Kalamazoo College is among 20 colleges and universities nationwide to be named a Best Buy School in the just-published 2019 edition of the highly respected Fiske Guide to Colleges.
Fiske says it based the ratings on “outstanding educational value as determined by academic quality in relation to the net cost of attendance.” The guide says of Kalamazoo College: “Ninety-eight percent of students at this globally oriented liberal arts school receive financial aid and 70 percent study abroad for the same price that they pay for regular tuition.”
Eric Staab, K’s dean of admission and financial aid, says Fiske’s recognition comes as no surprise.
“At Kalamazoo College, the flexibility of the K-Plan, our integrated approach to an excellent education in the liberal arts and science, allows us to seek out students with a broad array of interests, achievements and experiences,” Staab says. “We work hard to ensure that cost is not a barrier for students who can contribute their distinctive ideas and talents to, and benefit from, our richly diverse campus and programs.”
Chartered in 1833, Kalamazoo College is among the nation’s 100 oldest colleges and universities. It ranks in the top 2 percent among the nation’s four-year liberal arts colleges for the percentage of graduates who go on to earn doctorate degrees.
K is the only college in the Great Lakes region named to the Best Buy Schools list, which is comprised of 10 public and 10 private universities and colleges.
Established by former New York Times education editor Edward B. Fiske, the Fiske Guide to Colleges has been among the foremost sources of information about higher education quality and affordability for more than 30 years. USA Today has deemed it “the best college guide you can buy.”
For more information about Kalamazoo College, visit www.kzoo.edu.
For Amanda Moss ’19, the route to her prestigious internship this summer at National Basketball Association (NBA) headquarters in New York City began, improbably, with getting kicked out of a gym.
She says that while she was a basketball player in high school, she went to the community gym in her Detroit suburb daily during the summer to practice her jump shot. One day, however, an employee of the Detroit Pistons NBA team told her she would have to leave because the courts were reserved for a team-run youth basketball program.
“I started to pack up but then I looked around and saw they were way understaffed for the event they were going to hold,” she recalls. “So I went back up to the guy and I offered my assistance. He took me up on the offer and I helped set up chairs, run the scoreboard, that sort of thing, and helped to clean up when it was over.”
After the event, she says, the employee chatted with her and ended up offering her a summer job at the Pistons’ youth basketball camp.
“I did that every summer for four years,” says Moss, who plays women’s basketball and lacrosse and was just named to the Jewish Sports Review Women’s College Lacrosse All-America Team for the second year in a row.
Along the way, she got to meet Pistons players including Andre Drummond and Reggie Jackson and people in the team’s corporate office. So when it came time to seek an internship in summer 2017, she was well-situated to apply to the Pistons. She worked in community relations and marketing for the team, conceiving a career forum for girls 9 to 16 and then running every aspect of the event, which included presenting a panel of college basketball players and women business leaders.
That, in turn, set her up for this summer’s internship. With the help of K’s Center for Career and Professional Development and with advice from her professors, the economics and business major applied for the highly competitive program and was one of 50 students chosen from a pool of 6,000. She’s working in the retail division of the NBA’s Global Partnerships Department, which manages all aspects of the league’s relationship with companies including Nike, New Era, Foot Locker and Amazon.
That relationship includes activities such as licensing the sale of NBA-branded merchandise, arranging for advertising on NBA TV, approving the use of the NBA logo in social media messages and arranging player appearances at partner businesses, she says. Her role has been mainly in research. One assignment tasked her with finding out everything she could about how the NBA could work with Target Corp., and she says she discovered a natural fit in both organizations’ emphasis on supporting community voluntarism—a synergy around which her boss now is building a partnership program.
She says her K education has given her a real advantage in her role, especially a business research methods course that prepares students for their Senior Individualized Project (SIP). Business and economics professor Timothy Moffit ’80 put a heavy emphasis on identifying information sources in research papers, so in a PowerPoint presentation to NBA professionals, she says, she included a final slide listing all of her sources—about 30, and many of them recognizable names.
She says it helped cement the credibility and validity of her proposal. “They were really impressed. It’s not something that they were expecting.”
A Chinese minor who studied abroad in China during the 2017-18 school year, Moss also has had a chance to use her language skills, aiding her boss in a conference call with the NBA office in China, she says. And content- and video-editing skills she learned in a documentary filmmaking course have turned out to be in high demand, as well.
“Every day is a new day at the league,” she says. “You have to be very multidimensional. Part of the Kalamazoo College liberal arts experience is being able to study multiple subjects because the K-Plan is so flexible.”
With the experience gained in her internships, and a planned SIP contrasting consumer perceptions of professional sports in the United States and China, she hopes to land a corporate job in international sports after graduation. Her ultimate goal—“really just a dream” at this point, she says—would be to start a nonprofit venture that uses sports to connect with and empower Chinese girls.
“I was adopted from China, and when I went to my study abroad in China, I got to volunteer coach in some of the schools, and there was a huge absence of girls in all of the basketball programs,” she says, adding that Chinese girls get little encouragement to participate in team sports in general.
In another effort to help people achieve their goals, she is teaming with fellow Kalamazoo College athletes Alex Dupree ’21 and Jordan Wiley ’19 to form a sports business club for K students that will aid them in charting their way to careers in sports-oriented businesses and link them with alumni in the field.
Her effort to create what she calls “new channels and opportunities” for her classmates echoes what she says is her goal on the lacrosse field and basketball court: “to play for my teammates and make great memories.”
Moss’ enthusiasm and cooperative yet competitive spirit wins high praise from K physical education professor and coach Jeanne Hess.
“Amanda is one of the most committed players and teammates I’ve seen come through Kalamazoo College,” Hess says. “She plays with passion and ferocity and she’s fun to watch. She’s going to do great things.”
Congratulations to the following Kalamazoo College students who received awards during the 2018 Senior Awards Ceremony on June 16 at 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 2018.
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.
Jonathan Nord
Alpha Lambda Delta Dr. Helen Clark Graduate Fellowship, given to the Alpha Lambda Delta member graduating with the highest GPA.
Guillermo Dominguez Garcia
American Chemical Society Certified Degree in Chemistry
Maria Elva Fujii
Sarah Marie Harnish
Phuong Nguyet Ha Le
Omar León Ruiz
Madeleine Grace Roberts
Caleb Sherwood
Kathryn Doral Thamann
James Bird Balch Prize in American History, for showing academic excellence in American history.
Angel Caranna
Lillian Pringle Baldauf Prize in Music, awarded to an outstanding music student
Lauren Landman
Lewis Batts Prize, awarded to seniors who have done the most to support the activities of the Biology Department and to further the spirit of collegiality among students and faculty.
Manbir Singh
Erika Kelly Waalkes
Bruce Baxter Memorial Award, awarded to a senior showing outstanding development in the field of political science.
Anselm Scheck
Gordon Beaumont Memorial Award, awarded to students who display qualities of selflessness, humanitarian concern and willingness to help others as exemplified in the life of Gordon Beaumont.
Rumsha Sajid
Cindy Xiao
Beeler Senior Projects Abroad Fellows
Lotte Louise Dunnell
Oluchi Amarachi Ebere
Alicia Gaitan
Jasmine Khin
Connor Webb
Larry Bell Scholar
Lee Ray Carter
Biology in Liberal Arts Prize
Rosemarie Nocita
Kathleen Elizabeth Brannan Russell
Marshall Hallock Brenner Prize, awarded to an outstanding student for excellence in the field of psychology.
Justin Thad Roop
Henry and Inez Brown Award, awarded in recognition of outstanding participation in the College community.
Alexandrea Esther Ambs
Emily Good
David Vanderkloot
Clara H. Buckley Prize for Excellence in Latin, awarded to an outstanding student of the language of the Romans.
Clayton James Meldrum
Mary Long Burch Award, for a senior woman who has manifested interest in sports activities and excelled in scholarship.
Christina Dandar
Robert Bzdyl Prize in Marine Biology, awarded to one or more students with demonstrated interest and ability in marine biology or related fields.
Claire Eleanor Howland
Annual Undergraduate Award in Analytical Chemistry, sponsored by the American Chemical Society Division of Analytical Chemistry, to an undergraduate student planning on pursuing graduate studies in chemistry.
Clay Wilkey
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.
Madeleine Grace Roberts
Annual Undergraduate Award in Physical Chemistry, sponsored by the American Chemical Society and subcommittee for the Division of Physical Chemistry, to an undergraduate student who displays significant aptitude for a career in organic chemistry.
Joyce Nguyen
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.
Madeleine Grace Roberts
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.
Carlos Enrique Arellano
Dorothy Carpenter
Alicia Gaitan
Kelly Marie Haugland
Julia Madeline Koreman
Erin Sidney Reilly
Amber Sims
Ruth Scott Chenery Award, given to graduating seniors who have excelled academically in theatre and who plan to continue the study of theatre arts following graduation.
Johanna Keller Flores
Samuel Meyers
Chinese Outstanding Achievement Award, which recognizes seniors who have excelled in the study of the Chinese language and China-related subjects on campus and abroad in China.
AJ Convertino
Sharon Situ
Lia Williams
Provost Prize in Classics
Leah Elizabeth Finelli
Clayton James Meldrum
Provost Prize in Computer Science
Skyler Norgaard
Sivhaun Sera
H.P. and Genevieve Connable Scholarship
Hayley Beltz
C.W. “Opie” Davis Award, awarded to the outstanding senior male athlete
Ryan Orr
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.
Megan Elisabeth Hoinville
Emma Kristal
Matera Stuart
Marion H. Dunsmore Memorial Prize in Religion, awarded to graduating seniors for excellence in the major.
Hannah Bernice Berger
Emily Good
David Vanderkloot
Provost Prize in Economics
Thao Duong
Maria Franco
Logan Nicole Smith
George Eaton Errington Prize, awarded to outstanding senior art majors.
Charlotte Mary Gavin
Tulani Pryor
Alliance Francaise Prize in French, awarded for excellence in French by advanced students.
Laetitia Marie Ndiaye
Anselm Scheck
French Government Teaching Assistantships
Molly Elise Merkel
Zoe Johannsen
Joe Fugate Senior German Award, awarded to a senior for excellence in German.
Xarifa Greenquist Memorial Psychology Department Award, given in recognition of distinctive service to students and faculty in psychology by a student assistant.
Ethel Mogilevsky
Lorenzo Redmond
Gabrielle Alexis Shimko
Fred and Sarah Greer Endowed Scholarship/Lorinda Kay Sanford Memorial
Darryl Keyshaun Lewis
Sep’Tisha Starnika Riley
Austin Vance
Kierra Verdun
Griffin Prize, awarded to the senior English major who, like Professor Gail Griffin, demonstrates an exceptional ability to bridge his or her analytical and creative work in the English department.
Rumsha Sajid
Charles C. Hall Scholarship
Maria Elva Fujii
Ham Civic Engagement Scholar
Sep’Tisha Starnika Riley
W. and Elsie L. Heyl Scholars
Brice Calco
Rachel Sujin Chang
Emily Catherine Fletcher
Abhay Goel
Jacob Naranjo
Alexandria Kathleen Oswalt
Peter Rossi
Amber Salome
Anna Michele Roodbergen
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.
Monet Foster
Alejandro Antonio Jaramillo
Savannah Julia Kinchen
Kiavanne Abelardo Javier Williams
Virginia Hinkelman Memorial Award, 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.
Sarafina Jeanette Milianti
Sep’Tisha Starnika Riley
History Department Award, given for outstanding work in the major
Franklin Meyer
Hodge Prize in Philosophy, awarded to members of the graduating class who have the highest standing in the field.
Guillermo Dominguez Garcia
Jasmine Khin
Federico Spalletti
John Wesley Hornbeck Prize, awarded to seniors with the highest achievement for the year’s work in advanced physics toward a major.
Hayley Beltz
Megan Elisabeth Hoinville
Hornet Athletic Association Award, for a graduating senior who has most successfully combined high scholarship with athletic prowess.
David Vanderkloot
William G. Howard Memorial Prize, awarded to a senior for excellence in academic work in an economics or business major.
Guillermo Dominguez Garcia
William G. Howard Memorial Prize in Political Science
Alex Sitner
Japanese National Honor Society, College Chapter, awarded in recognition of student achievement in their study of the Japanese language and their overall academic excellence.
Miles McDowall
Laetitia Marie Ndiaye
Yilan Qiu
Kurt Kaufman Fellows, given annually to seniors who receive Honors in the Senior Individualized Project (SIP) conducted with faculty in the Chemistry Department.
Maria Elva Fujii
Sarah Marie Harnish
Christina Keramidas
Madeleine Grace Roberts
Knoechel Family Award, awarded to a member of the swimming team in recognition of demonstrated excellence in both intercollegiate swimming and academic performance.
Alexandrea Esther Ambs
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.
Lauren Landman
LaPlante Civic Engagement Student Scholars, for outstanding dedication to civic engagement while designing and leading community programs that promote a more just, equitable and sustainable world.
Alexandrea Esther Ambs
Delaney Fordell
Sarafina Jeanette Milianti
Khusbu Patel
David Vanderkloot
Tish Loveless Award, given by the Department of Physical Education to the outstanding senior female athlete.
Department of Philosophy Prize, awarded for excellence in any year’s work in philosophy.
Lee Ray Carter
Emiline Noel Chipman
Federico Spalletti
William E. Praeger Prize in Biology, established by the faculty in the Biology Department and awarded to the most outstanding senior majors in biology, based on academic achievement in the discipline.
Megan Elisabeth Hoinville
Khusbu Patel
Robert and Karen Rhoa Prize in Business
Thomas Bryant
Phuong Nguyen
Jake Wasko
Robert and Karen Rhoa Prize for Outstanding SIP
Tuan Do
Monica Gorgas
Katherine Elizabeth Johnson
Elwood H. and Elizabeth H. Schneider Prize in English, awarded for outstanding and creative work in English done by a student who is not an English major.
Rosemarie Nocita
Tulani Pryor
Senior Leadership Recognition Award, 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.
Alexandrea Esther Ambs
Hannah Bernice Berger
Mary Elizabeth Burnett
Erin Elizabeth Butler
Elan Dantus
Leah Elizabeth Finelli
Emily Good
Andre Grayson
Griffin D. Hamel
Emily Marlies Kozal
Laetitia Marie Ndiaye
Alexandria Kathleen Oswalt
Khusbu Patel
Sean Peterkin
Sep’Tisha Starnika Riley
Benjamin Rivera
Rumsha Sajid
Sivhaun Sera
Elyse Tuennerman
David Vanderkloot
Kiavanne Abelardo Javier Williams
Lia Williams
Cindy Xiao
Fan E. Sherwood Memorial Prize
Jacqueline Mills
Sherwood Prize in Fine Arts, awarded for outstanding progress and ability on the violin, viola, cello or bass.
Cody Colvin
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.
Emiline Noel Chipman
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.
Danielle Louise Simon
Lemuel F. Smith Award, given to a student majoring in chemistry pursuing the American Chemical Society approved curriculum and having at the end of the junior year the highest average standing in courses taken in chemistry, physics and mathematics.
Maria Elva Fujii
Senior Spanish Award, given by the Department of Romance Languages for outstanding achievement in Spanish.
Emily Marlies Kozal
Claire Schertzing
Mary Clifford Stetson Prize, awarded for excellence in English essay writing by a senior.
David Vanderkloot
Dwight and Leola Stocker Prize, awarded for excellence in English writing, prose or poetry.
Margaret Doele
Elise Renée Houcek
Kate Liska
Ian Zigterman
Lucinda Hinsdale Stone Prize in Women’s Studies
Angel Caranna
Stowe Scholarship
Clay Wilkey
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.
Guillermo Dominguez Garcia
TowerPinkster Sustainability Scholarship
Emiline Noel Chipman
Babette Trader Campus Citizenship and Leadership Award, awarded to members of the graduating class, who have most successfully combined campus citizenship and leadership with scholarship.
Emiline Noel Chipman
Maria Elva Fujii
Alexandria Kathleen Oswalt
Charles Tully Design Award, given annually to a senior who has achieved excellence in some aspect of theatre design.
Carlos Enrique Arellano
Stina Taylor
Donald W. VanLiere Prize Psychology in Coursework
Christina Dandar
Lia Williams
Cindy Xiao
Donald W. VanLiere Prize Psychology in Research
Christina Dandar
Ethel Mogilevsky
Gabrielle Alexis Shimko
Mariam Souweidane
Vibbert Civic Engagement Scholar, 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.
Rumsha Sajid
Voynovich Competitive Scholarship
Elise Renée Houcek
Michael Waskowsky Prize, awarded to outstanding junior or senior art majors.
Zoe Johannsen
Miranda Petersen
Charles Lewis Williams Jr. Award, awarded for oratory at the English SIP Symposium
Aunye Scott-Anderson
Clarke Benedict Williams Prize, awarded to that member of the graduating class who has the best record in mathematics and the allied sciences.
Hayley Beltz
Abhay Goel
Jacob Naranjo
Skyler Norgaard
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.
Imagine an opportunity to travel abroad, retrace your heritage, teach English in a foreign country, greet family you’ve never known and promote international understanding between cultures. Katie Johnson ’18 will have that opportunity through a Fulbright U.S. Student Program grant that will take her to Lithuania this fall.
Johnson – a business major and psychology minor from Okemos, Michigan – has yet to receive the specific assignment that details her Fulbright destination city and school. She expects, however, to work in a rural village within about three hours of the capital, Vilnius.
Johnson will travel to Washington, D.C., for an orientation in July before heading to Lithuania in late August or September.
Kalamazoo College was identified as one of the top-producing Fulbright colleges and universities in the 2017-18 academic year. The Fulbright U.S. Student Program offers fellowships for U.S. graduating seniors, graduate students, young professionals and artists to research, study or teach English abroad for one academic year.
Such recognition is one of the highest honors the federal government gives with regard to scholarship and international exchange. Recipients of Fulbright grants are selected as a result of their academic or professional achievement, as well as demonstrated leadership potential in their fields, to promote international understanding.
“I feel very fortunate to have attended K,” said Johnson, who has also served on the Athletic Leadership Council, received internships and held an externship at Ryzome Investment Advisors during her college years. “I don’t think I would’ve had these opportunities at another school.”
Johnson chose Kalamazoo College because attending would allow her to play for the women’s lacrosse team while still getting to study abroad. That led her during her junior year to Budapest, Hungary, where the people she met and the independence she gained shaped her world view and sparked her desire to seek more adventures.
“I got back from study abroad and I decided to apply for a Fulbright because I wanted to study abroad again,” Johnson said, noting she soon began a year-long application process. “I thought the opportunity to teach English was interesting. Plus, my grandfather is from Lithuania, and my grandma and great-grandma were teachers. It seemed like a great fit.”
Since then, Johnson has begun learning Lithuanian through her grandfather.
“It’s a hard language to pick up because only about 8 million people in the world speak it,” Johnson said, although she is attending a church in Chicago where the sermons are in Lithuanian and talking with friends who have traveled to Lithuania. She also has a best friend from Estonia with whom she bonds over a similar culture and family background including grandparents who immigrated to the United States for the same reasons.
“I’m going to go and hope for the best because I want to understand more about the Lithuanian culture and how it has changed since my grandpa arrived after World War II,” Johnson said.
Among recent K representatives receiving Fulbright grants, Johnson joins:
Andrea Beitel ’17, who earned a research/study award and is in the United Kingdom.
Riley Cook ’15, who earned a research/study award to travel to Germany.
Dejah Crystal ’17, who earned an English teaching assistantship in Taiwan.
Sapana Gupta ’17, who earned an English teaching assistantship in Germany.
Each year, the Mary Jane Underwood Stryker Center for Civic Engagement trains and supports more than 20 Civic Engagement Scholars. They are paid student leaders who work with a variety of community organizations, including Communities in Schools (CIS).
CIS works with some of Kalamazoo’s most challenged public elementary schools, providing students and families the resources they need to get a good start on their education. Those resources include over 200 K students who work with Kalamazoo Public School students as mentors, classroom assistants, playground helpers and club leaders for lunch and after-school programs.
Among the seven Civic Engagement Scholars receiving the Champs award is David Vanderkloot ’18, who has spent all four of his school years at K mentoring a student at Woodward School for Technology and Research and leading over 50 of his peers who also work there.
Vanderkloot said getting to know the student he mentors and providing her with academic assistance and social and emotional support has been “transformational” for him.
“I came from a school that was well-off and high-performing, so going to Woodward, which was labeled a failing school and in threat of closing, a lot of times for things outside their control, gave me insight into why there are disparities in our education system and motivated me to keep trying to improve it in whatever way I could,” he said.
He said he arrived at K wanting to major in English, but with little idea where it would lead. Being a Civic Engagement Scholar
“helped me gain a real focus,” he said. “It was a formative experience.”
He said he learned that while he doesn’t want to be a teacher, he does want a career in the nonprofit sector that allows him to continue working in the youth development field.
Moises Hernandez ’17, a former Civic Engagement Scholar and now a post-baccalaureate fellow at the Center for Civic Engagement, said the College reinforces the educational experience for the scholars by holding weekly workshops where they learn more about the social issues the programs address. Civic Engagement Scholars also hold periodic reflections where they talk about their work, what they’re learning from it and how it fits into their K-Plans, he said.
Vanderkloot said reflection is a key component of the service learning process.
“It led me to ask more questions and think more in depth about the disparities in education and how there are a lot of interesting issues that create those disparities,” he said.
Opportunities like the CES program are expected to grow as the College makes connecting classroom learning to real-world experiences a key element of its new strategic plan.
The plan, “Advancing Kalamazoo College: A Strategic Vision for 2023,” calls for K to become “the definitive leader in integrating academic rigor with life-changing experiential education in a values-driven community.” And a process is underway to identify other potential opportunities locally and in conjunction with study abroad and study away programs.
The CCE partnership with Kalamazoo Public Schools provides a glimpse of what is likely to come, said Teresa Denton, associate director of the Center for Civic Engagement. It has been around in one form or another for two decades—long enough that K students have graduated and gone on to work with CIS. Among the CIS staffers who K students currently work with are Woodward’s CIS site coordinator, Jen DeWaele ’97, and El Sol Elementary School’s CIS after-school coordinator, Viridiana Carvajal ’15, a former Civic Engagement Scholar.
Such long-term relationships are mutually beneficial to the College and its partners, and give students perspective on the importance of their work to the communities they’re a part of.
“This is only possible because of the reciprocal partnerships we’ve been able to build and sustain with groups like CIS,” said Denton. “We consider both our students and our community partners as our colleagues in bringing K students and community members together to learn from one another.”
In addition to Vanderkloot, Civic Engagement Scholars receiving the Champs award are Delaney Fordell ’18, Kalli Hale ’20, Kevin McCarty ’20, Marlyn Sanchez ’20, Sarafina Milianti ’18 and Valentina Cordero ’20.
Brockington’s wife, Cathy, donated funds to ISDSI in his name after he died Aug. 10, 2015. The institute at the time was building its new campus in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Those funds were applied to the library as a fitting way to remember him and his wife, who is a former librarian.
ISDSI developed in 1998 as a result of Brockington’s work. Today, it teaches American students about the key issues of sustainability through a close collaboration with its local communities. The program has welcomed more than 600 students from more than 50 colleges and universities in the U.S.
Brockington earned his bachelor’s degree, master’s degree and Ph.D. from Michigan State University. He began his career at Kalamazoo College in 1979 as an instructor in German language and literature. He was recognized internationally as a safety- and risk-management expert in study-abroad programming.
During his career, he served in various positions of the National Association of Foreign Student Advisers (NAFSA), an association of international educators, including as a chair of the Section on U.S. Students Abroad and a member of the International Education Leadership Knowledge Committee. Brockington also served as a member of the founding board of the Forum on Education Abroad.
Brockington published and presented several papers on modern German literature as well as a variety of study-abroad topics, including orientation and re-entry, international programs administration, and campus internationalization. He led best-practices workshops in legal and risk-management issues and co-edited the third edition of NAFSA’s “Guide to Education Abroad for Advisers and Administrators.”
During Brockington’s tenure, K sent students to countries such as China, Japan and India in Asia; Kenya and Senegal in Africa; Ecuador, Costa Rica, Chile and Mexico in South and Central America; and Greece, Hungary, Denmark, Italy, France, Spain and Germany in Europe.
As a result of Brockington’s professional efforts, most K students study a foreign language and live with host families while participating in an individualized cultural research project that requires them to explore a community, participate in a service project, and write a report about the experience. “The goal,” he once said, “is to help the student look at other cultures, other peoples, and say ‘we’ instead of ‘they.’ ”
Kalamazoo College has been recognized as a top producer of Fulbright students for the 2017-2018 academic year — among them Dejah Crystal ’17. Here’s a closer look at Crystal, the work she’s doing in the Fulbright program and the role her K experience played.
What are you doing as a Fulbright student?
I live on the tiny island of Kinmen in the Republic of China (Taiwan), and I work as an English teacher/teacher’s assistant at Jheng Yi Elementary School. Every week I solo-teach six classes (grades two to six) and I co-teach eight classes with two local English teachers (grades three to six). On Fridays, I work at an English language learning center called English Village. There, we teach fifth- and sixth-graders from across the island in a full day of hands-on English language learning activities. I also spend time volunteering at the local university, NQU, participating in writing workshops called “The A to Z Collective.” We work with college students who are interested in improving their English writing skills. Outside of the classroom I love exploring the island with my friends and driving around on my moped scooter when the weather is nice.
How did K help you prepare to be a Fulbright student?
While at K I majored in East Asian studies and studied abroad in Beijing. Those experiences led me to discover my passion for studying Mandarin and later led me to find the Fulbright English Teaching Assistant program in Taiwan. I have always loved teaching, so this opportunity ended up being a wonderful fit.
What do you have planned next?
I hope to continue teaching in Taiwan, and continue to grow both academically in my study of Mandarin and professionally in my role as an English teacher.
Kalamazoo College is proud to be included on the list of U.S. colleges and universities producing the most Fulbright students for the 2017-18 academic year. The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs announced the honor Sunday.
Four K representatives out of 12 applicants were named Fulbright winners, placing the College among the top Fulbright-producing bachelor’s institutions. Many candidates apply as graduating seniors, but alumni can apply as well. Graduating seniors apply through their institution. Alumni can apply through their institution or as at-large candidates.
K’s representatives are:
Andrea Beitel ’17, who earned a research/study award and is now in the U.K.;
Riley Cook ’15, who earned a research/study award and is in Germany;
Dejah Crystal ’17, who earned an English Teaching Assistantship in Taiwan; and
Sapana Gupta ’17, who earned an English Teaching Assistantship in Germany.
The Fulbright Program is the U.S. government’s flagship international educational exchange program. Top-producing institutions are highlighted annually in The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Since its inception in 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided more than 380,000 participants, chosen for their academic merit and leadership potential, with opportunities to exchange ideas and contribute to solutions to shared international concerns. More than 1,900 U.S. students, artists and young professionals in more than 100 fields of study are offered Fulbright Program grants to study, teach English and conduct research abroad each year. The Fulbright U.S. Student Program operates in more than 140 countries throughout the world.
The Fulbright U.S. Student Program is a program of the U.S. Department of State, funded by an annual appropriation from Congress to the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, and supported in its implementation by the Institute of International Education.
The Fulbright Program also awards grants to U.S. scholars, teachers and faculty to conduct research and teach overseas. In addition, about 4,000 foreign Fulbright students and scholars come to the United States annually to study, lecture, conduct research and teach foreign languages.
Continuing a record of generous support for Kalamazoo College, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has awarded $800,000 to fund a project aimed at updating and strengthening the College’s experiential learning program, a cornerstone of the K-Plan.
The grant is the largest yet to K from the foundation, one of the nation’s prime philanthropic supporters of liberal arts education. It brings to more than $4 million the total in grants the New York-based foundation has given the College since the mid-1970s.
The grant recognizes the value of K’s unique approach to liberal arts education, as embodied in the K-Plan: rigorous academics, study abroad, individual scholarship and, of course, experiential education — which provides students opportunities for hands-on, immersive learning in real-life situations.
The four-year award will cover the cost of bringing together students, faculty and staff in various settings and through a variety of means to explore and experiment with:
reducing barriers to participation in experiential learning;
strengthening faculty engagement with experiential learning; and
evolving the K-Plan and expanding its utility and educational impact.
Assistant Professor of English Marin Heinritz ’99, a former chair of the College’s Experiential Education Committee, along with a steering committee for the project, will work with a “design thinking” consultant to facilitate a collaboration between faculty, staff and students around these goals.
Heinritz recalled that as the College altered the K-Plan in the late 1990s, her graduating class was the last to have the second-year spring quarter dedicated to off-campus career development activities such as internships followed by summer classes before the junior year abroad. That revision of the College’s schedule along with factors both economic and societal, she said, may have contributed to decreased participation in some experiential learning programs among K students.
She said the design thinking process focuses on the needs and expectations of those being served—in this case, students—and is intended to inspire innovative strategies for making experiential learning a more organic part of the curriculum.
“The idea is to help elicit thinking from us so we can begin to problem-solve,” Heinritz said. “We’ve gotten this amazing grant so we have these great resources and time to see how it’s going to evolve. There are all kinds of possibilities.”
She said one proposal might be to devise classes that take advantage of K’s long winter break by using part of it for a capstone experience directly related to the material covered in the classroom.
“So for example, I teach a food and travel writing sophomore seminar, and it would be really fun to take the students somewhere connected with that and give them lots of writing and reflection assignments,” she said. “That would change the way I teach that class fundamentally to give them a direct experience.”
College Provost Mickey McDonald also pointed to existing models, such as a project led by Anthropology and Sociology Assistant Professor Francisco Villegas that involved students in Kalamazoo County’s initiative to establish a local ID card for those unable to obtain other forms of government identification. He said that through the process led by Heinritz, students, faculty and staff will seek to make the connections between experiential learning and other parts of the K-Plan “much more explicit for our students.”
“I think there’s a really different landscape now than there was even 10 years ago, before the Great Recession, and so students and their families are thinking about how to hit the ground running as soon as they graduate,” McDonald said. Amid concerns about finishing a degree in the minimum possible time, they can see experiential learning as a luxury or disconnected from their long-term goals.
“One of the ideal outcomes would be that almost no student would see any kind of barrier to experiential learning,” McDonald said. “If we think this kind of education is the best way to prepare them to be great citizens of the world, then we need to take as many of these barriers away as possible.”
McDonald said the focus on such issues, while certain to be greatly enhanced by the grant, is not new, and that students could begin benefiting from the innovative programs it produces as early as the 2018-19 academic year – in line with the launch of the College’s new strategic plan this spring.
“The commitment to the K-Plan, to experiential education, is going to be a central priority of the strategic plan,” he said. “I think this grant and the work that we’ve been doing are going to resonate very well with it.”
Kalamazoo College’s Biology Department welcomed alumnae Melba Sales-Griffin ’12 and Emily Cornwell ’07 to campus today for the department’s annual Reflections and Connections event as a part of Homecoming 2017. The event, established in honor of Professor Emeritus Paul Sotherland, shares the career highlights and happenings of K alumni as they reflect on their K experiences and beyond.
Sales-Griffin, a Chicago native, majored in biology and minored in art. She studied abroad in Ecuador for six months as a junior. She also held a leadership role on the Student Activities Committee and was a senior resident assistant. After college, she learned HTML, CSS and UX/UI at the Starter League in Chicago before becoming its office manager. She also worked at the University of Chicago Survey Lab administering phone surveys in English and Spanish. Now, Sales-Griffin is a service delivery coordinator at MATTER, a health care technology incubator that supports startups in the health care space.
Cornwell spent a year in Australia as a Fulbright Scholar researching the physiology of osmotolerance in a native mollusk and earning an honors degree from Deakin University. After returning from Australia, she started a dual Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine and Ph.D. program at Cornell University, where she focused on the infection dynamics of an invasive fish virus in the Great Lakes. She later completed additional training to become a certified aquatic veterinarian.
After serving as an emergency small animal and exotic species veterinarian in Virginia, she became a general practice small animal and aquatic veterinarian in Maryland. At work, she enjoys educating pet owners, solving issues in internal medicine and training veterinary technicians.