Category: Students

Dean’s List Fall 2016

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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 Fall 2016 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 Dean’s List upon receipt of the final grades. Dean’s List recognition is posted on students’ transcripts. Kudos to the entire group of more than 300 students, and good luck in Winter Term, 2017.

Fall 2016

A  B   C  D  E  F   G   H   I   J  K   L   M  N   O  P   Q  R   S   T   U   V  W   X   Y   Z

A

Azra Ahmad
Bekhzod Akilov
Michelle Alba
Georgie Andrews
Ryan Andrusz
Grant Anger
Hunter Angileri
Jill Antonishen
Mary Beth Arendash
Jacqueline Arroyo
Taylor Ashby
Meredith Ashton
Max Aulbach
Juan Avila

B

Jo Babcock
Sonal Bahl
Benjamin Baldwin
Garrett Barkume
Cameron Bays
Ethan Beattie
Logan Beck
Dylan Beight
Matt Benedettini
Chris Benedict
Kate Bennett
Erin Bensinger
Brigette Berke
Madelyn Betts
Kevin Bhimani
Riya Bhuyan
Daniel Bidwell
Maribel Blas-Rangel
Vanessa Boddy
Sean Bogue
Jake Bonifacio
Georgie Booker
Kennedy Boulton
Emily Boyle
Amelia Brave
Maxine Brown
Molly Brueger
Matthew Burczyk
Mary Burnett
Thaddeus Buttrey
Shanice Buys

C

Kefu Cao
Shannon Carley
Owen Carroll
Charlie Carson
Kebra Cassells
Marissa Castellana
James Castleberry
Sharmeen Chauhdry
Chido Chigwedere
Tapiwa Chikungwa
Emiline Chipman
Youngjoon Cho
Lakshya Choudhary
Iffat Chowdhury
Yoensuk Chung
Chris Coburn
Paige Coffing
Stefan Coleman
Cody Colvin
Carmen Compton
Anthony Convertino
Valentina Cordero
Gaby Cordova
Amanda Crouch
Conall Curran
Peter Czajkowski

D

Mansi Dahal
Addie Dancer
Christina Dandar
Elan Dantus
Nesma Daoud
Mason Darling
Bonnie Darrah
Amelia Davis
Robert Davis
Steven Davis
Ximena Davis
Zoe Davis
Fabien Debies
Joshua DeGraff
Anthony Diep
Cecilia DiFranco
Amelia Donohoe
Nathan Donovan
Anna Dorniak
Tuan Do
Libby Dulski
Trisha Dunham

E

Cameron Earls
Daniel Eberhart
Emma Eisenbeis
Tiffany Ellis
Melissa Erikson
McKinzie Ervin
Amanda Esler
Ihechi Ezuruonye

F

Alex Fairhall
Mario Ferrini
Anders Finholt
Matthew Flotemersch
Steven Fotieo
Rachel Frank
Valentin Frank
Ian Freshwater
Maria Fujii
Lydia Fyie

G

Amanda Gardner
Brett Garwood
Cory Gensterblum
Bill Georgopoulos
Audrey Gerard
Sarah Gerendasy
Camille Giacobone
Joshua Gibson
Jake Gilhaus
Anthony Giovanni
Rachel Girard
Sam Gleason
Beau Godkin
Dominic Gonzalez
Rj Goodloe
Monica Gorgas
Adam Gothard
Janelle Grant
Keenan Grant
Natalie Gratsch
Andre Grayson
Claire Greening
Alyse Guenther
Sapana Gupta
Rebecca Guralnick
David Gurrola
Gus Guthrie

H

Kyle Hahn
Kalli Hale
Emmy Hall
Isabella Haney
Caryn Hannapel
Martin Hansknecht
Maverick Hanson-Meier
Mara Hazen
Kaiya Herman-Hilker
Richard Hernandez
Natalie Hershenson
Sophie Higdon
Addie Hilarides
Sophia Hill
Kento Hirakawa
Megan Hoinville
Mathew Holmes-Hackerd
Aly Homminga
Daniel Horwitz
Nicole Huff
Ayla Hull

I

 

J

Sadie Jackson
Eric Janowiak
Jelena Jenkins
Emilio Jerez Garcia
Hanna Jeung
Ziyu Jiang
Finneas Johnson
Janay Johnson
Monica Johnson
Emily Johnston
Brittany Jones

K

Kyle Kane
Kendall Kaptur
Maria Katrantzi
Alex Kaufman
Greg Kearns
Christian Kelley
Sam Kenney
Christina Keramidas
Jasmine Khin
Benjamin Kileen
Dahwi Kim
David Kim
Eunji Kim
Gyeongho Kim
Judy Kim
Min Soo Kim
Izzy Kirck
Beryl Kohnen
Kate Kreiss
Matthew Krinock
Lily Krone

L

Megan Lacombe
Lauren Landman
Mackenzie Landman
Zoe Larson
Gabby Latta
Madeline Lauver
Sebastian Lawler
Sabrina Leddy
Phuong Le
Joo Young Lee
Kelsi Levine
Joy Lim
Jiazhen Liu
Rosella LoChirco
Shelby Long
Sara Lonsberry
Brandon Lopez
Henry Lovgren
Nick Ludka

M

Elaine MacInnis
Sam Maddox
Madisyn Mahoney
Kayla Marciniak
Cydney Martell
Kathryn Martin
Barthelemy Martinon
Eliza McCall
Kevin McCarty
Katherine McKibbon
Sara McKinney
Ian McKnight
Clayton Meldrum
Ana Mesenbring
John Meyer
Sam Meyers
Danny Michelin
Chelsea Miller
Sangtawun Miller
Zach Miller
Michael Mitchell
Zach Morales
Aidan Morley
Tamara Morrison
Ryan Mulder
Emma Mullenax
Libby Munoz

N

Ravi Nair
Ellen Neveux
Viet Nguyen
Anne Nielsen
Sara Nixon
Jonathan Nord
Emily Norwood
Brooke Nosanchuk
Drew Novetsky

O

Maddie Odom
Eli Orenstein
Michael Orwin

P

Dylan Padget
Daniel Palmer
Karina Pantoja
Yansong Pan
Jimmy Paprocki
Alan Park
Kayla Park
Sung Soo Park
Andrew Parsons
Cayla Patterson
Caleb Patton
Gabriel Pedelty Ovsiew
Songyun Peng
Jessica Penny
Allie Periman
Kaitlyn Rose Perkins
Matthew Peters
Caroline Peterson
Uyen Pham
Brad Popiel
Maylis Pourtau
Sarada Prasad
Tulani Pryor
Zach Prystash

Q

 

R

Erin Radermacher
Ari Raemont
Hannah Rainaldi
Malavika Rao
Zack Ray
Tori Regan
Erin Reilly
Mili Renuart
Dulce Reyes Martinez
Megan Rigney
Meg Riley
Philip Ritchie
Annika Roberts
Scott Roberts
Danna Robles-Garcia
Ramisa Rob
Justin Roop
Orly Rubinfeld
Tim Rutledge

S

Shiva Sah
Sharayu Salvi
Paige Sambor
Danielle Sarafian
Anselm Scheck
Austen Scheer
Faruq Schieber
Natalie Schmitt
Billy Schneider
Hannah Scholten
Jd Seablom
Nori Seita
Rachel Selina
Yeji Seo
Sivhaun Sera
Sharif Shaker
Yu Shang
Will Sheehan
Chase Shelbourne
Riley Shepherd
Gabrielle Shimko
Kriti Singh
Simran Singh
Austin Smith
Ben Smith
Erin Smith
Maggie Smith
Matt Smolinski
Sundas Sohail
Shannon South
Sophie Spencer
Simona Stalev
Gabriel Stanley
Evan Stark-Dykema
Katelyn Steele
Grant Stille
Andrea Strasser-Nicol
Mimi Strauss
Claudia Stroupe
Michelle Sugimoto
Sarah Sui
Caroline Sulich
Vikram Surendran
Shelby Suseland
Matt Suter
Jake Sypniewski

T

William Tait
Maia Taylor
Hanna Teasley
Derek Thomas
Paige Tobin
Alayna Tomlinson
Carolyn Topper
Maddie Tracey
Trevor Trierweiler
Van Truong
Ethan Tucker
Lydia Turke
Matt Turton

U

Lexi Ugelow

V

Adriana Vance
David Vanderkloot
Zach VanFaussien
Natalie Vazquez
Travis Veenhuis
Chris Vennard
Ashley Ver Beek
Allen Vinson
Aiden Voss
Evan Voyles
Anh-Tu Vu

W

Evie Wagner
Sidney Wall
Tim Walsh
Anthony Wang
Hedy Wang
Maya Wanner
Madeline Ward
Jake Wasko
Ailih Weeldreyer
Jack Wehr
Alex White
Sarah Whitfield
Annarosa Whitman
Hans Wieland
Brian Will
Meg Wilson
Madeline Woods

X

Anja Xheka
Cindy Xiao
Sasha Xu
Terence Xu

Y

 

Z

Julie Zabik
Jingcan Zhu

Conference Honors K Student’s Research

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Sarah Bragg discusses her research during a poster session at the inauguration of President Jorge Gonzalez.
Sarah Bragg discusses her research during a poster session at the inauguration of President Jorge Gonzalez.

Sarah Bragg ’17 won an award for her poster detailing research on barriers to HIV testing. She presented the poster at the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students in Tampa, Florida, this month. Her work was awarded in the conference’s Behavioral Science and Public Health category.

Sarah conducted her research during 12-week summer internship at Morehouse College and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention. She plans to expand the project she completed (titled “Barriers and Solutions to HIV Testing Among College and University Students”) and make it the basis of her Senior Individualized Project. That project will compare the prevalence and contexts of HIV testing at public and private institutions of higher education. During all four years of her undergraduate experience at K, Sarah has served as a Civic Engagement Scholar in the College’s Center for Civic Engagement. She has worked in a weekly mentoring program with young women. She also has worked with Assistant Professor of Psychology Kyla Fletcher on her three-year NIH study on daily HIV risk reduction behavior in African-American partner relationships.

Sarah is earning her bachelor’s degree in psychology with a concentration in community and global health. She plans to pursue a career in public health and, after graduating this June, to apply for a one- or two-year fellowship with the CDC. About the work she did during her summer internship, Sarah wrote: “I was able to use the skills that were cultivated at Kalamazoo College, especially through my work at the Center for Civic Engagement.” The CCE stresses the connection between effective social change and work that applies a social justice perspective. “We do not strive to save the world,” explained Sarah. “We collaborate with communities in an effort to find solutions that are suitable and that ensure the dignity and respect for the community.”

Undergraduates Present Research

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Undergrad Present ResearchFifteen Kalamazoo College students joined three of their teachers (professors Dwight Williams, Santiago Salinas and Ellen Robertson)  to present research at the 2016 West Michigan Regional Undergraduate Science Research Conference (WMRUGS) in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

The annual conference provides undergraduate students with an opportunity to present their own research to a large and supportive group of professional scientists. K was well represented with sophomores, juniors, and seniors in attendance from both the Departments of Biology and Chemistry: Suma Alzouhayli ’17 (Chemistry and Biology), John Bailey ’17 (Chemistry), Christi Cho ’17 (Chemistry), Quinton Colwell ’17 (Chemistry), Rachel Fadler ’17 (Chemistry), Sarah Glass ’17 (Chemistry), Sharat S. Kamath ’19, Christina Keramidas ’18 (Chemistry and Biology), Cydney Martell ’19 (Chemistry), Garret Miller ’16 (Chemistry), Susmitha Narisetty ’19 (Biology), Darren Peel ’17 (Biology), Collin Steen ’17 (Chemistry), Myles Truss ’17 (Chemistry), Raoul Wadhwa ’17 (Chemistry and Computer Science). In addition to presenting their research, students heard a keynote address and research talks by undergraduate and graduate students from regional colleges and universities. This free event also provided undergraduate researchers the opportunity to interact face-to-face with graduate school recruiters and to learn more about future career opportunities.

There were 169 undergraduate posters presented at WMRUGS from students representing 17 different college and universities. Ten students from the Kalamazoo College Department of Chemistry, presented results of their research conducted under the mentorship of Kalamazoo College faculty that included Laura Furge, Regina Stevens-Truss, and Dwight Williams. Other students presented the results of their summer research projects conducted in laboratories at Indiana University and the University of Oregon. Students from the Department of Biology presented their findings from research conducted this past summer in laboratories at South Dakota State University and Michigan State University.

College Celebrates Honors Day

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Honors Day soloist Lauren Landman and President Jorge Gonzalez
Honors Day soloist Lauren Landman and President Jorge Gonzalez

Kalamazoo College Family Weekend served as backdrop for the College’s annual Honors Day convocation. More than 250 students were recognized for excellence in academics and leadership in six divisions: Fine Arts, Foreign Languages, Humanities, Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Social Sciences and Physical Education. Recipients of prestigious scholarships were recognized as were members of national honor societies and students who received special Kalamazoo College recognition awards. In addition, student athletes and teams who have won Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association awards were feted. The students who received awards or recognition are listed below.

 

 

FINE ARTS DIVISION

THE BRIAN GOUGEON PRIZE IN ART, awarded to a sophomore student who, during his or her first year, exhibited outstanding achievement and potential in art.
Kaiya Herman-Hilker
Qynce Chumley

LILLIAN PRINGLE BALDAUF PRIZE IN MUSIC, awarded to an outstanding music student.
John Bowman
Christopher Coburn
Matthew Peters
Madeline Lauver

COOPER AWARD for a junior or senior showing excellence in a piece of creative work in a theatre arts class: film, acting, design, stagecraft, puppetry, speech.
Quincy Crosby

THEATRE ARTS FIRST-YEAR STUDENT AWARD, given to a sophomore for outstanding departmental efforts during the first year.
Kate Kreiss
Robert Davis
Maren Prophit
Louise Thomas

FOREIGN LANGUAGES DIVISION

LeGRAND COPLEY PRIZE IN FRENCH, awarded to a sophomore who, as a first-year student, demonstrated the greatest achievement in French.
Lauren Arquette
Danny Horwitz

HARDY FUCHS AWARD, given for excellence in first-year German.
Emma Eisenbeis

MARGO LIGHT AWARD, given for excellence in second- or third-year German.
Eric Thornburg

ROMANCE LANGUAGES DEPARTMENT PRIZE IN SPANISH, awarded for excellence in the first year in Spanish.
Kate Kreiss
Daniel Cho

CLARA H. BUCKLEY PRIZE FOR EXCELLENCE IN LATIN, awarded to an outstanding student of the language of the ancient Romans.
Emma Peters

CLASSICS DEPARTMENT PRIZE IN GREEK, awarded to an outstanding student in the language of the ancient Greeks.
Brittany Jones

PROVOST’S PRIZE IN CLASSICS, awarded to that student who writes the best essay on a classical subject.
Danielle Gin

HUMANITIES DIVISION

O.M. ALLEN PRIZE IN ENGLISH, given for the best essay written by a member of the first-year class.
Kate Kreiss

JOHN B. WICKSTROM PRIZE IN HISTORY, awarded for excellence in the first year’s work in history.
Mackenzie Callahan

L.J. AND EVA (“GIBBIE”) HEMMES MEMORIAL PRIZE IN PHILOSOPHY, awarded to that sophomore who, in the first year, showed the greatest promise for continuing studies in philosophy.
Katherine Bennett
Garrett Sander

NATURAL SCIENCES AND MATHEMATICS DIVISION

WINIFRED PEAKE JONES PRIZE IN BIOLOGY, awarded for excellence in the first year’s work in biology.
Min Soo Kim
Cydney Martell
Maggie Smith

DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY PRIZE, awarded for excellence in the first year’s work in chemistry.
Meghan Horal

FIRST-YEAR CHEMISTRY AWARD, awarded to a sophomore student who, during the first year, demonstrated great achievement in chemistry.
Anthony Diep
Nicholas Ludka

LEMUEL F. SMITH AWARD, given to a student majoring in chemistry, pursuing the American Chemical Society approved curriculum, and having at the end of the junior year the highest average standing in courses taken in chemistry, physics and mathematics.
Collin Steen

COMPUTER SCIENCE PRIZE, awarded for excellence in the first year’s work in computer science.
Hans Wieland

FIRST-YEAR MATHEMATICS AWARD, given annually to the sophomore student who, during the first year, demonstrated the greatest achievement in mathematics.
Dahwi Kim
Allegra Allgeier

THOMAS O. WALTON PRIZE IN MATHEMATICS, awarded to a member of the junior class for excellence in the work of the first two years in mathematics.
Abhay Goel

COOPER PRIZE IN PHYSICS, given for excellence in the first year’s work in physics.
Kayla Park
Ricardo DelOlmo-Parrado

SOCIAL SCIENCES DIVISION

DEPARTMENTAL PRIZE IN ANTHROPOLOGY AND SOCIOLOGY, awarded for excellence during the first and/or second year’s work.
Paige Tobin
Meghan Horal
Hannah Muscara
Adam Edery
Benjamin Smith

C. WALLACE LAWRENCE PRIZE IN ECONOMICS, awarded annually to a economics student who has done outstanding work in the Department of Economics and Business during the sophomore year.
Maria Franco
Hannah Kline
Logan Smith

C. WALLACE LAWRENCE PRIZE IN BUSINESS, awarded annually to a business student who has done outstanding work in the Department of Economics and Business during the sophomore year.
Cody Colvin
Jacob Wasko
Alex White

IRENE AND S. KYLE MORRIS PRIZE, awarded for excellence in the first year’s courses in the Department of Economics and Business.
Christopher Coburn
Rachel Frank
Evelyn Wagner

WILLIAM G. HOWARD MEMORIAL PRIZE, awarded for excellence in any year’s work in political science.
Lauren Arquette

DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY FIRST-YEAR STUDENT PRIZE, awarded for excellence in the first year’s work in psychology.
Michelle Alba

MARSHALL HALLOCK BRENNER PRIZE, given by the family and friends in memory of Marshall Hallock Brenner, class of 1955, to be awarded to an outstanding junior for excellence in the study of psychology.
Kyle Hernandez

PHYSICAL EDUCATION DIVISION

DIVISION OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION PRIZE, awarded to those students who, as first-year students, best combined leadership and scholarship in promoting athletics, physical education and recreation.
Jordan Wiley
Amanda Moss
Cheyenne Allyn-White

MAGGIE WARDLE PRIZE, awarded to that sophomore woman whose activities at the College reflect the values that Maggie Wardle demonstrated in her own life. The recipient will show a breadth of involvement in the College through her commitment to athletics and to the social sciences and/or community service.
Malak Ghazal

COLLEGE AWARDS

GORDON BEAUMONT MEMORIAL AWARD, awarded to the student who displays qualities of selflessness, humanitarian concern and a willingness to help others, as exemplified in the life of Gordon Beaumont.
Sarah Bragg
Mireya Guzman-Ortiz

HENRY AND INEZ BROWN PRIZE, awarded in recognition of outstanding participation in the College community.
Sidney Wall

VIRGINIA HINKELMAN MEMORIAL AWARD, awarded to a student who displays a deep concern for the well-being of children, as demonstrated through career goals in the field of child welfare.
Moises Hernandez

HEYL SCHOLARS – CLASS OF 2020

Taylor Ashby
Kento Hirakawa
Matthew Krinock
Samuel Maddox
Shukrani Nsenga
Michael Orwin
Marjorie Wolfe
Julie Zabik

POSSE SCHOLARS – CLASS OF 2020

Iffat Chowdhury
Fabien Debies
Neelam Lal
Madisyn mahoney
Israel Mazas
Joseph Ney-Jun
Melissa Pasillas
Cesar Soria
Gabriel Ugarte
Raphaela Varella

NATIONAL MERIT SCHOLAR – CLASS OF 2020

John Patton

ALPHA LAMBDA DELTA – CLASS OF 2019

Alpha Lambda Delta is a national honor society that recognizes excellence in academic achievement during the first college year. To be eligible for membership, students must earn a cumulative GPA of at least 3.5 and be in the top 20 percent of their class during the first year.

Lauren Arquette
Meredith Ashton
Max Aulbach
Katherine Bennett
Kevin Bhimani
Emily Boyle
Moly Brueger
Mackenzie Callahan
Tapiwa Chikungwa
Heeseong Cho
Jennifer Cho
Christopher Coburn
Ricardo DelOlmo-Parrado
Anthony Diep
Emma Eisenbeis
McKinzie Ervin
Alex Fairhall
Rachel Frank
Ian Freshwater
Sarah George
Natalie Gratsch
Claire Greening
Meghan Horal
Sadie Jackson
Min Soo Kim
Mackenzie Landman
Madeline Lauver
Hyunyn Lim
Sara Lonsberry
Nicholas Ludka
Cydney Martell
Abigail McDonough
Jacob Mooradian
Emma Mullenax
Kayla Park
Andrew Parsons
Cecilia Ringo
Skylar Rizzolo
Scott Roberts
Timothy Rutledge
Austin Smith
Benjamin Smith
Margaret Smith
Natalie Thompson
Evenly Wagner
Ailih Weeldreyer

ENLIGHTENED LEADERSHIP AWARDS

ARCUS CENTER FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE LEADERSHIP
Donovan Williams

CREATIVE EXPRESSION IN JOURNALISM
Emiliana Renuart
Maia Taylor

CREATIVE EXPRESSION IN MUSIC
Anna Christinidis
Liam Fries
Joshua Gibson
Kathryn Martin
Boemin Park
Orly Rubinfeld

CREATIVE EXPRESSION IN VISUAL ARTS
Georgie Andrews
Brianna Burnell
Lizi Chinchilakashvili
Nutsa Chinchilakashvili

CIVIC ENGAGEMENT
Lakshya Choudhary
Shiva Sah

ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVISM AND SUSTAINABILITY
Aiden Voss
Madeline Ward

MICHIGAN INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION (MIAA) AWARDS

The following Hornet teams earned the 2015-2016 MIAA Team GPA Award. Team members achieved a 3.3 or better grade point average for the entire academic year.

Men’s Golf
Men’s Soccer
Men’s Tennis
Women’s Basketball
Women’s Golf
Women’s Lacrosse
Women’s Soccer
Women’s Volleyball

MIAA ACADEMIC HONOR ROLL

The MIAA each year honors students at member colleges who achieve distinction on the classroom and in athletic competition. Students need to be a letter winner in a varsity sport and maintain at minimum 3.5 grade point average for the entire school year.

Michael Allen
Kelsey Adamski
Ryan Andrusz
Elizabeth Arellano
Lauren Arquette
Alberto Ayala
Sonal Bahl
Victoria Beehler
Kennedy Boulton
Riley Boyd
Allie Brodsky
Molly Brueger
Thomas Bryant
Hayley Buckhout
Matthew Burczyk
Janice Burnett
Alex Cadigan
Kathryn Callaghan
Olivia Cares
Charlie Carson
Katherine Cebelak
Madeleine  Chilcote
Cody Colvin
Anthony Convertino
Anna Dairaghi
Christina Dandar
Elan Dantus
Sabrina Dass
Eric De Witt
Ricardo DelOlmo-Parrado
Dana DeVito
Cecilia DiFranco
Mikayla Doepker
Guillermo Dominguez Garcia
Alivia DuQuet
Erin DuRoss
John Dynes
Charles Edick
Emma Eisenbeis
Rachel Epstein
Angelia Evangelista
Kevin Ewing
Andrew Feeley
George Fishback
Matthew Fitz
Chris Francis
Maria Franco
Ian Freshwater
Brett Garwood
Sarah George
Camille Giacobone
Emily Good
Evan  Gorgas
Monica Gorgas
Kyle Hahn
Griffin Hamel
Jordan Henning
Kaiya Herman-Hilker
Kyle Hernandez
Samantha Hicks
Megan Hoinville
Shelby Hopper
Allia Howard
Robert Hudson
Nicole Huff
Julia Hulbert
Jordan Jabara
Clare Jensen
Claire Kalina
Spencer Kennedy
Kelsey Kerbawy
Benjamin Kileen
Dahwi Kim
William Kirchen
Hannah Kline
Emily  Kozal
Stefan Leclerc
Da Bin Lee
Jacob Lindquist
Jordan Loredo
Nick Ludka
Megan Malish
Sarah Manski
Nicholas Marsh
Cydney Martell
Mallory McClure
Alexander McDonnell
Thomas McLravy
Madison Moote
Christopher Muir
Victoria Najacht
Jonathan Nord
Skyler Norgaard
Mackenzie Norman
Andrew Novetsky
Michael Oravetz
Alexandria Oswalt
Dylan Padget
Dana Page
James Paprocki
Bradley Popiel
Nicole Prentice
Megan Riley
Phillip Ritchie
Scott Roberts
Sophie Roberts
William Roberts
Rebecca Rogers
Anna Roodbergen
Keigan Ryckman
Matthew Ryder
Mason Sarosi
Ashley Schiffer
Grady Schneider
Eleanor Schodowski
Aaron Schwark
Cameron Schwartz
Jacob Scott
Lauren Seroka
Sharif Shaker
Claire Slaughter
Grace Smith
Kathleen Sorenson
Sophia Spencer
Vethania Stavropoulos
Mira Swearer
Lily Talmers
Alexander Townsend
Lydia Turke
Elizabeth Tyburski
Kaela Van Til
David  Vanderkloot
Jacob Waier
Kyra Walenga
Jacob Wasko
John Wehr
Alex White
Joshua Whitney
Hans Wieland
Jordan Wiley
Madeline Woods
Sarah Woods
Brent Yelton
Matthew Zhiss

 

K Student Achieves Lofty Goals as Rocketry Gold Medalist

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Rocketry and a liberal arts education might seem like a strange combination, but not for Kalamazoo College’s Emma Kristal. Emma recently won individual and team gold medals with the USA World Space Modeling team in the Space Modeling Championships in Lviv, Ukraine.

Kalamazoo College student wears rocketry gold medals
Kalamazoo College student Emma Kristal wears gold medals she won during the World Space Modeling Championships.

Emma – a junior from Royal Oak, Mich. – majors in psychology and biology with a concentration in neuroscience. She also minors in French at K. Yet rocketry has been a passion since fifth grade.

“I didn’t want to go compete at first, but my dad had the time off and it was finally in Michigan,” Emma said of her first National Association of Rocketry competition. “He conned me into going by telling me it would be just for fun.”

Emma set one of her 10 U.S. National Model Rocketry records in the E SuperRoc event during that competition. That led to more competitions and the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum accepting one of her rockets.

The Smithsonian “liked it because a fifth-grade girl used it to set a record and because I made it to look like a giant pink pencil,” Emma said. Although the rocket is not on display, she hopes it one day might be.

Emma since has tried several events to find which she likes best. Her event this year on the world stage was the S2P Precision Fragile Payload. In this event, competitors tried to reach an altitude of 300 meters and a flight time of 60 seconds for three consecutive flights while not breaking an egg in the rocket. Emma was the flyer who came closest to the cumulative target without breaking or cracking her egg.

“The fun part is we can’t check between rounds whether the egg is cracked,” Emma said. “It wasn’t until an hour after the final round had ended that I found out I was in first place.”

The world championships are every other year. Emma has competed with the U.S. team since 2010. The competition has allowed Emma to travel to Serbia, Slovakia and Bulgaria in addition to Ukraine for competitions. Emma also has visited Vienna, Austria, and a rocket manufacturer in the formerly closed city of Dnipro, Ukraine.

“Most of the competitions are in Eastern Europe because that’s where most of the competitors are from other than the U.K. and China,” she said, noting she has made friends from all over the world.

K College student stands with rocketry's Team USA
Emma Kristal stands with Team USA during the World Space Modeling Championships.

“We’re the fiercest competitors on the field, but afterward, we can still sit down and play cards together,” she said. “I’m making connections with people from all over the world. Sometimes I can scroll through my newsfeed (on Facebook) and not see a single thing in English.”

Despite her interest in science-related topics and hobbies, Emma quite naturally chose K.

“My dad is an emergency room doctor and when we asked his colleagues where I should attend college, they all said K. Honestly, we thought (Kalamazoo College) put something in the water to make them all rave about it,” she said with a smile.

Emma has no plans to make a career out of rocketry, but one thing is certain: She will always shoot for the stars.

Emma Kristal’s U.S. National Model Rocketry Records

  • 8/2/07A, Division E, SuperRoc, Altitude, 138,223 points, E6-8 motor
  • 6/1/08A, Division B, Streamer, Duration, 259 seconds (eclipsed 3/20/10)
  • 7/23/13B, Division A, Altitude, 187½ meters, A3-4T motor
  • 1/3/13B, Division B, Altimeter Altitude, 264 meters, B6-6 motor (eclipsed 7/28/15)
  • 1/3/13B, Division C, Altimeter Altitude, 486 meters, C6-7 motor
  • 1/3/13B, Division D, Altimeter Altitude, 759 meters, D10-7 motor
  • 1/3/13B, Division E, Altimeter Altitude, 1359 meters, E6-8 motor
  • 2/3/13B, Division B, Cluster Altimeter, Altitude, 60 meters, 5 x B6-6 motors
  • 7/25/13B, Division A, Payload Altitude, 131 meters, A3-4T motor
  • 7/24/13B, Division C, Dual Eggloft Altimeter, 128 meters, C11-3

K Student Earns Boren Scholarship to Study in China

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Junior A.J. Convertino – a Canton, Mich., native and a son of Val and Rick Convertino – has received a $20,000 David L. Boren Scholarship to study Chinese for six months in Beijing during Kalamazoo College’s winter/spring quarters.

A.J. Convertino in the quad at K College
A.J. Convertino will study for six months in China, where he will be immersed in Mandarin Chinese and work in an internship.

Boren Scholarships are funded by the federal government through the National Security Education Program, which focuses on geographic areas, languages and fields of study deemed critical to United States national security. About 170 students nationwide earned the scholarship last year.

The prestigious scholarship is named for former U.S. Sen. David L. Boren, the principal author of the legislation that created the National Security Education Program. Boren Scholars (undergrads) and Fellows (graduate students) will live in 40 countries throughout Africa, Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, Eurasia, Latin America and the Middle East, and study 37 languages.

A.J., an East Asian studies major and a political science and Chinese minor, said he chose K for its academic and athletic opportunities as well as the study abroad program. He is a wide receiver on the K College football team and a member of the a capella group Kalamadudes, which he feels gave him an advantage in the rigorous Boren application process that required two essays and three letters of recommendation.

A.J. said he started taking Chinese when he attended Plymouth High School.

“At first I think taking Chinese was about me wanting to be different from everybody else,” he said. “We had more than 20 Spanish teachers and only one Chinese teacher. But it’s rare for a native English speaker to be fluent in Chinese.”

The scholarship will be a life-changing opportunity for A.J. When it’s done he will fulfill a two-year service obligation with the federal government in a department with national security responsibilities. A.J. hopes his service eventually leads to work as a Foreign Service officer in the U.S. Department of State.

Most football players at K need to miss their junior season if they decide to study abroad in a program like A.J.’s given when most of the programs are available. However, A.J. worked with Center for International Programs Acting Director Margaret Wiedenhoeft to find a six-month opportunity with enough credits that begins Dec. 28. He will depart Dec. 26 for Beijing’s Capital Normal University.

A.J. credits Wiedenhoeft, football coach Jamie Zorbo, Associate Professor of Political Science John Dugas, Professor of Chinese Language and Literature Madeline Chu, and Assistant Professor of Chinese Yue Hong for a combination of hard work, letters of recommendation, essay assistance, teaching styles and dedication for his upcoming opportunity.

The first part of A.J.’s experience will involve a language pledge, meaning he must speak Mandarin inside and outside the classroom. After the January term, he will have a two-week break for Chinese New Year before spring semester when he will have an intensive language course with a Chinese politics or history course in English. On top of that, he will work in an internship for eight hours a week, but he won’t know what his internship will involve until he gets to China.

“I’m really excited (for the internship) because I made it clear on my questionnaire that I’m interested in government and politics. Learning the vocabulary of that setting would really help me in my career,” A.J. said.

A.J. will return to the U.S. on June 24. Luke Winship (China/Mandarin), Erin Eagan (Senegal/Wolof) and Amanda Johnson (China/Mandarin) are previous Boren Scholars from K.

K Professor and Students Use Grant to Breathe Life Into Oral History

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Oral History Researchers Noriko Sugimori (left) and senior Christa Scheck
Noriko Sugimori (left) and senior Christa Scheck, who is majoring in studio art and earning a minor in Japanese

Assistant Professor of Japanese Noriko Sugimori will use a three-year grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to contribute her research to the Oral History in the Liberal Arts (OHLA), a project of the Great Lakes Colleges Association (GLCA). In a collaboration that also involves the Japanese department at Albion College, Sugimori and her K students are producing the world’s first bilingual (Japanese and English) synchronizations of interviews Sugimori conducted that focus on the World War II memories of various Japanese individuals.

The origins of those interviews trace back to Sugimori’s doctoral work. She researched the relationship between imperial honorifics and the concept of lèse-majesté (the crime of violating the dignity of a reigning sovereign or state) in Japan prior and during World War II. For that work she talked with several score of Japanese civilians born before 1932. The interviews were powerful, and the people with whom she spoke often deeply wanted to share their stories.

After completing her doctorate Sugimori began an oral history project that focused on war memories. Audiotaping was the cutting edge technology when Sugimori first starting interviewing subjects. Later she adopted digital videotaping. And in 2010 she became aware of Oral History Metadata Synchronizer technology, which provides a platform to show simultaneous English translation of video recordings in Japanese.

“That changed everything,” said Sugimori. “I am videotaping people who were teenagers during the war who are giving untold accounts of their experiences. These tapes can convey a whole different message to future generations about the war, and this is considered a unique contribution to the linguistics field.”

The videos and simultaneous translations have pedagogical implications for K students of Japanese. “They get to see the interviewee’s facial expressions,” said Sugimori, “which provide much more information about what is being said in a cultural context. This goes way beyond trying to learn the language from only grammar exercises.”

Because simultaneous translation allows for a more flesh-and-blood and nuanced entry into a recorded interview, students gain a more comprehensive understanding of history. “Students learn much more than political history,” said Sugimori. “They also see, as well as hear, how people were affected by the political actors.”

Today, digital technologies are making oral histories very popular among the general public. Sugimori and K students are among the pioneers helping to make that happen.

Text and photo by Olga Bonfiglio

Duo Completes Prestigious Internship

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Shawn Fair and Sara McKinney
Shawn Fair and Sara McKinney

Kalamazoo College senior Sara McKinney and junior Shawn Fair secured and completed Monroe-Brown internships this summer. Monroe-Brown internships are local opportunities that include at least 400 paid hours of work with a Kalamazoo area company, valuable networking, and scholarship funding upon completion.

The Monroe-Brown family (and, subsequently, The Monroe-Brown Foundation) has a long history of supporting Michigan students in higher education. McKinney’s internship focused on research into this legacy.

She compiled a family tree; cataloged birth, death, and marriage certificates; interviewed family members; read biographies and news articles; and much more. Much of the work was conducted independently.
The end goal is a book for the Monroe-Brown grandchildren. “I’ve really enjoyed the research aspect of it,” McKinney says. “The project has really helped me develop self-accountability and has helped me learn how to seek out information and contacts in the Kalamazoo community.”

McKinney is majoring in English (with an emphasis in creative writing) and earning a minor in psychology. This fall she will complete a collection of short stories for her Senior Individualized Project.

For his internship Fair worked in the marketing internship at Fabri-Kal, an industry leader in product packaging. He analyzed the branding, marketing and advertising of the company’s environmentally friendly Greenware line.

Fair used the opportunity to evaluate what he’d learned in the classroom about leadership. He observed the leadership styles of his coworkers, managers and company executives, and determined that, to be a relational leader, “You have to be trustworthy, dependable, supportive, and willing to devote time to getting to know each of your team members.”

Fair is majoring in business and earning a minor in Chinese. He is already applying the practical lessons of his internship by launching his own mobile application production company, Simple Fix, LLC.

K students like Fair and McKinney have been well represented in the Monroe-Brown Internship Program for the last several years. Since 2012, 13 students have interned with local companies including Eaton, BASIC, AVB, Parker Hannifin, LKF Marketing, Imperial Beverage, Abraxas, and Schupan & Sons, Inc.

Text and Photo by McKenna Bramble ’16, Post Baccalaureate Summer Intern, Center for Career and Professional Development

Summer Science Shared

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Summer ScienceScientific inquiry takes no summer break at Kalamazoo College, and a culmination of the summer’s work occurred at the Dow Science Center Mini Poster Session (August 26). In the chemistry department alone some 17 students worked in the laboratories of five chemistry faculty–Professors Bartz, Furge, Smith, Stevens-Truss and Williams. Those students include first-years, sophomores, juniors and seniors, many of the latter working on their Senior Individualized Projects. The mini poster session included 12 presenters explaining the science they had conducted during the summer. Quinton Colwell ’17 (in the red tie) is pictured discussing his poster, titled “Molecular Dynamics and Real-Life Drug Metabolism.” Molecular dynamics is the study of real life systems using computer models and simulations. Colwell’s work involved a relatively novel technique,biased molecular dynamics, which, he wrote, “brings an additional layer to computer simulations relevant to bench-top experiments. It has the potential to be a game-changer.” In addition to Colwell, other presenters included Sarah Glass ’17, Myles Truss ’17, Shreya Bahl ’17, Suma Alzouhayli ’17, and Blake Beauchamp ’17.

A Hands-On (Doors, Literally) Poli-Sci Internship

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Ian McKnight
Ian McKnight

Ian McKnight ’19 came to Kalamazoo College with aspirations of working in politics. After talking to alumnus Darrin Camilleri ’14 about careers relating to political science, Ian was offered an internship on Darrin’s campaign for State Representative this summer.

During his internship, Ian spent most of his mornings collating and analyzing voter data, making phone calls and researching competitors’ tactics. In the afternoons and evenings, Ian and his fellow colleagues knocked on thousands of doors in Metro Detroit to talk to voters and to provide them with candidate and campaign information. “I do not enjoy knocking on doors,” Ian admits. “[But] knocking on doors and making phone calls really does improve results on Election Day.”

On the evening of August 2, 2016, six weeks after beginning his internship with the Camilleri Campaign, Ian stood with a spreadsheet keeping count of the votes released by each precinct. “When the last precinct came in, I got to stare [in] disbelief [at] the razor thin margin, turn to our candidate, and say, ‘Congratulations, Mr. Camilleri.’” Ian says. “At that moment, the 173 votes that won the election for us seemed totally worth every 95-degree day, every awkward phone call, and every blister.”

“It was great to see someone so freshly out of [a political science] major make a career out of it,” Ian says.  “[This internship] has given me the roadmap that I didn’t have before. In campaign work you really work your way up, and this was a phenomenal place to start.”

Ian is a rising sophomore and plans on declaring a political science major with an American Studies concentration and a public policy and urban affairs concentration. He is also the president of the College Democrats student organization.

Text and Photo by McKenna Bramble ’16, Post Baccalaureate Summer Intern, Center for Career and Professional Development