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Memorial Service for Wen Chao Chen

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Wen Chao Chen
Dr. Wen Chao Chen

A memorial service to celebrate the life of Wen Chao Chen, one of Kalamazoo College’s most beloved professors and administrators, will be held Sunday Sept. 23 at 2:00 p.m. in Stetson Chapel on the Kalamazoo College campus. Speakers will include Eileen Wilson-Oyelaran, Timothy Light, Jack Hopkins, Joe Fugate, Milt Rohwer, and Alice Chen. A reception in the Hicks Student Center will follow.

Dr. Chen died Aug. 13 at age 92. During his 36-year career with the College, he served as professor of political science, librarian, director of academic services, dean of special services, vice president, acting president, and executive director of the L. Lee Stryker Center. He also held leadership roles in the Kalamazoo community, provided sage advice to many, possessed unfailingly good humor, and played a mean pinball.

Read more about Dr. Chen on the K website. Below are some special memories about this very special man. Leave your comments on K Facebook and at the Langeland Funeral Home online guest book.

 

Dr. Wen Chao Chen was an extraordinarily loving person. He especially loved Kalamazoo College and the Kalamazoo community. He worked tirelessly for decades to help make each the best it could be. Dr. Chen had a brilliant mind and a gift for bringing people together. He often said he felt fortunate to be embraced by the community, but the people who continue to be touched by his legacy know just how much his life enriched all of ours.

Eileen Wilson-Oyelaran
President, Kalamazoo College

When I first got to K, I went to see every current and retired faculty member. I had scheduled two hours for each. When I was through about thirty minutes with Chen, I cancelled the rest of my appointments. I found him fascinating in spades. He gave me a copy of his autobiography that I took home. I could not put it down: from his childhood in China, to receiving his degrees from America, to his coming to Kalamazoo, to his trying to get a haircut and being told that the shop was closing, to his returning to the shop the next morning to find that the barber was “out to lunch.” From that time on, his wife, Lilia, cut his hair. He was devoted to Kalamazoo College. I considered it an honor to know him. And he provided an example for everyone else to emulate.

James F. Jones, Jr.
President and Trinity College Professor in the Humanities
President, Kalamazoo College, 1996 – 2004

Dr. Chen played a vital role in the early years of my presidency, as I reduced the number of vice presidents and he became the vice president of everything. He had two sayings that I remember well. First was, “President responsible for money and students; faculty and staff do all the rest.” Second comment was that I should always wear the white hat, and he the black hat (an academic version of good cop-bad cop). He will be sorely missed by all of us who knew and worked with him.

David W. Breneman
Newton and Rita Meyers Professor in Economics of Education, University of Virginia
President, Kalamazoo College, 1983 – 1989

When President Jones was ending his tenure as president of K, and I was about to begin my role as acting president, Chen invited us to lunch and presented us with gifts. Jimmy’s was a very elegant farewell gift. Mine was three small refrigerator magnets each about the size of a walnut. They were replicas of warrior masks used in Chinese opera. He noted my puzzled expression as I unwrapped the last one, and then explained these masks would help me ward off the “evil spirits of bad administration.” They were red, yellow, and green, and with a twinkle in his eye he explained the power of each one. I kept them in the president’s desk for that year, looked at them frequently, and often asked what Chen would recommend at that moment. They worked. In the Provost’s Conference Room in Mandelle Hall hangs “Prexie’s Zodiac,” one of my paintings. In it, two of those masks are blown up to life size. They are there as a tribute to Chen—for his valuable guidance to many, his love of K, and his love for all those that make it a jewel. I miss him.

Bernard Palchick
Professor of Art, Emeritus
Acting President, Kalamazoo College, 2004 – 2005

I am one of many whom Chen mentored and whose career he fostered. His remarkable empathy extended to an instinctive knowledge of where the people whom he encountered were in their lives and how to relate to them. His insights were always remarkable and accurate, and his advice invariably wise. He had a unique talent to be fully present in dealing with individuals and also with groups of people. We in Kalamazoo have indeed been blessed by his presence over these 62 years.

Tim Light
Acting President, Kalamazoo College, 1989 – 1990

Dr. Chen was a humble and incredibly effective leader who was fearless and selfless in bringing sometimes contentious constituencies together – on campus or in the community – to find ways to collaborate. His kind, gentle, wise, persistent, caring, and wickedly funny manner defused tensions, minimized differences, led to creative partnerships, and served as an example to everyone blessed with the chance to work with him.

Phil Carra ’69
Kalamazoo College Trustee, Emeritus

I will miss Dr. Chen’s quiet, wise counsel and jovial laugh, both of which I have appreciated in my work with the Michigan Festival of Sacred Music (MFSM). This organization was created largely through his vision: he saw a need to increase community interaction and worked to bring community leaders together to help create MFSM. It is yet another example of his ability to make significant connections, even in his retirement. Perhaps the jovial laugh is my strongest impression of Dr. Chen: I remember it also from when I was a child—he always spent a little time entertaining us kids before joining the adults at parties. We are so lucky to have had him with us in Kalamazoo for so long.

Dr. Elizabeth Start
Executive Director, Michigan Festival of Sacred Music

I never was able to bring myself to call Dr. Chen, “Chen,” as all the faculty did. I just couldn’t do it (and still can’t). One day, Dr. Chen said to me, “You really know you are old when your colleagues call you ‘doctor.’” At the time, Dr. Chen was probably in his mid-50s. He was extremely supportive of me and, I’m sure, other young faculty.

Marigene Arnold
Professor of Sociology and Anthropology, Emerita

Chen liked to play the pinball machines. There was a time when we had some of these machines in the game room and it was not uncommon to see Chen in there testing his skills. But he would also visit off-campus establishments and play. The story circulated on campus that on one such occasion when he was playing off-campus a group of students entered the place and to their amazement found the venerable Dr. Chen merrily banging away on a machine – and of course winning.

Joe Fugate
Professor of German Language and Literature and Director of Foreign Study, Emeritus

I recognize and thoroughly appreciate Chen’s importance to Kalamazoo College and the community. But for me, he was my valued professor and faculty advisor who became my indispensable mentor and counselor for an entire career. Perhaps my fondest recollections of student life at K were the regular meetings of political science majors and faculty members in Chen’s conference room at the library. The discussions he facilitated were undoubtedly the most valuable and enjoyable of my academic experience and that of many peers. After K, he continued to support, prod, and challenge. Two years into my first position, he asked “Are you comfortable in your job?” My response was that I was. His response was, “Time to find new a one!”

Milt Rohwer ’66
Senior Fellow, Center for Michigan
Former President, Frey Foundation

One part of Dr. Chen was shaped by traditional Chinese culture from the 30s-40s; another part was very much tuned into our contemporary U.S. world. Beginning in 1950, he and Elton Ham were colleagues at the College and at the City of Kalamazoo. After Elton died in 1975, Chen said to me “if you ever need or want to work, come and see me.” I did, and worked for and with him from 1978 to 1992 at the L. Lee Stryker Center on various projects: the Business-Academia Dialogue, (a luncheon meeting with area business people, students, and faculty), the Kalamazoo Forum, Council of Governments, a personnel directors monthly luncheon, to name a few. Chen had been conducting a seminar titled Management Development for Women, and one day in the early 80s said: “Caroline, go find out what those women want.” So, I talked to about a dozen women in small business, banks, newspapers, The Upjohn Co., academia, nonprofits. I asked “How did you get where you are, what help did you have, what help could you have used, and what help could you use now?” Thus, the Kalamazoo Network and various courses at the Stryker Center were launched. Chen was a master small “p” politician. His forward looking, community orientation and awareness were a great asset to Kalamazoo College. He was unique.

Caroline R. Ham ’48
City Commissioner and Mayor (1981-83) City of Kalamazoo

Dr. Chen, a deeply humble yet wise man, demonstrated his brilliance daily throughout our community, as he skillfully brought people together even though they would have disparate points of view, political perspectives, and organizational allegiances. Throughout my local career in higher education and community philanthropy, I continually marveled at how Chen could lead community citizens to find a strategic path to solving local problems when all the time he had thoughtfully and perhaps intuitively already conceived of “the way.” This remarkable man remains a Kalamazoo icon. He is clearly beloved by all those he touched, revered by those he personally affected by his focused and visionary example, remembered as a true community servant leader, and loved for his personal sensitivities and humane approach to all peoples. We’ll forever miss Chen and his leadership!

Jack Hopkins
Former Academic Vice President and President (1975-83), Nazareth College
Assistant Director and President, The Kalamazoo Community Foundation (1983-2008)

As a member of Dr. Chen’s home department (Political Science), I was always able to witness up close his love of the liberal arts and of Kalamazoo College. He and I also shared another academic experience: his Ph.D. was from St. Louis University and mine was from Washington University in St. Louis; we would frequently compare notes about our St. Louis activities. Of all my many memories of Dr. Chen, perhaps the most vivid occurred the night that I arrived on campus for my interview as a candidate for a faculty position at Kalamazoo College. He spent the entire evening with me, giving a detailed description of the College and of the Kalamazoo community (including where I would buy my furniture if I came to this city). It was the beginning of a close friendship that would last fifty years.

Donald C. Flesche
Professor of Political Science, Emeritus

Throughout the many years that I worked with Dr. Chen, I came to know him as a man of wisdom, integrity and humility. I especially remember his courageous willingness to speak truth to power when issues of discrimination occurred. He was, of course, widely respected as an outstanding administrator and teacher, but he also served quietly and effectively as tutor and counselor to a host of students and young colleagues, I among them.

Eleanor Pinkham ’48
Director of Libraries and Media Services, Emerita

I was so fortunate to have Dr. Chen as my advisor during my four years at K. No one knew more about the college than Dr. Chen, or could have been more generous with his time despite his very busy schedule. He did not limit his advice to what courses to take, but also gave me advice about life that I appreciate even more today than I did at the time! He was one of the first people to get me interested in a business career. Stepping back from my individual experience, I am in awe of the contributions he made to the college and the community in his many roles.

Gene Bissell ’76
Kalamazoo College Trustee

Dr.Chen was indeed my savior. Not only did I work for him in the library for three years, but he made it possible for me to graduate with my class in the spring of l960. I had more than enough credits, but they did not seem to fall in the right categories. (I thought they did.) He attended the meeting in which it was decided who would graduate on time and who would not. My name came up as a “would not graduate on time” student. He told me about this situation and that he would represent me at the next meeting, which he did handily. Needless to say, I graduated on time, thanks to Dr. Chen.

Ellie (Helfen) Miller ’60

Wen-Chao Chen was the contact person responsible for my joining the faculty some 44 years ago. It was he, along with Paul Collins, who convinced me that K would be a good fit for me, considering my uniqueness. From my interview on, this talented, unique, quiet gentleman appeared to have made it his business to see to it that my being here was a positive experience for the College and me. I thanked him for his personal efforts and he, in his humorous way, said years later, that until I arrived he was the “only colored person on the faculty!”

Chen was a man who practiced what he preached, and I do not mourn his passing; I cherish his memory.

Romeo Eldridge Phillips
Professor Education and Music, Emeritus

College Rezoning Approved

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By Suzanne Curtiss ’14

Erran Briggs ’14 speaks about the stadium lighting improvements.

After three-and-half hours and 48 college and neighborhood speakers, the Kalamazoo City Commission approved an amended version of Kalamazoo College’s Institutional Campus (IC) rezoning application at its Monday, June 18, meeting in the City Commission chambers.

With the approved IC zone, the College can now move forward with its 10-year campus plan, including the construction of the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership and the installation of stadium lighting at the Angell Field athletic complex. The latter had been a particular point of controversy.  As proposed by Commissioner Bob Cinabro, the stadium lights on the football field will be limited to 20 nights per year and must be turned off no later than 8:30 p.m., instead of 10:30 p.m.

Commissioner Don Cooney deemed the amendment a “reasonable compromise” and commended the College for its efforts in the last month to work closely and considerately with neighbors.

During the 14-month master plan process, K held a total of 21 meetings with neighbors, and on June 14 ceded to neighborhood concerns by excluding the closing of Thompson Street from the plan. Commissioner Barbara Miller, too, acknowledged the compromises of the College. “I think they [Kalamazoo College] have been good neighbors and Kalamazoo is a better place because of them,” said Miller.

Junior football player Erran Briggs ’14 (see photo) spoke of the impact the stadium lights will have on the lives of student athletes.

“We are more than just students,” he said, “Athletics can have as much of an impact on us as academics.”

Kalamazoo College President Eileen B. Wilson-Oyelaran said she is “very happy about what the decision means for our student athletes” and pledged that she and College staff will work hard to keep lines of communication open with neighbors.

Farewells and Inaugurations

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Student Commission annual awards recipients
Photo credit: Elaine Ezekiel ’13

By Elaine Ezekiel ’13

Student Commission presented its annual awards during the Week Ten (June 1) Community Reflection in Stetson Chapel. The annual event recognizes outstanding Kalamazoo College staff, students, and faculty, and passes the torch to the elected members of next year’s Student Commission.

Mike Ignagi ’12, Tommy Jackson ’15, Colin Smith ’15 and Brad Stech ’15 from K’s improvisational jazz class opened the ceremony. Lucas Kushner ’14 read a short history of the Student Commission Awards. Kari Paine ’14 presented the William Crockett Award for outstanding contribution to the community by an administrator or staff member to Mail Center Coordinator Carol Cowper. Mara Richman ’15 presented the Francis Diebold Award, which acknowledges a faculty member who shows interest and participation in student life, to Associate Provost and Associate Professor of English Amy Smith. Douglas Colton ’12 presented the Amy Trenkle Award, which goes to the student who exemplifies involvement and leadership on campus, to Ian Powell ’12.

President Eileen B. Wilson-Oyelaran celebrated the leadership of 2011-12 Student Commission President Meredith Quinlan ‘12.

“I, for one, am looking for an opportunity to vote for you as governor, and better still as president of the United States,” said Wilson-Oyelaran, “because you are the type of leader that our country needs.”

Quinlan offered a farewell address in which she imagined returning to campus as an alumna.

“No matter what,” she said, “the people at K will always keep it what it is.”

She then administered the oath of office to 2012-13 Student Commission Executive Committee members.

Incoming president Bianca Rasho ’13 outlined her strategy of “teamwork, efficiency, and transparency” for next year’s administration. Candido asked the audience to “go in peace,” for a final time this school year.

Photographed (l-r) are outgoing and incoming StuComm board members: back row—Doug Colton ’12, Ian Flanagan ’13, Tendai Mudyiwa ’14, Darrin Camilleri ’14, Daniel Pohanka ’14, Milo Madole ’12; middle row—Hagop Mouradian ’14, Cameron Goodall ’15, Lucas Kushner ’14, Jacob Morden ’13, Ellen Murphy ’12, Alex Werder ’15, Sam Keene ’13, Darwin Rodriguez ’13; front row—Mara Richman ’15, Kari Paine’14, Katherine Stevenson ’15, Meredith Quinlan ’12, Bianca Rasho ’13, Asia Morales ’15, Martin Bergstrom ’13, and Shadae Sutherland ’14.

Open to the public, Community Reflections offer a unique forum for discussion, worship, performance, and community expression in Stetson Chapel. The next Community Reflection will be held during Week One (Sept 14) of Fall Quarter at 10:50 AM.)

Happy Birthday, K!

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Zaide Pixley and Eileen Wilson-Oyelaran
Zaide Pixley, Dean of the First Year and Advising at Kalamazoo College, receives the Lux Esto Award of Excellence. College President Eileen Wilson-Oyelaran presented the award. Photo Credit: Anthony Dugal.

By Elaine Ezekiel ’13

“Founders Day 2012” was the theme of the Week 4 (April 20) Community Reflection in Stetson Chapel. Sponsored by the Founders Day Committee, the event celebrated 179 years of community at Kalamazoo College by honoring members of its faculty and staff. After a welcome by Student Commission President Meredith L. Quinlan ’12, President Eileen Wilson-Oyelaran gave a brief history of K’s early founders. Kate Fodor ’12 and Rachel Horness ’13 sang a beautiful interpretation of Leo Delibes’ Dome epais (Lakme), accompanied by Jack Brooks on piano.

Dean of Advising Zaide Pixley (pictured at right, with President Wilson-Oyelaran) read from her essay “Celebrating 179 Years of Community.”

“Kalamazoo College is a place where we can ask hard questions, questions that don’t have easy answers, questions that can’t be reduced to sound bites, slogans and attacks,” she said.

After reciting the names of K employees celebrating five, ten, 15, 20 and 25 years of service, Wilson-Oyelaran announced recipients of three key annual employee honors. Professor of English Bruce Mills received the Outstanding Advisor Award.  Gail Griffin, the Ann V. and Donald R. Parfet Distinguished Professor of English, received the Outstanding First-Year Advocate Award, and Zaide Pixley was awarded the Lux Esto Award of Excellence which honors an employee of 25 or more years of service for a superlative record of stewardship and innovation.

This year marked the first of an “Honorable Mention” category of the Lux Esto Award of Excellence. Honorable mention for their years of dedicated service to the College was made of nine of the eligible members of K’s Facilities Management and Custodial Staff (John Charlier, Kolden Heldart, Doug Hilton, James Modderman, James Ringler, Michael Sawyer, Jeff Sherman, Jerry Vincent, and Ken Wielinga).

Community Reflection offers a unique forum for discussion, worship, performance, and community expression each Friday at 10:50 AM (refreshments at 10:30) in Stetson Chapel. The entire campus community and general public are invited. The Week 5 (April 27) Reflection will be “Yom HaShoah—Remembering the Holocaust Through Varied Perspectives,” during which members of the Jewish Student Organization will reflect on the Holocaust and invite the community to consider how we can make the sacrifices of the past mean something for the future.

Kalamazoo College Contributed $32 Million to Area Economy During 2010-11 Academic Year

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CONTACT: Jeff Palmer, 269.337.5724

February 9, 2012

– College generated 685 direct and indirect jobs, $25.7 million in personal income –
– Students and campus visitors spent $5.6 million –
– Analysis conducted by W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research –

Kalamazoo, Mich. – Kalamazoo College contributed $32 million to the Kalamazoo area economy during the 2010-11 academic year, according to the findings of an economic impact analysis conducted by the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.

The College impacts the economy through three major activities, according to the analysis: operations, student expenditures, and visitor expenditures.

The College employed 396 full and part-time workers earning an annual payroll of approximately $19.6 million during the 2010-11 academic year. Another 289 jobs and personal income of $6 million were indirectly generated by the presence of the College and the expenditures of students and visitors.

Additionally, “K” students spent approximately $3.6 million in the local community, and out-of-area campus visitors spent approximately $2 million.

“Kalamazoo College has been a vital part of the Kalamazoo economy since the College’s founding in 1833,” said “K” President Eileen B. Wilson-Oyelaran. “I expect that to continue for many years.”

“Our strategic goals call for us to grow the College’s enrollment to 1,500 students. Reaching this goal will make our financial contribution to the community even greater.”

Wilson-Oyelaran pointed to recent campus construction projects as further evidence of the College’s positive impact on the area economy, by helping provide much needed construction jobs. These include a $14 million renovation of the Hicks Student Center completed in 2008, and a $16 million renovation of the “K” athletic fields that is currently underway and due to be completed in fall 2012.

The College also hopes to begin construction this summer on a building to house the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership estimated to cost about $4 million. A new fitness and wellness center estimated to cost $7 million and a new natatorium estimated to cost $14 million are in early stages planning.

“Beyond the economic contributions ‘K’ makes to the local economy are the cultural, educational, and social contributions our students, faculty, and staff make to the local community,” said Wilson-Oyelaran. “Our students alone performed nearly 33,000 hours of community service-learning last year with nearly 50 local partner organizations.”

According to Brad Watts, regional analyst for the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, because “K” is a unique, competitive liberal arts college, it is assumed that none of the $32 million would be channeled to the region if not for the presence of the College.

“Even if the students’ families live in the Kalamazoo metropolitan area, it is assumed that they would choose to attend other small liberal arts schools elsewhere if Kalamazoo College did not exist. Their expenditures are considered to be “export” dollars in the sense that the money would not be spent in the region if not for the presence of the college.”

The Upjohn Institute analysis was commissioned by Kalamazoo College and is based on data provided during the 2010-11 academic year that ended June 30, 2011.

The W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, a nonpartisan, not-for-profit research organization, was established on July 1, 1945. It is an activity of the W.E. Upjohn Unemployment Trustee Corporation, which was founded in 1932 to administer a fund set aside by the late Dr. W.E. Upjohn (1852-1932), founder of the Upjohn Company, for the purpose of conducting research into the causes and effects of unemployment and measures for the alleviation of unemployment. Today, the Institute’s Research Division analyzes the dynamics of the labor market and conducts evaluations of employment programs around the world. For more information see www.upjohn.org.

Founded in Kalamazoo, Michigan, in 1833, Kalamazoo College (www.kzoo.edu) is a nationally recognized liberal arts college and the creator of the K-Plan, which emphasizes rigorous scholarship, experiential learning, and both international and intercultural engagement. “K” has approximately 1,400 students from 36 states and 31 countries; 18 percent are domestic students of color. At Kalamazoo College, we do more in four years so students can do more in a lifetime.

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President Wilson-Oyelaran Elected Vice Chair of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities

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President Eileen B. Wilson-Oyelaran at NAICU
President Eileen B. Wilson-Oyelaran at NAICU

Kalamazoo College President Eileen B. Wilson-Oyelaran was elected vice chair of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU) board of directors at the Association’s recent annual meeting in Washington, D.C.

As a member of the NAICU board’s executive committee, she will help lead the association’s agenda on federal higher education policy; actively encourage support of NAICU priorities and initiatives; and oversee the association’s financial administration. After her one-year term as vice-chair, she will assume the position of board chair for a year. Following her one-year term as chair, she will serve as past-chair for another year, before rotating off of the board.

NAICU is the largest national organization representing the presidents of private, nonprofit colleges and universities. NAICU represents American independent higher education on policy issues with the federal government, such as those affecting student aid, taxation, and government regulation. NAICU’s more than 1,000 member colleges and universities enroll nine out of every 10 students attending private, nonprofit institutions in the United States.

Wilson-Oyelaran has been president of Kalamazoo College since July 2005.

Kalamazoo College Receives $23 Million Grant From Arcus Foundation to Fund Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership

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CONTACT: Jeff Palmer, 269.337.5724

January 17, 2012

Kalamazoo, Mich. – Kalamazoo College has received a $23 million grant to endow the work of its Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership (ACSJL). The grant, made by the Arcus Foundation, will support a broad array of activities including: student scholarships and two endowed professorships, student internships and leadership development programming, faculty and staff fellowships, public lectures and conferences, local and global partnerships, and residencies for social justice scholars and practitioners.

“The breadth of the grant makes it exceptional,” said Kalamazoo College President Eileen Wilson-Oyelaran. “The entire Kalamazoo College community is extremely grateful to the Arcus Foundation and its founder, Jon Stryker, for their belief in the mission of the College and the Arcus Center. Their support will help put Kalamazoo on a path to become a higher education leader in the field of social justice and leadership development.”

The mission of the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership is to support the pursuit of human rights and social justice by developing emerging leaders and sustaining existing leaders in the field of human rights and social justice, creating a pivotal role for liberal arts education in engendering a more just world.

It’s a mission consistent with the College’s history, liberal arts tradition, and mission to develop enlightened leaders, said President Wilson-Oyelaran.

“The Arcus Center builds on the College’s strengths in the area of academics, career development, international engagement, and independent study—all elements of each ‘K’ student’s distinctive K-Plan. When combined with other curricular and co-curricular programs such as our Mary Jane Underwood Stryker Institute for Service-Learning, our Center for International Programs, and our unique Guilds initiative, this will take the K-Plan to a new level of excellence.”

The Arcus Foundation grant is the largest grant in the College’s 179-year history, and one of the largest given for a social justice purpose to an undergraduate institution in the United States.

“I know from my own experience the emphasis that ‘K’ College places on developing global citizens who can be effective agents of transformational change,” said Jon Stryker, a Kalamazoo College alumnus and trustee, who founded the Arcus Foundation in 2000.

“Our intent in making this grant is to foster diverse leaders who advance social justice in all its dimensions – from anti-racism to economic justice to equality for all sexual orientations and gender identities. We envision ‘K’ College becoming the place to be for young people who aspire to develop the strategies and lead the work that will make our world more just and humane. This ambition maps directly to the values shared by the Foundation and the College.”

Arcus CEO Dr. Yvette C. Burton added, “Social justice is critical to our future because it maximizes the societal value and impact of advances in a wide range of disciplines, including medicine, information technology and environmental conservation. Institutions of higher learning have a tremendous role to play in advancing social justice theory and practice. Kalamazoo College’s legacy in international study, service education, and other key areas position it for leadership in this exciting field.”

Among the numerous ACSJL programs that the $23 million grant will support are:

  • two endowed faculty chairs in areas  related to social justice (currently held by John Dugas in political science and Adriana Garriga-Lopez in anthropology-sociology);
  • fellowships for “K” faculty and staff to support projects and scholarship related to social justice leadership;
  • four-year Enlightened Leadership Scholarships ($5,000 per year) awarded to one “K” student each year (currently held by sophomore Colin Lauderdale and first-year student Mariah Hennen);
  • annual Social Justice Fellowships for visiting scholars, activists, artists, thought leaders, and faculty, as a way to introduce new scholarship, energy, and social justice activity and engagement to the Kalamazoo College campus and the Kalamazoo community. (currently held by Michelle Johnson from Fire Historical and Cultural Arts Collaborative in Kalamazoo and Irfana Majumdar, a scholar/artist in experimental theater based at the NIRMAN program in Varanasi, India);
  • an annual spring lecture series (The 2012 lecturer will be playwright, author, and activist Eve Ensler, perhaps best known as the author of The Vagina Monologues.);
  • a Social Justice Leadership Fund that provides grants to students, faculty, and staff who propose innovative social justice projects and programs;
  • a summer internship program that offers qualified “K” students the opportunity to integrate social justice theory with practice as interns at social justice organizations across the United States and abroad;
  • the Catalyst Project, a community-outreach and support initiative that will provide consulting and technical support to selected Kalamazoo-area social justice organizations; and
  • the Praxis Center, an online resource center for scholars and practitioners of social justice work and leadership that will be launched later in 2012.

The grant will also fund ACSJL staff positions, including its co-directors Jaime M. Grant, executive director, and Lisa Brock, academic director.

Jaime Grant, Ph.D., has worked for more than 20 years with a variety of national and international organizations focused on social justice and human rights for women, youth, and the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) community, as well as victims of sexual and domestic assault, and people living with mental illness. She’s published in major academic journals, and her commentaries have appeared broadly in the consumer press.

Lisa Brock, Ph.D., is a historian and activist who has merged her academic interest with Southern African social justice struggles. Her articles on Africa and the African Diaspora have appeared in dozens of academic journals and as book chapters. Her latest writing project is a comparative study of Afro-descended peoples in the United States and Cuba.

The Arcus Foundation and Jon Stryker have long supported Kalamazoo College. In 2009, the Foundation provided a $200,000 planning grant and a $2.1 million project grant to help launch the ACSJL. It provided a $5.6 million grant in 2008 to fund tuition and programming support for 50 students from Los Angeles public schools to attend “K” through the Posse Foundation, and a $5 million grant in 2001 to support the “K” study abroad program.

The Arcus Foundation (www.arcusfoundation.org) is a leading global foundation advancing pressing social justice and conservation issues. Specifically, Arcus works to advance LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) equality, as well as to conserve and protect the great apes. The Arcus Foundation works globally and has offices in Kalamazoo, Mich., New York City, and Cambridge, UK.

Founded in Kalamazoo, Mich., in 1833, Kalamazoo College (www.kzoo.edu) is a nationally recognized liberal arts college and the creator of the K-Plan that emphasizes rigorous scholarship, learning by practice, and both international and intercultural engagement. Its 1,400 students hail from 30 states and 24 countries. Kalamazoo College does more in four years so students can do more in a lifetime.

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English Alum Receives “Outstanding Faculty” Award

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Amelia Katanski ’92, English, received the Outstanding Faculty award from Michigan Campus Compact (www.micampuscompact.org) at the Service-Learning and Civic Engagement Conference on January 30 in East Lansing.

Nominated by President Eileen B. Wilson-Oyelaran and the College’s Mary Jane Underwood Stryker Institute for Service-Learning, Katanski was honored for her commitments to local food, food justice, and sustainability and her dedication to engaged, student-centered learning.

She has been teaching a first-year seminar, “Cultivating Community” as a service-learning course since 2006. She is also faculty advisor to “Farms to K,” which she co-founded with students, staff, and community partners.

“Farms to K” advocates for a local purchasing policy at Kalamazoo College and works closely with other student-led Service-Learning programs, including community gardening initiatives and Migrant Rights Action.

Kalamazoo College Unveils Preliminary Building Design For Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership

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CONTACT: Jeff Palmer, 269.337.5724

May 17, 2011

–Award-winning Studio Gang Architects create a
“unique, welcoming space” and “dynamic, accessible crossroads”–

–College moves oldest structure on campus to make way for newest–

[KALAMAZOO, Mich. – May 17, 2011] Kalamazoo College officials today unveiled the preliminary design for a new building to house the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership. Renderings from Chicago-based Studio Gang Architects were shown to the College community and neighbors at a campus gathering Monday. Detailed drawings will follow by fall. Construction will last an estimated 12 months. No start date has been set, however, because the College must first work its way through a campus master planning and rezoning process, which includes the new Arcus Center building.

Located at the campus’s highest elevation, on the southeast corner of Academy and Monroe streets, the Arcus Center is designed to be inviting and open, in keeping with other recent renovations on campus, most notably Hicks Student Center (completed in 2009) and Upjohn Library Commons (2005).

“We’re very excited to release early images of what will be a unique, welcoming structure,” said Kalamazoo President Eileen Wilson-Oyelaran. “These drawings reflect the creative and collaborative process we are going through to create a space in which current and future social justice leaders will collaborate to research and learn. We are so very pleased to have the opportunity to collaborate with Studio Gang on this project.”

The one-story building will be approximately 9,500 square feet and serve as an interactive space for the College and the community. Three gently arcing exterior walls define the structure’s central gathering space and embrace the surrounding landscape. Michigan-sourced white cedar will be used to construct the wood masonry exterior. Large expanses of glass at the ends of the three arcs and clerestory glazing will bring light and views of the surrounding landscape into the interior. The building will incorporate a range of green building strategies and expects to attain a LEED rating.

The Studio Gang team, led by the firm’s founder and principal, Jeanne Gang, has visited Kalamazoo numerous times since summer 2010. “We’ve met with ‘K’ students, faculty, staff, and alumni, as well as some local residents and community partners in a creative, deliberative process,” said Gang. “Our goal is to create a dynamic, accessible space where interaction is facilitated and ideas shared.”

Kalamazoo College’s newest building will rise on the site of its oldest, Hoben House, a two-story brick home constructed in 1925 by then Kalamazoo College President Allan Hoben. It was his residence and home to successive “K” presidents until 1978, when it became headquarters of the L. Lee Stryker Center for Management Studies and Educational Services. A two-story frame addition constructed in 1985 included meeting rooms, offices and an outside deck. After the Stryker Center closed in 2007, the building housed a succession of campus programs and offices.

The Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership was slated to move into the Hoben/Stryker building, but renovation options fell short of the Center’s needs. In summer 2010, founder and president of the Arcus Foundation and “K” College alumnus Jon Stryker pledged funds for a new building. Rather than raze the existing structure, the College identified private landowners who were willing to move the original Hoben House to their nearby off-campus lot. The College has removed the 1985 addition and Hoben House is due to be moved to its new location on the corner of South and Monroe streets by June 1.

The Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership (https://reason.kzoo.edu/csjl) is a new initiative by Kalamazoo College, launched in 2009 with a two-year, $2.1 million grant from the Arcus Foundation (www.arcusfoundation.org). Supporting Kalamazoo College’s mission to prepare graduates who provide enlightened leadership to an interconnected and increasingly complex world, and responding to the need for development of engaged citizens who have the abilities to envision and create a socially just world, the Arcus Center will develop new leaders and sustain existing leaders in the field of human rights and social justice.

Founded by Jeanne Gang, FAIA, in 1997, Studio Gang is a rising international practice whose work confronts pressing contemporary issues. Conceived as a collective of architects, designers, and thinkers, the studio acts as a lab for testing ideas on varying scales: from cities to environments to individual buildings’ unique material properties. The firm’s provocative and alluring architecture is exemplified by such recent projects such as the Aqua Tower (2009 Emporis Skyscraper of the Year), Columbia College Chicago’s Media Production Center (a cutting-edge film production and teaching facility), and the Lincoln Park Zoo South Pond (an educational pavilion and landscape that is quickly becoming a new Chicago landmark). Studio Gang’s work has received national and international recognition and has been published and exhibited widely, most notably at the International Venice Biennale, the Smithsonian Institution’s National Building Museum, and the Art Institute of Chicago.

Founded in Kalamazoo, Michigan in 1833, Kalamazoo College (www.kzoo.edu) is a nationally recognized liberal arts college and the creator of the “K-Plan,” which emphasizes rigorous scholarship, experiential learning, and both international and intercultural engagement. “K” College has approximately 1,370 students from 38 states and 31 countries; nearly 20 percent are students of color.

Approximately 85 percent of Kalamazoo students participate in a meaningful, immersive international and intercultural experience at more than 50 programs in 25 countries on six continents; more than two-thirds complete an internship or externship; more than half participate in course-based or student-led co-curricular service-learning projects; and all students engage in a Senior Individualized Project, an in-depth research or creative project done in the senior year.

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New Vice President Appointed at Kalamazoo College

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CONTACT: Jeff Palmer, 269.337.5724

Nov. 30, 2010

Kalamazoo College has appointed Albert J. DeSimone vice president for college advancement. DeSimone brings more than 25 years of higher education development and management experience to Kalamazoo, where he will lead the College’s fundraising, alumni relations, and communications offices. Among his responsibilities will be overseeing annual gift giving and directing the College’s comprehensive campaign initiative begun in March 2010. He begins work at “K” January 3, 2011.

From 1993 to 2008, DeSimone served as vice president for development at Augustana College in Rock Island, Ill. In this role, he conducted two highly successful comprehensive campaigns that raised more than $207 million and significantly increased unrestricted giving to the college. For the past 18 months, he has focused on securing major gifts toward strategic priorities such as renovating Old Main, Augustana’s signature building, constructed in 1889.

“I have great respect for Kalamazoo College and its commitment to innovative liberal arts education, as exemplified by the K-Plan,” said DeSimone. “I look forward to working with President Wilson-Oyelaran and the entire “K” community to increase the resources that will help fulfill this commitment and prepare students to engage the global community.”

Prior to joining Augustana, DeSimone served in a variety of development roles at Illinois Institute of Technology, in Chicago, ranging initially from securing corporate grants to eventually managing day-to-day fund-raising and alumni relations programs. He also planned and implemented a comprehensive campaign that raised more than $92 million.

“I am thrilled to welcome Al DeSimone to Kalamazoo College,” said President Eileen Wilson-Oyelaran. “He has a depth of knowledge and a breadth of experience that make him an excellent fit for the College. We have bold plans to prepare ‘K’ students to engage in the global community. Al will play a key role in securing the philanthropic support and building the relationships that will help make these plans a reality.”

DeSimone earned a B.A. degree from Elmhurst College in 1977. He and his wife, Lynne, have two sons, ages 21 and 18.

He replaces Victoria Gorrell, who left Kalamazoo in October to become vice president for development and alumni relations at University of Northern Colorado.

Founded in Kalamazoo, Michigan in 1833, Kalamazoo College (www.kzoo.edu) is a nationally recognized liberal arts college, and the creator of the “K-Plan” that emphasizes rigorous scholarship, learning by practice, and both international and intercultural engagement.

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