Caelan Frazier ’23 (left) and Shay Brown ’23 (right) took Bippy to the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE) Conference in Orlando, Florida. They posed here with Merck Senior Scientist Dr. Devin J. Swiner.
Brown ’23 receives some help from Bippy in making her poster presentation.
Frazier, Brown and University of California Irvine Graduate Research Assistant Alissa Matus pose with Bippy at the NOBCChE Conference in Orlando, Florida.
His name is Bippy and he’s the Squishmallow that’s making Kalamazoo College famous.
Squishmallows are soft, squishy, cuddly stuffed animals that come in a variety of colors and sizes, and their popularity has grown exponentially over the past year or so. The K Hornet versions of the plushies—available at the College’s bookstore—are round and orange with thin, black arms; antennae; beady eyes; a friendly smile and a K on their belly.
Assistant Professor of Chemistry Daniela Arias-Rotondo, known affectionately to her students as Dr. DAR with her lab students called DARlings, uses a K version named Bippy as her lab’s mascot. He’s helping K gain recognition and students gain opportunities in their field.
“I bought it right away last summer when the Bookstore restocked them because I thought it was the cutest thing,” Arias-Rotondo said. “I thought it would be fun to take him places and he made his debut at the fall ACS (American Chemical Society) conference in Chicago last year. I tweeted beforehand that I was going to have this little guy with me, and I asked, ‘Who else is going to be at the conference?’ It was really fun because a lot of people were excited about it.”
Arias-Rotondo’s lab develops molecules that absorb energy from light while transforming that energy into electricity. Bippy gets his name from 2,2’-bipyridine, which is a key part of [Ru(bpy)3]2+, a ruthenium compound nicknamed “Rubpy.” Ruthenium is a rare and expensive metal.
Rubpy “is a molecule that has been key in the development of photophysics and photocatalysis because it works so well,” Arias-Rotondo said. “One of the problems with it is that it’s very expensive, so we keep trying to find alternatives that are cheaper, greener and more Earth friendly. Yet we use it for now, so Bippy’s name is a nod to a molecule that has had a huge impact on my career and on the field.”
In the meantime, Arias-Rotondo’s reach on Twitter has allowed chemists from all over the world to see Bippy’s pictures and learn about Arias-Rotondo’s and her students’ accomplishments.
“It’s a way for me to say on Twitter, ‘You know me and these are my students,’” Arias-Rotondo said. “I can invite others to go talk to them even if they’re at a conference when I’m not. It’s definitely generating visibility, and if it generates visibility for me and the College, it benefits my students, too, because at the end of the day, they are the ones who need the most opportunities.”
Last winter, Arias-Rotondo wanted Caelan Frazier ’23 and Shay Brown ’23 to take Bippy to the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE) Conference in Orlando, Florida. Frazier, a Kalamazoo native, plans to attend graduate school at the University of Michigan and he credits K for preparing him for that with benefits such as small class sizes in a supportive environment and a study abroad experience in Northern Ireland.
Shay Brown ’23 (from left), Crystal Mendoza ’23, Lindsey Baker ’24, Assistant Professor of Chemistry Daniela Arias-Rotondo, Maxwell Rhames ’25 and Caelan Frazier ’23 pose with Bippy at the American Chemical Society Conference in Indianapolis.
Bippy, however, Frazier was unsure of—at least at first.
“At the time I thought, ‘I don’t really know why you want me to take him, but I’m going to trust you on this one,’” he said.
Any remaining skepticism melted away when reputable scientists approached Frazier’s and Brown’s poster presentations to learn about their work, and of course, meet Bippy.
“He ended up being very helpful,” Frazier said. “We sat at a table with a few of the people that Dr. DAR told us to talk to, and immediately three of them said, ‘Oh, my gosh, it’s Bippy from Twitter! I know who you guys are.’ It was an incredible conversation starter.”
Since then, Frazier, Brown, Lindsey Baker ’24, Crystal Mendoza ’23 and Maxwell Rhames ’25 have attended the spring ACS conference in Indianapolis with Bippy to similar fanfare for the cuddly plushy, not to mention their work.
Frazier poses with Bippy at his poster presentation.
Abby Barnum ’23 poses with Bippy during a recent conference.
“Obviously, Bippy doesn’t directly influence the work that we do, but he very much helps us look forward to presenting it,” Frazier said. “He has shown me that when you go to these conferences and you’re meeting some of the biggest names in science from around the world, they’re still people. And when they see this stuffed animal you’re carrying around, 90% of them are going, ‘Oh, that’s cute. I wonder what that’s about’ and ‘I want to learn more about that.’ I think it’s really important to have that comfort.”
And as beneficial as Bippy is now for her students, Arias-Rotondo hopes his influence will continue in the years ahead.
“We could just have a unicorn or a random stuffed animal, but institutional visibility is important, so the addition of the brand right on Bippy helps a lot,” she said. “I want other students to also get those opportunities and I want people to say, ‘Oh, Kalamazoo College. They put out good chemistry students.’”
City businesses and officials are taking note of a Kalamazoo College student’s Senior Integrated Project (SIP), which quickly has made her a recognizable local voice in sustainability.
Since 2021, Lauren Crossman ’23, a political science major, has worked at Bee Joyful Shop, a store on Kalamazoo’s downtown walking mall that features locally made, zero-waste products for homes, kitchens, baths and beauty routines. She got the job after interviewing women who opened businesses during the pandemic for a journalism class, including the owners of Mason Jar Plant Shop, Colors and Cocktails, Kalamazoo Fashion House and Bee Joyful.
Through Bee Joyful, Crossman developed a passion for sustainability; however, by the time she realized that interest exceeded her love of political science, it seemed too late to change her major or add an environmental studies concentration. That’s when Jeanne Hess—a Bee Joyful customer and city commissioner who retired in 2019 from K as a physical education professor and volleyball coach—planted an interesting idea. She suggested that Crossman create her own internship based on sustainability at Bee Joyful, an idea that also provided a formative plan for Crossman’s SIP.
Bee Joyful owner Jessica Thompson provided enthusiastic approvals and a few ideas on how that internship would work.
“Jessica said she had actually been thinking about creating a week of sustainability events, or I could go talk to other businesses on the mall and see if we can get them to be more on board with different ways to reduce waste and make them all greener,” Crossman said.
Crossman started the internship by researching environmentally friendly business practices involving ideas from cocktail straws to packaging materials. All of it had the potential to help businesses reduce waste and save money. Yet then came the tough part: Crossman began to cold call and visit 22 small businesses in Kalamazoo to discuss their environmental practices, present an environmental report card, and help them create sustainability-related goals.
“It was something that was way outside of my comfort zone,” Crossman said. “I remember talking to my family and friends and saying, ‘I don’t know how I’m going to do this.’ I had this feeling that no one was going to take me seriously because they didn’t know me. I was this random student from K College who wanted to talk about the environment.”
Regardless, Crossman pursued the work and said the conversations generally went well.
“A lot of those businesses at first said, ‘I’m just trying to keep the lights on and pay the bills,’ so there were uncomfortable points,” she said. “Others thought it was a nice conversation to have, but it might not make a difference. But I was surprised at how many of the business owners appreciated just starting the conversation.”
As those conversations developed, business owners began to see that even small gestures could make big differences as Crossman provided resource guides, viewable through the Instagram profile link @sustainable.kzoo.businesses, that were specific to retail stores, restaurants, salons, brick-and-mortar locations and online businesses.
“I was trying to highlight that there are so many ways businesses can be sustainable, in big ways or small ways, down to the type of tape they use to ship out boxes,” Crossman said. “It all can make a difference. I brought all those guides with me to each of the businesses and shared that information, and we worked through the eco report cards that had around 20 business practices. I got down to fine details like having LED lights or asking vendors to ship products without plastic, so they could see a wide variety of what they could do.
“The eco report cards were helpful because businesses could use them as a starting point to say, ‘we’re doing a lot of really good things, and there are ways we can improve,’” she added. “I feel putting that information together grounded me so I could go in and talk to the business owners.”
With happy business owners starting to save money and be more sustainable, Crossman presented her work at the Kalamazoo State Theatre in March during Green Drinks Kalamazoo, a monthly networking event of city businesses and friends that addresses sustainability. At the event, Professor of History Charlene Boyer Lewis, serving as Crossman’s SIP advisor, spoke up to let Crossman and the crowd know that Crossman had earned honors on her SIP. And next, Crossman plans to offer her report to Hess, who regularly attends the city’s environmental concerns committee, to ask for her opinions.
“We have opportunities in Kalamazoo that aren’t being seized and I think there’s so much potential for impact and people are already willing to make changes,” Crossman said. “But nobody’s holding them accountable. I think that was the biggest part of the critique. I think it’s important information for somebody to see, because the businesses are willing to make changes, but what’s the city’s role now and what are they doing, too?”
In the meantime, Crossman can provide a sustainability leader’s view of Earth Day, celebrated every April 22, the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970.
“I feel like there’s a lot of good that can be done on Earth Day, but we can’t forget about the rest of the days of the year,” Crossman said. “I don’t want people to think that if they say no to a straw one day of the year that they’re doing enough. Helping the environment needs to be a lifestyle change. We can’t just talk about climate change one day of the year. It must be a pressing conversation all the time, because it’s a pressing problem all the time.”
Lauren Crossman ’23 works at Bee Joyful Shop, a store on Kalamazoo’s downtown walking mall that features locally made, zero-waste products for homes, kitchens, baths and beauty routines.
Crossman presented her work at the Kalamazoo State Theatre during Green Drinks Kalamazoo, a monthly networking event of city businesses and friends that addresses sustainability.
Bee Joyful owner Jessica Thompson enthusiastically approved of Crossman’s ideas for an internship based on sustainability at her shop.
When Kalamazoo College’s Department of German Studies was one of just three in the country to earn a German Center of Excellence award last year, the department’s community outreach was cited as one reason why.
Some of that community outreach was put into motion when Assistant Professor of German Petra Watzke secured a La Plante Grant in summer 2021 for K’s introductory German students to plan workshops for fourth graders in Ms. Snow’s class at Woodward Elementary School in Kalamazoo. That fall and in fall 2022, in a partnership with the Mary Jane Underwood Stryker Center for Community Engagement (CCE), K students collaborated to provide children with early lessons in the foreign language.
The outreach struck such a positive chord with parents, teachers, children and the K students, that the program expanded during the winter term to include Ms. Longhon’s kindergarten class at the school. In its most expansive effort to date, teaching assistants Alex Nam ’25 and Ben Flotemersch ’23 tested their new language skills by preparing lessons and materials for both grades, introducing lessons, and supporting students in the classroom.
“I went on one or two trips to Woodward in the fall, and then I was asked by Professor Watzke if I would want to help lead these trips as a TA,” Nam said. “I immediately said, ‘Oh, yes, I’d love to join in.’ Chances are not all of them will remember every word we teach them for the rest of their lives. We just want to instill within the kids an open-mindedness that leads to learning new languages. We want them to understand that different languages may sound a little weird and some may sound really similar to English. That sense of progress is something I’ve definitely seen with the kids through their willingness to step into the discomfort of learning a new language.”
In return, K representatives such as Flotemersch experienced a valuable way to make deeper connections within the community by visiting Woodward.
“I hadn’t really felt in touch with the Kalamazoo until now,” Flotemersch said. “My first year, we had 20 weeks on campus, and then COVID hit. Then, I was isolated sophomore year. This is just my fourth term on campus, and for the first time, I feel I’ve left campus and I’ve had a great time.”
Nam and Flotemersch both worked in close contact with Lucinda Hinsdale Stone Associate Professor of German Kathryn Sederberg and Watzke, who helped them build syllabuses and curriculums.
“It’s rewarding to go into the elementary schools and interact with these kids,” Nam said. “But on a deeper level, it allows me to contextualize how I learned German because I began these trips last year as a 101 student when I barely knew any German myself. To put myself in the role of a teacher instead of a student for a concept that’s still very fresh provides me with a much greater appreciation for German education, as well as the German language, because I’ve been able to see both perspectives of student and teacher.”
It was an experience that Flotemersch hopes will touch more K students while benefiting Woodward students in the future.
“I think we all had this experience, when we were kindergarteners or fourth graders, of an adult who showed up as a special guest,” Flotemersch said. “Those are highlights of our school experiences. When someone comes and they’re teaching you German, that’s amazing, and I think more people should volunteer in similar ways.”
Flotemersch and Nam gained experiences through volunteering at Woodward that might improve their chances of earning the Fulbright scholarships they seek. Through its U.S. Student Program, Fulbright helps graduating seniors, graduate students, young professionals and artists to teach English, perform research or study abroad for one academic year.
Kalamazoo College introductory German students have been volunteering and planning workshops at Woodward Elementary School in Kalamazoo since fall 2021.Alex Nam ’25 (second from left) tested his German skills by preparing lessons and materials for kindergartners and fourth graders at Woodward Elementary School.Nam (right) and Ben Flotemersch ’23 (second from right) experienced a valuable way to make deeper connections within the community by visiting Woodward Elementary School this winter to teach kindergartners and fourth graders basic German words and phrases.
For Flotemersch, that would mean following in the footsteps of his brother, K alumnus Matthew Flotemersch ’20, who now serves Fulbright’s U.S. Teaching Assistant Program in Austria. The elder brother also previously earned a Fulbright through the U.S. Student Program to teach in Germany. But for now, the younger brother is relishing his opportunity to instill a love of foreign languages locally.
“We can’t expect every kid to be engaged all the time,” Flotemersch said. “One kid might be kind of sleepy one day, and the next week, they’re super engaged. We just keep using different teaching strategies, and hopefully, we reach as many kids as we can. Emotionally, reaching students makes the teaching really rewarding.”
Congratulations to the following Kalamazoo College students, who achieved a grade point average of 3.5 or better for a full-time course load of at least three units, without failing or withdrawing from any course, during the winter 2023 academic term. Students who elect to take a letter-graded course on a credit/no credit basis (CR/NC) are not eligible for Dean’s List consideration during that term nor are students who receive an F, NC or W grade for that particular term. Students with incomplete (I) or in-progress (IP) grades will be considered for the Dean’s List upon receipt of their final grades. Dean’s List recognition is posted on students’ transcripts. Kudos to the entire group for winter 2023.
Winter 2023
Congratulations to the students who reached the Dean’s List in winter 2023.
A
Ashhad Abdullah Kayla Acosta Khalil Adams Fuzail Ahmed Harsha Ajjarapu Shahriar Akhavan Tafti Maya Alkema Fanny Alvarado Osman Amaya Farida Amini Darsalam Amir Paige Anderson Katherine Andretz Mia Andrews Eleanor Andrews Unayza Anika Michael Ankley Madison Anspach Ava Apolo Kaelyn Arlington Lora Armstrong Clarke Austin
B
Tolkien Bagchi Jenna Bailey Lindsey Baker Baylor Baldwin Carter Bandemer Zoie Banger Evan Barker Ethan Barnes Brianna Barnes Jenna Beach Daniel Beccari Annabel Bee Samantha Bekolay Carolyn Bennett Cassandra Bennett Thomas Bentley Anthony Berkimer Eleanor Bernas Thalia Bills Anna Binkley Katherine Black Henry Black Cara Boissoneault Sam Boritzki Troy Bormann Luke Bormann Daphne Bos Mairin Boshoven Eleni Bougioukou Adelaide Bowen Jaylen Bowles-Swain Ella Boyea Yvette Boyse-Peacor Allison Bozyk Emily Braunohler Lauren Bretzius Lukas Broadsword Avery Brockington Eamon Bronson Shay Brown Chloe Bryant Anna Buck Jaden Buist Leah Bunnell
C
Amaia Cadenas Isaiah Calderon Natalie Call Eleanor Campion Olivia Cannizzaro Vanessa Cardenas John Carlson Eleanor Carr Mary Cashman Caleb Caul Abigail Caza Isabella Caza Alexandra Chafetz Emily Cheng Isabel Chiang Yongwan Cho Trustin Christopher Noah Chun Eva Clancy Alisha Clark Kai Clingenpeel Mai Elise Code Madeleine Coffman Gabriel Coleman Sedona Coleman Quinn Collins Zachary Connor Kyle Cooper Mia Crites Isabella Cross August Crothers Maeve Crothers Lilian Crowder Smith Chase Cummins
D
Gabrielle Daane Emily Dalecki Minh Dang Erik Danielson Talia Dave Kylah Davis Claire Davis Zachary Dean Shruti Debburman Lillian Deer Carson Deines Lille Dekker Ethan DeNeen Laura DeVilbiss Devi DeYoung Michaela Dillbeck Caitlin Dodde Brooke Dolhay Mallory Dolorfino Alyssa Dorner Samuel Douma Alexia Dowell Jordan Doyle Emily Dudd Katia Duoibes Hannah Durant
E
Eli Edlefson Sally Eggleston Jairo Eguia Carter Eisenbach Rebecca Elias Elise Elliot Sara English Justin Essing Gabrielle Evans Caleb Ewald Sam Ewald
F
Niklas Fagerman Jazmyne Fannings Claire Farhi Brady Farr Madalyn Farrey Blake Filkins Julia Fitzgerald Mabel Fitzpatrick Payton Fleming Sofia Fleming Ella Flourry Stephen Flynn Daniel Foura Caroline Francis Janna Franco Emma Frederiksen Hana Frisch Nathaniel Fuller
G
Ethan Galler Katie Garcia Valeria Garcia Grace Garver Sean Gates Roberta Gatti Lyrica Gee Vrinda Girdhar Georgios Gkolois Samuel Gladhill Lillian Grelak Westin Grinwis Elizabeth Grooten Molly Gross Cassandra Grotelueschen Kendra Guitar
H
Marissa Haas Yoichi Haga Vien Hang Ryan Hanifan Alison Hankins Patrick Hanley Garrett Hanson Madeline Hanulcik Rachel Harman Eleanor Harris Lucy Hart Sophie Hartl James Hauke Tanner Hawkins Jiniku Hayashi Katherine Haywood Zachary Heimbuch Jennefer Hernandez Rosemary Hernandez Sophia Herold Ella Heystek Sierra Hieshetter Garrick Hohm Annika Hokanson Thomas Hole Madeline Hollander Ronin Honda Tyler Horky Jaelyn Horn Joseph Horsfield Molly Horton Charles Horvath Tyler Houle Gavin Houtkooper Jakob Hubert Alek Hultberg Megan Hybels
I
Emiliano Ibarra Juan Ibarra Jalen Iereneo Carson Ihrke
J
Angela Jacobo Colton Jacobs Mya Jennings Deepa Jha Amelia Johnson Cloe Johnson Ryan Johnson Luke Johnson-Sears Maxwell Joos
K
Amalia Kaerezi Kiana Kanegawa Jessica Kaplan Leo Kaplan Judah Karesh Timothy Karubas Lillian Kehoe Ben Keith Will Keller Ella Kelly Emilia Kelly Alyson Kemery Mphumelelo Khaba Si Yun Kimball Soussana Kimbouris Anwen King Rylie Kipfmueller Caleb Kipnis Isabella Kirchgessner Kendyl Kirshman Claire Kischer Alexander Kish Joergen Klakulak Noah Kleiner Mart Klenke Steven Kloosterman Claudia Klos Rhys Koellmann Cole Koryto Daniel Koselka Toni Koshmider Marissa Kovac Emma Kovacevic Rachel Kramer Laryn Kuchta Elisabeth Kuras Claire Kvande
L
Margaret LaFramboise Sophia Lajiness Caroline Lamb Jordon Larco Olivia Laser Annmarie Lawrence Madeleine Lawson Keilana Le Lam Phuong Le Grace Leahey Dillon Lee Isaac Lee Ilem Leisher Margaret Lekan Sage Lewis Connor Lignell Cassandra Linnertz Nico Lipton Sydney Lis Luis Lizardo-Rodriguez Ava Loncharte Madeline Lovins Caden Lowis Chloe Lucci Nicholas Lucking
M
Natalie Maki Andrew Mallon Lesly Mares-Castro William Martel Denise Martinez Molly Martinez Stephanie Martinez Gracen Martini-Zeller Hollis Masterson Virginia Matta Lillian Mattern Eliza Maurer Alexia McColl Megan McGarry Grace McGlynn Leo McGreevy Ashlynne McKee Jacob McKinney Joseph McLean Kira McManus Amy McNutt Olivia Meland Sophia Merchant Rachel Meston Allison Meyers Luke Middlebrook Brittany Miller Elizabeth Miller Ella Miller Jack Miller Cooper Mills Ameera Mirza Camille Misra Elana Mitchell Jackson Mitchell Lauren Mitchell Lina Moghrabi Jana Molby Aleksandr Molchagin Raven Montagna Mackenzie Moore Eliana Moreno Aiden Morgan Emma Morrison Wyatt Mortensen Madeline Moss Arein Motan Lorelei Moxon Phumuzile Moyo Elliot Mrak Matthew Mueller Elizabeth Muenzenmaier Mary Ellen Muenzenmaier Ezekiel Mulder Angeles Munoz Horta Anna Murphy Erin Murphy Madison Murphy Colin Murray
N
Alex Nam Blagoja Naskovski Maya Nathwani Lindsey Nedd Matthew Nelson Elizabeth Nestle Robert Newland Emma Newlove Anna Nguyen Nguyen Nguyen Vinh Nguyen Theodore Niemann Joanna Nonato Malin Nordmoe Maeve Novotny Rohan Nuthalapati
O
Richard O’Donnell Jeremiah Ohren-Hoeft Gabriel Olivier Alexander Olsen Emma Olson Gabe Orosan-Weine Fatima Ortega
P
Chelsea Paddock Eleanor Parks-Church Hannah Parsons Morgan Paye Mia Pellegrini Isabella Pellegrom Kaitlin Peot Adriana Perez Herrero Addison Peter Alexis Petty Mary Phillips Sydney Pickell Benjamin Pickrel Mia Pierce William Plesscher Elaine Pollard Evan Pollens-Voigt Noah Prentice Melissa Preston Lucas Priemer Andrew Puckett Elena Pulliam Hailey Pullo Mason Purdy Bea Putman Noah Pyle
Q
Alex Quesada
R
Elizabeth Rachiele Elle Ragan Savera Rajendra-Nicolucci Julia Rambo Alyson Ramillano America Ramirez Lafern Ramon Hunter Rayens Sara Reathaford Liam Regan Laura Reinaux Silva Oliveira Zoe Reyes Keegan Reynolds Lissette Reynoso Maxwell Rhames Mya Richter Sheldon Riley Milagros Robelo Emory Roberts Jacob Robertson Michael Robertson Xochitl Robertson Narelle Robles Katherine Rock Skyler Rogers Olivia Roncone Amelia Rooks Luke Rop Brigid Roth Mia Roukema Eli Routt Tabitha Rowland Charlotte Ruiter Angel Ruiz Nathaniel Rulich Elliot Russell
S
Sophia Sajan Hannia Sanchez-Alvarado Leslie Santos Maxwell Saxton Fiona Schaffer Leo Schinker Sophia Schlotterer Allison Schmidt Vivian Schmidt Annika Schnell Madeline Schroeder Hannah Schurman Camille Schuster Amalia Scorsone Aurora Scott Isabella Shapiro William Shaw Elijah Shiel Joseph Shumunov Emma Sidor Elizabeth Silber Zachary Simmons Sophia Sjogren Colby Skinner Meganne Skoug Pieter Slager Kendall Slamka Owen Smith Ping Smith Grace Snyder Anoushka Soares Allison Sokacz Hanis Sommerville Kaden Sotomayor Jonah Spates Maxwell Spitler Ella Spooner Sophia Sprick David Stechow Eleanor Stevenson Molly Stevison Meredith Steward Alex Stolberg Helen Stoy Abbygale Stump Maeve Sullivan Keegan Sweeney Kaleb Sydloski Brandon Sysol Ella Szczublewski
T
Chau Ta Madison Talarico Claire Tallio Nicole Taylor Suja Thakali Kaia Thomas Levi Thomas William Thomas Minh Thu Le Sophia Timm-Blow William Tocco Luke Torres Renee Torres Jakob Torzewski Vincent Tran Vincent Tremonti Nghia Trinh Maria Tripodis MiaFlora Tucci May Tun Francesca Turnage Aija Turner
Alexis Valdes Hannah Vander Lugt Cameron VanGalder Mitchel VanGalder Rae Vansparrentak Anna Varitek Ella VarnHagen Evan Vicker Gabriel Vidinas Mirella Villani Robin Vogel Lucille Voss Jessalyn Vrieland
W
Gabin Wagner Ivy Walker Audrey Walker Lucinda Wallis Elizabeth Wang McKenna Wasmer Riley Weber Elias Wennen Luke Werner Emerson Wesselhoff Grace Westerhuis Katelyn Williams Tariq Williams Skai Williams Carson Williams Jackson Willits Nick Wilson Riley Wilson Jordyn Wilson Siona Wilson Zoe Wilson Ruby Winer Laurel Wolfe Leah Wolfgang Alexa Wonacott Reagan Woods Maximilian Wright
X
Y
Z
Kathryn Zabaldo Jacob Zeller Ariana Zito Nathaniel Zona
Thomas Lichtenberg ’23 was recently honored as Best Judge for his work with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at the 2023 North American Model United Nations (NAMUN) conference.
The Best Judge award is presented to a participant who has done extensive and complete legal research on the matter at hand, asked excellent questions that contributed significantly to the understanding and verdict of the case, and provided an unparalleled deliberation on the case that takes into account the opinions and ideas of fellow judges while being based primarily on relevant international law, according to NAMUN.
To participate in the ICJ, students must first be nominated by their school’s representative, then be selected based on an application.
Lichtenberg had previously participated in Model UN as a first-year student, attending the Midwest Model United Nations conference in St. Louis in February 2020. There, he participated in a Mars-colonization simulation.
When his classmate and friend Tate Westra, co-president of Model UN at K, invited him to the 2023 conference and offered to nominate him for ICJ, Lichtenberg decided to go for it.
Having completed a summer internship at the 9th Circuit Court in Kalamazoo, Lichtenberg thought it would be interesting to try out the judge role. He was also intrigued by the chance to try something new, as his experiences have focused on civil rights law and the ICJ would be considering a maritime law case.
“Another interesting thing about this committee is that, instead of playing characters like most Model UN simulations do, you don’t have to be someone outside of yourself,” Lichtenberg said. “You aren’t given a background guide to your character, you aren’t thinking about the ways your country, your character is supposed to act. Instead, it’s up to you what your jurisprudence [theory or philosophy of law] is. Also, you’re supposed to be neutral because you’re a judge, so you don’t write the same sort of paper indicating where you’re biased or where you plan to attack. It was a very differently oriented committee to most other Model UN committees, which was interesting to me, so I applied for it. When Tate got the news that I had been accepted, he called me up and said, ‘Congratulations, Judge Lichtenberg.’”
A group of 10 Kalamazoo College students attended the conference Feb. 22-25 in Toronto, leaving campus early that Wednesday morning to beat the ice storm.
The model ICJ was presented with a real case recently decided by the ICJ—in this instance, the territorial and maritime dispute Nicaragua v. Colombia. The case involved conflicts stemming from a 2012 case in which the ICJ drew borders regarding a group of disputed islands.
“Colombia had allegedly violated that ruling by entering Nicaragua’s exclusive economic zone,” Lichtenberg said. “Colombia justified it by saying they were doing so for ecological reasons and that they had an obligation to protect areas that were environmentally at risk. Also, they had evidence that Nicaragua had been violating their territory, so it was an interesting sort of conflict.”
There were supposed to be eight judges on the court, Lichtenberg said; due to the storm, however, only four arrived, one of whom left after two days, leaving only three judges. Despite the small committee, Lichtenberg found the experience rewarding.
“I got to engage a lot with the other judges,” he said. “They had similar ideas of jurisprudence to me, so there wasn’t too much conflict. There was some interesting back-and-forth, though. There was one piece of evidence I wanted to put in submission which the other judges disagreed with, but I think it earned me some points with the chair.
“At the end, I did submit a minor objection to our opinion, where I said, ‘I think this evidence shouldn’t have been suppressed, because we could have strengthened our case for saying the ICJ has jurisdiction over this matter.’ There were interesting semantics of the legal system in play that I had fun with.”
In the role of judge, Lichtenberg said he aspired to balance the formal and technical aspects of knowing and adhering to the law in interpreting a complex case, with a perspective on how social problems can be impacted through jurisprudence.
“For instance, Nicaragua in the case was engaging in diving practices which are environmentally harmful, and we focused on that sort of social implication,” Lichtenberg said. “In a similar lens, we looked at articles in which Colombia’s president was saying, ‘Yes, we violated their territory, and we’ll do it again,’ and how that speaks to the danger of not respecting court rulings, not respecting the rule of law, and making sure people are held accountable.”
The Best Judge award is affirming to Lichtenberg as he looks forward to graduating in June with a dual major in political science and philosophy and attending law school in the fall. He has been offered full tuition to three law schools and is still deciding where he will go.
He is currently wrapping up his Senior Integrated Project on mental health law on college campuses and has one more term as the Civic Engagement Scholar for K Votes. In the meantime, he is enjoying the success of his last Model UN venture.
“Leading K Votes has been a worthwhile yet challenging project, and along with everything else I’ve been doing at K, it was nice to step out of the school environment for a while,” Lichtenberg said. “It was fun for me to return to the court environment, especially because there weren’t as many stakes attached to it as when I was working at the court. I was just having fun with it and then also got to see how I can succeed in this role.”
Thomas Lichtenberg ’23 received the North American Model United Nations conference Best Judge award, which is presented to a participant who has done extensive and complete legal research on a matter at hand, asked excellent questions that contributed significantly to the understanding and verdict of the case, and provided an unparalleled deliberation on the case.Lichtenberg was awarded with a gavel that says, “Best Judge International Court of Justice, NAMUN 2023.”Lichtenberg received a certificate for being named Best Judge at the North American Model United Nations Conference.
Kalamazoo College music ensembles are widely known for conducting performances all over the world, yet a recent appearance provided a first-of-its-kind venue for the Kalamazoo College Singers.
On March 2, the 30-student group had the opportunity to perform at the Ionia Correctional Facility in Ionia, Michigan, about 78 miles northeast of campus—an opportunity that College Singers Director and Assistant Professor of Music Chris Ludwa says he had been pursing for nearly 15 years.
“It’s been a lifelong dream of mine to engage in music in prisons,” Ludwa said. “It’s very easy when you’re in the academy to spend all your time focused on the academy, and I feel called to bring music to this particular population. It doesn’t make sense to me that when somebody gets locked up, we take away from them the things that may in fact provide the greatest sense of peace, serenity or calm. This is a world with so many inequities. We need to balance the opportunities that we’re providing for people of means, with those who are—for whatever reason—not able to access or experience live musical performances. Everybody’s soul hungers for it.”
Plans for the event at the prison developed as the College Singers have sought more performances in the community in recent years. Ionia Correctional Facility Chaplain Casey Cheney was thrilled to welcome the group when Ludwa reached out.
When March 2 came and the bus departed, Ludwa talked with the College Singers on the ride to Ionia about their expectations for the visit and who they might see.
“I asked the students if they have ever broken the law or broken any rules and not been caught,” he said. “Every hand went up, underscoring that most of us have a lot of preconceived notions about who’s in the prison system. We assume that we know more than we do about people who are imprisoned, but in a country whose justice system favors one population over another, that is an assumption that only furthers the systemic issues we see around us.”
Upon arriving in Ionia, the group spent about an hour going through security. “The guards did everything from checking what was on our person to taking our socks off and running scans on the bottom of our feet to make sure we weren’t bringing in any contraband,” Ludwa said. “They were checking our keyboards. Some of the students had their mouths swabbed.”
As they proceeded further into the prison complex and walked across the yard, they found themselves surrounded by razor wire, and they caught a rare glimpse of life inside the facility.
“You see these guys in the library and in the lunchroom, dressed in their blue uniforms,” Ludwa said. “But when you get into the performance hall, they’re an audience like any other. In the performance hall, there are no labels. There’s no ‘them’ or ‘us.’ You’re just all experiencing music together.”
Prison officials had taped off seats in the auditorium, putting at least 50 feet between the inmates and the College Singers. The singers stayed onstage for most of the performance until they decided to come offstage to perform a gospel piece led by Tyrus Parnell ’25, followed by the spiritual Down by the Riverside as a finale.
“When we joined them, they engaged in a different way,” Ludwa said. “It’s like we tore down this wall, literally and figuratively. When Tyrus performed, one of the inmates spontaneously got up and started applauding spontaneously. He was so encouraging of what Tyrus had done.” Then came a post-performance Q-and-A that Ludwa described as amazing.
The College Singers have performed at a variety of sites around the country including churches and concert halls.
College Singers Director and Assistant Professor of Music Chris Ludwa has made it a goal to perform at more sites in the community.
The College Singers performed March 2 at the Ionia Correctional Facility.
“They asked the same kinds of questions we get whenever we go on tour,” he said. “Whether we’re at a wealthy, predominantly white church in the middle of a city or a prison in a rural area like Ionia, the questions show us that music is universal.”
After the performance, Chaplain Cheney reached out to Ludwa to thank the group for coming: “Our men have experienced so much violence, so much trauma. They lack so many things we take for granted and the live musical performance reminds them what a beautiful place this world can be and is.”
In hindsight, College Singers representatives such as Keegan Sweeney ’24 said K professors engage in conversations around social justice, equity, the prison industrial complex and injustices in society, so it’s important that the College offers ways to engage with it.
“I appreciated the opportunity to see a part of American life that few college students our age experience,” Sweeney said. “Walking out of the auditorium, many of us were already reflecting on our experience. As we passed the window of the prison law library—several people sat inside, their noses in textbooks. Next to the window was a classroom with a group, deep in conversation.”
“I was reminded of the injustices endemic to our system and the stark comparison of the classroom and law library to our campus dorm rooms and K classrooms—where we discuss the same system, but rarely ever see it for ourselves. At the same time, I think the classroom and library humanized incarcerated people, those who only show up in statistics to many of us.”
Jacob McKinney ’26 said, “I wish we could have talked more to the people who came and watched because I felt like we connected with them when we were offstage. I could see some of them smiling and clapping along to Down by the Riverside and it brought a great amount of emotion to me. It was a really special experience.”
Ludwa said, “For me, it was the quintessential education experience that is a part of the K-Plan, where we plan what we’re going to learn about in the classroom, and then we experience it ourselves because the firsthand learning is so much more influential. It helps take something from theoretical to practical. Once the students do that, they have a better sense of the human toll these systems of injustice cause.”
Ludwa added that the trip scratched the surface of his dream, and from an emotional standpoint, it far exceeded his expectations of what he hoped the both the inmates and the students would get from the experience.
“Perhaps we go back in and do a workshop on singing. Then eventually it becomes a regular performance venue. The key is to build relationships.” The challenge is finding funding, as the trips carry an expense with them, and it’s important to avoid that expense being something that further underscores the inequities amongst students in terms of financial means.
Sweeney said, “We came to sing, but I think we left having learned something that you cannot teach in a classroom. I cannot speak for everyone, but I know that I got a dose of reality that day. As our bus pulled out of the parking lot, leaving to come back to campus, I was reminded to live each day with more intention and not to take privileges for granted.”
Help College Singers Fund Experiences Like Prison Concert
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Struggling with sore feet and blisters, Fiona O’Rielly ’23 rented a bike to reach the Camino Finisterre.
O’Rielly ’23 arrives at the Camino Finisterre
O’Rielly walks during her first day at the Pyrenees mountain range along the Camino de Santiago.
July 2022 was the hottest calendar month in Spain since records were first kept in 1961. It was also the month that Fiona O’Rielly ’23 set out on a 500-mile hike across Spain. O’Rielly’s sweltering passage along the ancient pilgrimage route Camino de Santiago, and the interviews she conducted with other walkers along the way, formed the basis for her Spanish Senior Integrated Project (SIP), Caminando el Camino: Una experiencia de comunidad.
The SIP process helped O’Rielly reflect and gain perspective on community, solitude and relationships during her last year on the Kalamazoo College campus—which was also her first full year on campus, due to a college experience upended by the COVID-19 pandemic.
O’Rielly wrote her SIP in Spanish and in four parts, focusing on the historical context of the Camino de Santiago, the shift toward more secular pilgrimages and increase in use, the impact of the pandemic on the Camino and on tourism in Spain, and O’Rielly’s interview findings and personal reflections.
The Camino de Santiago, or the Way of St. James, is a network of pilgrimage routes leading to the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in northwest Spain, where tradition holds that the remains of the Biblical apostle St. James the Great are buried. It began in the ninth century and became a major pilgrimage route of medieval Christianity by the 10th century.
Since the 1990s, the Camino de Santiago has regained the popularity it had in the Middle Ages, with hundreds of thousands walking the route each year. Although some of those walkers continue to be religious pilgrims, many now walk for a variety of more secular reasons.
O’Rielly walks along the final stage of the Camino de Santiago through Galicia, Spain.
O’Rielly stops at one of the albergues, or hostels, along the route to stay the night.
O’Rielly began her journey at the St. Jean-Pied-du-Port in France.
O’Rielly walked the Camino Francés, the most popular route, which stretches about 500 miles, or 800 kilometers, from St. Jean-Pied-du-Port in France to the cathedral in Santiago, in the heat of summer. That July, the average daily high was 85˚F, with the hottest day reaching 106˚F. August wasn’t much better, with an average daily high of 81˚F and a peak of 100˚F.
“It was pretty unbearable some days,” O’Rielly said. “A lot of the time, the sun was very intense and there wasn’t a lot of shade.”
She battled heat rash, sunburn, dehydration and blisters, often rising by 4 a.m. to get the day’s miles walked before the heat of the day. She carried a backpack with a change of clothes, a sleeping bag liner, a guidebook and lots of water.
During the day, O’Rielly did a lot of solo walking, often starting off with two friends who joined her on the Camino before each settled into their own pace and thoughts. Some days she listened to the sounds of nature; other days, the rhythm of traffic; at times, she plugged into music on her phone, especially a folk band from Ohio called Caamp, which released a new album while she was walking.
The path varies in style and surroundings, ranging from mountainous dirt trail to flat gravel path to narrow road shoulder. Well-marked with yellow arrows, the Camino passes through a range of landscapes as well as many small towns where pilgrims stop at cafes to eat or at albergues (hostels along the route) to stay the night.
In the evenings, O’Rielly would reconnect with her friends and other pilgrims in the towns and albergues along the route. She would also conduct interviews for her SIP.
“I wanted those conversations to happen more organically, and I did talk to people that way, but those conversations specifically for my SIP happened mainly in the albergues, which is the main community aspect of the Camino,” O’Rielly said. “A lot of people will walk the whole day alone, and then come together, gather, share a meal, play cards, and get to know other walkers in these hostels.”
O’Rielly organizes documents from her interviews at an albergue along her route.
O’Rielly stops at a cathedral in Santiago, Spain.
O’Rielly plans her journey along the Camino de Santiago.
Most pilgrims were open and friendly, willing to be interviewed and to share their stories. O’Rielly ended up interviewing 15 hikers from all over the world, including Spain, the U.S., New Zealand, Ireland and Argentina. She conducted about half the interviews in Spanish, and wrote her SIP in Spanish, which was challenging and important in her Spanish learning progression.
“I wanted to hear a lot of people’s stories and I think most people were open with that and happy to talk,” she said. “They were also understanding of me as someone who’s learning Spanish. When I was having these interviews in Spanish, there were definitely grammatical errors on my part, and people were patient and also excited to share their experiences. Maybe some people saw this as a way for them to take the time and reflect and talk it out as they were having this experience. Everyone was really welcoming.”
In her interviews, O’Rielly met pilgrims who chose to walk for religious or spiritual reasons, as part of their struggles with addiction, because they were facing a transition in life, as part of their grieving process and to spread a loved one’s ashes, because they felt lost and unsure of their direction, because they wanted to see the country in all its variety, and more.
One big theme that emerged from O’Rielly’s interviews was the need for both solitude and community.
“Most people I talked to started the Camino alone,” she said. “I remember one in particular who started alone, then met this group on the first day. They would hike alone, then they would all gather and pick the same hostel and cook a meal at the end of the day. Having the time to really be alone with your thoughts and then being able to come together and have that community and those friendships is really special.”
Another big theme that resonated personally for O’Rielly was acceptance of relationships that are anchored to a particular time or place.
The Pilgrim Passport or Credencial is an official accreditation that identifies people who walk across the Camino de Santiago.
“I’ve had a lot of experiences in my life recently of intense times of bonding with people for a short period of time, and then having to walk away from that relationship,” O’Rielly said. “It’s been hard for me to realize that I can’t keep in touch with everyone.”
For example, O’Rielly came to Kalamazoo College in fall 2019, where the Ann Arbor native participated in LandSea, joined the swim team, took Spanish classes and built community on the close-knit campus. Then came March 2020, with the COVID-19 pandemic closing the state down and sending O’Rielly and the rest of the campus home. Along with so many others, O’Rielly found herself abruptly removed from the community she had started to establish at K.
Her second year at K, O’Rielly lived in a Kalamazoo apartment with friends, attending classes virtually and rarely venturing outside her COVID bubble.
Then O’Rielly left that community to spend her entire third year of college abroad in Cáceres, Spain. In Cáceres, she first lived with a host family and took classes through the Universidad de Extremadura with about a dozen other K students from September to February. At that point, the other K students returned to Kalamazoo, while O’Rielly stayed behind in Cáceres until June, moving into an apartment with two international students from Italy and taking Universidad classes on her own.
On the Camino, O’Rielly found herself in a similar situation yet again, meeting people in a context of openness and self-discovery, bonding quickly and intensely, then separating, possibly forever. She also found the time and space to reflect on those relationships.
“I remember having this conversation with my friend, and she said something like, ‘The relationships I made on the Camino are meant to be left on the Camino. They’re not mine to take,’” O’Rielly said. “That was a powerful moment for me, personally, to realize that I’ve had these beautiful moments and shared these connections with people, and it’s temporary, and that’s OK. Maybe they’ll come back again, and I can be content with these relationships as they are.”
Walking the Camino alone gave O’Rielly time to think about the interviews she had conducted, brainstorm the format for her SIP, reflect on her own experiences and what they meant to her, and let her mind wander wherever it happened to go.
“It’s really beautiful to have an experience like the Camino and be able to take time to sit with it and reflect on what I gained,” O’Rielly said. “In a lot of my experiences, I’ve just had to move on because I’m back in school or on to the next thing. Having that time benefitted me a lot.”
The home stretch of the Camino can bring a bit of culture shock after all that solitude and small community. Church groups and large organizations often walk the last 100 or 200 kilometers, so the quiet Camino becomes a river of people by the time a pilgrim passes through the town of Sarria, especially during the summer peak season.
“How far to walk each day and where to stay each night was very spontaneous until about the last two weeks,” O’Rielly said. “In Sarria, you’re reaching the last 100 kilometers of the Camino, and that’s when the crowds come in. Then I was booking hostels in advance and on more of a schedule.”
Between the increasing number of pilgrims, and the bigger size of Santiago de Compostela, the end of the Camino can be jarring for pilgrims who walk the whole route.
“I felt a bit overwhelmed,” O’Rielly said.
O’Rielly walks through Garcia, Spain, along the Camino de Santiago.
After two nights in Santiago, she struck out again, on a sort of alternate ending to the Camino—about an additional 90 kilometers to Fisterra, or Finisterra, “the end of the world.”
Struggling with sore feet and blisters, O’Rielly rented a bike for the Camino Finisterre.
“I thought a bike would be so much easier,” O’Rielly said. “I rented panniers to put my stuff in, though, and every time I would go up a hill, the bike would just tip. It ended up being really difficult, and I think walking would have been easier.”
Fisterra, however, was worth the extra work, and her three nights there were a satisfying end to her pilgrimage.
“It’s this beautiful route along the coast, and you end at the ocean,” she said. “It was amazing to swim in the ocean and relax, and I felt a lot more of the community there. I reunited with some people I had met early on the Camino and it was a really special ending point for me.”
Now O’Rielly is deep in her last and first full year on the Kalamazoo College campus, done writing her SIP, finishing a major in Spanish with a minor in English following the journalism course sequence. She is grateful for the experiences she has had and the professors, the Hough Foundation SIP Grant and funding from the Center for International Programs that made those opportunities possible.
After graduation, she hopes to return to Spain, possibly through the North American Language and Culture Assistants Program.
“That would be a good way for me to continue speaking Spanish and take some time to reflect on what I would like to study next,” O’Rielly said. “There’s a lot of different things I’m interested in. I would love to go to graduate school in a Spanish-speaking country, but figuring that out could take some time and I’m not rushed at all for that.”
Just like she did on the Camino de Santiago, Fiona O’Rielly will take things one step at a time.
O’Rielly walked the Camino Francés route of the Camino de Santiago, which stretches about 500 miles, from St. Jean-Pied-du-Port in France to the cathedral in Santiago, Spain.
With hearts full of service, a student organization is pumping exceptional success into the blood drives at Kalamazoo College.
The Red Cross Club, led by Abby Barnum ’23, has earned a Premier Blood Partners Program award from the American Red Cross, designed to recognize community efforts in benefiting the local blood supply. The award honors the Red Cross’ highest contributing sponsors, starting at 50 donations collected per year, with a minimum blood-drive size of 30 units.
As many as 50 students, faculty, staff and community members have signed up for each of the blood drives at K, which are conducted once per term, amounting to three times a year. After a few cancellations and donation deferrals for low blood-iron levels, about 35 to 40 typically will donate.
“It’s a really big honor,” said Barnum, a biochemistry major and aspiring physician assistant. “The Red Cross person who arranges the blood drives told me, ‘you guys are doing so well, we’re going to give you this special recognition because you just keep knocking it out of the park.’ It was nice to hear that we’re making a difference even though we’re a smaller school.”
The COVID-19 pandemic prevented Barnum and Red Cross Club members from conducting blood drives at K until last spring. But now, a local Red Cross representative will collaborate with Health Care Center Coordinator Jennifer Combes to schedule each drive. That empowers about 10 active Red Cross Club members to volunteer both before and after the drives.
“The week before a drive we’ll have at least two people at tables at Hicks Student Center, and we encourage everybody as much as we can to donate,” Barnum said. “We let them know that donating saves up to three lives and we’ll give them free snacks afterward. On the day of, we have hour-long shifts. I usually take the day off from classes because it’s easier if at least one person is always there. One person does registration. Another works in the canteen, where we make sure everyone who donates gets a snack and is feeling OK afterward.”
Abby Barnum ’23 (left) joined Caelan Frazier ’24, Assistant Professor of Chemistry Daniela Arias-Rotondo and Assistant Professor of Chemistry Blake Tresca at Declaration of Major Day in February. Barnum is a member of the Kalamazoo College Red Cross Club, a student organization being recognized by the American Red Cross for the success of its blood drives.
How to help the Red Cross Club
Kalamazoo College will host its next Red Cross blood drive from noon to 5 p.m. Thursday, March 30, in the Hicks Banquet Room.
For an appointment, visit RedCrossBlood.org and enter sponsor code kzoocollege or call 1-800-REDCROSS (1-800-733-2767).
Donors of all blood types are needed and blood can only come from volunteer blood donors.
Barnum has seen the importance of blood donations from a young age on through family members. Her grandfather has hemochromatosis, a condition in which one’s body accumulates too much iron, which forces him to donate blood regularly whenever he’s eligible. Her mom also began donating blood years ago, setting an example for Barnum.
As a result, Barnum became a blood drive officer at her high school and began donating herself. Later, her dad benefitted from blood donations when he suffered from two non-malignant brain tumors. And since, she has worked in Bronson-affiliated emergency rooms as a medical scribe in downtown Kalamazoo, Paw Paw and Battle Creek through Helix Scribe Solutions, which provides services to physician groups, healthcare systems and hospitals.
“I’ve seen the amount of help that just one blood donation can provide,” Barnum said. “Donating takes such a small portion of your day and you can really change someone’s life with it.”
If the thought of needles prevents you from donating, but you still want to help, remember that students can always join the Red Cross Club.
“We’re always looking for new people and the time commitment is once a term for maybe four hours,” Barnum said. “It’s an easy way to feel good about yourself and boost your resume with volunteer work. It’s also a good way to contribute to society and have a positive impact on the world around you.”
Rachel Kramer ’23 in the Centre for Research in Applied Biology (CeRAB) at UENR with Ankrah, Babae, Kramer and Rabi Baidoo from left to right.
Kramer collecting samples from schoolchildren.
Kramer and friends sharing a home-cooked meal by Ankrah during the “going-away party” they all threw for her at the end of the summer.
With the International Day of Women and Girls in Science on February 11, Kalamazoo College commonly celebrates the accomplishments of scientists such as Rachel Kramer ’23.
The day, first marked by the United Nations in 2015, encourages women scientists, and targets equal access to and participation in science for women and girls. Such a day is desired because U.N. statistics show that fewer than 30 percent of scientific researchers in the world are women and only about 30 percent of all female students select fields in science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) to pursue in their higher education. Only about 22 percent of the professionals in cutting edge fields such as artificial intelligence are women, and representation among women is especially low professionally in fields such as information and communication technology, natural science, mathematics, statistics and engineering.
Kramer often found herself comforting community members like this child as they gave their blood samples for tropical disease research.
Rachel Kramer ’23 stands with a NeTroDis Research team at the University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR). From left to right in the bottom row are Dr. Kenneth Bentum Otabil, Kramer, Ms. Blessing Ankrah, and Theophilus Nti Babae. From left to right in the top row are Charles Addai and Emmanual Bart-Plange.
Kramer enjoying fresh Ghanaian coconut after Sunday service.
However, Kramer—a biochemistry major with a concentration in community and global health and a minor in Spanish—is bucking that trend. She will attend the Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine in July 2023. Plus, she completed 10 weeks of research last summer investigating health inequities in Ghana, Africa, while collecting data and researching Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD’s) for her Senior Integrated Project (SIP).
The lead up to her SIP opportunity began two summers ago when she decided to get into volunteer work abroad through International Volunteer Head Quarters (IVHQ). At that time, she spent two weeks in Ghana, where she performed health care outreach by providing wound care to people in remote areas under the supervision of local health professionals.
Kramer, the NeTroDis Team and their study clinician, Dr. Vera Darko (far right), on the far left meet the president of the regional hospital (middle) to inform him of their research.
Ankrah and Otabil introduce Kramer to UENR’s Dean of Science at UENR, Professor SF Gyasi.
Kramer and her host mother, Blessing Ankrah.
While she was there, she saw people with parasitic diseases which she later found out were considered to be NTD’s. Such diseases are of special interest to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and World Health Organization (WHO). In fact, the two organizations have a roadmap for eradicating NTD’s by 2030, which involves working with local researchers in endemic regions to collect data to inform policy to better protect and serve the people affected by NTD’s.
“I saw children 5 years old and younger with these ulcers half an inch deep in their ankles and feet,” Kramer said. “It struck me and I knew that these things shouldn’t be happening.”
Even before returning to Michigan, Kramer knew she wanted to go back to Ghana and develop her SIP there as her way of helping to solve the health issues she witnessed. She just didn’t know what might provide that opportunity.
Kramer in front of Kalamazoo College’s Dow Science Center, holding her 101-page SIP just before turning it in.
Kramer and UENR students and staff packed into vans like this with all their gear to travel to fieldwork destinations.
A microscopic view of a participant sample.
After several random conversations asking people, including K alumni, about anyone doing research there, Kramer reached out through Twitter to Blessing Ankrah, a researcher with the NeTroDis Research Group, a non-governmental agency at the University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR) in Sunyani, Bono Region of Ghana.
“Two weeks later, she ended up responding and said she’d be happy to collaborate,” Kramer said. “We started talking on Zoom and WhatsApp, and she decided to have me work on a project where they were updating the prevalence rates of two neglected tropical diseases called schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminthiasis.”
Terrain such as the one pictured were roads teams had to walk several miles on in order to reach some of the communities. This contributes to why diseases are considered neglected. They are difficult for researchers and health personnel to reach.
Multilingual UENR students are seen translating the research forms from English to Twi so the community members, who speak Twi, could participate in the research.
Kramer celebrating Doris Berkoh’s (professor of Biochemistry at UENR) birthday with other UENR Biological Science faculty and staff.
According to the CDC, schistosomiasis parasites live in some types of freshwater snails, and humans become infected when their skin touches contaminated water. Health-care professionals diagnose schistosomiasis through urine and stool samples. Within days of becoming infected, patients typically develop a rash or itchy skin. Fever, chills, cough and muscle aches can begin within a month or two of infection. If left untreated, this disease can become fatal.
Soil-transmitted helminthiasis, the CDC says, targets human intestines as parasites’ eggs are passed in feces. If an infected person defecates outside—near bushes, in a garden or on a field, for example—parasitic eggs are deposited on soil. People can ingest the parasites when they eat fruits and vegetables that have not been carefully cooked, washed or peeled. Some infections can cause a range of health problems, including abdominal pain, diarrhea, blood and protein loss, rectal prolapse, and slowed or stunted physical and cognitive growth. Similar to schistosomiasis, if untreated, this disease can become fatal.
Group photo of Kramer and the junior year biological science students on the field trip to Mole National Park
Kramer celebrating Cultural Day at a local Montessori.
Kramer standing with members of a community NeTroDis researchers visited after watching them construct a hand-made xylophone with wooden planks, leaves and a hole in the ground.
Ankrah became a host mom to Kramer as both worked on the project to update and investigate the relevance, intensity and risk factors of schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminthiasis in selected rural and hard-to-reach communities in the Bono and Bono East regions of Ghana. The opportunity was funded by the Hough SIP Grant and the Collins Fellowship through Student Projects Abroad (SPA) funding, both of which were through Kalamazoo College. .
“This summer was an experience where I was not only a researcher, but I was also a student and a family member,” Kramer said. “Blessing was able to show me what the food was like, what the people were like, what the culture was like and it was just an amazing life experience.”
Kramer with UENR students in the savanna on the field trip to Mole National Park.
Kramer in the Centre for Research in Applied Biology (CeRAB) at UENR microscopically analyzing samples.
Bringing clothes for community members during fieldwork visits.
Yet research definitely remained the purpose of her visit. For the first three weeks, it was necessary for the researchers to perform paperwork during business hours to ensure the ethical approval of the project by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) committees at UENR. During the evening hours, Ankrah introduced Kramer to her family and friends including host brother Lord Owusu Ansah; the university’s president, vice president and dean of science; and regional hospital leaders.
When the five-week field work began, Kramer and her fellow researchers traveled to eight isolated communities that had as few as five and as many as 200 residents to collect socio demographic and qualitative data along with urine and stool samples.
NeTroDis team walking on the dirt road to get to the communities. From left to right Theophilus Nti Babae, Otabil, Divine and Kramer.
Kramer at one of the community sites for field work.
Kramer with Ankrah for their daily “pre-work selfie.”
“We would get up at 4:30 a.m. and ride in a packed van for about three hours,” Kramer said. “When we arrived to the communities, many times we would have to walk a distance with all of our gear. Some of these communities were only a few households and are located so far from public roads, and that’s why these diseases are considered neglected. It took us two hours to walk to one of the communities on foot and there was no way to get there with a car. Since there are so few people living in these remote places, there’s no way the government would fund roads to these communities.”
After traveling back to the UENR campus from the field, the researchers stored their samples in freezers before resting for a few hours and then returning to the lab around 7 p.m. in the evening when they analyzed up to hundreds of samples. The immediacy was imperative despite their long days because the urine and stool samples would go bad within 24 to 48 hours.
Kramer standing with her head researcher, Dr. Kenneth Bentum Otabil.
Rachel Kramer exchanging a gift with the vice chancellor of UENR after introducing NeTroDis’s summer research project to him.
Kramer with children at local market.
After the field work, Kramer’s biggest roles were inputting data, helping with the preparation of samples, and microscopic analysis of the specimens.
“Once we got our data from all eight communities, we compiled all of it and I worked with a data analyst at the university who helped me compile it to get our overall prevalence rates and associate the risk factors to the positive cases,” Kramer said.
This work became the basis for her SIP.
“This was the first time I met someone in Ghana who was older than me yet shorter and we had so much fun dancing together when I visited this community,” Kramer said.
A research participant dressed in beautiful Ghanaian clothing gives her blood sample for research.
Kramer with Ankrah for their daily “pre-work selfie.”
“Now that my written SIP has been submitted, all that’s left to do is present my SIP at the annual Chemistry and Biochemistry SIP Symposium during the spring trimester and then wait to find out whether I attain honors from the faculty for my work,” Kramer said. “So many people questioned why I decided to do something so big for my SIP since I have already been accepted to medical school. But just because I have been accepted doesn’t mean I need to take a step back, so I decided to pursue a passion instead. I did this because I have seen these diseases firsthand and how disproportionately they affect people of low socio-economic status in tropical regions. I was emotionally driven to take part in the global movement to end the neglect. Additionally, I knew that this opportunity would enhance my cultural competence which can help me be a better physician to people in the future. Eventually, I’d like to be a study clinician in similar studies and even create the policies that can protect and serve people. With this foundational-level research under my belt, I am motivated to continue my research focus on NTD’s in medical school.”
And this might not be the last of her research outside of medical school.
“I’m still in contact with my host mom,” Kramer said. “I have a number of people in Ghana I text every week just to talk about various things like the projects they’re working on. Currently, they have two new projects that are going to be funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation regarding an NTD called Onchocerciasis, which is transmitted through biting black flies. I asked Blessing if it is possible for me to work remotely while I’m in medical school on those projects, and she said I probably could, but it is also possible that I could go back to Ghana during this upcoming summer to join their new projects in projects in person. Overall, I loved being abroad and how it opened up my eyes to the world and cross-cultural differences. Being a future physician, I was introduced to the atrocities of Neglected Tropical Diseases and I saw just how invaluable being a part of the team that is working to end the neglect really is.”
For Natalie Gross ’24, the Kalamazoo Promise paved the way not only to Kalamazoo College, but also to a valuable internship experience.
During summer 2022, Gross worked as an information technology intern at CSM Group through the Higher Promise program.
The Kalamazoo Promise is a scholarship program that provides up to 100 percent of tuition and mandatory fees for post-secondary education for any student who graduates from Kalamazoo Public Schools. In the Higher Promise program, the Kalamazoo Promise facilitates job matching between regional companies and Promise scholars seeking internships.
In her Kalamazoo Promise internship at CSM Group, Natalie Gross ’24 performed inventory and maintenance of software and updates on company devices.
Kalamazoo Promise scholar Natalie Gross ’24 worked last summer as an information technology intern at CSM Group through the Higher Promise program.
Gross applied to the program in fall 2021, received resumé building help from the Kalamazoo College Center for Career and Professional Development (CCPD), and interviewed with a Promise representative before being sent five options of regional business partners. While Gross ranked her interest in the options, companies also ranked their interest in the internship candidates so mutually agreeable matches could be made.
In her IT internship at CSM Group, Gross performed inventory and maintenance of software and updates on company devices. She also helped with research into intranet options for communication within the company.
“It was different every day,” Gross said. “IT is really a job where when something comes up, you deal with it. I would go in with a list of things to do, and I would work through those, and then there were also things that would come up more immediately that I would deal with.”
Gross liked the variety of tasks as well as meeting many people throughout the company as they came to the department for help.
“I appreciated how everyone treated the IT department,” she said. “It didn’t feel like we were there to just help you and then you’d leave. Everyone came in and they were interested in who I was and how I got there. It was an easygoing conversation and personal relationships with every employee.”
Focusing on the IT side of computer science complemented Gross’ classroom experiences at K, which have focused more on programming and development.
“This internship has been a great toe in the water for what life could be like post-grad,” Gross said. “It has given me a little bit of direction on where to go and to look to. I am still open to every side of computer science, but it’s helped me narrow down a bit and be a little more focused.”
Her experiences at CSM Group along with the structure of the Higher Promise program collaborated to also provide Gross with practice and training for being part of a workplace. Higher Promise planned professional development classes every other week for the interns, which included resumé building with the CCPD, a diversity-and-inclusion seminar, and CliftonStrengths assessment with coaching on understanding your personality in the workplace.
“There were a lot of fun things that we did,” Gross said. “I learned about how to be professional in a more personal way. I always had this idea that professionalism was something really stiff, and you didn’t have a lot of personality in it. I learned that you can be interesting and professional at the same time; it doesn’t have to be a trade-off.”
Gross also learned about professional communication and speaking up for herself. Through the Higher Promise program, she was assigned a mentor at her internship, and she was also encouraged to reach out to anyone in the company and network.
As a female student in a male-dominated field, Gross chose Alyce Brady, the Rosemary K. Brown Professor of Computer Science and computer science department co-chair, as her advisor at K. She appreciated that in CSM Group’s small IT department, there was a female employee.
“It was nice to have that representation,” Gross said. “I was told there that they wanted to hear my experiences as a woman and they wanted to know what it was like for me in the IT department. They wanted our voices to be heard and they were interested in my opinions.”
A double major in computer science and French, Gross plays on the softball team, works in the Office of Admission as a tour guide, and spent August to December studying abroad in Rennes, France.
She thinks all K students should study abroad, visit the CCPD, take advantage of the opportunities that are advertised in College emails, and immerse themselves in the K community.
“K has this environment where you’re able to connect with people outside of your major and your interests, which I think is not always the case in a lot of smaller schools,” Gross said. “A lot of my friends I’ve met just randomly. I have friends from the softball team and computer science and French classes, and yet I’ve also been able to open up and find friends outside of my immediate interests. I think K really gives you an option to have a more expansive social circle and to meet people outside of your interests.”
