The Story Zoo
Featured
A menagerie of stories from K alumni, some heartfelt, some hilarious, all uniquely K.
Latest Posts
Prof. Saves the (Sleep-Deprived) Day
“Jeff-san, are you coming to your final?”
The Old Fire Alarm Excuse?
Rob Davidson ’93 found his true love (of 23 years, and counting) at K. Their first phone call survived a dorm evacuation.
Crazy/Love
Jazzercise “anthem” part of Jeanne Hess’s longtime volleyball legacy.
Squirrel Caper
Glistening coat helps Whitney Nielsen ’07 solve The Great Trowbridge Avocado-and-Cookie Break-in.
Deep Sight
Kat Curtis’ needle-in-a-haystack story becomes a metaphor for the beauty (and value) of LandSea.
The Class That Never Happened That Changed the World
K entrepreneur describes the connections that launched a new global business.
The Sweetest Sound
“We are KAY-ZOO!” erupts following the dramatic final race touch-out of Head Coach Bob Kent’s swansong season.
Small Team Needs “Liberal Arts” Versatility
Shot-putter Mike Frazier’s voluntary first-and-only MIAA race beats a Coke bet by a second.
Constant Traveller
The K-Plan’s study abroad experience awakened the peripatetic spirit of Reshona Harris ’06. Her current tally: four continents visited, three to go.
Swim Turns
His worst race was also the happiest in the K swim career of Jay Daniels ’13, and turned out to be the most significant influence on his life after K.
An Arresting Exam
For David Kessler ’70, among the most important tests of K’s compassion was the administration’s courageous stand for a student’s second chance. It’s why he became a class agent.
Roommate Recruiters
Athletics was an indispensable K-Plan component for Judy Hehs ’85. Her more in four included three!…sports, that is, and that meant more for a lifetime.
Wise Fools
Karen (Lake) DeVos ’59 got to know President and Mrs. Hicks very well. She and three other sophomores were members of the Hicks household for a semester and may have prompted a predecessor of the Day of Gracious Living.
K-Tucky Derby
Churchhill Downs and mint juleps have nothing on Angell Field and Stroh’s beer. First Saturday in May K was the place to be in the ’80s. Elizabeth (Fiore) Vogel and Carolyn Dadabay (classmates, 1985) explain why.
10 Best for the Clueless
A quad “coat” in fall colors inspired a key decision for Pam Brown Gavin ’74. After four years the coat morphed to cape, and it’s never failed to warm.
French Influence to K: “Lighten up!”
Campused? Late minutes? Forty-five of the latter metes out the punishment of the former. But (first ever) study abroad in France meant change was in the wind. And Trowbridge head proctor Karen (Lake) DeVos ’59 was happy about that.
S.O.B.—Old Rules, New Prank
The Student Observation Bureau caused quite the ruckus during its short life. Class of 1985 friends Rachel Robinson and Carolyn Dadabay reveal its clandestine origins.
I Was Welcome
The power of a single informal invitation makes Kalamazoo College home and family. Meghan Morrissey ’06
Drama in Yugoslavia
John Petrakis ʼ74 chose one of those roads less traveled—study abroad (and acting) in Yugoslavia.
Giving Back
“Come on over and we’ll make eggs”—the kind of student-professor bond that inspires postgraduate service as a class agent. Brittany King-Pleas ʼ13
Nonlinear
For Class Agent Kira Dow Castle ’09 one of the great outcomes of a K liberal arts education is thriving in the uncertainty of life’s spiral journey.
The Spark in Me
Class Agent David Clowers ’64 credits K for his liberal arts life: professor of English, attorney, poet, and creative writing teacher for a retirement community.
Wonderful Ride, With Family
From metro cards to class agent to Alumni Association Executive Board member—it’s all about family for West Nelson ’81.
Lives Changed, Lives Saved
A foreign study experience in France contributed, years later, to one of the largest and most successful health programs in Africa. Bruce Benton ʼ64
Stick it to the Man!
An appreciation of an administrator, Provost Mickey McDonald, and his willingness to “be there” and precipitate change. Cooper Wilson ʼ11.
Spaghetti Head to Streaker
Jen Feuerstein ʼ93 fondly recalls two embarrassing moments in the cafeteria.
A Kinnell Kindling
A studentʼs doubts about K are devoured by THE BEAR. Jim VanSweden ʼ73.
Measures of Devotion
Jothy Rosenberg ʼ78 recalls the “clean start” of K, a matter of dancing, math, and the extraordinary devotion of Professor T.J. Smith.
Service Learning Leadership
Travis Smith ʼ10 describes his life-changing experience in the Collegeʼs Center for Civic Engagement.
Bowen Paean
Susan Larson ’63 guides the listener through Bowen Hall, basement to theatre aerie (and the incomparable Nelda Balch).
Fun, and Late Minutes
Sally Goddard recalls campus life in the late ’50s and early ’60s: Lots of fun! … worth every late minute.
Wonderful Woodward
A book writing project in a local elementary school made a memorable connection for Alex Rigney ’13.
Pursue Your Passion
Chemistry professor and tennis coach Allen Stowe provided some life-changing advice to Tom Smith ’55.
Liberal Arts Hocus Pocus?
Not hardly. Business consultant Chris Rollyson ’82 describes how liberal arts passions have a way of working out in unexpected and profitable ways.
London Holiday
When Christmas dinner prep was interrupted by a kidney stone, these K friends crashed a hospital party. Amy (Vargo) Buttery ʼ82 and Betty (Johnston) Rudolph ʼ82 share the story
River Farewell
Dana Bourland ʼ94 said goodbye and thank you to the women with whom sheʼd worked as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Belize. It was a day in a place the local women had never visited.
Bookish
How Rebecca Bond Culbertson ʼ62 found her calling in library technical services during her Junior year.
A Lifetime of Friendship
Jason Muller ʼ83 and Leslie Simmer ʼ82 talk about the friendship that started during freshman orientation and continues to this day.
When you see Rose Kennedy in the Market
David Easterbrook ’69 weaves together his study abroad and Peace Corps experiences in this moving story about the delivery of a 20 year-old message from a Masai elder to the Kennedy family.
To Not Be American
A good measure of study abroad immersion occurred in a hitchhiking story shared by Linda (Zalkauskas) Hahn ’82.
Beach Party
Summer quarter parties sometimes seem a joy forever. Karen (Hink) Anderson ʼ82 recalls one in Crissey Hall in 1980 that she sure considered a thing of beauty.
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