The Campaign for Kalamazoo College raised $129,140,336!
Kalamazoo College made history today.
At a special celebratory gathering of students, faculty and staff, the College announced the completion of The Campaign for Kalamazoo College, which surpassed its $125 million goal by raising more than $129 million and, in so doing, became the most successful fundraising campaign in K’s history, generating more financial resources than the last two campaigns combined.
“We are grateful to the thousands of alumni, parents, faculty, staff, and friends who made contributions and volunteered time and talent to make this campaign a success,” said President Eileen B. Wilson-Oyelaran.
“We also celebrate the deeper meaning of this campaign,” she added, “that a liberal arts education is the best education to enrich a life, in the fullest sense of that word, and the best education to provide lessons that go beyond just employment. There are centuries of evidence to support that notion and now a successful Kalamazoo College campaign to affirm it. And, by the way, a liberal arts education also happens to be the best education not for one job but for multiple jobs, which is likely to be the future for current students.”
President Eileen B. Wilson-Oyelaran
Campaign participation was widespread. More than 17,000 donors have made gifts and pledges. Twelve donors committed to gifts of $1 million or more. Sixty-three percent of faculty and staff participated in the campaign.
The ultimate beneficiaries are K students, current and future, who do more in four years so they can do more in a lifetime. The campaign funded five capital projects and seven new endowed faculty positions. Capital projects include the renovations of the Weimar K. Hicks Center and the athletic fields complex and the construction of the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership building. Ground has been broken on the new fitness and wellness center, and fundraising will continue for the planned renovation of the College’s natatorium.
The campaign created 30 new funds to support Senior Individualized Project research opportunities for students (the SIP is a graduation requirement at K) and created 35 new permanently funded student scholarships.
“This campaign is about much more than numbers,” said Wilson-Oyelaran. “This campaign is an affirmation of the liberal arts. This campaign is about alumni, parents, and friends who continue to give to Kalamazoo College so that others can benefit from the way that K practices the liberal arts.”
Kalamazoo College kicks off the 2015-16 academic year on Wednesday Sept. 9 at 3:00 p.m. with its annual opening convocation ceremony for new students.
The ceremony will take place on the campus Quad and be available via live streaming. In case of rain, the ceremony will move into Stetson Chapel.
President Eileen B. Wilson-Oyelaran, Provost Michael McDonald, Dean of Students Sarah Westfall, Chaplain Elizabeth Candido ’00, faculty, staff, and student leaders will welcome new students and their families. Nike Foundation Partnerships and Communications Manager Tieneke vanLonkhuyzen ’06, from Portland, Oregon, will deliver the keynote address.
K will welcome 367 first-year students (including 30 matriculating international students), 18 transfer students, and 28 visiting international students. New students come from 29 states within the United States of America including Oregon, Florida, Maine and Texas, and from 23 countries including, Japan, Ecuador, Greece, Vietnam, and Sierra Leone. Students of color from the U.S. make up more than 25 percent of the incoming class.
Eleven members of the incoming class of 2019 are the first “Kalamazoo Promise Eligible” students to attend K. Through a partnership announced in June 2014 by The Kalamazoo Promise and the 15-member Michigan Colleges Alliance (MCA), eligible Kalamazoo Public School (KPS) graduates enrolling at an MCA member institution will receive free tuition and fees. The Kalamazoo Promise, now in its tenth year, was established by anonymous donors who pledged to provide free college tuition and fees for KPS graduates attending 43 state universities and community colleges in Michigan. With the addition of the 15 MCA liberal arts college members, Michigan 58 institutions are now Kalamazoo Promise eligible.
The Humans Beyond Boxes Block Party builds builds off of Civic Engagement work done by Willina Cain ’16, Allison Kennedy ’15 and others through the Michigan Prisoner Reentry Initiative. That work has evolved into a summer-long creative writing workshop where people craft their personal stories around their experiences with incarceration and reentry. Workshop participants have shared those stories with one another, and now it’s time to bring those stories to the larger Kalamazoo community, “both to those who can relate, and those who need to listen,” says Willina.
The venue for that sharing will be the Humans Beyond Boxes Block Party, which will occur Saturday, August 29, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. in LaCrone Park (corner of Paterson and Cobb Streets, about a 15-minute walk from campus). Plan to attend. Or, better yet, help organize the event.
“We will have food, games and of course, our core team of storytellers will share their experiences about incarceration,” says Willina. “We will also have petitions, as well as direct Public Commitment asks for current City Commissioners and candidates running for positions in November. Those petitions and asks will focus on how to support gainful employment opportunities for folks with criminal records.”
Effective August 24, Campus Drive behind Hicks Center will be one-way west, allowing a gain of 20 new angle parking spaces.
A stall full of horse manure is a litmus test for optimism. One person may see only a thankless chore; but a second rejoices in the likelihood of a pony.
Well, pardon our dust,and then get ready for a metaphorical pony.
From midnight on Thursday, August 20, until midnight on Sunday, August 23, two parking lots (Crissey-Severn and Upper Fine Arts) and Campus Drive behind the Hicks Student Center will be closed for resealing and striping. we apologize for that inconvenience. Here comes the pony part.
When Campus Drive reopens (August 24), the street will be one way (west only) from the east end of the Hicks Center to Lovell Street. Drivers will no longer be able to enter Campus Drive from Lovell Street. Campus Drive will continue to be accessed from Academy Street and will remain two-way from Academy Street to the east end of the Hicks Center. The new configuration will provide space for at least 20 new parking places, six of which will be reserved for alternative fuel vehicles. And the one-way traffic flow behind Hicks Center will also increase safety for pedestrians and ease congestion.
Again, we apologize for any inconvenience the repaving and striping may cause, and we sure look forward to additional parking spaces on campus. This project takes its place among others–the library and Hicks Center renovations, the athletic fields complex, the social justice center building, the fitness and wellness center–wherein a temporary inconvenience is followed by a permanent improvement.
“It was during spring break of this year that I understood what made Kalamazoo College truly unique.”
So spoke newly-minted alumnus Vageesha Liyana-Gunawardana ’15 during his Baccalaureate address this past June. “I was in Colorado visiting a friend whom I had met during my study abroad in Japan,” he added. “Upon mentioning that I was from Kalamazoo College to my friend’s housemates, they got quite excited. It happens to be, that two of them knew one of my housemates at Kalamazoo this year. They had met while on study abroad in London. Just then I realized that K students are everywhere!”
Picking up on that theme is classmate Mallory Zink ’15, who wrote the following article on several members of the class of 2015 about to continue their international journeys.
Kalamazoo College is well known for being international, and a handful of recent graduates, me included, are continuing the tradition. My classmates are moving across the world, including Germany, France, and China. We are using fellowships, English teaching positions and grants. For most of us, this isn’t our first study abroad experience, but for many of us, it is our first time moving somewhere completely alone. We will face the same struggles of finding the grocery store, figuring out how to work the washing machine, and making friends with local residents. But the skills we learned at K and our time on study abroad are going to help us navigate our future, wherever in the world we go.
Aaron Bunker ’15 is moving to Wuxi, China, in the fall. He will be teaching pre-calculus and calculus at the Big Bridge Academy in the international department. He had not planned on
Aaron Bunker
living abroad, but is happy to have the opportunity. He had originally planned on working with an at-risk tutoring program in Boston, but questioned its long term financial feasibility. Aaron also wasn’t sure he was ready for a ‘real’ job, or, alternatively, ready for grad school, so China seemed like the best option. Aaron knows little about his new home, just enough to say hello and count to one hundred in Chinese. However, “I’m excited to be immersed in a place about which I know so little, and I’m excited about living completely by myself for the first time,” he said.
Natalie Cherne
Natalie Cherne ’15 is going back to back to Germany in the fall. She received a Fulbright to teach English for ten months at the Peter-Vischer Schule in Nuremberg, a short 10-minute train ride from where she studied as a junior at K. A Fulbright was Natalie’s post-graduation goal; she knew she wanted to go back after falling in love with Germany her junior year. “I am lucky enough to be going back to a support network,” said Natalie.
Unlike the majority of her classmates, Lyla Rothschild ’15did not study abroad, so she is excited to go to Europe for the first time! As a junior she had been accepted into the Clermont-Ferrand program, but had to take a year off due to a medical leave. She has been studying French since high school and will be teaching English to French students through a program called “Teach Abroad Program in France” (TAPIF). Lyla said she is anxious about the language barrier, because, “as much as you study a language, nothing compares to living in that country.” She is excited to have found this opportunity for a gap year before grad school.
Lyla Rothchild
Kelsey Donk ’15had two choices for her return to France. She was offered a job Langue et Nature au Chateau de la Mazure, a language center where she had completed an internship. And, for a time, she planned to work there and apply for French citizenship. Instead she chose the city of Laval for her post-graduation destination. There she will teach English in the French public schools through TAPIF. The job with TAPIF will allow her to work in schools where, she feels, her presence, is most needed. She plans on doing a lot of writing next year, getting to know Laval
Kelsey Donk
and exploring the north of France. “I’m so excited to get to know my primary school students,” Kelsey said. “I’ll be working in three primary schools and I think I’ll love my kids.”
Hannah Olsen
Hannah Olsen ’15 studied abroad in Strasbourg, France for three months and is moving back to study at the University of Strasbourg. She received the Jean and Marie-Louise Dufrenoy Grant through la Société de Professeurs Français et Francophone d’Amérique. She will mainly be taking classes in physics. The Dufrenoy Grant was her top post-graduation option; Hannah knew it was a unique opportunity that she couldn’t pass up! She is especially excited for the opportunity to integrate her knowledge of science and the French language; she has never been able to use French in a physics context and is excited to try! She is a little intimidated by the current social and political environment in France, but “right now, the excitement outweighs my worries,” she said.
Joseph Westerfield ’15is moving to Bourgoin-Jallieu, France, in September. He will be an English teaching assistant through the TAPIF program for three different schools. He has never lived in France, but has always wanted to! This was his original plan for after school, the perfect gap year before graduate school, where he hopes to focus his work on performance studies. His biggest worry? That his work schedule (a mere15 hours a week) will make it difficult to get into a routine…especially after the four years of demanding routine at K! Nevertheless, he is excited to teach children and work on his goal of
Joe Westerfield
sustainable living, for both next year and the future.
Haley Cartwright ’15is moving to Annecy, France. She, also, will serve as an English teaching assistant through the TAPIF program. Haley knew she wanted to do something outside of her intended career path and take a year off before she began pursuing her doctorate. Annecy will not her first time living in France; she lived there for two years when she was in middle school and was lucky enough to learn French through immersion both then and when she lived in Clermont during her junior year study abroad. Her goals for next year are to improve her French skills, meet international people, and learn some Spanish. Haley said, “I’m really committed to the experience, I know what to expect and am prepared to find a good balance between being a teaching assistant and having American and international friends.”
Haley Cartwright
Alyssa Walker ’15 is moving back to her study abroad site in Erlangen, Germany. She received a German Studies fellowship at Friedrich-Alexander University for a year, where she will study German, Spanish, and international studies. She hopes the classes she takes in Erlangen will help point her in a direction for further graduate study. Alyssa has some fun goals besides taking classes. She wants to meet new people, travel off the beaten path, and gain some work experience. She said, “I am not worried about anything next year. Kalamazoo College has prepared me for this, and I have the support of friends and family abroad.”
Alyssa Walker
And Mallory Zink ’15, the author, is moving to Bonn, Germany in October. “I had a few possibilities for after graduation, and going back to Germany was on the top. Funding that return through a fellowship, was really on the top, so I was very excited when I received one. I’ll be working on my German abilities this upcoming academic year at the University of Bonn, and then I’ll apply to grad school in Germany the following year (well, that is the plan currently). I’m nervous to be moving to a completely new city alone, but then again I am not too worried, I lived in Germany for a year during study abroad and know where to meet the Germans! First stop is the community kitchen in the apartment, second is the beer garden!”
Olivia Cares ’15 is a K summer intern in the Kalamazoo law office of Mike Ortega ’78.
Every summer, Kalamazoo College students fan out across the globe for summer internships. They gain workplace experience, acquire relevant skills and competencies, and test the academic theories they’ve studied in campus classrooms. The educational value of summer internships is increasingly recognized by employers, many of whom set greater store in a candidate’s internship experience than GPA or major.
K student interns also see the educational value of their summer experiences. We know this because we require students to submit written reflections to K’s Center for Career and Professional Development (CCPD) on their summer Field Experience Program.
Here are some insights shared by this summer’s crop of interns:
“It is incredibly gratifying to realize how far I’ve come in such a short time. While it was hard to notice while the internship was happening, I often felt like I was constantly lost. I can now look at what I was fumbling around with the first week and laugh about it, because now it seems so trivial and easy. And the great thing about this knowledge is that it can be immediately applicable to any other job within industry.”
– Michael Lindley ’16, product development analyst intern at NextGxDx, Franklin, Tennessee; supervised by Gillian Hooker ’00, Director of Clinical Development in Bioinformatics)
“[In] my internship, whenever I hit a roadblock I was able to clearly analyze the situation and develop a solution. This is one of the most useful skills I think I’ve acquired and honed at Kalamazoo College.”
– Minhkhang Truong ’16, teaching intern at the Olympia Schools, Hanoi, Vietnam; supervised by Christopher McDonald ’89, Head of Schools.
“I can take on almost any tasked assigned. Yes, sometimes I may have to ask extra questions to gain all of the background information necessary to fully complete a project, but the reality is that my K education has taught me how to ask those questions in a way that provides the needed answers. K has taught me how to ask important questions that leads to relevant answers, a skill that is beyond useful when I am being assigned such a variety of projects.”
– Amanda Johnson ’17, sales and marketing associate at Youngsoft, Inc., Wixom, Mich.; supervised by Amy Courter ’83, Senior VP of Sales and Marketing.
“[T]he law is a living thing that is constantly revised and changed. This makes research, clear understanding, and communication the most valuable tools in the trade.”
– Olivia Cares ’16, legal intern at Lewis, Reed & Allen, Kalamazoo; supervised by Michael Ortega ’78, attorney and shareholder.
The above experiences are among many that are funded each year through the CCPD’s Field Experience Program. Endowed funds provide $3,000 stipends to help defray the costs of unpaid summer internships. The CCPD recognizes with gratitude all the donors who have made these summer internship stipends possible, as well as all of the alumni who serve as internship supervisors for current K students.
Joel Hutson ’02 with Ceratosaurus Carnotaurus at the Dinosaur Discovery Museum of Kenosha, Wisc.
Kalamazoo College alumnus Joel Hutson ’02 was quoted in the July 15, 2015 issue of popular scientific magazine Scientific American about dinosaur research that he and his wife, Kelda Hutson (Colgate University ’02), published in the March 2015 issue of Journal of Zoology.
Joel is a biologist who did research in the Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Illinois University, in DeKalb, Ill. He and Kelda, a geologist in the Department of Earth Science, College of Lake County, in Grayslake, Ill., compared the forelimb mechanics of alligators with fossils from Postosuchus — a relative of early dinosaurs and present day alligators and crocodiles to learn more about joint mobility. All dinosaurs once pranced, strolled or lumbered about on two legs, but over time many evolved into quadrupeds. The Hutsons’ research illustrates how dinosaurs may have made the transition from two-legged to four-legged mobility.
Their journal article is titled “Inferring the prevalence and function of finger hyperextension in Archosauria from finger-joint range of motion in the American alligator.” Joel said: “I was inspired to study dinosaurs because of Jeff Wilson ’91 who was featured in Kalamazoo College news when I was a biology student at K.” Wilson is a paleontologist at University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and has visited the K campus to speak to students and faculty about his work.
Joel said he hopes also to “inspire a future generation of paleontologists at Kalamazoo College.”
The Hutsons’ Journal of Zoology article and Scientific American interview will be available free online after an embargo.
Kalamazoo College alumni who were enrolled from 1963 through 1996 remember (affectionately) spending one or two summer quarters on campus. Well, many K students still spend summer in Kalamazoo, they just don’t take classes. They work, save money (except for what some might spend on craft beer!), hang out with friends, see films, read for pleasure, cook, catch up on their sleep … their adventures are endless. Summer is the perfect time for students to do everything they were too busy to enjoy during the school year! Call it a “Summer of Gracious Living.”
Here’s a sampling of students spending summer in the city of Kalamazoo, reported by Mallory Zink ’15.
Gunyeop Lee ’17 is a K student from South Korea preparing to go on study abroad to France. When he isn’t working on his great French skills, on the renovation crew for K’s Facilities Management (FacMan!), or at his summer internship at Colleagues International, you can find him hanging out on a porch in the Vine Neighborhood with some ‘dood’s.’ His favorite dood/summer lease housemate is Jeet Ghorpade ’15 (no offense to the others). Next year when he is on study abroad he is going to miss the Kalamadudes, Menna’s Joint, and chasing squirrels.
Haley Cartwright ’15
Haley Cartwright ’15 is spending her first summer in Kalamazoo. She has a lease through August and a great opportunity for one last hoorah with friends. Haley works at a Bigby Coffee shop and in K’s Admission office and she is trying to save up some money before moving to France in September! The Austin, Texas native is really enjoying her time in Michigan’s ‘temperate’ summer weather. She has been bicycling, a lot, especially to the local farmers market to get fresh eggs from Dwight, the egg guy.
Ken Tsuchiya ’16
Ken Tsuchiya ’16 is spending his third summer in the “Zoo” and his second on FacMan’s custodial crew. He says he likes the custodial work because he can meditate while cleaning. Ken also works in K’s Japanese Department transcribing historical videos, which he views as a good lesson in time management and history. What Ken might enjoy most this summer, however, is making music. He has been working on a solo album for his SIP and also been playing at local venues, such as, Rupert’s, Louie’s, and at house shows in the Vine Neighborhood. Check out his band’s webpage: https://kingmedian.bandcamp.com.
Erin Brown ’16
Erin Brown ’16 took the recent spring term off. So she is in the nether world between junior and rising senior, we can’t really be sure; but she’s here! Erin works as a waitress in a senior living community, house-sits, and occasionally watches a cat or two. Earlier this summer she took a fun vacation from summer vacation to visit her girlfriend in North Carolina. Erin is from Kalamazoo, (her dad owns the “Banana car!”) so she knows where all the best craft beer can be found. (Her favorite place is Arcadia Brewing.) She is also re-reading all the Harry Potter books (a yearly tradition for her). And she saw the new Pixar film “Inside Out,” which made it to her list of favorite animated films.
Shannon Haupt ’16 isn’t staying in Kalamazoo this summer only because she loves the sense of community here, but she is helping to organize an event called “Remember Kalamazoo” about the devastating oil pipeline spill into the Kalamazoo River in 2010. Check out Shannon in this NBC news clip from the event (http://bit.ly/1JLA66X). Shannon is also keeping busy by starting her SIP research and creating proposals for the College to divest from fossil fuels. She also works mornings at K’s Lillian Anderson Arboretum (https://reason.kzoo.edu/arboretum), a 140-acre learning laboratory of marsh, meadow, pine plantation, and second-growth deciduous forest in Oshtemo Township, a few miles west of Kalamazoo. In the afternoons she finds new places and people to play Frisbee with. In the evenings, she checks out new breweries and shows. Shannon really knows how to live in Kalamazoo!
John Lewis ’15
John Lewis ’15 is a “fulltime mom” to his housemates this summer. He’s also training for a job at Bronson Hospital in downtown Kalamazoo in the fall. When he’s not doing that, he’s often studying for the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT)…though he does occasionally go outside to play soccer and enjoy the sun at the Davis Street fields around the corner from his Vine Neighborhood house. His latest new found ‘hobby’ (now that he has free time) is cooking. He says heavy whipping cream has changed his life.
Joe Westerfield ’15
Joe Westerfield ’15 is using this summer to solidify his friendships with other recent grads before they all go their own ways. One way he does this is by cooking up a storm–for enjoyment, not for general sustainment! He has also been a huge fan of double-dates this summer and recently cooked Boeuf Bourguignon for a triple date! He watched a video of Julia Child to get the exact recipe and voice inflection perfect. When he isn’t cooking or bonding, he reads plays, works with K’s FacMan recycling crew, and tries to save money for his move to France in the fall.
Jessie Fales ’18
Jessie Fales ’18 is a rising sophomore from Kalamazoo who is busy working this summer. She works at Western Michigan University, K’s Office of College Communication, and in her own photography business, “Epic Fales.” She’s going to Colorado Springs for a week to photograph a wedding. Her new love this summer is coffee, which she enjoys at both Water Street Coffee Joint and Fourth Coast Cafe. While she sips, she re-reads “To Kill a Mockingbird.” She says she’s scared to read the sequel, but in a good way.
Emerald Han ’17
Emerald Han ’17, also a Kalamazooan, is a rising junior who transferred to K this past year. She now lives in the Vine neighborhood and works at Irving’s, a deli on the downtown Kalamazoo Mall. She also works at a flower farm in Paw Paw and partakes in the classic summer jobs of babysitting and house sitting. When she is not serving up delicious food or picking flowers, her favorite things to do are napping with her cat Kilo, reading, and hanging out with friends. She is currently reading “My Age of Anxiety” by Scott Stossel and gives it a high recommendation!
Mallory Zink ’15 (right) with Gemma Burling, Riley Cook ’15, and Becky Lennington ’15, friends from study abroad in Germany, in Chicago for a reunion.
Reporting by Mallory Zink ’15, who is also living in Kazoo this summer and working in the K Office of College Communication before heading off to a new life in Germany. You will be missed!
Professor of Chemistry and Kurt D. Kaufman Chair Jeff Bartz with some of his students in K’s Dow Science Center…
Professor of Chemistry Jeffrey Bartz, Ph.D., is Kalamazoo College’s new Kurt D. Kaufman Chair. His appointment—made at the recommendation of Provost Mickey McDonald and confirmed by the College’s board of trustees—becomes effective July 1, 2015, and runs through June 30, 2020.
The chair was established through a gift by late Kalamazoo College Trustee Paul Todd ’42 in recognition of Kurt Kaufman’s significant leadership and wide influence as a faculty member at K. It’s awarded to a K faculty member to “recognize and honor campus leadership and excellence in teaching.” Regina Stevens-Truss (Chemistry) has held the Kaufman Chair for the past five years.
“I offer my warmest congratulations to Professor Bartz,” said K President Eileen Wilson-Oyelaran. “Provost McDonald’s recommendation highlights Professor Bartz’s ongoing excellence as a teacher in the classroom, in the laboratory, and as a mentor. He is known as a teaching innovator on campus and for mentoring and supporting students of color and first-generation students.”
…and in the College’s Laser Lab.
Jeff Bartz joined the K chemistry department as an assistant professor in 1997 and became a full professor in 2011. He teaches courses in physical and general chemistry and works with K students in the research laboratory. His research is in the area of chemical dynamics.
He earned a B.S. degree in chemistry with a minor in mathematics from Southwest Minnesota State University in 1985 and his Ph.D. degree in physical chemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1992.
Kurt Kaufman was a professor of chemistry at K from 1956 to 1980 who was lauded by students and faculty colleagues as an accomplished researcher and gifted communicator who loved to teach. He died in 2008.
Kalamazoo College poet (and professor emeritus of English) Conrad Hilberry once wrote a poem about kids playing sandlot baseball, noting that, after a hit, the run from home to (hopefully) home again was counterclockwise—in other words: against time, a circle-sprint (maybe even ending in a dramatic slide) in the general direction of that magical place called when-we-were-younger.
Well, dust off your old baseball hat, it’s time for some time travel and everything else associated with an evening at the ballpark.
Kalamazoo College, and the Kalamazoo Growlers baseball association, presents “K Night” at Homer Stryker Field (undoubtedly the most aptly named baseball park in the country!) on Friday, July 17, at 7:05 p.m. And to throw in a little mythology to go with all that poetry, “K Night” activities include Star Wars Night and a raffle of Chewbacca-themed jerseys. Whoopee! Or, should we say: WOOKEE!
At the game, the College’s first class of Promise students will be introduced. And, speaking of firsts, the first pitch will be thrown by Kalamazoo College head softball coach Melanie Hamlin, the four-year collegiate standout from the University of Redlands. (After that first pitch, we wouldn’t be surprised if the home team asks her to stay on the field.)
Fireworks follow the game, and tickets ($12) include a new Growlers hat, which means you can throw out the old one you dusted off, or start a collection.
Bring your friends and family to support both Kalamazoo College and the Kalamazoo Growlers.
To get your tickets contact Lynsey VanSweden (269.337.7082) in the Athletic and Physical Education office. Last day to purchase tickets is Friday, July 10. Cash or check is accepted. Go Hornets! Go Growlers!
