Category: Institutional Announcements

Homecoming 2019 Begins Oct. 18

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Kalamazoo College will welcome back alumni, families and friends for a fun-filled weekend as we celebrate Homecoming 2019 on Oct. 18-20.

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Alumni and guests will participate in events such as the 5K Run/Walk during Homecoming 2019.

Events begin at dawn Friday when alumni are invited to begin taking self-guided tours of the Lillian Anderson Arboretum. The “Roots in the Earth” first-year seminar created the tour in 2018, sponsored by the Mary Jane Underwood Stryker Center for Civic Engagement, with stop information available at the arboretum’s website. Visitors can enjoy acres of marsh, meadow and forest, and visit the Batts Pavillion, named for H. Lewis Batts Jr. ’43 and Jean M. Batts ’43.  Parking at the arboretum is available throughout the day in its main lot, with overflow parking offered at the Oshtemo Township Park, 7275 W. Main St., just east of the property.

Other Homecoming 2019 highlights will include:

  • Peter Rothstein ’14, the 2019 Young Alumni Award recipient, delivering a lecture titled From K to Tea at 4 p.m. Friday in Room 103 at Dewing Hall. Rothstein will talk about how he created a successful business after attending K. Rothstein, a 2019 Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree , established Dona Chai with his sister, Amy. The company crafts tea concentrates and sodas brewed with spices from around the world.
  • The Alumni Association Awards at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Dalton Theatre, honoring the Distinguished Achievement, Distinguished Service, Young Alumni, Weimer K. Hicks and Athletic Hall of Fame awards recipients.
  • Guided campus tours and opportunities to visit newer facilities including the Fitness and Wellness Center, the Intercultural Center, the Hornet Golf Lab and revamped weight room at Anderson Athletic Center, and the Admission Center. Consult our full Homecoming schedule for specific times.
  • An improvisation show with K’s improv troupe, Monkapult. Free tickets will be available on a first-come, first-served basis at the door at Connable Recital Hall in Light Fine Arts at 10 p.m. Friday.
  • The Homecoming 5K Run/Walk at 8 a.m. Saturday. Check in will begin at 7:30 a.m. The event, offering an opportunity to see the campus and neighborhood, is open to all ages and fitness levels. The first 300 registrants will receive commemorative T-shirts designed by Tanush Samson ’19.
  • The K Song Project at 1 p.m. Saturday. Guests can enjoy a high-energy performance from the College Singers featuring songs submitted by reunion classes.
  • Athletics events throughout the weekend including team reunions, a volleyball match at 5 p.m. Friday against North Park at Anderson Athletic Center, a women’s soccer match against St. Mary’s at noon Saturday at the Athletic Fields Complex, a men’s soccer match against Alma at 4:30 p.m. at the Athletic Fields Complex, and the Homecoming football game against Albion at 2 p.m. at Angell Field.

You can still join the festivities and renew connections with your classmates. Visit our homecoming website for a full schedule, details and registration information. And watch the College website, Facebook page, and Twitter (@kcollege) and Instagram @kalamazoocollege accounts for photos and updates throughout the weekend.

Convocation to Open Academic Year

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Kalamazoo College will welcome 398 first-year students and their families to the 2019-20 academic year at 3 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 11, during Convocation.

Faculty walking to open convocation 2018
Kalamazoo College will welcome 398 first-year students and their families to the 2019-20 academic year at 3 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 11, during Convocation.

The ceremony, serving as the first of two bookends to the K experience with the other being graduation, will take place on the Lower Quad. The ceremony’s rain site will be Stetson Chapel.

K’s first-year students include 29 degree-seeking international students, plus 10 transfer students and 19 visiting international students. New students will attend K from 29 states including Illinois, California, Texas and Minnesota, and 15 countries including Jamaica, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam and Zimbabwe. Students of color from the U.S. make up about 36 percent of the incoming class. Twenty-four percent of the incoming class will be the first in their families to attend college.

President Jorge G. Gonzalez, Provost Danette Ifert Johnson, Vice President for Student Development and Dean of Students Sarah Westfall, Chaplain Elizabeth Candido ’00, faculty, staff and student leaders will welcome new students and their families. Convocation will conclude with new students signing the Matriculation Book.

Martin Acosta ’97, the founder and CEO of Inalproces and Kiwa, will deliver this year’s keynote address. Acosta was an international student from Ecuador who studied economics and business at K, graduating magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. After receiving a master’s degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science and an M.B.A. from INSEAD, he became an entrepreneur, professor and business consultant.

In 2009, Acosta and his wife, Natalie, wanted to make a difference for the people of Ecuador. In 2009, they launched Kiwa. Kiwa works directly with farmers in Ecuador and northern Peru to turn native vegetables like Andean potatoes and beets into snack foods for a worldwide market, helping these farmers escape poverty. Today, Kiwa is a global brand of premium vegetable chips sold in more than 30 countries. Kiwa has won international awards for innovation and corporate social responsibility as it strives to fulfill its mission to provide quality, innovative snacks that are friendly to the environment and beneficial to everyone.

Convocation will be available through a live stream. There will also be a reception after the ceremony behind Stetson Chapel on the Upper Quad. The reception’s rain site will be the Hicks Student Center.

Forbes Honors K on Top Colleges List

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For 2019, K ranks No. 26 among colleges in the Midwest, No. 65 in the nation among liberal arts schools, No. 118 among private colleges and No. 164 overall nationwide on Forbes’ Top Colleges List.

An annual review that rates undergraduate institutions on academics, student experiences, alumni career success and debt ranks Kalamazoo College among the top institutions in the country and the top private school in Michigan.

The business magazine Forbes selects 650 schools, or about 15 percent of the country’s 4,300 degree-granting institutions, for its America’s Top Colleges list. For 2019, K ranks No. 26 among colleges in the Midwest, No. 65 in the nation among liberal arts schools, No. 118 among private colleges and No. 164 overall nationwide on that list.

“Kalamazoo College is a small school that offers a bespoke academic experience with flair,” Forbes reports. “The school has an open curriculum and emphasizes experiential learning, and most students study abroad and complete a Senior Individualized Project. About 98 percent of students receive aid, and merit-based scholarships range from $20,000 to $33,000.”

K also has received honors this summer from Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, which ranked K among the best overall values in the country, and the Princeton Review, which named K in its annual college guide, The Best 385 Colleges.

“We’re proud of the array of recognition we’ve received this summer,” Dean of Admission and Financial Aid Eric Staab said. “It confirms that Kalamazoo College is an excellent place for students to receive a high-quality experiential education grounded in the liberal arts and sciences.”

Princeton Review Puts K Among Nation’s Best Colleges

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The Princeton Review profiles and recommends K in the 2020 edition of its annual college guide, The Best 385 Colleges, which is on sale now.

Kalamazoo College is one of the nation’s best institutions for undergraduates to earn their college degree, according to The Princeton Review. The education-services company profiles and recommends K in the 2020 edition of its annual college guide, The Best 385 Colleges, which is on sale now.

Only about 13 percent of the nation’s 3,000 four-year colleges are profiled in the book, which is one of The Princeton Review’s most popular publications. The company chooses the colleges based on data it annually collects from administrators about their institutions’ academic offerings. The Princeton Review also considers data it gathers from its surveys of college students who rate and report on various aspects of their campus and community experiences.

“We salute Kalamazoo College for its outstanding academics and we are truly pleased to recommend it to prospective applicants searching for their personal ‘best-fit’ college,” said Robert Franek, The Princeton Review’s editor-in-chief and lead author of The Best 385 Colleges.

The guide itself says K “brings a personalized approach to education through a flexible, open curriculum featuring real-world experience, service learning, study abroad and an independent senior-year project.”

According to students Princeton Review interviewed, “the open curriculum means students have more time to explore exactly what they want to learn, rather than being required to take classes in which they have no interest, and the school motto of ‘More in Four’ not only describes how much students will learn in their time at Kalamazoo College, but also that this institution will try as hard as possible to get you to graduate in four years.”

“We’re gratified to know that students, through the Princeton Review, say they appreciate the experiential education Kalamazoo College offers,” said Eric Staab, Kalamazoo College dean of admission and financial aid. “Experiences from career-development opportunities to study abroad and senior-year projects add breadth to our distinctive approach to the liberal arts and sciences, and ensure lifelong educational value.”

The Princeton Review’s school profiles and 62 ranking lists in The Best 385 Colleges are posted at www.princetonreview.com/best385 where they can be searched for free with site registration.

The Best 385 Colleges is the 28th annual edition of The Princeton Review’s “Best Colleges” book.

Kiplinger’s Names K Among Best College Values

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Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, a publisher of business forecasts and personal finance advice, named Kalamazoo College among its 400 Best College Values for 2019 on Thursday.

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Kiplinger’s Personal Finance ranked Kalamazoo College No. 92 overall and No. 50 among private liberal arts colleges on its list of the Best College Values.

The rankings place K No. 92 overall in the country and No. 50 among private liberal arts schools, making it the top-ranked private liberal arts college in Michigan. The honor confirms that K combines a quality education with affordability to provide a transformative experience accessible to students regardless of their financial need. That transformative experience is available through the K-Plan, which combines rigorous scholarship, experiential learning, independent research and international and intercultural engagement in a distinctive approach to the liberal arts and sciences.

“The flexibility of the K-Plan allows us to seek out students with a broad array of interests, achievements and experiences,” said Eric Staab, K’s dean of admission and financial aid. “Our efforts attempt to prevent costs from being barriers for students who can contribute their distinctive ideas and talents to, and benefit from, our richly diverse campus and programs.”

Kiplinger’s analyzes employment outcomes, graduation rates, student-to-faculty ratios and low student debt at graduation to compile its rankings. More than 98 percent of all K students receive financial aid and/or scholarships, 74 percent graduate within four years, and 91 percent of the class of 2018 was employed within six months of graduation.

The full list will appear in the September 2019 issue of Kiplinger’s Personal Finance.

Festival Playhouse to Amplify Women’s Voices in 56th Season

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Kalamazoo College’s Festival Playhouse will celebrate its 56th season by honoring a tradition of empowering women through a community of theatre.

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The Festival Playhouse of Kalamazoo College produced “Twelfth Night” last spring in its 55th season addressing assumption and confusion. Its 56th season will amplify women’s voices with Spitfire Grill, Silent Sky and Water by the Spoonful.

Under a theme of “HERstory: Forgotten Female Figures,” the three main stage plays will provide a realistic and meaningful look at women whose voices aren’t always heard—let alone amplified—and will reflect the work the Playhouse strives to accomplish offstage.

In the fall production of the musical Spitfire Grill by Fred Alley and James Valcq, parolee Percy Talbott tries to forge a new place for herself in the small town of Gilead, Wisconsin, as she combats town gossip, mostly about herself. In addition to female empowerment, the production’s themes include redemption, the economic problems of small towns, and the plight of Vietnam War veterans. The show will run Nov. 7-10.

Silent opens in the darkest months when the stars are brightest and runs Feb. 27-March 1. The play by Lauren Gunderson honors astronomer Henrietta Leavitt for the discoveries she made without recognition in her lifetime. In 1900, she has the opportunity to work at Harvard College Observatory, but is denied he opportunities of her male counterparts. Regardless, she enthusiastically begins tracking changes in Cepheid stars, leading to scientific discoveries that have long-term implications in the field of astronomy.

The season will conclude May 14-17 with the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Water by the Spoonful by Quiara Alegría Hudes. The play follows Odessa Ortiz, who uses the screen name Haikumom to moderate a chat room that ministers to those struggling with addiction as her own family life falls apart.

All three shows will be produced at the Nelda K. Balch Playhouse. Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for seniors 65 and older, and $5 for students in the general public. Tickets are free to patrons who present a Kalamazoo College ID. Tickets will be available  beginning Sept. 16 at festivalplayhouse.ludus.com or by calling the box office at 269.337.7333.

Visit the Festival Playhouse website for more information on the upcoming theatre season and additional student productions.

College Visits Go Beyond Campus at K

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College visits in the summer are similar to bands going on tour. You go to new cities, meet new people, have a good time and receive an enthusiastic welcome! When you are planning your college visit tour, put Kalamazoo College on your list. Here’s why Kalamazoo College makes a good stop this summer.

There is a lot to do in Kalamazoo

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College visits should go beyond campus. Check out the local food scene.

Kalamazoo College is located in a metro-area with over 335,000 people. After your campus visit, go explore downtown. Check out local restaurants, the art scene, take a walk on the Kalamazoo Valley River Trail or go to a Growler’s baseball game. There is a reason Kalamazoo has Fortune 500 companies, two major hospitals and an international airport. Kalamazoo is a city full of excitement, and opportunities for the whole family. “Kalamazoo is an amazing little-big town nestled exactly half way between two major cities and a short drive from some of the most beautiful beaches in the country. While you are visiting, be sure to leave time to try some of our excellent dining opportunities, take a tour of Bell’s Brewery or just sample some of their specialties if you’re of age. Kalamazoo has so much to offer – most within a short walk of campus!” says Scott Swope, Guest Experience Manager.

Explore Discover Kalamazoo’s website for visit ideas

Hit the Beach After Your Visit

Sunset at Lake Michigan on your college visit
You deserve to relax after all your college visits. Check out Lake Michigan!

A great perk of visiting K in the summer is the close distance to Lake Michigan. We are only 35 miles from the beach! Come explore all Kalamazoo has to offer and then head west to the lake.

During the spring term students get a day off, called the Day of Gracious Living, where students flock to the beach. “Coming from Colorado, it is exciting to be so close to a Great Lake. My friends and I love to escape to the beach on a hot day,” says senior Anne Waugh. Close access to water is a major perk of both attending K and visiting it.

Explore Pure Michigan’s website for more information on Lake Michigan

You Can Take it Slow

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Make sure you stop and explore the campus on your college visits.

Take your time during your visit. With most students off campus for summer break, you can take everything in without the hustle and bustle on campus. We are still fully staffed; the cafeteria is open and campus is beautiful. Summer provides the most laid-back visit experience for those who want to take their time during their visit. “A college campus is going to be home for the next four years. Exploring K means envisioning yourself as a student when you look around our library, quad, academic buildings, and all the other hidden gems you will find along the way. This process should be fun, and visiting campus is the first step in exploring all of the wonderful opportunities that lay ahead,” says Admission Counselor Shelby Long.

Schedule your visit online.

Get Your Questions Answered

Admission Counselor at College Visit
Admission Counselors are here to answer questions during your college visit and beyond.

Visiting in the summer gives you the opportunity to ask questions before the application opens in August. Learn about our experiential education, the application process and how to make K affordable. Throughout the summer we have counselors on call and in the office to answer questions, present on our K-Plan and sit down with you for an interview. Here at K we take a personal approach to the college admission process. Meet with your counselor one-on-one so they can learn more about you and you can learn more about K.

Learn more about the application process on our website.

Touring is not just for bands, hit the road and make us a stop on your college visit tour. Just like your summer road trips, we want your application process to be as smooth as possible! Plan your visit today, and we promise you’ll leave informed about what Kalamazoo College has to offer and how to apply. See you soon!

Kalamazoo Promise Fulfills its First Class at K

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Kalamazoo Promise Student Druanna Darling with a dog
Druanna Darling ’19 said she had not considered attending Kalamazoo College until the Kalamazoo Promise was extended to Michigan Colleges Alliance schools in 2015. Photo by Catalina Gonzalez.

When students in the Kalamazoo Public Schools (KPS) receive their diplomas, 92 percent of them are eligible for an outstanding graduation gift: a tuition-free post-secondary education thanks to the Kalamazoo Promise.

KPS graduates who have lived in the district and have been students for at least four years can have as much as 100 percent of their in-state tuition and fees paid for thanks to the Promise, a program funded by anonymous donors. The program is applicable to community colleges, public universities, and since 2015, to 15 private institutions in the Michigan Colleges Alliance, including Kalamazoo College.

Fortunately for Druanna Darling ’19, this promise was made at just the right time.

“I remember there being a press conference during the summer before my senior year (in high school) and my mom was the one who showed me the Promise was being extended” to private schools, said Darling, whose family moved to Arizona when she was 6, only to return because of what the Promise offered her. “We had heard a lot of great things about Kalamazoo College and it was a part of our community, but it never seemed accessible to me. K wasn’t even on my radar.”

A chance to attend K with smaller class sizes and one-on-one opportunities to work with professors was extraordinarily appealing. The opportunity to have her tuition covered convinced her to visit campus. Two campus tours and an overnight stay later, Darling was sure she had found her second home.

“It felt like the students were more of a priority at K,” she said. “Elsewhere, the colleges accepted a huge group of students and the students paid their tuition. At K, faculty and staff were more personal and invested in students. I felt accepted immediately.”

Darling, a psychology major and Loy Norrix alumna, applied to the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Western Michigan University. Ultimately, she decided K was the only place she wanted to experience college. That college experience will culminate Sunday, June 16, when she will be one of eight KPS graduates to graduate from K, representing the College’s first class of Promise-eligible students.

Promise-eligible students have added a perspective of their own to K’s student body, Director of Admission Suzanne Lepley said. They are smart, well-prepared for college and know the community well, although most just start to learn of K’s distinctive offerings—including the K-Plan, the College’s approach to the liberal arts and sciences—shortly before applying.

“They have been educated in the richly diverse KPS system and that learning perspective transfers to the community at K,” Lepley said. “Despite being raised in the city, many spend little, if any time on our campus before attending. They tend to experience the College in a special way as they explore a part of the community they might not have known.”

Darling said she will graduate with a very limited amount of debt that she feels won’t be a burden thanks to the Kalamazoo Promise. And four years after first falling in love with K, her passion for K hasn’t changed.

“I keep thinking I might want to declare a second major and stay for a fifth year,” she joked. “I don’t think my view of it has changed at all. As an entering student, I was overjoyed. The environment is so warming. I have felt supported every day.”

Much of that support has come directly from the faculty. Darling worked with Assistant Professor of Psychology Brittany Liu in Liu’s research lab, and she has received assistance from professors in applying for jobs and graduate school as she hopes to one day work with autistic children.

“Personally, I know a lot of individuals who went to big universities,” Darling said. “There are a lot of things their education has lacked such as an opportunity to learn about social justice issues. At other universities, you might learn about physics or writing a good paper. But at K you learn about how to be a better citizen.”

Zhang Financial Contribution to Help Students

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Zhang Financial, one of the nation’s top fee-only financial advisory firms, will help Kalamazoo College support key initiatives in its strategic plan, Advancing Kalamazoo College: A Strategic Vision for 2023. Their generous contribution will help to better position K students for their first jobs after graduation.

Charles and Lynn of Zhang Financial
Charles Zhang serves as managing partner and CEO, and Lynn Chen-Zhang is the COO and chief compliance officer at Zhang Financial.

Zhang Financial, based in Portage, Michigan, is establishing the Zhang Financial Student Professional Development Fund, a permanent endowment that will underwrite campus-based programs to enhance student experiences and prioritize their professional development.

Some of those programs, coordinated through the Center for Career and Professional Development, include:

  • K’s annual Career Summit, which offers two days of interactive breakout sessions, themed panel discussions and networking opportunities with distinguished alumni and other professionals. This annual event, traditionally held in April, provides students of all majors with priceless information about how to position themselves for success in an unpredictable global job market.
  • Passions to Professions, which allows small groups of interested students to connect with local and visiting professionals over a casual meal to ask career-related questions.
  • Confident at Commencement, a weekly lunch series that delivers relevant content, from saving and investing to taxes and salary negotiations. This event caters to seniors as they prepare for Life after K.
  • Sophomore Retreats, which helps students in their second year at K develop public speaking and networking skills during a weekend with alumni and community professionals.

Collectively, these and other programs reinforce K’s strategic vision and its mission of preparing graduates to better understand, live successfully within, and provide enlightened leadership to a richly diverse and increasingly complex world.

“We are grateful to Zhang Financial for this contribution, which will help Kalamazoo College continue to provide students with amazing opportunities to develop their skills, experiences and future careers,” Kalamazoo College President Jorge G. Gonzalez said. “We are excited and honored by their trust and confidence in our efforts to provide a broad-based education through the liberal arts and sciences.”

Charles Zhang serves as managing partner and CEO, and Lynn Chen-Zhang is the COO and chief compliance officer at Zhang Financial.

“The professional landscape is dynamic—companies are constantly searching for candidates who contribute new skills, and who can adapt to an evolving workplace,” they said. “We are excited for the competitive advantage that The Zhang Financial Student Professional Development Fund will offer Kalamazoo College students.”

Kalamazoo College Trustees Elect New Board Chair

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Kalamazoo College Board Chair Charlotte Hall ’66
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Si Johnson ’78 will begin serving as Kalamazoo College Board Chair beginning July 1, 2019.

KALAMAZOO, Mich. — The Kalamazoo College Board of Trustees has unanimously elected Si Johnson ’78 to become chair of the Board effective July 1, 2019.

A retired Stryker executive, Johnson follows Charlotte Hall ’66 as chairperson. Johnson has served on Kalamazoo College’s Board of Trustees since 1996, and has been vice chair since 2010. Johnson says the Board’s terrific chemistry and passion for K places it in a strong position to execute the College’s new strategic plan.

“Si cares deeply about K,” said President Jorge G. Gonzalez. “His involvement with the College during the past three decades and his experience as a trustee are a tremendous asset to K. This decision continues Charlotte’s legacy of strong leadership, and provides the entire Board great momentum moving forward.”

A long-time leader in United States journalism, Hall has served on K’s Board of Trustees since 1999 and as its chair since 2012. During Hall’s tenure as Board chair, the College has increased its student population and become a more diverse and inclusive community. She was chair of the Board at the conclusion of the College’s most successful comprehensive fundraising campaign in its history, and she participated in the selection of K’s two most recent presidents, Gonzalez (2016-present) and Eileen Wilson-Oyelaran (2005-2016). She will stand for re-election for another three-year Board term in June.

“Charlotte’s counsel in the first years of my presidency at K has been invaluable. I am deeply grateful for her support and encouragement,” said Gonzalez.