the Center for Civic Engagement:
“As a third-year [resident assistant], Tapiwa’s contributions have been invaluable. … Her authentic servant leadership has been an incredible asset. … As a Civic Engagement Scholar, she brings deeply informed and compassionate perspectives.”
“The scope of Qynce’s mentoring, leadership and initiative is notable, … a distinct example of living an authentic, undaunted existence.”
Anthony Diep Rosas, nominated by Dow Distinguished Professor in the Natural Sciences Jan Tobochnik (physics) and Residential Life Area Coordinator Ashley Knapp:
“He uses his position to advocate for those without a voice.”
“Emma’s combination of quiet confidence and a genuine desire to help others has enabled her to effectively lead a diverse group of peers as president of [the Kalamazoo College Council of Student Representatives].”
Ian Freshwater, nominated by Assistant Dean of Students Brian Dietz:
“Ian has done fantastic work serving on student government since his first year and has taken on key roles throughout.”
Sarah George, nominated by Women’s Soccer Coach Bryan Goyings:
“Sarah is an extraordinary individual excelling at K in the classroom, on the soccer field and in the community.”
Sharat Kamath, nominated by Chief Information Officer Greg Diment, Kalamazoo College Fund Associate Director Sandy Dugal, and Alison Geist, Teresa Denton, Moises Hernandez and Emily Kowey of the Center for Civic Engagement:
“He works respectfully to build a more accepting, inclusive community.”
Sabrina Leddy, nominated by Chemistry Professor Regina Stevens-Truss:
“Sabrina has been a leader/mentor of the [American Chemical Society] student group since her sophomore year.”
Joy Lim, nominated by Study Abroad Adviser Alayna Lewis:
“Joy stands out as a leader, from the roles she has held to the manner in which she conducts herself and encourages others.”
Nicholas Ludka, nominated by Men’s Golf Coach Mitch Wilson:
“Nick is one of the top ambassadors for K and the [Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) ]. … He’s a two-time co-captain of the golf team and will finish his career as one of the top three Hornet golfers of all time.”
Cydney Martell, nominated by Interim Provost Laura Furge:
“A highly gifted scientist. … Simply the best combination possible of compassion, empathy, kindness, ability and intelligence.”
Ian McKnight, nominated by Assistant Professor of Political Science Justin Berry, Residential Life Area Coordinator Erika Perry, Assistant Dean of Students Brian Dietz and Kalamazoo College Fund Associate Director Sandy Dugal:
“What makes Ian stand out beyond being a strong student is the degree to which he commits not only to his personal growth, but also the broader community.”
Hannah Meyers, nominated by Women’s Lacrosse Coach Jessica Smith:
“Hannah is a two-year captain of the lacrosse team and a fantastic leader…she is the first player to offer assistance to younger players on and off the field.”
Zachary Morales, nominated by Men’s Lacrosse Coach Vince Redko:
“He has been instrumental in launching lacrosse at the College and he was our first All-MIAA selection in program history.”
Amanda Moss, nominated by L. Lee Stryker Associate Professor of Business Management Amy MacMillan, Women’s Basketball Coach Katie Miller and Women’s Lacrosse Coach Jessica Smith:
“Amanda is a dedicated leader in the classroom, on the basketball court, on the lacrosse field, and in the community. … She co-founded Sports Business Club. … She is a tenacious go-getter who sets an example of excellence for other students.”
Nkatha Mwenda, nominated by Biology Assistant Professor Anne Engh and Kalamazoo College Fund Associate Director Sandy Dugal:
“She embodies the sort of inclusive, cooperative leadership that we need in the world.”
Marco Ponce, nominated by Biology Professor Ann Fraser:
“Marco demonstrates commitment, fortitude and perseverance in all that he does. … He is gifted and the longest serving research assistant I had over my 16 years at the College.”
Shivani Rana, nominated by Assistant Dean of Students Brian Dietz:
“Shivani always comes to the table with a positive disposition, a genuine care for others, and a strong desire to make things better.”
“While always acting with integrity, she found ways to encourage others to expand their thinking and learn more about themselves.”
Sharif Shaker, nominated by Computer Science Chair Alyce Brady, Computer Science Associate Professor Pam Cutter, Swimming and Diving Coach Jay Daniels and Kalamazoo College Fund Associate Director Sandy Dugal:
“Sharif sets an example of dedicated and self-motivated learning … He is bright and is among the best writers we’ve ever seen.”
“Regina is a professional, thoughtful student leader and our entire career development team appreciates her positive demeanor, facilitation skills, and willingness to represent the department.”
Allen Vinson, nominated by Men’s Tennis Coach Mark Riley:
“Allen pushes his teammates to do the little things to be outstanding student athletes.”
Jordan Wiley, nominated by Baseball Coach Michael Ott and Kalamazoo College Fund Associate Director Sandy Dugal:
“Jordan had flourished and become one of our top academic, athletic and leadership examples we have in the baseball program. … As a President’s Student Ambassador, he is gracious and possesses an outstanding attitude.”
JayLashay Young, nominated by Assistant Dean of Students Brian Dietz:
“Jay is the epitome of the type of enlightened leaders we hope all K graduates become. … She created the Kalamazoo Dance Team and is a leader in student activities. … She is a unique combination of dedication, perseverance and optimism.”
The Kalamazoo College Festival Playhouse’s 55th season, featuring the theme of Assumption and Confusion, continues this week with the powerful play Student Body.
Kalamazoo College students rehearse for Student Body, which runs Thursday, Feb. 21-Sunday, Feb. 24, at the Nelda K. Balch Festival Playhouse.
Written by Frank Winters and directed by Visiting Theatre Arts Assistant Professor Bianca Washington, the play approaches complicated ethical questions when a college student wakes up after a party in her parents’ house and finds a video on her camera of a sexual encounter. The woman in the video might or might not be unconscious as others watch, leading the 10 characters, consisting of seven women and three men, to debate whether a sexual assault has occurred and who they should tell about it.
“The setting is written to be a university in the middle of nowhere, but the director made a bold decision to place it at K,” said Ynika Yuag ’21, who noted that some of the characters will wear Kalamazoo College apparel.
In her role as a dramaturg, Yuag is responsible for working with the director on background research and how current events and perspectives might inform or shape the production. “K isn’t exactly the middle of nowhere,” she said, “but the campus is small enough that we all get to know each other, which really makes [the production] personal. The more I work on it, the more I realize how it fits the theme of Assumption and Confusion.”
The performances are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 21 through Saturday, Feb. 23, with a 2 p.m. showing on Sunday, Feb. 24. Yuag said a lobby display with interactive elements will allow audience members to engage with ideas related to the play through proxy stations before and after the show. Plus, there will be talkback sessions featuring facilitators and cast members after each show. The scheduled facilitators include:
Thursday: Ellen Lassiter Collier, K’s Title IX coordinator and director of gender equity
Friday: Dramaturg Ynika Yuag and Assistant Director Karishma Singh ’19; American College Theatre Festival adjudicator Derik McNish of Michigan State University will also provide a critique of the show after the talkback
Be advised, there is strong language and a graphic discussion of sexual violence in the show.
Tickets for all four shows at the Nelda K. Balch Playhouse are available by visiting festivalplayhouse.ludus.com or by calling 269.337.7333. Adults are $15, seniors are $10 and students are $5 with an ID. Kalamazoo College students, faculty and staff are admitted free with their College IDs.
Three from a Kalamazoo College contingent of 15 who attended were recently honored with awards at the 51st annual Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival regional event in Madison, Wisconsin.
Kate Kreiss (clockwise from lower left), Teyia Artis and Rebecca Chan were Kalamazoo College representatives recently honored with awards at the American College Theatre Festival in Madison, Wisconsin.
During the festival, theater students from across Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin presented their work to industry professionals, participated in workshops, attended performances and competed for awards and scholarships. The three students who collected specific awards were:
Kate Kreiss ’19 and Rebecca Chan ’22 who competed in the Institute for Theatre Journalism Advocacy (ITJA) events; and
Teyia Artis ’21, who competed in the Stage Management Fellowship category.
The ITJA events allowed Kreiss and Chan to participate in a series of seminars focusing on theater criticism and how it’s changing with technology. Both wrote deadline-oriented critiques and responses about shows they watched each night, targeting a general audience of event attendees with their work.
Kreiss earned runner-up honors from event faculty.
“It was a hugely beneficial experience that truly married journalism with activism and encouraged us to use our critiques to advocate for what we as writers and artists felt needed to be put on stage,” Kreiss said, adding she advocates for thoughtfully-done stories that reflect modern life.
Fifteen students represented Kalamazoo College at the American College Theatre Festival in Madison, Wisconsin.
“As a senior, receiving an honorable mention from ITJA and participating in the course has shown me a way to marry my theatre arts and English majors, and has offered me with a career path that I hadn’t considered,” Kreiss said.
Chan was given top honors as the ITJA nominee from Region III. In other words, she is eligible to become one of four students selected for the national American College Theatre Festival this year in Washington, D.C.
“It was a lot of work, and a lot of late nights, but the experience was wonderful,” Chan said. “Attending the workshop helped me discover a new skill, theater criticism, and it’s now something I really enjoy. Without the support and encouragement of the Theatre Arts Department, I probably wouldn’t have ever seen myself as a potential theater critic. Now, I’m excited to keep practicing this craft, and hopefully, I’ll move on to nationals.”
Artis was initially awarded a certificate of merit from the American College Theatre Festival for her work with “It Can’t Happen Here,” the Festival Playhouse production in fall 2018. That honor allowed Artis to submit a prompt book from the show to the Region III event in Madison, where student stage managers received feedback from professionals. Her honor from those professionals provides her with a Stage Management Fellowship certificate and a book consisting of tools for stage-management success.
“It means a lot to me because it shows that the judges took time to look through my prompt book and saw what needed improvement,” Artis said. “I truly appreciate the textbook as it will guide me to my future career as a stage manager.”
According to its website, The Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival “showcases the finest in university theater across the nation. Through eight regional festivals plus the national festival in Washington, D.C., the festival celebrates artistic excellence and offers students individual recognition through awards and scholarships in playwriting, acting, dramatic criticism, theatre management, directing and design.”
The festival aims to:
Celebrate the finest and most diverse work produced in college and university theater programs;
Encourage the production of new plays, especially those written by students and experimental works alongside revitalized or newly conceived classics;
Help participants develop their theater skills and achieve professionalism; and
Improve the quality of college and university theater in the U.S.
Learn more about the Region III Festival at its website.
Learn more about Theatre Arts at Kalamazoo College at our website.
Sophié and Pierre Westhuizen, also known as the Westhuizen Duo, will perform in a free concert Friday, Feb. 1, at Dalton Theater in the Light Fine Arts Building at Kalamazoo College.
An international piano duo known for playing at major festivals and venues throughout the U.S., will perform at 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 1, at Dalton Theater in the Light Fine Arts Center. South Africans Pierre and Sophié Westhuizen, acclaimed as the Westhuizen Duo, will perform works from Schubert, Brahms, Debussy, Poulenc and Corigliano.
Since completing their educations at the College-Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati, the pianists have settled in the Kalamazoo area, where Pierre has recently been appointed the director of the International Gilmore Keyboard Festival. Sophié has joined the applied faculty at Kalamazoo College, where she is teaching collaborative piano.
In summer 2007, the Westhuizens were the first duo to be featured as Shouse Artists at the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival in Michigan, where they shared the stage with artists such as Ann Schein, Jeremy Denk and James Tocco.
The concert is free and open to the public. For more information on this concert and other Music Department events, contact Susan Lawrence at 269-337-7070 or Susan.Lawrence@kzoo.edu.
