students Archives - Page 40 of 46

K Declares!

Posted on February 21, 2013March 24, 2022

Kalamazoo College sophomores Sarah Whitney, Cheyenne Harvey and Allison Kennedy — Sophomores (l-r) Sarah Whitney, Cheyenne Harvey, and Allison Kennedy enjoy the festivity of Declaration of Major day.

It almost eclipsed Valentine’s Day! And one could think of it as an academic love story. Tuesday, February 12, was the long-awaited Declaration of Majors (DOM) day held in the Fine Arts Building. Three hundred and thirty seven sophomores gathered to declare and celebrate an academic track of their choosing for the next two and a half years. Scores of faculty members along with their department student advisors eagerly waited at their booths during the lunch hour to answer questions and assist with declaration forms. “This event officially welcomes sophomores to the academic curriculum of Kalamazoo College,” says Lesley Clinard, assistant director of academic advising and institutional support. “It’s a fun time that has become a rite of passage because of the cake and ‘I declared…’ stickers.” DOM makes a difference in academic focus before spring course registration. Most students expressed excitement; a few called it “anticlimactic” and “not a big deal.” Assistant Professor of Classics Elizabeth Manwell says DOM is “an opportunity for sophomores to feel special. Moving forward,” she adds, “students begin thinking about their future courses and all the pieces of the K-plan.” Tristan Kiel, department student advisor of Computer Science, thinks being a sophomore is difficult because class workloads pick up. “But DOM brings together the diverse spectrum of sophomores, and they own and enjoy this momentous occasion,” he says. (Story and photo by Sameen Haque ’14)

K’s Chem Club Sieves Out Victorious

Posted on February 21, 2013March 24, 2022

Lydia Manager, Mara Livezey, Joe Widmer, Amanda Bolles, Josh Abbott and Tibin John — 2013 Winners of the Battle of the Chemistry Clubs are (l-r): Lydia Manager ’13, Mara Livezey ’13, Joe Widmer ’14, Amanda Bolles ’14, Josh Abbott ’13, and Tibin John ’15

Kalamazoo College’s American Chemical Society (ACS) student group brought home to the chemistry department the coveted ‘Silver Sep Funnel’ Trophy from Michigan State University this winter. The students pipette-ed, read spectra, analyzed, and even danced their way to victory, and as the safest team (“which is the most important part for us,” says Regina Stevens-Truss, who shares co-advising duties for the group with fellow chemistry professor Jeff Bartz). The K ACS student group participated last year for the first time and placed sixth. This year, they won the overall competition, brought home best “safety dance,” earned most artistic accolades for the “best scientific-themed hangman,” and were also the “safest working team” based on OSHA standards.

2013 was the sixth annual Battle of the Chemistry Clubs, an event that originally put into the pipette pit (so to speak) the University of Michigan-Flint against the University of Detroit Mercy. The field has since grown to 12 schools, with Kalamazoo College joining in 2012. Competition consists of several activities that test a team’s knowledge and skill as it pertains to different chemistry concepts. All activities are team based (each with 4 or more students) and are scored and ranked based on time or accuracy. Morning prelims are followed by the afternoon’s “playoffs mode,” with only one team taking home the hardware.

Josh Abbott was the only returning K “letter winner” from last year’s sixth-place team. He vowed then that K would be well represented this year and wrote immediately after this winter’s competition to Dr. Truss: “I would just like to let you know we brought some hardware back for Dow.” Sweet!

Into the Next Fable

Posted on February 20, 2013March 24, 2022

Festival Playhouse of Kalamazoo College continues its season of “Fables and Fairy Tales” with the Southwest Michigan premier of Sarah Ruhl’s award-winning comedy In the Next Room (or the Vibrator Play). The play opens Thursday, February 28, in the Nelda K. Balch Playhouse and plays through Sunday, March 3. Thursday’s performance begins at 7:30 PM, with Friday and Saturday at 8 PM, and a 2 PM matinee on Sunday. Thursday is “pay what you want.” The other performances cost $15 (adults), $10 (seniors), and $5 (students with ID). The box office opens one hour prior to each performance.

In the Next Room was nominated for the 2010 Tony Award for Best Play and was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize. The play is set in 1880s America at the dawn of the age of electricity, and it contains adult subject matter and language. It’s also “a modern fable with its own invention, an electric vibrator,” says Jane Huffman ’15, student dramaturge.

“Catherine Givings listens with great curiosity and wonder at the door of her husband’s medical laboratory,” adds Huffman, “as he successfully treats female patients suffering from ‘hysteria,’ a catch-all anxiety disorder with symptoms ranging from restlessness to ‘causing trouble.’ All the while Catherine sits in the next room, burdened with dissatisfaction.”

In the Next Room is directed by Associate Professor of Theatre Arts Karen Berthel, with scene design by Professor of Theatre Arts Lanny Potts, and costume design by Elaine Kauffman. Senior Alden Phillips and sophomore Grace Gilmore, playing the roles of Dr. and Mrs. Givings, lead the cast of K students.

Why We Play

Posted on February 20, 2013March 24, 2022

“Why We Play” was the topic of the Winter Quarter Week Six (Feb. 15) Community Reflection in Stetson Chapel. Co-sponsored by the Kalamazoo College Department of Athletics, the annual Reflection offers a space for K student and alumni athletes to share in the collective stories and songs that capture the spirit of sport, recreation, and joy from their Division-III intercollegiate athletic experiences.

Professor of Physical Education and Head Coach of Volleyball Jeanne Hess opened the reflection before an audience of about 200 people. She read an excerpt from her book, “Sportuality: Finding Joy in the Games,” in which she explains why she thinks student athletes choose play sports. “The spiritual life is a purposeful life, and the ‘sportual’ life is a purposeful and playful life,” she said.

Student athletes Johanna Kupe ’13, Alex Gothard ’15 and Allison Thomas ’13 performed “Solider,” a song by Gavin DeGraw. Kupe said she selected the song after a teammate left the encouraging lyrics on a note in her locker before a volleyball game.

President of the Athletic Leadership Council and two-sport athlete Allison Liddane ’13 spoke about the approaching end of her collegiate athletic experience. “My list of ‘why I play’ could be never ending,” she said. Golfer Brad Merrit ’13 read an essay about the recent death of K’s Head Men’s Golf Coach Steve Tyler. Merrit, who won the MIAA Sportsmanship Award, said Tyler was his reason for playing. “We wanted to make him proud,” he said.

Football player Erran Briggs ’14 spoke about his unique love for the game and Division-III level. “When you allow yourself purely to play because you love it, not because you need it, you experience the game on a new level,” he said.

Rebecca Gray ’81 was the featured alumna speaker. A former basketball and field hockey player, Gray is K’s sole Rhodes Scholar. Speaking fondly of her time as a student athlete, shortly after the passage of Title IX that opened more intercollegiate athletic opportunities to women, Gray said sports continue to enhance her life. “For decades now, playing sports, for me, has been a completely reliable and utterly uncomplicated pleasure,” she said. She added that she looks forward to the day when she is no longer referred to as K’s only Rhodes Scholar, but simply as its first.

Community Reflections offer a unique forum for discussion, worship, performance, and community expression each Friday at 10:50 a.m. (refreshments at 10:30) in Stetson Chapel. The entire campus community and general public are invited. On Friday of Week Seven Feb. 22), the Chapel will host “40 Days of Lent: Preparing for Easter.” This reflection will focus on the traditions, history, and ways in which Christians today celebrate Easter and Lent.

Story and photo by Elaine Ezekiel ’13

What’s Love Got To Do With It?

Posted on February 13, 2013March 25, 2022

Willina Cain sings "Wake Up Everybody" while Corrine Taborn accompanies — Willina Cain ’15 sings “Wake Up Everybody” while Corrine Taborn ’13 accompanies.

“What’s Love got to do with it? Anti-Racist Activism in the Creation of Beloved Communities” was the topic of the Winter Quarter Week Four (Feb. 1) Community Reflection in Stetson Chapel, co-sponsored by the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership (ACSJL) and the Black Student Organization (BSO). The Reflection centered around love as an underlying motivator for social change and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s philosophy of “the beloved community” as an end result of non-violent social change. Members of BSO shared their own spoken word pieces, poems, stories, and facts on the subject of leaders from the African-American movement against racism.

Rob Relief III ’13, president of the Young Men of Color student organization, discussed the 87-year history and original aims of Black History Month. Willina Cain ’15 sang the R&B song “Wake Up Everybody” while Corinne Taborn ’13 accompanied her on piano and sang backup vocals. Rian Brown ’16 spoke about how her identity relates to Black History Month. “My ancestors fought for me to gain the privilege to stand before you today,” she said. “But has their work been completed? I know the answer to that question is ‘No.’” She encouraged audience members to shed their complacency and continue the fight for justice and equality.

Jeffery Washington ’15 read a poem he wrote with the refrain “I Black.” “My light friend says I can’t-be-seen-in-the-night-time black/ I’m too black to find that funny,” he read. “I guess I got a dark sense of humor.” Marquise Griffin ’15 read a reflection on his recent trip to Washington D.C. to attend the National Youth Leadership Forum, and his meditations on Christ’s love, which he discussed at the forum. “Dr. King stressed love when combating hate and racism, violence and discrimination,” he said. Bryce Pearson ’16 read a poem called “The Overlooked King,” reflecting on racism. “They didn’t know who I was/ They don’t know who I am/ And they really have no clue of who I will be,” he read. Brittany King-Pleas ’13 closed the Reflection by saying she hoped the audience left with more questions than answers.

Community Reflections offer a unique forum for discussion, worship, performance, and community expression each Friday at 10:50 a.m. in Stetson Chapel. Refreshments at 10:30. The entire campus community and general public are invited.

The Week Six (Friday Feb. 15) Community Reflection is entitled “Why We Play” and features K student athletes discussion why they love to play Division III athletics. This is an annual event always full of heartfelt passion and humor. Special guest speaker is Rebecca Gray ’81. Currently a research scholar at Duke University, Becky majored in mathematics and played basketball for the Hornets. She is also Kalamazoo College’s only Rhodes Scholar.

Story and photo by Elaine Ezekiel ’13

K Jazz Band Performs in Ann Arbor Concert Series

Posted on February 13, 2013March 25, 2022

The Kalamazoo College Jazz Band swings into Ann Arbor as part of a concert series at the First Baptist Church of Ann Arbor. The Jazz Band performs at 7:30 PM on March 1, and the performance is free and open to public. First Baptist is a beautiful historic church located at 517 East Washington Street. It’s history is entwined with Kalamazoo College’s–President Allan Hoben (1922-1935) served at the church prior to his presidency, and First Baptist of Ann Arbor is the church home of Marlene Crandell Francis ’58, trustee emerita of Kalamazoo College. A reception with the student musicians will occur following the music! The Jazz Band is directed by Professor of Music Thomas Evans.

Liberal Arts and Christian faith prepare K student “to achieve things that will last.”

Posted on February 7, 2013March 25, 2022

President Barack Obama, members of Congress, other world leaders, and 80 college students from across the United States—including Kalamazoo College student Marquise Griffin ’15—attended the National Prayer Breakfast today (Feb. 7) in Washington, D.C.

“It was a complete surprise when I got the email saying I got selected,” Marquise said. He attended the National Student Leadership Forum Conference in Nov., a larger conference, also in D.C., from which National Prayer Breakfast attendees were chosen.

According to Marquise, the two events promote a leadership model that focuses on the role of love in leadership.

K Chaplain Elizabeth Candido ’00 nominated Marquise for the fall Forum and is impressed that he was chosen for the interfaith Breakfast gathering.

“Marquise is just a great Christian leader on campus,” she said. “He’s growing in his leadership abilities. Being selected to attend the National Prayer Breakfast is an acknowledgment of that. It’s a really big deal.”

Marquise identifies as a nondenominational Christian. He says he grew up with the Bible as a guiding source for how to live his life and credits overcoming the hurdle of severe hearing loss for fueling his drive and unwillingness to accept human limitations.

“As a kid, I felt cursed. I felt like God had turned his back on me for that to happen,” he said. “Over time, I began to grow spiritually and realize my hearing loss was not a curse. It was actually a blessing.”

Currently an English major, Marquise has a notion to add theater and classics. He said having a degree in the liberal arts will provide him with a well-rounded base, which he intends to apply wherever God needs him.

“I try not to get too wrapped up in trying to plan out exactly what will happen,” he said. “What I really want to do…is to see how I can help better people.”

His faith, he added, assures him that he isn’t going through life randomly. “I have a purpose in life that I have to achieve things that will last long after I’m gone from this earth,” he said.

Story by Maggie Kane ’13.

K Community Responds to Death of Sophomore Emily Stillman

Posted on February 5, 2013March 25, 2022

The Kalamazoo College community continues to grieve the death of sophomore Emily Stillman, who died Sunday, February 3 due to complications from bacterial meningitis. Emily, 19, was taken to Bronson Hospital in the early morning hours of February 1 from her residence hall. K administration and the Student Health Center learned the diagnosis later that morning and immediately began to work in close collaboration with the Kalamazoo County health department and Bronson’s epidemiology lab.

The health department provided two nurses to help K health professionals with education and prophylactic treatment of persons who had been in close contact (within three feet sometime during the previous seven days) with Emily. Those who may have had casual contact should not be affected. Through midday Tuesday Feb. 5, the health team provided prophylactic treatment to approximately 150 persons.

No additional cases of bacterial meningitis have been reported. According to the health department, the likelihood of additional cases of meningitis at Kalamazoo College is very low.

The Student Health Center continues to reach out to students to provide prophylactic antibiotic treatment, discuss symptoms of the illness, and discuss vaccination recommendations. (More information on bacterial meningitis is available from the Kalamazoo County epidemiology on-call line: 269–207–5783.) K Counseling Center staff members have also been available to students.

Emily’s funeral was held this morning at the Dorfman Chapel in Farmington Hills, Mich. Kalamazoo College provided bus transport for about 40 students, faculty, and staff. A special fund is being arranged in Emily’s memory to aid in the research and treatment of bacterial meningitis. Send donations to Temple Shir Shalom, 3999 Walnut Lake Rd., West Bloomfield, MI 48323. Phone: (248) 737-8700.

The Temple will hold donations until the fund is established.

Declaration of Major Day for K sophomores, originally scheduled for today, has been postponed until next Tuesday Feb 12, 11:30 in the Light Fine Arts Building lobby.

Weathering Winter

Posted on January 31, 2013March 25, 2022

Adventure Living Learning House members Morgan Walker, Grace Manger, Dr. Pat Ponto, Allison Kennedy, Katie Ring and Kira Sandiford ’15. — Being glad, not SAD, are (top row, l-r) Morgan Walker ’15, Grace Manger ’15, (bottom row) Dr. Pat Ponto, Allison Kennedy ’15, Katie Ring ’15, and Kira Sandiford ’15.

“Cold Weather Catharsis” was the topic of Winter Quarter 2013 Week Three (Jan. 25) Community Reflection in Stetson Chapel. Co-sponsored by the Adventure Living Learning House , several speakers shared ideas on how to combat Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), spice up the season, stay active, and release the pent-up energy of winter.

Chaplain Liz Candido ’00 welcomed the students in the audience, whom she called “the few, the proud, the brave.” Student Chaplain and Adventure Housemate, Katie Ring ’15 outlined her Living Learning House’s recipe for adventurous living, which she said can help shake up winter fatigue. Then Counseling Center Director Dr. Pat Ponto defined SAD as “a kind of depression contained in fall and winter and in a specific latitude.” She says one treatment for the seasonal mood swings include light therapy.

David Graham ’14, leader of the Active Minds student organization, spoke about how Kalamazoo College has invested in four light therapy lamps, which students can check out when they’re feeling the winter blues. “Nobody deserves to feel SAD’s potentially debilitating effects,” he said. Allison Kennedy ’15 read a comical list poem addressed to herself, reciting all the ways she would not give into “the buzz kill of winter.” Adventure Housemate Kira Sandiford ’15 spoke about the Kalamazoo Outing Club, of which she is an board member. Sandiford suggested joining the club on a winter escapade of snowshoeing, cross country skiing, ice climbing, or ice fishing. “It’s a wonderful way to combat SAD,” she said. Adventure Housemate Grace Manger ’15 said she suffers from SAD herself, and spoke about how she “unwinds” by performing stunts with Cirque du K, K’s circus club. Morgan Walker ’15, another Adventure Housemate, offered some practical advice to staying positive under what he called “the weight of winter.” Candido closed the event by urging attendees to “find your winter adventure—something to keep you positive.”

Friday Chapel programs are called Community Reflections and offer a unique forum for discussion, worship, performance, and community expression each Friday at 10:50 AM; refreshments at 10:30. The entire campus community and general public are invited. Week Four’s Community Reflection is called “What’s Love got to do with it? Anti-Racist Activism in the Creation of Beloved Communities” which will feature a conversation about love as an underlying motivator for Social change and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s philosophy of the beloved community as an end result of non-violent social change.

K Undergraduate Poet is Up and Going

Posted on January 25, 2013March 25, 2022

Winter term 2013 finds sophomore Kate Belew working as an intern at the Poet’s House in lower Manhattan. Another stop on the creative journey of this English major. As a first-year student Kate received the Nature in Words Fellowship at Pierce Cedar Creek Institute for Environmental Education (Hastings, Mich.).

“It is an extraordinarily competitive fellowship,” says Kate’s mentor and Kalamazoo College’s Writer-in-Residence Diane Seuss. “And Kate made the most of the opportunity with her project, ’Voicing the Natural.’” According to Kate, the project sought to speak through the plants and animals she encountered during summer at the institute. “I planned to create the project using persona poems, inspired by Conrad Hilberry’s collection of poems, The Fingernail of Luck,” says Kate. “As I wrote, the project shaped itself into sections, and finally into a collection of poems that I named But That Was In A Different Life.” The poems are threaded together by Wild Woman, a voice of nature within a female human. Explains Kate: “I walked the trails, read books of poems, took notes, worked with Di, and took the time to witness what was happening in the natural world.”

Kate has also published poems in national magazines: “Prairie” in Outrageous Fortune; “Spoon Out Indigo” in Cliterature (on online magazine founded and edited by K graduate Lynn Brewer ’05); and “Yarrow” in the print magazine Straylight.