When first-year students arrive at Kalamazoo College, many carry with them the same questions: Will I fit in? Will I find my people? Can I handle what college throws at me? For those who begin their college experience with K’s LandSea outdoor pre-orientation program, national data suggest the answers are increasingly “yes.”
According to the 2025 Outdoor Orientation Benchmarking Survey (TOOBS), LandSea continues to stand out among peer institutions nationwide for helping students build communication skills, perspective-taking and problem-solving. The survey ranked K’s program first nationally in several leader-trust metrics and in resilience, which measures students’ increased confidence in handling difficult situations after participating. Research shows these qualities help students persist academically and socially throughout their education.
For LandSea and Outdoor Programs Director Jory Horner, the results are affirming.
“It’s gratifying,” Horner said. “We put a lot of time and energy into this program, especially into leader training, and it’s nice to see that investment showing up in meaningful ways for both participants and leaders.”
Not Just for ‘Outdoor People’
Held each year before first-year orientation, the optional LandSea pre-orientation program includes hiking, camping, paddling, rock climbing and nights under the stars. But Horner dispels the idea that the program is only for seasoned outdoor enthusiasts.
“Most of the students who come on LandSea aren’t outdoorsy people at all,” he said. “We have students who have never slept outside before.”
For some, the experience can feel intimidating at first. Yet that discomfort often becomes one of the program’s most powerful teaching tools.
“One of the things TOOBS measures is a student’s ability to face challenges after the trip,” Horner said. “That’s something we’ve scored highly on for many years.”
The numbers reflect what students themselves describe when they return to campus.
“We hear students say things like, ‘I just got back from LandSea, and I did more than I thought I could,’” Horner said. “They’ll say, ‘There’s no test that’s going to scare me now.’ That mindset carries over into academics and everything else.”
Participants live and travel in small groups, typically of eight to 10 students, working together for 18 days in the Adirondack Mountains. There’s also a shorter six-day option at Camp Merrie Woode in Kalamazoo for students who want more creature comforts. In both experiences, students cook meals together, navigate trails, problem-solve and manage daily challenges as a unit alongside people they have just met.
“You’re learning how to live closely with a small group, how to communicate and how to handle differences,” Horner said. “These are the same skills students need when they’re back on campus.”
Measuring What Matters—After the Dust Settles
TOOBS is sent to students at about 25 participating colleges each year, around six weeks into the fall term—after classes have begun, friendships have formed, and the realities of college life have set in. K has participated since about 2012, placing LandSea within an ongoing national conversation about how experiential education supports student transition.
The survey uses a “proxy pretest” approach, asking students to think back on how they perceived their skills, confidence, and perspectives before LandSea and then assess how those changed afterward. The method, developed and presented through research connected to the University of New Hampshire and scholar Brent J. Bell, aims to measure growth rather than surface-level enthusiasm.
“That timing is really important,” Horner said. “If you ask students about a program like this right when they finish it, they’re riding the high of the experience. TOOBS lets that afterglow wear off and asks them to reflect once they’ve had time to compare LandSea to everything else they’re experiencing at college.”
‘Finding My People’
Research connected to TOOBS consistently shows that students’ biggest fear entering college is not academic rigor, but whether they will fit in and find a sense of belonging. By the time LandSea students arrive on campus for orientation, many already have a core group they recognize, trust and feel comfortable with during the first challenging weeks.
The outcomes measured by TOOBS align closely with internal data collected by K’s Office of Institutional Research. An analysis comparing LandSea participants and non-participants between 2012 and 2022 revealed consistently higher outcomes for those who completed the program. LandSea participants showed higher retention rates, greater persistence to graduation, and higher cumulative GPAs than their peers.
Tess Peters ’29 was among the LandSea Adirondacks participants last fall.
Bea Putman ’26 was among the LandSea Kalamazoo leaders last fall.
Although LandSea is designed for incoming students, Director Jory Horner emphasizes that its success rests heavily on student leaders.The LandSea program includes activities such as hiking, camping, paddling and rock climbing.
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“For us, that’s really validating,” Horner said. “It confirms that the things we’re focusing on—belonging, trust, confidence—actually matter in measurable ways.”
LandSea Leaders Make it Possible
Although LandSea is designed for incoming students, Horner emphasizes that its success rests heavily on student leaders.
“They give an incredible amount of time,” he said. “They’re balancing classes, jobs and other commitments, and then they dedicate weeks to training in leadership, wilderness medicine and emergency response.”
Many leaders are drawn not by the outdoors, but by the chance to help others.
“The number one reason they give is, ‘I wanted to help ease the transition to K for the next incoming class,’” Horner said. “They take that responsibility seriously.”
And as LandSea continues to earn national recognition, Horner sees the results not as a conclusion but as affirmation.
“Our goal has always been to help students start college feeling capable, connected and supported,” he said. “Seeing those outcomes reflected in the data makes all of us really proud.”
In a waiting room at a liposuction clinic, four women sit with their thoughts, their bodies, and their personal histories. What unfolds is The Most Massive Woman Wins, the next production by the Festival Playhouse at Kalamazoo College.
It’s a play that confronts body image, misogyny and the personal costs of trying to fit into a society obsessed with women’s appearances. Written by Madeleine George and directed by Milan Levy ’23, the show will run at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, February 26 to Saturday, February 28, with a 2 p.m. matinee on Sunday, March 1. Tickets are available at festivalplayhouse.ludus.com.
Since graduating from K, Levy has built a directing résumé that includes codirecting Smart People with Face Off Theatre Company, Kalamazoo’s Black-owned theatre company, in fall 2024. When Professor of Theatre Arts Lanny Potts reached out about the opportunity to direct at Levy’s alma mater, they immediately said yes. For Levy—who also serves the College as a program coordinator in the Office of Student Activities—this show is deeply personal.
“Being someone who grew up a plus size woman, I saw so much of myself and the insecurities I’ve held, spoken through the words of these women,” Levy said. “I wanted to explore this play for myself, and everyone who would connect to this story.”
Victoria (Gracie) Burnham ’27 (from left), Shay Kruse ’28, Helen Stoy ’26 and Sofia Gross ’29 are among the student actors in “The Most Massive Woman Wins” slated for February 26–March 1 at the Festival Playhouse.
The play unfolds as a series of monologues and scenes that move between the clinic’s waiting room and the women’s memories of schoolyards, workplaces and relationships. Each character has arrived at the same door, having traveled a completely different path to reach it.
Liliana Stout ’26 plays Sabine, a Ph.D. student and committed feminist who wrestles with an internal conflict between her politics and her desire for intimacy, driving much of the play’s emotional tension. Stout describes the character as deeply angry and in constant dialogue with herself.
“She can’t overcome the loneliness, and she has to find a way to balance being the deeply moral, feminist person that she is while wanting the love that she hasn’t found,” Stout said.
Two casts will perform in the production, with Stout being the only actor to take the stage each night. Stout noted that the ensemble spans the full range of K class years, from a first-year student to seniors, and at least one cast member is performing on stage for the first time. The other actors include:
Gracie Burnham ’27 and Emily Reese ’27 who portray Rennie, a teenager consumed by an eating disorder, trying to gain the love and acceptance of her mother.
Sofia Gross ’29 and Shay Kruse ’28 who play Carly, a loving mother who believes her hard work will ensure her daughter doesn’t end up the way her and her mother did. What happens when this belief is challenged?
Helen Stoy ’26 and Zoee Perez ’26 who act as Cel, a woman who struggles with self-harm and needs the help of others to keep her grounded.
The play is set in the 1990s, but both Levy and Stout say its concerns feel urgently modern, as medications promising rapid weight loss dominate public conversation and the media continues to project narrow definitions of beauty.
“We’re returning to the 90s in a way,” Levy said. “People are now using Ozempic and GLP-1s to lose weight. It’s all about looking skinny but that doesn’t equate to healthy. Expecting us all to have the same body or work towards it, is putting an impossible standard.”
For Stout, the play is an invitation to empathy rather than judgment. She hopes audiences leave with a more generous understanding of why people arrive at decisions around changing their bodies.
“It’s easy to stop and judge someone for doing something like plastic surgery or liposuction and say they’re lazy, or taking the easy way out, or that they just don’t love themselves,” she said. “I hope watching the show encourages people to take a moment to pause and instead find a way to understand what they’re going through and show them love instead.”
Levy wants audiences, especially those who have felt the pressures these characters embody, to feel seen.
“I want this show to give voice to the things people never felt they could share or say out loud,” they said.
As International Women’s Day approaches, Kalamazoo College will host a landmark conference titled Resisting Harm, Building the Future: Beyond Borders and Binaries from Friday, March 6 to Sunday, March 8, at the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership, 205 Monroe St.
The three-day gathering unites activists, scholars and community organizers from around the world to explore critical issues of gender justice, environmental activism and liberation movements. Through panel discussions, workshops and collaborative planning sessions, participants will examine how communities can respond to systems of harm while building pathways toward collective liberation.
Attendees may register online for any or all of the sessions scheduled from 7:30 a.m.–8 p.m. Friday, 7:45 a.m.–8 p.m. Saturday, and 8:30 a.m.–1 p.m. Sunday. The public is welcome.
Friday’s programming opens with a panel titled Acting with Love in Systems of Harm, featuring speakers who will discuss interventions of care and hope that challenge rape culture, misogyny and policing. The afternoon session, Beyond Binaries, explores gender outside rigid norms through contexts including immigration, technology and sexuality.
Among the presenters are Aqdas Aftab from Loyola University Chicago, Wazhmah Osman from Temple University, and Frances Vicioso from OutFront Kalamazoo, alongside academic researchers and therapeutic practitioners working at the intersection of intimacy, healing and social justice.
Saturday’s schedule tackles environmental and technological justice along with an examination of the climate crisis. The panel We All Live on this Earth will demonstrate connections between land, gender, violence, capitalism and race, offering concrete ideas for action. Later in the day, speakers will address knowledge access, censorship, media literacy, and the role of artificial intelligence in shaping contemporary life.
The conference also spotlights grassroots organizing strategies. Saturday afternoon’s Organizing for Action panel features Bochra Triki, a Tunisian feminist and LGBTQ activist; Shona Espinoza from Food Not Bombs Kalamazoo; and other community organizers sharing lessons from on-the-ground activism.
A standout session titled How Do We Care for Each Other? on Saturday morning will bring together Black polyamory activist Chanée Jackson Kendall; researcher Os Keyes from the University of Massachusetts, Lowell; and sexual educator Roma de las Heras Gómez to reimagine relationships, love and care networks outside of state structures.
The conference concludes Sunday morning with a planning and discussion session focused on takeaways and next steps, followed by a student-led action project. The final component underscores the event’s commitment to translating dialogue into meaningful community engagement.
All panels and meals will take place at the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership, with breakfast, lunch and evening appetizers provided each day. The workshops scheduled for Friday and Saturday afternoons offer hands-on opportunities for participants to develop skills and strategies for social change work.
The conference represents a collaborative effort to move beyond traditional academic conferences, creating space for practitioners, activists and scholars to learn from one another while building networks of solidarity and support.
For more information about the Resisting Harm, Building the Future: Beyond Borders and Binaries conference, contact Arcus Associate Director Coco Canders at CoCo.Canders@kzoo.edu.
International Women’s Day Conference presenter Frances Vicioso
International Women’s Day Conference presenter Os Keyes
Emily Dalecki ’26, Morgan Paye ’26, Dorothy H. Heyl Professor of Chemistry Regina Stevens-Truss and Anoushka Soares ’26 worked together in the Stevens-Truss lab last summer.
Stevens-Truss and student Ava Apolo ’25 point to Apolo’s photo in a display highlighting that year’s Senior Integrated Project students in Stevens-Truss’ lab.
Some people spend years searching for their calling. For Regina Stevens-Truss, the Dorothy H. Heyl Professor of Chemistry at Kalamazoo College, finding her calling was different.
“I’m not sure that it was a matter of finding what I wanted to do,” she said. “It was more like destiny. I have always loved science and math!”
That destiny has taken her on a remarkable journey. She’s gone from a 14-year-old immigrant—arriving in Brooklyn, N.Y., with limited English—to a nationally recognized biochemistry educator who has spent 26 years inspiring students at K. And career success is why the United Nations is celebrating women like Stevens-Truss today, February 11, the International Day of Women and Girls in Science.
According to the U.N., a significant gender gap has persisted throughout the years at all levels of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines all over the world. Even though women have made tremendous progress toward increasing their participation in higher education, they are still underrepresented in these fields. The U.N.’s hope is that role models like Stevens-Truss will continue inspiring young women to stay with STEM—in academics and their professions—for years to come.
The ‘Wait, What’ Kid
Born in Panama, Stevens-Truss arrived in the United States in 1974 with an insatiable curiosity that often tested her father’s patience.
“I was that kid who wanted to know ‘Why? How?’” Stevens-Truss said. “My dad would say to me in Spanish all the time, ‘Cállate, Regina,’ because I would always ask why. Yes, I was that ‘wait, what?’ kid in school.”
Her transition to the U.S., though, wasn’t easy. Placed in eighth grade despite limited English proficiency, Stevens-Truss faced isolation as a self-described scrawny Black Latina in 1970s Brooklyn.
“I got picked on a lot and had very few friends,” Stevens-Truss said.
But what could have derailed her education became her anchor.
“What grounded me was school, and in particular my math classes.”
Those early teachers, none of whom looked like her, saw something special and encouraged her learning. When her family moved to New Jersey, she found community among her white classmates at Cherry Hill West High School.
“Those were hard years because I was an outcast yet again,” Stevens-Truss said. “I only had three Black friends. My friend groups were all white women, and they helped keep me in science and math because we all loved these subjects. We were taking these classes together, we lived near each other, and I belonged.”
Finding Her Path
At Rutgers University, Stevens-Truss initially pursued medicine—like many first-generation students—to fulfill family expectations. Later, a turning point came at the University of Toledo while she was working as a part-time research technician for Richard Hudson ’61.
Stevens-Truss stands with Kaleb Brownlow ’01, the first SIP student she had in her tenure at K.
Dalecki shared her portrait of Stevens-Truss during a Fun Friday activity last summer in which students painted their principal investigators.
Hudson was a K chemistry alumnus who would later become her Ph.D. advisor. One day he walked into the lab with unexpected news and said, “Regina, you need to go do something else.” Thinking she was being fired, Stevens-Truss asked why. His response changed her life: “Because I can tell you’re bored. You need to go get a Ph.D.”
He was right.
“I love learning, and when it gets stagnant, I get bored,” Stevens-Truss said.
That restless curiosity that made her the “wait, what?” kid still drives her today, pushing her to constantly find new ways to reach students.
The Biochemistry Connection
What captivates Stevens-Truss about biochemistry now is the intersection where chemistry illuminates biology.
“Living systems are so complex and yet work so well that I, still to this day, find it exhilarating to learn about them,” she said. “My chemistry classes felt like work, and my biology classes made no sense to me. It’s always been awesome when I could connect my chemistry knowledge to biological phenomena—hence the reason I consider myself a medicinal biochemist. I love to understand living systems through how chemical changes impact them.”
This philosophy permeates her teaching. Ask her biochemistry students, and they’ll tell you she constantly pushes them to ask how and why—the same questions that defined her childhood. Her current research focuses on ESKAPE pathogens, as she and her lab students study how antimicrobial peptides and hybrid compounds—developed in the K labs of Kurt D. Kaufman Associate Professor of Chemistry Dwight Williams and Associate Professor of Chemistry Blake Tresca—work against dangerous bacteria like E. coli and S. aureus.
Twenty-Six Years at K
Hudson had more career advice for Stevens-Truss when she was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Michigan.
“Richard called the lab one day and said to me, ‘Regina, I have the job for you: teaching chemistry at Kalamazoo College.’”
Her response was, “Kalama what?”
That was 26 years ago. What keeps her engaged after more than two decades? The students.
“Their curiosity amazes me, and their true interest in knowing makes me want to know and keeps me questioning and finding out,” Stevens-Truss said. “They make me laugh daily.”
“Being selected for this award was incredibly humbling,” she said. “It also helped validate my career.”
That commitment to student success has taken many forms. In 2016, she received K’s highest teaching honor, the Florence J. Lucasse Lectureship for Excellence in Teaching. In 2018, she was named the College’s director of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Inclusive Excellence grant, awarded to K’s science division. She’s also been a faculty leader for Sisters in Science, a student organization that visits local schools to encourage young women to pursue science; and Sukuma, a peer-based study group for students of color in the sciences.
A Message for the Next Generation
When she was asked what message she hoped her students would carry forward, Stevens-Truss didn’t hesitate, though she acknowledged it might sound clichéd.
“Truly, follow your dreams,” she said. “Don’t let naysayers tell you that you don’t belong and that you can’t.”
She encourages students to ask themselves key questions: How did you get here? Why do you want to be here? Who inspires you? Who gives you the brutal truth? Who supports you when you’re down?
“Answers to these questions will help keep you on track,” she said.
Her advice for finding your passion is simple yet profound.
“The thing that you go to bed at night thinking about, the one that gets you up in the morning ready to go do it, is your passion and what you should do. Make a career out of that and you’ll be happy.”
It’s advice that comes from experience. Stevens-Truss never stopped being that curious kid who wanted to know why and how. She just found a way to build a life and help hundreds of students build theirs around asking those questions.
As she puts it, “Figuring out how and why something changed, to this day, brings me joy, so I think being a scientist is what I was made to be.”
Kalamazoo College will sound as vibrant as it feels this month, with two campus music ensembles inviting audiences to shake off the winter chill through music inspired by movement, mood and color.
Academy Street Winds
The Academy Street Winds will present a dance-themed concert featuring waltzes, a tango, a malambo, and more at 4 p.m. on Sunday, February 15, at Dalton Theatre. Winter Dances will feature a title piece by Brian Balmages, the celebrated work Satiric Dances by Norman Dello Joio, and other selections that capture the emotions and motions of movement. Admission is free; donations are appreciated.
The ensemble is a beloved creative outlet for woodwind, brass and percussion musicians, bringing together both students and community members to expand the group’s sound and capabilities.Adjunct Assistant Professor of Music Greg Bassett serves as the group’s director.
Kalamazoo College Jazz Band
The Kalamazoo College Jazz Band, directed by Visiting Instructor of Music Sandra Shaw, will present Colour My World at 7 p.m. on Friday, February 20, at Dalton Theatre. Admission is free; donations are appreciated.
The concert will begin with Chicago’s Colour My World. It will continue with tunes that describe different colors to add visual stimulation and evoke specific emotions and feelings while reflecting shared experiences. Listeners are encouraged to dance if the music inspires them during the show.
For more information about both performances, contact the Department of Music at 269.337.7070 or Susan.Lawrence@kzoo.edu.
The Kalamazoo College Jazz Band will be one of the ensembles performing this month.
Kalamazoo College’s Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership is transforming Black History Month into an immersive celebration of culture. This February, the center presents a dynamic lineup that moves beyond traditional lectures, inviting students and community members to engage with Black history through hip-hop’s revolutionary power, the decolonizing practice of poetry, gospel music’s role in resistance movements, and the liberating language of dance.
The series kicks off at 6 p.m. on Thursday, February 5, with author Michael “Manny Faces” Conforti discussing his book Hip Hop Can Save America!: Inspiration for the Nation from a Culture of Innovation. Conforti examines how hip hop extends far beyond music to represent a powerful force for social, economic and cultural transformation.
The conversation continues at 4 p.m. Saturday, February 7, with “Hip Hop Can Save America,” featuring Conforti, Kandace Lavender and Associate Professor of Music Beau Bothwell. This event explores culture-forward approaches to defending democracy through inspiring presentations and dialogue about hip-hop’s past, present and future role in advancing justice and equity. The evening concludes with a cypher/jam session and dinner.
At 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, February 19, poet and educator Denise Miller facilitates “Reading Black SoulTelling,” a community workshop exploring Black poetry as a decolonizing practice. Miller, author of A Ligature for Black Bodies and Art of Fact Director at the Institute for Public Scholarship, leads participants in a communal reflection on how poetry exposes oppression and recovers Black language and personhood. Dinner will be served.
At 6 p.m. on Monday, February 23, the Face Off Theatre Company will present excerpts from Mahalia: A Gospel Musical. This curated performance and dialogue experience integrates spoken words, poetry and contemporary dance to invite reflections on faith, Black resistance and art’s role in social justice movements.
The series concludes at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, February 26, with “Movement as Liberation,” led by Heather Mitchell, founder of the Justice Moves dance company. This embodied experience blends somatic movement, West African drum and dance, and community connection, allowing participants to reconnect with their bodies as sites of resilience and joy. The evening closes with a community dance circle, performance and reception.
All events are free and open to the public. For more information, contact Arcus Associate Director Coco Canders at CoCo.Canders@kzoo.edu.
Professor Emeritus of German Language and Literature Hardy Fuchs died on February 3, 2026. Born in Poland and raised in Germany, Hardy first came to Kalamazoo College as a visiting international student on a Fulbright travel grant during the 1964–65 academic year. He enjoyed his time in the United States so much that he chose to make it his home, earning a master’s degree from Indiana University in 1967 and a Ph.D. in German language and literature from Michigan State University in 1970. While completing his doctorate, Hardy returned to K in 1969 to teach German and coach soccer.
Hardy’s 32-year tenure as the head men’s soccer coach began when the program at K was in its infancy. He went on to lead his teams to 12 MIAA championships and six NCAA Division III Tournament appearances. He compiled a career record of 343-137-36 (.700), including an MIAA record of 254-70-21 (.767), finishing his final season as the 29th winningest active men’s soccer coach in NCAA Division III and 30th all-time. In recognition of his achievements, Hardy was named NCAA Great Lakes Regional Coach of the Year in 1988 and retired from coaching in 2002 after winning the MIAA title for the third consecutive year.
Beyond the field, Hardy spent 33 years as a professor of German language and literature at K, including three decades as chair of the German Department. He served in numerous leadership roles across campus, including chair of the Faculty Development and Athletic Committees, co-chair of the Admission Committee, and held membership on several other faculty committees. He also received multiple faculty development grants, including Goethe Institute grants for study in Germany.
After retiring from teaching in 2005, Hardy remained actively engaged with Hornet athletics and international programs at the College, including coaching the alumni soccer team at the annual K alumni vs. varsity match. He was inducted into the Kalamazoo College Athletic Hall of Fame in 2010.
A celebration of life is being planned for May 16 at 1 p.m. at Stetson Chapel and an obituary will appear in the next issue of LuxEsto.
Zara Strauss ’29 became the first Hornet to be named MIAA Field Athlete of the Week since Kalamazoo College relaunched track and field. All photos by Kimberly Moss.
Strauss competes in shot put and weight throw and plans to expand into additional outdoor events this spring.
Strauss’ first collegiate track meet was January 17 at Trine University’s Sean Brady Invitational, where she beat her personal record in the shot put with a throw of 9.84 meters.
When Zara Strauss ’29 stepped into the throwing circle for her first collegiate track meet at Trine University’s Sean Brady Invitational on January 17, she was focused on one thing: beating her own mark. A personal record in the shot put—9.84 meters, nearly a third of a meter beyond her high school best—felt like a solid start, especially with a sixth-place finish in the competition.
What she didn’t expect was the flood of Instagram tags that followed on January 20, alerting her that she had just made Kalamazoo College history. Strauss became the first Hornet to be named Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) Field Athlete of the Week since K relaunched the sport, marking an early milestone in the program’s new era. The conference honor is given to a female student-athlete who demonstrates a standout individual performance in competition. Recipients are selected from nominations submitted by head coaches at each MIAA member school.
For the first-year international student from Tokyo, Japan, the honor was both surprising and affirming.
“I was really shocked,” she said. “I didn’t even know the award was a possibility, to be honest. People started tagging me on Instagram when it was announced, and I wondered what was going on. I wasn’t disappointed in my performance that day, even though I wanted to do better. Getting the award boosted my confidence. I felt a lot better about how I had done.”
When Strauss first pursued track and field as a sophomore in high school, she discovered her strength in throwing events after a coach nudged her away from sprinting. Since then, she has embraced the technical challenges of shot put, discus, javelin and hammer throw, constantly refining her form and experimenting with new techniques such as rotational throwing.
At K, Strauss competes in shot put and weight throw during the indoor season and looks forward to expanding into additional events outdoors. She trains closely with head coach Kyle Morrison and throws coach Luke Decker, both of whom she credits with helping her see measurable improvements in technique and distance.
But choosing K was about more than athletics. Strauss has deep family ties to the College as her grandparents, Professor Emeritus of History David Strauss and retired instructor Dhera Strauss, both taught at K.
Her family’s connection to Japan traces back to her grandfather taking students there years ago. Her father, Benjamin Strauss, then studied abroad in Japan during college, where he later moved with her mother, Monique. An unexpected job transfer for her dad turned what was supposed to be a couple of years into 19 years in Tokyo, where Strauss was born and raised.
With her brother and cousin also enrolled—and her cousin living immediately across the hall at Hoben Hall—campus quickly felt like home, even as she navigated life far from Japan. She visits her grandparents weekly, a routine that helped ease the homesickness she felt early on.
That sense of connection extends to her teammates. As one of six throwers and the only woman in the group, Strauss describes the squad as tight-knit and supportive. Teammates offer feedback on technique, share late-night meals after practice and travel together to meets. A friendship formed during LandSea with sprinter Gwyneth Dunaway ’29 has also carried onto the track, reinforcing the community she hoped to find at a small college.
Strauss admits that earning conference recognition so early in the program’s return brings a mix of pride and perspective. She feels some responsibility to continue that excellence as one of the first standouts of the relaunch, but she’s determined to keep the experience grounded in enjoyment and growth.
Her achievement also arrives at a meaningful moment on the calendar. February 4 marks the National Day of Women and Girls in Sports, a global celebration of participation, visibility and equity. Strauss, who attended an all-girls school and helped pioneer a new wrestling team for girls in her high school league, sees the day as a reminder of why representation matters.
“I think it’s important to create that space for women to be able to have their own league and to see themselves in their sports,” she said. “I feel like I’ve always grown up around women in sports, and it’s important to give women the attention they deserve.”
Choosing K was about more than athletics for Strauss, who has deep family ties to the College.
Strauss formed a friendship with sprinter Gwyneth Dunaway ’29 while the two participated in LandSea orientation. Their friendship has carried over onto the track.
Make Your Mark with the Hornets
You can support Kalamazoo College student-athletes like Zara Strauss ’29 by participating in Hornet Athletics Giving Day on February 18. Visit our website to make a mark with a gift that will help fund the highest priorities of our teams and provide resources such as equipment, travel and coaching excellence.
As K’s track and field program builds momentum in its return season, Strauss hopes to keep building, too, while refining her form, chasing new personal records and contributing to a team goal of making an immediate mark on the MIAA standings. If her debut is any indication, both she and the Hornets are off to a record-setting start.
“I’ve made some good friends, and K is a fun place to be,” Strauss said. “I’m really enjoying my first couple of months here, and I can’t wait for the next four years.”
The Midwest Outdoor Leadership Conference is returning to Kalamazoo College February 6–8, offering a weekend of student-led workshops, networking and hands-on learning focused on outdoor leadership and sustainability education.
The annual event will connect more than 50 students from small, medium and large institutions across the region. K students will be able to participate at no cost and without the need to travel.
“It really doesn’t matter what students’ majors are. It’s just all about outdoor leadership and sustainability education,” said Josie Belsky ’28, one of the five conference organizers including Madeline Moss ‘26, Zoe Allen ’28, Chloe Brown ’28 and Ava King ’28.
Belsky’s journey to organizing the conference began when she attended last year’s event at Earlham College. Moss had heard about the conference through her first-year seminar, Wheels of Change. After missing last year’s conference while studying abroad, Moss jumped at the opportunity to help organize when Sofia Fleming ’25, a previous conference attendee, reached out.
For Moss, an English major, the conference represents an opportunity to bridge academic interests with outdoor pursuits—a combination not always obvious to those outside the field.
Kalamazoo College last hosted the Midwest Outdoor Leadership Conference in 2020 with gatherings like this one at the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership. The conference is returning to K Feb. 6–8.
“At K, we don’t have a lot of leadership-specific courses or an outdoor education major, so this is an opportunity for us to be able to touch base with students from other schools who might be interested in that and who have a lot of background in it, while also learning from them,” Moss said. “Being able to intersect my interest of the outdoors and sustainability with English is a nice thing about the conference.”
This interdisciplinary approach defines the conference’s appeal. Workshops range from technical skills such as scuba diving and rock climbing to more philosophical discussions about what wilderness means and how to decolonize one’s understanding of the outdoors.
Planning the conference has been a crash course in event management for the organizing students, who have met weekly since the start of the academic year with support from Outdoor Programs staff. The planners have coordinated with campus organizations like the Office of Student Activities. They’ve also reached out to local organizations such as the Kalamazoo Nature Center and engaged with students about their Senior Integrated Projects (SIPs) and other campus initiatives.
The organizers emphasize that the conference welcomes everyone, regardless of outdoor experience.
“One of the bigger barriers is that it can be a little intimidating to go to a conference—you feel like you have to come in with something, but in reality, it’s for everyone,” Belsky said. “There’s no experience necessary. You don’t even have to be an outdoorsy person. It’s just meant to be fun.”
Hosting the conference offers an opportunity to showcase how K’s sustainability infrastructure has evolved, particularly through the Environmental Stewardship Center.
“K has gone through a lot of changes, and I think this feels somewhat grounding back to our history of sustainability in leadership and student-led learning,” Moss said. “The fact that we hosted this conference back in 2020, before the pandemic, and a lot of things have shifted since then, and the fact we’re adapting it to the way that the school is now, says a lot about our dedication to creating a space of outdoor stewardship.”
Attending this conference at other schools has been eye-opening for K students. Last year at Earlham, for example, Belsky and others learned about Earlham’s Quaker heritage and toured facilities including horse stables, composting operations and a community building where people sell handmade art and pottery.
But beyond workshops and campus tours, the conference creates lasting connections.
“I’m still in contact with the people I met at last year’s conference,” Belsky said. “One of them came to visit me and my roommate last year, too, which was fun.”
She also emphasizes the conference’s professional value.
“It’s a good way to network with people and make connections that will help you so much in your future career,” Belsky said.
The organizers express deep appreciation for Outdoor Programs Director Jory Horner, Outdoor and Environmental Coordinator Greta Farley ’22 and Outdoor Leadership Training Center Coordinator Hannah Wolfe ’21, who provided crucial guidance. Farley’s perspective as a former student organizer has been particularly valuable.
“Sometimes we get fogged up with the student mindset and think we’re so busy that we couldn’t possibly do this,” Moss said. “But it felt grounding to have them tell us that we’re capable of it, and we could do so much more than we expected.”
With the conference happening on campus, the organizers have a simple message for the K community: Join us.
“The fact that it’s here is huge for us because we know, especially for student-athletes and people involved in student organizations, it’s hard to get away on the weekends,” Belsky said. “Your lives get busy, especially at K, because we’re always so involved. But it’s here. It’s so close, so come join us.”
For some Kalamazoo College students, study abroad can feel out of reach—too long, too expensive or too intimidating to fit into already full academic and personal schedules. But for 23 students who spent 10 days in the Dominican Republic during winter break, a short-term, faculty-led program offered something transformative: a first step into global learning that reshaped how they see the world and themselves.
Led by Associate Professor of Spanish Ivett López Malagamba, the immersive experience brought students to Santiago de los Caballeros, a mid-sized city in the Dominican Republic, where they lived with host families, conducted daily academic work and navigated life almost entirely in Spanish.
Kalamazoo College students who participated in short-term study abroad over winter break were welcomed to the Dominican Republic with a special dinner.
Students participated in an orientation when they arrived in the Dominican Republic.
An Accessible Path to Global Learning
The short-term program targets students who may face barriers to longer study abroad opportunities, including first-generation college students, students of color, student-athletes and those balancing multiple commitments on campus. It was first launched as a pilot program in 2019, funded through a grant from the Mellon Foundation, which supported faculty planning, along with Center for International Programs funds. Additionally this year, the Ambassador Martha L. Campbell and Consul General Arnold H. Campbell Foreign Study Endowment and the Robert J. Kopecky ’72 Endowed Study Abroad Fund helped high-need students afford the experience. The Campbell Endowment was established in 2009 to support and enhance the foreign study experience for K students. The Kopecky fund was established in 2022 to help maximize the number of students who participate in study abroad while encouraging students to explore the culture around them during their international experience.
For some participants, the Dominican Republic trip marked their first time traveling internationally or even boarding an airplane.
“For them, this was not just an academic experience; it was a personal milestone,” López Malagamba said.
Academically, the program is tied to the Spanish curriculum. Students must have completed Spanish 201, the final course in K’s language requirement sequence for Spanish. In the fall, participants enroll in a preparatory course and attend predeparture sessions focused on Dominican history, race relations, politics and the country’s deep connections to the United States and the Caribbean. And once they are in the Dominican Republic, the learning is nonstop.
“Every day is academic,” López Malagamba said. “Even when students are on a beach or in a community celebration, they are learning—about economics, migration, tourism, race, history and the environment.”
In the coastal region of Samaná, students encountered a lesser-known chapter of shared history: communities founded by formerly enslaved people from the U.S. who settled there in the 19th century.
Students had a chance to make chocolate while learning about the country’s export economy through cocoa farming, studying the role of tourism in shaping cities, and examining the deep ties between the Dominican Republic and the United States.
Learning Beyond the Classroom
Students explored the Dominican Republic through lectures, guided visits and hands-on experiences that reinforced themes from their language coursework, including urban life, nature, the arts and professions. They learned about the country’s export economy through cocoa farming, studied the role of tourism in shaping cities, and examined the deep ties between the Dominican Republic and the United States.
In the coastal region of Samaná, students encountered a lesser-known chapter of shared history: communities founded by formerly enslaved people from the U.S. who settled there in the 19th century. A guide, himself a descendant of those settlers, shared how English once flourished in the region before being suppressed and how that legacy still shapes Dominican identity.
“These are moments where students realize that U.S. history doesn’t stop at our borders,” López Malagamba said. “It lives in other places, in other people’s stories.”
Environmental justice was another key focus. Students learned how coastal communities balance the economic need for tourism with the protection of ecosystems, national parks and marine environments that sustain local livelihoods.
Living with host families added another layer of immersion and challenge. Students had to adapt to new routines, unfamiliar foods and different cultural expectations, all while communicating in a second language.
“There’s always a moment where students feel overwhelmed,” López Malagamba said. “They miss their familiarity. They realize how hard it is to express themselves fully. But then something shifts.”
That shift often comes in small victories: asking for directions, explaining a preference at the dinner table or successfully navigating a conversation they once would have avoided.
“By the end, students realize, ‘I can do this,’” she said. “That confidence is powerful.”
K students participated in a Spanish class while visiting the Dominican Republic.
Students visited the Monumento a los Héroes de la Restauración, which was built for the 100th anniversary of the Dominican War of Independence, which was fought in 1844 to gain sovereignty from Haiti.
‘I’m Hooked’
For Tom Clark ’27, the Dominican Republic trip became a lifeline to study abroad after he had to cancel plans for a longer program in Greece. The business major, who is dual-enrolling at Western Michigan University to pursue exercise science, realized too late that he couldn’t balance a two-term study abroad with his academic timeline.
“I went through all the predeparture stuff, was all ready to go, and then I realized I wouldn’t be able to do it,” Clark said. “But right as I dropped it, I got an email about this trip to the Dominican Republic. I saw it was over winter break, so it wouldn’t take away from credits that I would need. It was perfect.”
The trip marked Clark’s first time leaving the country, and the experience immediately challenged his assumptions about privilege and perspective.
“I thought I was familiar with other cultures,” he said. “I thought of myself as an empathetic person who could put himself in the shoes of others. And then I actually took the trip, and my understanding was much different.”
Simple differences struck him immediately. Getting off the airplane, he looked for a water fountain to fill his bottle only to realize public drinking fountains don’t exist in places without widespread access to clean water. The language immersion then proved to be both challenging and rewarding. Clark hadn’t taken a Spanish class in nearly a year, and the first few days were rough. But surrounded by Spanish speakers constantly—including his host parents, who spoke no English—he found his skills returning and improving rapidly. Those challenges, in fact, became opportunities for connection.
Among Clark’s favorite moments was a joint class session with Dominican students learning English as a second language, meeting people his age from vastly different backgrounds, yet fundamentally similar. He made a friend named Casey who runs a fashion brand with 60,000 Instagram followers and is working toward getting a green card.
The experience reframed how Clark thinks about language learning. In a classroom, he explained, students have varying levels of investment. On the trip, everyone was committed, making the learning more dynamic and applicable.
“We were talking about how another language is like learning a superpower,” he said. “I learned I could travel to many countries and be perfectly fine. I could meet people and connect better. The Dominican is a tiny island, so I’m hooked on imagining what the rest of the world is like.”
Tres Ojos, or Three Eyes National Park, is a 50-yard, open-air limestone cave.
Students walk through Tres Ojos National Park.
Discovering New Perspectives
For Sarah Guerrero Gorostieta ’28, a first-generation college student, the Dominican Republic trip offered something unexpected: a chance to see her own culture through new eyes while discovering how much she still had to learn.
“I have never learned so much in such a short amount of time about myself, my peers and an entirely new country,” Guerrero said. “With my Mexican heritage, I assumed because I’m Hispanic and because they’re Hispanic, there would be some similarities between us. There definitely were, but there was also so much nuance.”
Although Mexico and the Dominican Republic were both colonized by Spain, Guerrero learned how French and African influences shaped Dominican culture differently. More importantly, she heard those histories directly from Dominicans themselves.
Guerrero’s experience was framed with many memorable moments. She recalls feeling grateful for trying plantains for the first time, exploring caves and seeing the ocean.
“I’d never felt so many emotions packed into one trip,” she said. “And I’m really excited to carry all of those lessons into study abroad.”
Guerrero is next hoping to study at Belfast University in Northern Ireland, where she wants to explore political tensions and the media’s role in conflict—themes she first encountered in the Dominican Republic through a guest lecture on how the media weaponizes political relationships during elections.
Students stopped at St. James the Apostle Cathedral during a tour of Santiago de los Caballeros in the Dominican Republic.
Associate Professor of Spanish Ivett López Malagamba (right) led the short-term study abroad experience through places such as downtown Santiago de los Caballeros.
Opening Doors for Student-Athletes
For Riley Shults ’28, a runner on K’s cross-country team, the 10-day format meant he didn’t have to choose between his sport and international experience.
The short-term trip to the Dominican Republic didn’t change Shults’ academic trajectory, he said, but it reinforced the direction he wanted to pursue. He is declaring an anthropology-sociology major in February and is now planning to study in Oaxaca, Mexico, during the winter of his junior year through a program focused on community engagement and Indigenous cultures.
“I knew that I wanted to care about people, and I knew that I wanted to travel the world,” he said. “This program was the first real experience that I got to have of that.”
One question lingered throughout the trip: Can such a short program truly transform students in the way longer study abroad experiences do? And for Shults, the answer is unequivocal.
“One hundred percent,” he said. “I barely talked to anyone on that trip before it, and now I see them every day. Every little aspect fundamentally changed who we are because we were forced to think about someone other than ourselves. It’s not just about me anymore. It’s about the whole world.”
The change came through small moments that accumulated into profound shifts. Shults discovered he loves beans and rice. He overcame his lack of confidence in his language skills and found himself thinking in Spanish. He engaged with complex political histories he’d only read about in textbooks as his host mother shared stories each morning about the country’s history under dictator Rafael Trujillo.
“I used to think one way, and now I think this other way,” he said. “Study abroad pulls people out of their comfort zones. Once you push past that boundary your learning is only limited to what you allow yourself to find.”
One particularly memorable moment came during a Sunday block party in a working-class neighborhood of Santiago. Community organizers welcomed the K group with music, announcements and open celebrations.
Students danced alongside children, parents and grandparents in the streets. Shults found himself at the center of that celebration, dancing with elderly women who grabbed his red hair for good luck. He moved freely without self-consciousness in a way he’d never experienced at home.
“Every single person is not caring about what other people say, they’re just moving,” he said. “It’s such a different culture than ours. Here, people don’t just dance. We’re always thinking about what other people are doing. But that’s not what they think. They’re just going to have fun.”
His experience now surfaces in unexpected moments back on campus. In a class about water systems, Shults reflected on the reality that Dominican tap water isn’t safe to drink.
“I’m sitting in class thinking, ‘I lived this,’” he said. “I lived this example where you don’t have water right on the tap.”
A resident of the Los Pepines neighborhood dances with Riley Shults ’28.
The Monumento a los Héroes de la Restauración is the tallest building in Santiago de los Caballeros in the Dominican Republic.
Distinct Opportunities Bring Transformations
Although the program lasts just 10 days, its impact extends far beyond winter break. López Malagamba noted that many students return with renewed interest in longer study abroad opportunities and greater confidence in navigating unfamiliar environments. For her, watching students undergo their transformations in just 10 days remains the most rewarding part of leading the program.
“These students come back with a different understanding of what it means to be a global citizen,” she said. “They’ve lived with families who welcomed them. They’ve navigated challenges in a second language. They’ve sat with discomfort and come out stronger.
“These programs remind students that the world is bigger than the U.S. and their immediate communities,” she said. “They learn that their actions matter, that their country has an impact elsewhere, and that shared humanity exists across borders. That’s the kind of learning that stays with you long after the trip ends.”
