National publications continued to recognize Kalamazoo College as an outstanding institution of higher education in 2023. That reputation was furthered through the achievements of faculty, staff and academic departments, along with donors funding K’s Brighter Light Campaign. Here are the institution’s top 10 stories this year as determined by your clicks. You can also check out the top 10 stories from our students, faculty and staff, and alumni.
10. College Celebrates Banner Year for NSF Fellowships
STEM-related academic departments are celebrating a banner year as the overall number of current students and alumni receiving National Science Foundation (NSF) graduate research fellowships reached four in 2023, the most since 2016. The Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) recognizes and supports outstanding students who pursue research-based master’s and doctoral degrees at accredited U.S. institutions.
9. K Honors 1861 Alumnus with Distinguished Achievement Award
A Homecoming and Reunion Weekend tradition offered a twist this year by presenting a posthumous honor during the Alumni Association Awards and Athletic Hall of Fame Ceremony. The College recognized 1861 graduate Rufus Perry, who is believed to be the first Black person to attend K, with the Distinguished Achievement Award, which celebrates graduates who have achieved distinction in their professional fields.
8. College Raptor Rates K a Hidden Gem
A web-based organization dedicated to helping students and families find their best-fit institution of higher education chose K as a top school in the Great Lakes region and a top destination for athletics among Division III programs nationwide.
7. Scholarship Honors Late Professor Emeritus T. Jefferson Smith
The life and legacy of a late professor emeritus are being honored by an anonymous donor, who established the Professor T. Jefferson Smith Memorial Scholarship. Smith taught at K for nearly three decades before retiring in 1994.
6. Fulbright Extends U.S. Student Program Top-Producer Honors to K
K has four representatives in the 2022-23 U.S. Student Program, leading to the top producer honors for the fifth time in the past six years. K was the only college in Michigan to earn the distinction in the bachelor’s institution category.
5. Princeton Review Names K a Best Value College for 2023
The Princeton Review identified K as one of its Best Value Colleges for 2023 and ranked it No. 16 among the Top 20 private colleges where students have opportunities to make an impact.
4. K Welcomes Rakugo Comedian, Storyteller Katsura Sunshine
A storyteller and comedian with Broadway credits was the featured presenter at the 2023 Kafu Lecture. Katsura Sunshine is one of only a few living non-Japanese masters of rakugo, a 400-year-old tradition of comic-monologue storytelling in Japan. The event was cosponsored by K’s departments of Japanese, theatre, and anthropology-sociology, along with the Soga Japan Center at Western Michigan University.
3. Honors Day Celebrates Student Achievements
Recipients of prestigious scholarships, student-athletes, members of national honor societies and students who received special awards were recognized in the annual Honors Day Convocation during the College’s Family Weekend.
2. Money Magazine Places K Among Nation’s Top Colleges
Money released its latest appraisals of the Best Colleges in America this summer while again naming K among the top institutions in the country.
1. College Receives Historic $30 Million Gift
For 190 years, Kalamazoo College has graduated generations of enlightened leaders who have made an impact on the world. In October, the College was grateful to recognize a major contribution to that effort with the announcement of a $30 million gift from an anonymous donor—the largest single gift commitment in the College’s history.
