students

Senior Awards Ceremony 2014

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Congratulations to the following Kalamazoo College students, who received awards during the Senior Awards Ceremony on June 15, 2014, in Stetson Chapel. The awards include all academic divisions, prestigious scholarships, and special non-departmental awards. Again, congratulations to all graduates and members of the Class of 2014.

FINE ARTS DIVISION

Art and Art History

THE LILIA CHEN AWARD IN ART, awarded to students in their junior or senior year who distinguish themselves through their work in ceramics, sculpture, or painting, and who exhibit strong progress in their understanding of art.
Zoe Beaudry
Ayesha Popper
Caitlyn Smith

THE MICHAEL WASKOWSKY PRIZE, awarded to an outstanding junior or senior art major.
Taylor Hartley

Music

The LILLIAN PRINGLE BALDAUF PRIZE IN MUSIC, awarded to an outstanding music student.
Nathalie Botezatu

THE MUSIC DEPARTMENT AWARD, given by the Music Department of the College for outstanding contributions to the musical life on campus, for achievement in performance areas, and for academic achievement.
Curtis Gough  

THE FAN E. SHERWOOD MEMORIAL PRIZE, awarded for outstanding progress and ability on an orchestral stringed instrument.
Fayang Pan            
Ramon Rochester

THE MARGARET UPTON PRIZE IN MUSIC, awarded each year to a student designated by the Music Department faculty as having made a significant achievement in music.
Madeleine Aborn            
Brian Craig     
Campbell Flood
Taylor Hartley
Jonathan Husar
Sherin John                
Elizabeth Kinney
Chelsea Miller
Abigail Miner    
Duncan Polot 

Theatre Arts

THE RUTH SCOTT CHENERY AWARD, given to a graduating senior who has excelled academically in theatre and who plans to continue the study of theatre arts following graduation.
David Landskroener        
Lydia Strini                            
Arshia Will

THE IRMGARD KOWATZKI THEATRE AWARD, awarded to the senior who has excelled both in academic areas and in theatrical productions during the four years at the College.
Mary Mathyer 

THE CHARLES TULLY DESIGN AWARD, given annually to a senior who has achieved excellence in some aspect of theatre design.
Lydia Strini

FOREIGN LANGUAGES DIVISION

Chinese

THE CHINESE OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT AWARD, recognizes seniors who have excelled in the study of the Chinese language and China-related subjects on campus and abroad in China.
Kimberly Balk                                 
Clara Lewis                                  
Lor Vang

Classical Studies

THE PROVOST’S PRIZE IN CLASSICS, awarded to that student who writes the best essay on a classical subject.
Alan Faber
Claire Fielder

German

THE JOE FUGATE SENIOR GERMAN AWARD, awarded to a senior for excellence in German.
Elizabeth Kinney

Japanese

THE JAPANESE NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY, COLLEGE CHAPTER, is awarded in recognition of the student’s achievement in their study of the Japanese language and for their overall academic excellence.
Jeric Derama                        
Lucas Kushner                             
Erika Robles Araya                    
Hailey Stutz

Romance Languages

THE ALLIANCE FRANCAISE PRIZE IN FRENCH, awarded for excellence in French by an advanced student.
Fiona Carey                                
Lisa Woolcock Majlof                        
Hagop Mouradian

THE SENIOR SPANISH AWARD, given by the Department of Romance Languages for outstanding achievement in Spanish.
Matthew Muñoz                                
Salwa Tareen                                
Megan Walsh 

HUMANITIES DIVISION

American Studies

THE DAVID STRAUSS PRIZE IN AMERICAN STUDIES, awarded for the best paper written by a graduating senior in his or her junior or senior year in any field of American Studies.
Colin Lauderdale                                  
Rachel Olson

English

THE GRIFFIN PRIZE, awarded to the senior English major who, like Professor Gail Griffin, demonstrates an exceptional ability to bridge his/her analytical and creative work in the English department.
Matthew Muñoz 

THE ELWOOD H. AND ELIZABETH H. SCHNEIDER PRIZE, awarded for outstanding and creative work in English done by a student who is not an English major.
Colin Lauderdale                            
Samantha Voss  

THE MARY CLIFFORD STETSON PRIZE, awarded for excellence in English essay writing by a senior.
Paula Dallacqua 

THE DWIGHT AND LEOLA STOCKER PRIZE, awarded for excellence in English writing: prose or poetry.
Dakota Clement                                
David Landskroener      
Trevor Vader

History

THE JAMES BIRD BALCH PRIZE, for the showing academic excellence in American History.
Julia Duncan

THE HISTORY DEPARTMENT AWARD, given for outstanding work in the major.
Claire DeWitt                                 
Laurel Thompson

Philosophy

THE HODGE PRIZE IN PHILOSOPHY, awarded to that member of the graduating class who has the highest standing in the field.
Allison Tinsey

Religion

THE MARION H. DUNSMORE MEMORIAL PRIZE IN RELIGION, awarded to a graduating senior for excellence in the major.
Claire DeWitt                                
Emily Smith

NATURAL SCIENCES AND MATHEMATICS DIVISION

Biology

THE H. LEWIS BATTS PRIZE, awarded to the senior who has done the most to support the activities of the Biology Department and to further the spirit of collegiality among students and faculty in the Department.
Sherin John
Gisella Newberry    
Christina Tarn

THE ROBERT BZDYL PRIZE IN MARINE BIOLOGY, awarded to one or more students with demonstrated interest and ability in marine biology or related fields.
David Schapiro

THE DIEBOLD SCHOLAR AWARD, given to one or more seniors in recognition of excellence in the oral or poster presentation of the SIP at the Diebold Symposium.
Matthew Davidson                            
Alan Faber

THE WILLIAM E. PRAEGER PRIZE, established by the faculty in the Biology Department and awarded to the most outstanding senior major in Biology, based on academic achievement in the discipline.
Michael Korn

Chemistry  

THE ANNUAL UNDERGRADUATE AWARD IN INORGANIC CHEMISTRY, sponsored by the American Chemical Society Division of Inorganic Chemistry, to an undergraduate student planning on pursuing graduate studies in chemistry.
Sara Adelman

THE OUTSTANDING CHEMISTRY STUDENT FROM KALAMAZOO COLLEGE, sponsored by the Kalamazoo Section of the American Chemical Society and is given to the graduating senior who has demonstrated leadership in the chemistry department and plans to pursue graduate studies in chemistry.
Amanda Bolles

THE KURT KAUFMAN FELLOW, given annually to seniors who receive Honors in the Senior Individualized Project (SIP) conducted with faculty in the Chemistry Department.
Amanda Bolles       
Joseph Widmer

Mathematics and Computer Science

THE CLARKE BENEDICT WILLIAMS PRIZE, awarded to that member of the graduating class who has the best record in mathematics and the allied sciences.
Tendai Mudyiwa        
Fayang Pan    
Umang Varma 

Physics

THE JOHN WESLEY HORNBECK PRIZE, awarded to a senior with the highest achievement for the year’s work in advanced physics toward a major.
John Nocita                                
Reid Wagner

PHYSICAL EDUCATION DIVISION

Physical Education

THE GEORGE ACKER AWARD awarded annually to a male athlete who in his participation gave all, never quit, with good spirit supported others unselfishly, and whose example was inspirational.
Tyler McFarland

THE OUTSTANDING SENIOR WOMAN ATHLETE AWARD, given by the Department of Physical Education to the outstanding senior female athlete.
Jenna Riehl

THE KALAMAZOO COLLEGE ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION AWARD, for a graduating senior who has most successfully combined high scholarship with athletic prowess.
Michael Korn 

THE MARY LONG BURCH AWARD, for a senior woman who has manifested interest in sports activities and excelled in scholarship.
Holly Cooperrider

THE C. W. “OPIE” DAVIS AWARD, awarded to the outstanding senior male athlete.
Mark Ghafari  

THE KNOECHEL FAMILY AWARD, awarded to a senior male and a senior female member of the swim teams in recognition of demonstrated excellence in both intercollegiate swimming and academic performance.
Alexandra Stephens

THE CATHERINE A. SMITH PRIZE IN WOMEN’S ATHLETICS, awarded to a woman athlete who in her participation gave all, never quit, with good spirit supported others unselfishly, and whose example was inspirational.
Quinn McCormick

SOCIAL SCIENCES DIVISION

Anthropology and Sociology

THE RAYMOND L. HIGHTOWER AWARD, given to a graduating senior for excellence in and commitment to the disciplines of sociology and anthropology and leadership in the Department of Anthropology and Sociology.
Ryan Gregory                                
Amy Jimenez       
Roxann Lawrence                                
Kylie Meyer 

Economics and Business

THE WILLIAM G. HOWARD MEMORIAL PRIZE, awarded to a senior for excellence in academic work in an economics or business major.
Edward Carey (Business)                            
Katharine Moffit (Business)                        
Sanjay Sharma (Business)
Mark Ghafari (Economics)                        
Colin Lennox (Economics)                        
Kari Paine (Economics)

Human Development and Social Relations

THE HUMAN DEVELOPMENT AND SOCIAL RELATIONS PRIZE, awarded for leadership in the major, reflecting commitment to inter-disciplinary thinking and social justice.
Charlotte Steele                            
Dayon Woodford

Political Science

THE E. BRUCE BAXTER MEMORIAL AWARD, awarded to a senior showing outstanding development in the field of political science.
Jenna Neumann                                
Allison Seiwert

THE WILLIAM G. HOWARD MEMORIAL PRIZE, awarded for excellence in a year’s work in political science.
Abigail Miner                                
Salwa Tareen 

Psychology

THE MARSHALL HALLOCK BRENNER PRIZE awarded to an outstanding student for excellence in the field of psychology.
Ian Good 

THE XARIFA GREENQUIST MEMORIAL PSYCHOLOGY DEPARTMENT AWARD, given in recognition of distinctive service to students and faculty in psychology by a student assistant.
Katherine Curley                             
Rachel Evans                                
Alejandra Sanchez

THE RICHARD D. KLEIN SENIOR AWARD IN PSYCHOLOGY, awarded to a senior psychology major for an outstanding SIP oral presentation.
Claire Diekman

THE RICHARD D. KLEIN SENIOR AWARD IN PSYCHOLOGY, given for outstanding contributions to the community
Jordan Earnest                                
Marlene Espinoza                            
Rachel Olson                                
Emily Smith                                
Sarah Sullivan

THE DONALD W. VAN LIERE PRIZE, given for excellence in psychology research.
Dana Allswede                                
Katherine Curley                               
David Graham

THE DONALD W. VAN LIERE PRIZE, given for excellence in psychology coursework.
Dana Allswede      
Kira Boneff          
Holly Kramer 

Women’s Studies

THE CATHERINE A. SMITH PRIZE IN HUMAN RIGHTS, awarded to a senior who has been active on campus in promoting human rights, furthering progressive social and cultural change, and combating violence, repression, and bigotry.
Jordan Earnest                                
Kaitlyn Thiry 

THE LUCINDA HINSDALE STONE PRIZE, awarded to a student whose scholarship, research or creative work in women’s studies, in the form of a SIP or other academic work, is most impressive.

Chelsey Shannon

COLLEGE AWARDS

THE GORDON BEAUMONT MEMORIAL AWARD, awarded to the deserving student who displays qualities of selflessness, humanitarian concern, and willingness to help others, as exemplified in the life of Gordon Beaumont.
Paula Dallacqua
Roxann Lawrence

THE HENRY AND INEZ BROWN AWARD is awarded in recognition of outstanding participation in the College community.
Jessie Owens

THE ALPHA LAMBDA DELTA GLADYS BELL GRADUATE FELLOWSHIP, given to a senior working toward a graduate or professional degree.
Jenna Neumann

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

THE ALPHA LAMBDA DELTA MARIA LEONARD SENIOR BOOK AWARD, given to the Alpha Lambda Delta member graduating with the highest GPA.
Suzanne Curtiss                                
Spencer Thompson

THE BABETTE TRADER CAMPUS CITIZENSHIP AND LEADERSHIP AWARD, awarded to that member of the graduating class, who has most successfully combined campus citizenship and leadership with scholarship.
Lori-Ann Williams  

THE MAYNARD OWEN WILLIAMS MEMORIAL AWARD, for the best student entry in the form of an essay, poetry, paintings, sketches, photographs, or films derived from Study Abroad.
Fiona Carey                                
Brianna Melgar

The Mary Jane Underwood Stryker Institute for Service-Learning recognizes LAPLANTE STUDENT SCHOLARS who have shown outstanding dedication to civic engagement and who design and lead community programs that promote a more just, equitable and sustainable world.
Dana Allswede     
Raven Fisher
Brenda Guzman
Roxann Lawrence
Katherine Mattison
Ayesha Popper
Eren Sipahi

The Mary Jane Underwood Stryker Center for Civic Engagement recognizes the VIBBERT SCHOLARS, students who honor and exemplify the life and spirit of Stephanie Vibbert–scholar, activist, poet, feminist and artist–by leading programs that promote equity and justice through the arts and feminist organizing.
Zoe Beaudry                    
Jordan Earnest
Chelsey Shannon

The Mary Jane Underwood Stryker Center for Civic Engagement recognizes the SERVICE-LEARNING FELLOWS, students who “carry on the work of Tony Vonk and Howard DeMoore … by turning lives around,” working with incarcerated youth and adults and promoting restorative justice.
David Graham

THE SENIOR LEADERSHIP RECOGNITION AWARD is awarded to students who have provided key elements of leadership in their organizations, athletic teams, academic departments, employment, and the wider Kalamazoo community.  Students were nominated by faculty and staff members in January.  Seniors eligible for this award also had to meet a minimum cumulative Grade Point Average requirement and be in good academic and social standing at the College.
Keaton Adams
Yesenia Aguilar      
Anna Asbury
Nicholas Beam
Amanda Bolles       
Nathalie Botezatu
Erran Briggs
Edward Carey
Ismael Carrasco
Claire DeWitt
Emma Dolce
Raven Fisher
Mark Ghafari
Ian Good
Brenda Guzman
Amy Jimenez           
Sherin John
Michael Korn
Lucas Kushner
Colin Lauderdale
Roxann Lawrence
Ayoki Levi               
Amanda Mancini
Geneci Marroquin
Tendai Mudyiwa
Kari Paine
Ramon Rochester
Sara Sullivan
Hsu Tun
Umang Varma   
Lori-Ann Williams
Marc Zughaib

Neurosurgery Internship

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Brielle Bethke ’16 did an independent internship at the University of Louisville Center for Neurological Surgery. There she assisted with physical therapy, conducted data analysis, shadowed physicians and researchers, and met people with a unique outlook on life. Her work is connected to a recent CNN Health Report story about a study of the applications of electrical stimulation in spinal cord injury. Two people with whom Brielle worked are featured in the story. She worked with Dustin, a patient in the study who, at age 18, suffered a spinal cord injury in a car accident that left him paralyzed from the waist down. Dr. Susan Harkema, the head of neurological surgery at the Frazier Rehabilitation Institute, was the supervisor of Brielle’s internship. Brielle is majoring in biology and earning a minor in Spanish. She is a member of the Health Guild and will study abroad in Caceres, Spain, during her junior year.

Lamppost Dedication Honors Emily Stillman ’15

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Emily Stillman's K classmates and friends helped dedicate a lamppost on campus in her honor
Emily Stillman’s K classmates and friends helped dedicate a lamppost on campus in her honor on June 5.

On the afternoon of June 5, friends and family of Emily Stillman ’15 gathered to dedicate a lamppost on the K campus in remembrance of the Kalamazoo College sophomore whose life was claimed by bacterial meningitis in February 2014.

The lamppost is situated on the main walkway near Olds-Upton Hall facing the steps leading to Mandelle Hall. A plaque with Emily’s name has been affixed to the post so students and other members of the campus community can easily see it as they pass by.

“As I hurry off to class or rush to meet others, I’ll be reminded,” said Bryan Olert ’15, a friend of Emily, during a dedication ceremony organized by K Chaplain Liz Candido ’00 and Vice President for Student Development and Dean of Students Sarah Westfall.

A lamp is perceived as a perfect embodiment of the bright, jovial, and vibrant character of Emily Stillman whose presence was hard to miss, according to some of her friends.

“You just feel her when she walks into a room,” said Nicole Caddow ’15. “You just know Emily Stillman is there.”

During the dedication ceremony, Olert and others took turns reciting pieces depicting the significance of the lamppost and how it conveys the memories they shared with their dear friend.

Plaque on the lamppost dedicated to Emily Stillman“When I see the lamppost, I will remember how Emily’s life illuminated those around her,” read Skylar Young ’15, a close friend of Emily.

Jared Grimer ’15 added, “The lamppost is a perfect representation of Emily’s radiant personality. She brought light and warmth into a world that can at times be dark and cold.”

Emily’s parents, Alicia and Michael Stillman, were at the ceremony with her two siblings Zachery and Karly Stillman. Since Emily’s death, the Stillmans have embarked on an awareness campaign by providing information on bacterial meningitis here in the United States and Canada. They founded the Emily Stillman Foundation to encourage parents to get their children vaccinated against meningitis and also inform people about the signs and symptoms of the disease.

“We are working to raise awareness of meningococcal disease and organ donation while keeping Emily’s legacy alive. We advocate meningococcal vaccinations,” reads the description on the Foundation’s Facebook page.

After her death, Emily’s parents also donated her organs through the Michigan Gift of Life Center, eventually helping to save at least five lives.

Story by Olivia Nalugya ’16

 

Kalamazoo College to Become Promise Eligible

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Janice Brown of Kalamazoo Promise smiles at K President Eileen B. Wilson-Oyelaran
Janice Brown (left), Kalamazoo Promise, and Eileen B. Wilson-Oyelaran, Kalamazoo College

Beginning in the fall of 2015 Kalamazoo Public Schools (KPS) students may use the Kalamazoo Promise Scholarship to attend Kalamazoo College as well as 14 other private colleges that are members of the Michigan Colleges Alliance (MCA). The news was announced on Tuesday at a press conference sponsored by the Kalamazoo Promise and the MCA.

The Promise was launched in 2005 and provides a four-year scholarship to KPS graduates who reside in the district and attend KPS through high school. The addition of the 15 MCA member institutions to the 43 Michigan public colleges and universities increases the number of Promise eligible schools to 58 throughout the state. In addition to K, MCA members include Adrian College, Albion College, Alma College, Andrews University, Aquinas College, Calvin College, Hillsdale College, University of Detroit Mercy, Hope College, Madonna University, Marygrove College, Olivet College, Siena Heights University, and Spring Arbor University.

For KPS students who enroll at MCA schools the tuition and fees will be fully and jointly funded by the Kalamazoo Promise and the MCA member institution. The Kalamazoo Promise will fund at the level of the undergraduate average tuition and fees for the College of Literature, Science and Arts at the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor). The MCA member institution will cover any difference between that amount and the amount of its yearly tuition and fees.

Heyl Scholars Bound for Kalamazoo College

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Eight Kalamazoo College Heyl ScholarsAt a May dinner in the Hicks Center Kalamazoo College celebrated the 2014 Kalamazoo County high school graduates who earned Heyl Scholarships for Kalamazoo College (science and math) or Western Michigan University (nursing). The scholarship covers tuition, book costs, and room charges. The 2014 Heyl scholars include (l-r): front row—Rachel Chang, Fiona Beaton, Emily Fletcher, Amber Salome; back row—Jacob Naranjo, Peter Rossi, Jager Hartman, and Abhay Goel. Beaton will attend WMU; the other seven will begin their undergraduate studies at K in September. Not pictured is Alexandria Oswalt, who also will attend K. (Photo by Anthony Dugal Photography)

Journalist Ray Suarez Will Deliver K’s 2014 Commencement Address, Receive Honorary Degree

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Female graduate hugging a well-wisherVeteran journalist Ray Suarez will deliver the 2014 Commencement address at Kalamazoo College on Sunday June 15, in a ceremony beginning at 1:00 p.m. on the campus Quad. Suarez will address approximately 300 members of the Class of 2014 and receive an honorary degree (Doctor of Humane Letters) from the College. Ms. Xinyu Hu ’14 will also address the graduates in her role as senior speaker.

The event is free and open to the public. The College sets up about 3,000 chairs on the Quad, but guests are invited to bring a bag chair or a blanket to stretch out on the grass. The weatherman says no rain! But just in case, Anderson Athletic Center on Academy is the alternate site. Unfortunately, the gym can only accommodate the graduates, some of their family members, and K administrators/faculty, and we use a ticketing process for that. Parking will be in high demand, so give yourself extra time.

For those unable to attend, K Commencement will be livestreamed.

Suarez is the permanent host of the Al Jazeera America daily program “Inside Story.” He joined the new American news channel in November 2013 after an extensive television and radio career in which he excelled at delivering, as Al Jazeera America president Kate O’Brian put it, “compelling coverage of the most challenging news stories and events with objectivity and depth, punctuated by Ray’s own brand of thoughtful analysis. That’s exactly what ‘Inside Story’ is all about.”

Suarez came from PBS’ “NewsHour,” where he worked from 1999 to 2013, most recently as its chief national correspondent. He also served as the lead correspondent for the program’s global health coverage, reporting on some of the world’s most threatening health crises from Africa, Latin America and Asia. Before joining PBS, he hosted National Public Radio’s “Talk of the Nation” for six years.

The Brooklyn native who now lives in Washington, D.C. is the author of the critically acclaimed “Latino Americans,” the companion book to the PBS documentary series of the same name, published in September 2013. He also is the author of “The Holy Vote: The Politics of Faith in America” and “The Old Neighborhood: What We Lost in the Great Suburban Migration” and has contributed to several other books.

Young Scientist

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Mara Richman standing by her research posters
Mara Richman presented research at the North America Society for the Study of Personality Disorders.

Mara Richman ’15 has built an impressive scientific résumé in three short undergraduate years–and she has yet to reach her Senior Individualized Project (SIP) term!

During her study abroad in Budapest, Hungary the psychology major collaborated with Dr. Zsolt Unoka on research in depression and borderline personality disorder. She presented that work, titled “Mental state decoding deficit in major depression and borderline personality disorder: a meta-analysis,” at the North America Society for the Study of Personality Disorders. Think the age of David (when he confronted Goliath) or of Joan of Arc … Mara was the youngest presenter at NASSPD! And she will be one of the youngest oral presenters at the prestigious International Congress on Borderline Personality Disorder and Allied Disorders (Rome, Italy), where her paper was accepted and where she will detail the meta-analysis she completed with Unoka. Their research also has been submitted in manuscript form to Clinical Psychology Review.

To date, Mara has six manuscripts published or in review for publication on research into schizophrenia, drug courts, and borderline personality disorder. She has presented research (or had research accepted for presentation) at Stanford University, the Association for Psychological Science, the Midwestern Psychological Association, the Mid America Undergraduate Research Conference, and the Michigan Undergraduate Psychology Conference. And she will present her work at the American Psychological Association in August. Most of this BEFORE she begins in earnest her SIP work. That will happen this summer at Harvard University Medical School’s Department of Psychiatry under mentor ship of one of the world’s foremost experts on borderline personality disorder, Dr. Mary Zanarini.

Given her youth and her accomplishments so far, it may not be too surprising that Mara will graduate after her senior fall term. She hopes to work in a lab for nine months or so and then apply to graduate school. She plans to earn a Ph.D. in clinical psychology and focus her research on borderline personality disorder.

More-in-FourPeat

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Kalamazoo College has won the coveted Klein Cup for the fourth consecutive year. “If we keep this up, perhaps the award should be re-named the K Kup,” said John Fink, the Rosemary K. Brown Professor in Mathematics and Computer Science. The Klein Cup honors the first place finisher in the annual Lower Michigan Mathematics Competition (LMMC). This year’s math dust-up took place a Lawrence Technological University (Southfield, Mich.) and featured 20 teams from nine schools. K sent three teams that placed first, second, and tenth. Not bad. And since half the first place team and all of the second place team are underclassmen, the prospects for next year look good. K Kup, indeed! This year’s K math hornets included: first place team–Umang Varma and Tibin John; second place team–Raoul Wadhwa, Ngoc (Van) Truong, and Raj Bhagat; tenth place team–Sajan Silwal, Mehmet Kologlu, and Alex Townsend.

The World is My Oyster, and I am the Pearl: Peer Gynt at Festival Playhouse

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Students rehears for "Peer Gynt"
A scene from PEER GYNT (photo by Emily Salswedel ’16)

It’s grand finale time for Festival Playhouse of Kalamazoo College’s golden anniversary. To close its 50th season, Festival Playhouse presents Colin Teevan’s adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s Peer Gynt, Thursday through Sunday, May 15-18, in the Nelda K. Balch Playhouse.

Guest Director Todd Espeland has set the play in a contemporary punk rock club, with an “in-your face” attitude still capable of shocking a 21st century audience. (Peer Gynt contains mature subject matter and language, and some of the material may not be suitable for children.)

“I selected this modern adaptation because I felt that the updating of the language and situations would make the message and story connect more to our students,” says Espeland. “The roughness of the language, modernizing Peer’s adventures by making him a human trafficker, and its references to the way we idolize TV celebrities, brings Ibsen’s message into the 21st century while still keeping the heart of the fairy tale.

“As human beings, each of us must ask ourselves who we are, what we believe, and to whom we have obligations,” Espeland adds. “This play inverts the usual paradigm of characters that look inward for answers: Peer looks outward to the entire world to serve him. His duty toward himself is to manipulate others to fulfill his needs, regardless of the suffering his manipulations impose on others.”

Dramaturg David Landskroener ’14 comments: “Audiences will be struck by this play’s denouncement of pride and self-interest. The ever-increasing modern societal message is that everything is about ’me,’ which this adaptation deconstructs in an even more timely and resonant fashion through references to reality TV.”

Peer constantly changes his persona to suit the occasion at hand: he’ll do and say anything to get what he wants. Kyle Lampar ’17, who plays the title role, describes his character as “vulgar, carefree, and unapologetic…but behind that persona of tough teenage angst, there’s a fragile individual who only wishes to fulfill his dreams.”

The design team includes Theatre Arts Professor and Scenic Designer Lanford J. Potts, Costume Designer Elaine Kauffman, Lighting Designer Katie Anderson ’15, and Sound Designer Lindsay Worthington ’17.

The show opens Thursday, May 15 at 7:30pm (which is “pay-what-you-can” night), and runs Friday and Saturday, May 16-17, at 8pm, and Sunday, May 18, at 2pm. Tickets are $5 for students, $10 for seniors, and $15 for other adults and may be purchased at the door. To make reservations, please call 269.337.7333 or visit the website for more information. Note: Thursday’s performance will be followed by the golden anniversary’s final alumni talk back, led by Kristen Chesak ’94, managing director of the Kalamazoo Civic Theatre.

Four in More Than 15,000

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Three female students who presented at the 2014 Experimental Biology Meeting
K student researcher/presenters at the 2014 Experimental Biology Meeting included (l-r): Amanda Bolles, Rina Fujiwara, and Virginia Greenberger. Not pictured is Michael Korn.

Four Kalamazoo College students attended at the 2014 Experimental Biology Meeting: Amanda Bolles ’14, Chemistry; Rina Fujiwara ’15, Chemistry; Virginia Greenberger ’14, Chemistry; and Michael Korn ’14, Biology. Experimental Biology is a joint meeting of six different societies including the American Association for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) as well as societies for physiology, nutrition, pharmacology, pathology, and anatomy. The meeting provides a great opportunity for students to present their work and attend a variety of engaging scientific talks. More than 15,000 scientists attended the event in San Diego, Calif.

Bolles and Fujiwara presented their research findings during the Undergraduate Poster Competition and during the regular scientific session for ASBMB. Their research involves recent work completed in the laboratory of Professor of Chemistry Laura Furge. That work has shown that two different (but related) compounds inactivate P450 3A4, an enzyme in the liver and intestine that metabolizes (or processes) a major pharmaceutical drug. The titles of the Bolles and Fujiwara posters were, respectively, “5-Fluoro-2-[4-[(2-phenyl-1H-imidazol-5-yl)methyl]-1 piperazinyl]pyrimidine is a mechanism based inactivator of CYP3A4” and “Mechanism-based inactivation of human CYP3A4 by a piperazine-containing compound.” The ASBMB competition includes posters of some 300 students from a variety of college and universities across the country. One grand prize award was presented to a student in each of four research categories (bioenergetics/protein structure, cell biology/developmental biology, DNA/gene regulation, and immunology/microbiology/neurobiology). Bolles won the $500 grand prize in the bioenergetics/protein structure category and was recognized the next day before an audience of hundreds of scientists, educators, and students at the award lecture for outstanding contributions to education. Bolles’s presentation derived from her Senior Individualized Project (SIP), which will be published later this year along with results from co-author Fujiwara.

Greenberger conducted her SIP research in the laboratory of Professor of Chemistry Regina Stevens-Truss. The abstract she presented at the meeting was titled “Bacterial Action of Novel Cationic Peptide Sequences.” As more antibiotic resistance is observed in patients, new sources of antibiotics are being investigated, including short peptide sequences. Greenberger’s work in the Truss lab was aimed at determining the antibiotic activity (and the precise mechanisms of action that yielded the activity) of two newly studied peptide sequences.

Dr. Furge also presented a poster in the ASBMB regular scientific session based on work started last year by Parker de Waal ’13. The work began as part of a course assignment in Furge’s “Advanced Biochemistry” course and grew into an elegant computational study of structural differences between select variants of the drug-metabolizing enzyme P450 2D6. de Waal used molecular dynamics methods to show how subtle differences in the enzyme structure can help explain differences in the metabolizing abilities of the enzymes. The study is being completed by Kyle Sunden ’16. While in San Diego, Furge spent an afternoon at the Skaggs School of Pharmacy at the University of California-San Diego discussing the implications and approach of the study with other scientists in this field.

Korn attended the American Physiological Society (APS) portion of the Experimental Biology meeting. He presented the results of his SIP work (conducted in the laboratory of Dr. Christopher Mendias at the University of Michigan) in the APS Student Poster Competition. Korn’s abstract received the David Bruce Outstanding Undergraduate Abstract Award. The title of his presentation was “Simvastatin reduces myosteatosis following chronic skeletal muscle injury.”

The future is promising for all four of these outstanding student researchers. In the fall, Bolles will enter the University of Michigan Graduate Program in Biomedical Sciences; Greenberger will matriculate to the chemistry department at Pennsylvania State University to begin work on her Ph.D; Korn will attend the University of Michigan Medical School; and Fujiwara will complete her SIP with Furge this summer. She plans to attend graduate school after her June 2015 graduation from K.

Professors Furge and Truss are both members of the ASBMB and attend the annual meeting each year. Truss also directs a National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded workshop for area high school science teachers in connection with the annual ASBMB meeting. This year’s workshop attracted more than a dozen local teachers who learned science and teaching strategies to use in their classrooms. Attendees at the workshop are also eligible for mini-grants to support further development of their teaching after the workshop. A recent article describes the impact of this workshop (which is in its fourth year).

In other meeting news, the Ruth Kirschstein Diversity in Science Award was given jointly to President Freeman Hrabowski III and Professor Michael Summers of University of Maryland-Baltimore County. Professor Summers was the SIP mentor to Erran Briggs ’14 and has worked closely with Professor Truss on the Professional Development and Minority Affairs Committees of ASBMB. Professor Summers also visited K’s campus in 2010 as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Guest Scholar Lecturer. Given the connections, and important work of Summers and Hrabowski, Professor Truss arranged for Bolles, Fujiwara, and Greenberger to interview Summers for Kalamazoo College’s Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership’s Praxis Center. Following the interview, Summers treated the students and Truss to lunch overlooking the San Diego Harbor marina! Notes from the interview will be posted on the Praxis website.

Travel to ASBMB for Bolles, Fujiwara, and Greenberger was supported by grants from the Provost Office, the Heyl Foundation (Greenberger), and the ACSJL. Korn’s travel to the meeting was sponsored by grant funds from his SIP advisor and the University of Michigan. Furge and Truss were supported by the Hutchcroft Endowment as well as their NIH and NSF grants, respectively. Next year’s Experimental Biology Meeting will occur in Boston, Mass.