Greening On

Kalamazoo College Students Complete Green Dot Training
Twenty-four K students completed Green Dot bystander training in late April.

Twenty-four Kalamazoo College students and five K employee Green Dot-certified trainers launched the College’s first bystander training session on April 29. It’s one of several early steps toward the goal of a “greening” that will be year-round, forever.

Green Dot is a national prevention program that has proven effective in significantly reducing the likelihood of dating and domestic violence, stalking and sexual assault. Essential to the program’s effectiveness are bystanders, people trained to safely interrupt or prevent harmful precursor behaviors associated with dating violence, stalking and sexual assault. In the program’s iconography, a red dot is any person’s choice to harm another person with words or actions. In any environment, or map, enough red dots create a norm where violence is tolerated. Green dots are small actions to intervene when a red dot is occurring or to prevent the likelihood of red dots at all. Small as they may be, Green Dot words and actions draw their power from the large numbers of people who commit to speak or do them. Together, enough Green Dots can change “worlds,” small and large. And one of those worlds will be Kalamazoo College.

In late March some 30 faculty, staff and administrators completed four days of Green Dot “College Curriculum” training, which certified them to do bystander training for K students and overview training for K faculty and staff. One month—and a lot of preparation and practice—later the first bystander training took place in the Olmsted Room. It included students identified by their peers as well-respected and influential.

“The 24 students were highly engaged throughout the training,” said Ellen Lassiter Collier, Director of Gender Equity at K. “This was a day-long event in the middle of a busy spring term, yet no one left the session.” In fact, at least three students reported applying Green Dot interventions at parties or other events that very weekend.

“To establish a norm where the intolerance of violence is immediately and plainly evident—and a culture where everyone does their part to maintain that norm—will require a critical mass of K community members,” said Lassiter Collier. “Many times it will be students who are most likely to be present in settings and situations where ‘red dots’ tend to occur. Students trained as bystanders are absolutely indispensable, so we were very gratified by the participation of these 24 early adopters.”

Additional student bystander training is scheduled for the fall, and the “first” 24 will have contributed to the success of those sessions by providing the names of several score of other influential and well-respected students who will be invited to the fall training.

In concert with the effort to train a critical mass of student bystanders, employee Green Dot-certified trainers also will work with faculty and staff this spring and early and continuing into the fall.

The bystander trainers who joined Lassiter Collier on April 29 were Andrew Grayson ’10, Admission; Laura Livingstone-McNelis ’89, Department of Theatre Arts; Leslie Burke, Information Services; and Morgan Mahdavi ’14, Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership.

The 24 students included Julia Plomer ¹18, Maddie Tracey ¹17, Sidney Wall ’17, Cody Colvin ’18, Douglas Robinett ’17, Leah Finelli ’18, Ashley Henne ’17, Sep’Tisha Riley ’18, Kourtney Johnson ’17, Tenley Mustonen ’17, Amber Salome ’18, Colleen Orwin ’17, Elizabeth Clevenger ’17, James Paprocki ’18, Alex Dykema ’19, Kiavanne Williams ’18, Lilia Robins ’18, Colleen Corrigan ’17, Kaiya Herman Hilker ’19, Sophie Higdon ’19, Roger Hood ’18, Rose Maylen ’19, Malak Ghazal ’19 and Lezlie Lull ’20.

Funding for Kalamazoo College’s Green Dot efforts comes from the State of Michigan Campus Sexual Assault Grant Program.

K Professor Co-Edits ‘Computational Neurology and Psychiatry’

Péter Érdi, the Henry R. Luce Professor of Complex Systems Studies, is the co-editor of a new book titled “Computational Neurology and Psychiatry.” He also is the co-author — along with two K alumni, Takumi Matsuzawa ’16 and Tibin John ’15 — of a paper included in that book. The paper is titled “Connecting Epilepsy and Alzheimer’s Disease: Modeling of Normal and Pathological Rhythmicity and Synaptic Plasticity Related to Amyloidβ (Aβ) Effects.”

Computational Neurology and Psychiatry
Péter Érdi is the co-editor of a new book titled “Computational Neurology and Psychiatry.”

Sometimes seeing more is a matter of new ways of looking. Such “new ways of looking” include the emerging scientific fields of computational neurology and computational psychiatry. The key word is “computational.” Researchers apply math and computer science to create computer models that simulate brain structures and brain activities associated with specific disorders (epilepsy and Alzheimer’s disease, for example). Such simulations and new techniques of analyzing the copious amount of data that emerges from such simulations have the potential to reveal elements of brain structure and function associated with disease and disorders, elements that have heretofore been a mystery. In other words, these “new ways of looking” may result in seeing what’s never been seen before.

Computer modeling also offers advantages of cost and convenience compared to older ways (animal experimentation and laboratory set-up) of trying to model and see brain structure and (mal)function.

A book that pioneers these new scientific fields is exciting and important, says Péter:  “Adopting advanced computational methods such as modeling and data processing raises hopes that one day we will more effectively treat neurological and psychiatric disorders.”

In other news, Péter has been appointed vice president for membership of the International Neural Network Societies.

Wilderness Leaders

Wilderness Leadership ConferenceTwenty-four K students attended the Midwest Outdoor Leadership Conference recently, hosted by Central Michigan University and Mystic Lake YMCA Camp. Six K seniors presented four different workshops at the conference. Workshops and presenters included: Wilderness Solitude as a Rite of Passage for Emerging Adults (William Bartz, adapted from his Senior Individualized Project work), Meaningful Program Elements of Kalamazoo College’s LandSea Outdoor Orientation Program (Sharayu Salvi, adapted from Sharayu’s SIP work), Title IX and Outdoor Education (Emily Kowey and Danielle Gin, adapted from Emily’s SIP work), and Building Top Rope Climbing Anchors (Josh Cho and Siwook Hwang).

Senior Leaders

Senior Leadership Award, Class of 2017, Kalamazoo College.Thirty-five Kalamazoo College seniors (class of 2017) were honored with the institution’s prestigious Senior Leadership Award. These remarkable individuals include teaching assistants, peer instruction leaders, resident assistants, team captains, all-conference and academic all-American selections, Dean’s List honorees, student ambassadors for the president of Kalamazoo College, departmental student advisors, Center for Career and Professional Development career associates, and interfaith student leaders. One has even served as the mascot, Buzz the Hornet.

They lead or participate in groups that include, among others, Sisters in Science, Frelon Dance Troupe, College Singers, Young Men of Color, Black Student Organization, Coalition for Reproductive Justice, Hillel, Swim for Success, the Cauldron, Health Professions Society, and the Athletic Leadership Council. Some have distinguished themselves as Hornet athletes in golf, soccer, softball, baseball, tennis, basketball and swimming; as performers in theatre and music; and as persons committed to thinking, listening and acting in collaboration on behalf of civic engagement and social justice.

Above all, these 35 individuals are, as one nominator wrote, “exemplary human beings.” Congratulations, seniors. Pictured are (l-r): front row–Moises Hernandez (holding his son Gael), Emily Levy, Marlon Gonzalez, Lauren Perlaki, Elizabeth Clevenger, Jacob Scott, Dana DeVito, Colleen Orwin; second row–Thaddeus Buttrey, Grace Smith, Kathleen Sorensen, Allie Brodsky, Suma Alzouhayli; third row–Allia Howard, Sarah Bragg, Kayla Dziadzio, Suzanne Miller, Sabrina Dass, Gabrielle Holme-Miller, Emily Kowey; fourth row–Melissa Erikson, Anh-Tu Vu, Riley Boyd, Ellie Goldman, Erin DuRoss; back row–Nate Donovan, Eric DeWitt, Douglas Robinett, David Smith, and Sidney Wall. Not pictured are Sarah Glass, Chenxi Lu, Leland Merrill, Branden Metzler, and Lindsay Worthington.

Photo by Anthony Dugal

College Celebrates Honors Day

Honors Day soloist Lauren Landman and President Jorge Gonzalez
Honors Day soloist Lauren Landman and President Jorge Gonzalez

Kalamazoo College Family Weekend served as backdrop for the College’s annual Honors Day convocation. More than 250 students were recognized for excellence in academics and leadership in six divisions: Fine Arts, Foreign Languages, Humanities, Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Social Sciences and Physical Education. Recipients of prestigious scholarships were recognized as were members of national honor societies and students who received special Kalamazoo College recognition awards. In addition, student athletes and teams who have won Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association awards were feted. The students who received awards or recognition are listed below.

 

 

FINE ARTS DIVISION

THE BRIAN GOUGEON PRIZE IN ART, awarded to a sophomore student who, during his or her first year, exhibited outstanding achievement and potential in art.
Kaiya Herman-Hilker
Qynce Chumley

LILLIAN PRINGLE BALDAUF PRIZE IN MUSIC, awarded to an outstanding music student.
John Bowman
Christopher Coburn
Matthew Peters
Madeline Lauver

COOPER AWARD for a junior or senior showing excellence in a piece of creative work in a theatre arts class: film, acting, design, stagecraft, puppetry, speech.
Quincy Crosby

THEATRE ARTS FIRST-YEAR STUDENT AWARD, given to a sophomore for outstanding departmental efforts during the first year.
Kate Kreiss
Robert Davis
Maren Prophit
Louise Thomas

FOREIGN LANGUAGES DIVISION

LeGRAND COPLEY PRIZE IN FRENCH, awarded to a sophomore who, as a first-year student, demonstrated the greatest achievement in French.
Lauren Arquette
Danny Horwitz

HARDY FUCHS AWARD, given for excellence in first-year German.
Emma Eisenbeis

MARGO LIGHT AWARD, given for excellence in second- or third-year German.
Eric Thornburg

ROMANCE LANGUAGES DEPARTMENT PRIZE IN SPANISH, awarded for excellence in the first year in Spanish.
Kate Kreiss
Daniel Cho

CLARA H. BUCKLEY PRIZE FOR EXCELLENCE IN LATIN, awarded to an outstanding student of the language of the ancient Romans.
Emma Peters

CLASSICS DEPARTMENT PRIZE IN GREEK, awarded to an outstanding student in the language of the ancient Greeks.
Brittany Jones

PROVOST’S PRIZE IN CLASSICS, awarded to that student who writes the best essay on a classical subject.
Danielle Gin

HUMANITIES DIVISION

O.M. ALLEN PRIZE IN ENGLISH, given for the best essay written by a member of the first-year class.
Kate Kreiss

JOHN B. WICKSTROM PRIZE IN HISTORY, awarded for excellence in the first year’s work in history.
Mackenzie Callahan

L.J. AND EVA (“GIBBIE”) HEMMES MEMORIAL PRIZE IN PHILOSOPHY, awarded to that sophomore who, in the first year, showed the greatest promise for continuing studies in philosophy.
Katherine Bennett
Garrett Sander

NATURAL SCIENCES AND MATHEMATICS DIVISION

WINIFRED PEAKE JONES PRIZE IN BIOLOGY, awarded for excellence in the first year’s work in biology.
Min Soo Kim
Cydney Martell
Maggie Smith

DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY PRIZE, awarded for excellence in the first year’s work in chemistry.
Meghan Horal

FIRST-YEAR CHEMISTRY AWARD, awarded to a sophomore student who, during the first year, demonstrated great achievement in chemistry.
Anthony Diep
Nicholas Ludka

LEMUEL F. SMITH AWARD, given to a student majoring in chemistry, pursuing the American Chemical Society approved curriculum, and having at the end of the junior year the highest average standing in courses taken in chemistry, physics and mathematics.
Collin Steen

COMPUTER SCIENCE PRIZE, awarded for excellence in the first year’s work in computer science.
Hans Wieland

FIRST-YEAR MATHEMATICS AWARD, given annually to the sophomore student who, during the first year, demonstrated the greatest achievement in mathematics.
Dahwi Kim
Allegra Allgeier

THOMAS O. WALTON PRIZE IN MATHEMATICS, awarded to a member of the junior class for excellence in the work of the first two years in mathematics.
Abhay Goel

COOPER PRIZE IN PHYSICS, given for excellence in the first year’s work in physics.
Kayla Park
Ricardo DelOlmo-Parrado

SOCIAL SCIENCES DIVISION

DEPARTMENTAL PRIZE IN ANTHROPOLOGY AND SOCIOLOGY, awarded for excellence during the first and/or second year’s work.
Paige Tobin
Meghan Horal
Hannah Muscara
Adam Edery
Benjamin Smith

C. WALLACE LAWRENCE PRIZE IN ECONOMICS, awarded annually to a economics student who has done outstanding work in the Department of Economics and Business during the sophomore year.
Maria Franco
Hannah Kline
Logan Smith

C. WALLACE LAWRENCE PRIZE IN BUSINESS, awarded annually to a business student who has done outstanding work in the Department of Economics and Business during the sophomore year.
Cody Colvin
Jacob Wasko
Alex White

IRENE AND S. KYLE MORRIS PRIZE, awarded for excellence in the first year’s courses in the Department of Economics and Business.
Christopher Coburn
Rachel Frank
Evelyn Wagner

WILLIAM G. HOWARD MEMORIAL PRIZE, awarded for excellence in any year’s work in political science.
Lauren Arquette

DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY FIRST-YEAR STUDENT PRIZE, awarded for excellence in the first year’s work in psychology.
Michelle Alba

MARSHALL HALLOCK BRENNER PRIZE, given by the family and friends in memory of Marshall Hallock Brenner, class of 1955, to be awarded to an outstanding junior for excellence in the study of psychology.
Kyle Hernandez

PHYSICAL EDUCATION DIVISION

DIVISION OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION PRIZE, awarded to those students who, as first-year students, best combined leadership and scholarship in promoting athletics, physical education and recreation.
Jordan Wiley
Amanda Moss
Cheyenne Allyn-White

MAGGIE WARDLE PRIZE, awarded to that sophomore woman whose activities at the College reflect the values that Maggie Wardle demonstrated in her own life. The recipient will show a breadth of involvement in the College through her commitment to athletics and to the social sciences and/or community service.
Malak Ghazal

COLLEGE AWARDS

GORDON BEAUMONT MEMORIAL AWARD, awarded to the student who displays qualities of selflessness, humanitarian concern and a willingness to help others, as exemplified in the life of Gordon Beaumont.
Sarah Bragg
Mireya Guzman-Ortiz

HENRY AND INEZ BROWN PRIZE, awarded in recognition of outstanding participation in the College community.
Sidney Wall

VIRGINIA HINKELMAN MEMORIAL AWARD, awarded to a student who displays a deep concern for the well-being of children, as demonstrated through career goals in the field of child welfare.
Moises Hernandez

HEYL SCHOLARS – CLASS OF 2020

Taylor Ashby
Kento Hirakawa
Matthew Krinock
Samuel Maddox
Shukrani Nsenga
Michael Orwin
Marjorie Wolfe
Julie Zabik

POSSE SCHOLARS – CLASS OF 2020

Iffat Chowdhury
Fabien Debies
Neelam Lal
Madisyn mahoney
Israel Mazas
Joseph Ney-Jun
Melissa Pasillas
Cesar Soria
Gabriel Ugarte
Raphaela Varella

NATIONAL MERIT SCHOLAR – CLASS OF 2020

John Patton

ALPHA LAMBDA DELTA – CLASS OF 2019

Alpha Lambda Delta is a national honor society that recognizes excellence in academic achievement during the first college year. To be eligible for membership, students must earn a cumulative GPA of at least 3.5 and be in the top 20 percent of their class during the first year.

Lauren Arquette
Meredith Ashton
Max Aulbach
Katherine Bennett
Kevin Bhimani
Emily Boyle
Moly Brueger
Mackenzie Callahan
Tapiwa Chikungwa
Heeseong Cho
Jennifer Cho
Christopher Coburn
Ricardo DelOlmo-Parrado
Anthony Diep
Emma Eisenbeis
McKinzie Ervin
Alex Fairhall
Rachel Frank
Ian Freshwater
Sarah George
Natalie Gratsch
Claire Greening
Meghan Horal
Sadie Jackson
Min Soo Kim
Mackenzie Landman
Madeline Lauver
Hyunyn Lim
Sara Lonsberry
Nicholas Ludka
Cydney Martell
Abigail McDonough
Jacob Mooradian
Emma Mullenax
Kayla Park
Andrew Parsons
Cecilia Ringo
Skylar Rizzolo
Scott Roberts
Timothy Rutledge
Austin Smith
Benjamin Smith
Margaret Smith
Natalie Thompson
Evenly Wagner
Ailih Weeldreyer

ENLIGHTENED LEADERSHIP AWARDS

ARCUS CENTER FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE LEADERSHIP
Donovan Williams

CREATIVE EXPRESSION IN JOURNALISM
Emiliana Renuart
Maia Taylor

CREATIVE EXPRESSION IN MUSIC
Anna Christinidis
Liam Fries
Joshua Gibson
Kathryn Martin
Boemin Park
Orly Rubinfeld

CREATIVE EXPRESSION IN VISUAL ARTS
Georgie Andrews
Brianna Burnell
Lizi Chinchilakashvili
Nutsa Chinchilakashvili

CIVIC ENGAGEMENT
Lakshya Choudhary
Shiva Sah

ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVISM AND SUSTAINABILITY
Aiden Voss
Madeline Ward

MICHIGAN INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION (MIAA) AWARDS

The following Hornet teams earned the 2015-2016 MIAA Team GPA Award. Team members achieved a 3.3 or better grade point average for the entire academic year.

Men’s Golf
Men’s Soccer
Men’s Tennis
Women’s Basketball
Women’s Golf
Women’s Lacrosse
Women’s Soccer
Women’s Volleyball

MIAA ACADEMIC HONOR ROLL

The MIAA each year honors students at member colleges who achieve distinction on the classroom and in athletic competition. Students need to be a letter winner in a varsity sport and maintain at minimum 3.5 grade point average for the entire school year.

Michael Allen
Kelsey Adamski
Ryan Andrusz
Elizabeth Arellano
Lauren Arquette
Alberto Ayala
Sonal Bahl
Victoria Beehler
Kennedy Boulton
Riley Boyd
Allie Brodsky
Molly Brueger
Thomas Bryant
Hayley Buckhout
Matthew Burczyk
Janice Burnett
Alex Cadigan
Kathryn Callaghan
Olivia Cares
Charlie Carson
Katherine Cebelak
Madeleine  Chilcote
Cody Colvin
Anthony Convertino
Anna Dairaghi
Christina Dandar
Elan Dantus
Sabrina Dass
Eric De Witt
Ricardo DelOlmo-Parrado
Dana DeVito
Cecilia DiFranco
Mikayla Doepker
Guillermo Dominguez Garcia
Alivia DuQuet
Erin DuRoss
John Dynes
Charles Edick
Emma Eisenbeis
Rachel Epstein
Angelia Evangelista
Kevin Ewing
Andrew Feeley
George Fishback
Matthew Fitz
Chris Francis
Maria Franco
Ian Freshwater
Brett Garwood
Sarah George
Camille Giacobone
Emily Good
Evan  Gorgas
Monica Gorgas
Kyle Hahn
Griffin Hamel
Jordan Henning
Kaiya Herman-Hilker
Kyle Hernandez
Samantha Hicks
Megan Hoinville
Shelby Hopper
Allia Howard
Robert Hudson
Nicole Huff
Julia Hulbert
Jordan Jabara
Clare Jensen
Claire Kalina
Spencer Kennedy
Kelsey Kerbawy
Benjamin Kileen
Dahwi Kim
William Kirchen
Hannah Kline
Emily  Kozal
Stefan Leclerc
Da Bin Lee
Jacob Lindquist
Jordan Loredo
Nick Ludka
Megan Malish
Sarah Manski
Nicholas Marsh
Cydney Martell
Mallory McClure
Alexander McDonnell
Thomas McLravy
Madison Moote
Christopher Muir
Victoria Najacht
Jonathan Nord
Skyler Norgaard
Mackenzie Norman
Andrew Novetsky
Michael Oravetz
Alexandria Oswalt
Dylan Padget
Dana Page
James Paprocki
Bradley Popiel
Nicole Prentice
Megan Riley
Phillip Ritchie
Scott Roberts
Sophie Roberts
William Roberts
Rebecca Rogers
Anna Roodbergen
Keigan Ryckman
Matthew Ryder
Mason Sarosi
Ashley Schiffer
Grady Schneider
Eleanor Schodowski
Aaron Schwark
Cameron Schwartz
Jacob Scott
Lauren Seroka
Sharif Shaker
Claire Slaughter
Grace Smith
Kathleen Sorenson
Sophia Spencer
Vethania Stavropoulos
Mira Swearer
Lily Talmers
Alexander Townsend
Lydia Turke
Elizabeth Tyburski
Kaela Van Til
David  Vanderkloot
Jacob Waier
Kyra Walenga
Jacob Wasko
John Wehr
Alex White
Joshua Whitney
Hans Wieland
Jordan Wiley
Madeline Woods
Sarah Woods
Brent Yelton
Matthew Zhiss

 

Leaders off to Leadership Conference

Leaders off to Leadership ConferenceMalak Ghazal ’19 (left), Ian Freshwater ’19 and Jazzilyn Dubois ’17 are pictured on the plane en route to attend the annual Student Government Institute hosted by the National Association for Campus Activities.  This year’s conference will be held at the University of Oregon, and these three Hornets will join students from around the country to hone their leadership skills and learn strategies to effectively manage student government and represent student needs.  Ghazal, Freshwater, and Dubois all served on the Interim Body of Student Representatives during the 2015-16 academic year, and are involved in ongoing work to redefine student government at Kalamazoo College in an effort to best meet needs of the current student body.

Exceptional Leaders Feted

Senior Leadership Award winners 2016

Kalamazoo College honored 32 soon-to-graduate students with its prestigious Senior Leadership Recognition Award. During the course of the last four years these individuals have distinguished themselves as athletes, student workers, admission volunteers, resident assistants, civic engagement scholars, social justice advocates, teaching assistants, artists, writers, musicians, LandSea leaders, tutors, mentors, translators, lab assistants, officers and members of student organizations, departmental student advisors and research assistants. They have made Kalamazoo College a better place for all. They have, in the words of one nominator, “bridged worlds and forged connections” with their particular gifts and shared love of humankind. Pictured are (l-r): first row–Victoria Orsorio, Lizbeth Mendoza Pineda, Samantha Luna, Shannon Haupt, Yessica Hernandez, Elizabeth Fiator; second row–Honey Sumon (not an awardee herself, but a close friend and guest of one of the recipients), Susmitha Daggubati, Kelly Trehorne, Victoria Najacht; third row–Pornkamol Huang, Elizabeth Tyburski, Chloe Mpinga, Alexis Martin-Browne, Kelsey Adamski; fourth row–Immanuel Greene, Sarah Woods, Hadley Harrison; fifth row–Elizabeth Lenning, McKenna Bramble, Katherine Clark, Francisco Cabrera, Natalie Davenport; sixth row–Daria Lewis, Takumi Matsuzawa; back row–Nana-Yaw Aikins, Olivia Cares, Robert Hudson, and Justin Danzy. Not pictured are Michael Allen, Kevin Ewing, Mallika Mitra, and Lauren Seroka. (Photo by Tony Dugal)

Expanding Circles

Tennis player Katie Clark
Katie Clark ’16, tennis player and student leader

Senior tennis player Katie Clark ’16 would be lying if she said she wasn’t nervous or scared when she decided to jump ship from Fairfax, Va., after high school and attend Kalamazoo College.

But before she left, a close family friend gave her peace of mind and a thought that’s stuck with her to this day.

“This part of your life isn’t dying, your circle is just getting bigger,” the friend told her.

Clark’s circle has expanded exponentially since stepping on campus.

“Honestly, I didn’t know I was going to be happy here until I showed up the first day,” Clark said. “It was a little different that someone from the East Coast would go to this little funky school in Michigan called Kalamazoo. But I remember pulling up to campus and thinking ‘Oh, it’s actually so beautiful here and everyone seems really nice and maybe I’ll like it.’

“Turns out, I’ve always enjoyed it.”

Leading on and off the court
As an athlete, Clark’s circle grew quickly as she became immersed in the women’s tennis family, but she was also introduced to another area on campus because of her involvement with tennis.

“Two or three years ago my coach recognized that women’s tennis had never really played that significant of a role on the Athletic Leadership Council, so he recommended I start attending,” Clark said. “It was a really good fit because the goals and work that ALC does very much align with my personal reasons for wanting to be a student-athlete.”

Clark, ALC’s active secretary, said her time with ALC helped her establish her identity beyond “student” or “athlete.” The organization allows her to simply be a part of the Kalamazoo College community.
“ALC engages student athletes with community work such as working with Special Olympics, but it also creates and hosts events for the entire campus.”

As a senior member of ALC and the tennis team, Clark is excited to be able to help shape the culture of the campus and her team.

From the court to Congress
A history major and a political science minor, Clark secured an internship with Senior United States Senator Charles Schumer in the summer of 2014 on Capitol Hill.

Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Katie Clark
Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Katie Clark

When she arrived in Washington D.C. she learned her work would be primarily left up to her to figure out.

“Instead of the internship being very structured, it really was what you made out of it,” she said. “That’s one of the more valuable things I took away from my experience.

“Throughout my education, ever since kindergarten, people just give you things to do all the time and that’s a very easy thing to get accustomed to. On the other hand, working to find work for myself was  new to me.”

Her assigned tasks included fielding calls from constituents, answering questions about policy in a cordial manner, organizing the mail and also giving tours of the Capitol Building. Her most valuable experience came from the work she assigned herself.

“I would find senatorial briefings on my own and would go talk to the responsible staffer to ask if they wanted me to write a memo and do research on the subject.

“A lot of times the staffer wouldn’t actually need the memo, but the interaction was about establishing the connection and having them realize that you want to be there. When they actually did need help with something significant they knew that I was well versed in that subject.”

She enjoyed the experience, and the feeling was mutual–Clark returned to the same position the following summer.

Expanding globally

Katie Clark in Thailand
Katie Clark in Thailand

Thailand is a place many people never see in their lifetime, but Clark’s circle stretched across the globe when she decided to experience the country and culture during the fall and winter terms of her junior year.

Clark didn’t want to just be a student in an unfamiliar environment; she wanted to immerse herself within a community and learn from people with vastly different understandings of life.

“My program was predominantly experiential-based learning, so other than the first six weeks we were in the field the entire time,” she said. “We spent most of our time in host villages living and learning from different members of the community.”

The days’ events and tasks ranged from meeting with government officials and local business men and women, to helping families clean their roofs and taking children to school. The topics of discussion ranged from overfishing to gender and religion.

“I wanted to be enrolled in a study abroad program that would give me something I wouldn’t be able to get on my own,” Clark said.  Turns out that “something” was a deep connection to “communities and very rural areas in the mountains in northern Thailand.”

Growing beyond graduation
Using the experiences she’s had and the connections she’s made during her three and half years at K, Clark hopes to continue lengthening the radius of her circle as she begins to prepare for life after Kalamazoo.

“I have so many different areas of support here at K. School is something that I really value and enjoy. For my professors to be able to push me to be the best student I can be is special.
“Instead of just telling me ‘good work’ sometimes my professors will tell me ‘you can do better than this.’”

With her senior tennis season surely at the front of her mind and set to get underway in less than a month, her goal after graduation is to join the Peace Corps.

It’s safe to say–and Clark has no doubt–that wherever her path leads her next, she’ll be well-prepared.

(Text and photos by Kurt Miller, assistant sports information director)

Kalamazoo College Senior Leaders

This year’s senior leadership award winners are characterized by their service to communities and people and their ability to encourage the development of leadership in others. Thirty-five seniors were selected from more than 60 applicants, and both of those numbers set records in the 11 years of the Senior Leadership Recognition Award. Members of the 2015 class of extraordinary leaders include (l-r): front row–Jane Huffman, Jasmine An, Olivia Bouchard, Alexandra Gothard, Adriana Jarquin, Jenna Sexton; second row–Mary (Rosie) Tobin, Hannah Bogard, Natalie Melnick, Mele Makalo, Asia Morales, Bronte Payne, third row–Caroline Barnett, Haley Cartwright, Hannah Maness, Roxanna Menchaca, Elizabeth Cabrera, Shang Sun, David DeSimone; fourth row–Emily Lindsay, Scott Devine, Vageesha Liyana Gunawardana, Colin Smith, Philip Mulder; back row–Carl Ghafari, Samuel Rood, Adam Peters, Luke Winship, Stephen Oliphant, Mojtaba Akhavantafti, Ben Baker, and Scott Manski. Not pictured are Cheyenne Harvey, Allison Kennedy, and Hannah Olsen.

A “Big World” K Story

K graduates Idah Chungu and Charles Holmes
Fellow K graduates Idah Chungu (left) and Charles Holmes, M.D., M.P.H., in Lusaka, Zambia

Conventional wisdom holds that it’s a small world, but really it’s a big world with a lot of K in it. “A young woman came by my office to introduce herself,” wrote Charles Holmes ’93, M.D., M.P.H., the director and chief executive officer of the Centre for Infectious Disease Research (CIDRZ) in Zambia (Lusaka).

Charles was writing to his old biology professor, Paul Sotherland, the former professor of biology who now serves as the College’s coordinator of educational effectiveness. CIDRZ is a non-governmental organization that improves access to quality healthcare in Zambia through capacity development and implementation of sustainable public health programs. And the young woman who stopped by Charles’s office was Idah Chungu ’13, who earned her degree at K (economics) as an international student. She matriculated to K from Zambia.

Charles told Paul the rest of the story. “In a funny coincidence, my parents were biking through Kalamazoo a few months ago and my dad was wearing the Zambian soccer jersey that I gave him. Idah noticed the jersey and ran over to them to introduce herself and find out what he was doing wearing a Zambian soccer jersey in the middle of Michigan. He recommended that she stop by our offices once she was back in Lusaka, which led to yesterday’s meeting.”

Charles majored in biology at K (hence his strong connection to Paul). He completed medical school at Wayne State University, and internal medicine and infectious disease training at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Prior to his position in Lusaka, he was deeply involved in the global response against HIV disease and AIDS. He loves Zambia and its people. “I highly recommend a trip,” he wrote to Paul, ever the naturalist. “We saw African wild dogs and a pennant winged nightjar in Kafue National Park last weekend!”

Zambia is located in south eastern Africa, bordered by Angola on its west, and Zimbabwe and Mozambique on its east. Both far from and near to the epicenter of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa (Sierra Leone and Liberia). “We’re integrating some Ebola sensitization into our community work,” Charles wrote. “And we’re trying to put a team together to go west to help. It’s challenging because we’re always stretched thin simply running our own projects.”

After graduating from K, Idah worked for the College’s advancement division and for the Center for International Programs. She is currently looking for a job in Lusaka. Who knows, perhaps she and Charles will one day become colleagues. It is, after all, a big world with a lot of K in it.