athletics

Honors Day Rewards Student Excellence

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Honors Day Convocation
More than 250 students including Rebecca Chan ’22 were recognized Friday, Nov. 8, at the Honors Day Convocation at Stetson Chapel.

Family Weekend served as the backdrop for the Honors Day 2019 convocation. More than 250 students were recognized Friday, Nov. 8, for excellence in academics and leadership in six divisions: Fine Arts, Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures, 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 awards. Student athletes and teams who won Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association awards also were honored. The students receiving Honors Day awards or recognition are listed below.

FINE ARTS DIVISION

Brian Gougeon Prize in Art
Kate Roberts
Beth Schulman
Zoe Zawacki

The Margaret Upton Prize in Music
Sophia Yurdin

Cooper Award
Maria Jensen

Sherwood Prize
Rebecca Chan
Brianna Taylor

Theatre Arts First-Year Student Award
Rebecca Chan

MODERN AND CLASSICAL LANGUAGES AND LITERATURES DIVISION

LeGrand Copley Prize in French
Rebecca Chan
Thomas Saxton

Hardy Fuchs Award
Christian Zeitvogel

Margo Light Award
Daniel Fahle

Romance Languages Department Prize in Spanish
Emiley Hepfner
Hayden Strobel

Clara H. Buckley Prize for Excellence in Latin
Kelly Hansen

Provost’s Prize in Classics
Jessica Chaidez
Annabelle Houghton

Classics Departmental Prize in Greek
Lydia Bontrager

HUMANITIES DIVISION

M. Allen Prize in English
Abigail Cadieux
Jessica Chaidez

John B. Wickstrom Prize in History
Fiona Holmes

Department of Philosophy Prize
Mitch Baty
Julia Bienstock
Emma Fergusson

L.J. and Eva (“Gibbie”) Hemmes Memorial Prize in Philosophy
Max Bogun
Zoe Celeste Schneberger
Nick Wilson

NATURAL SCIENCES AND MATHEMATICS DIVISION

Winifred Peake Jones Prize in Biology
Natalie Barber
Abigail Gray
Madeline Harding
Grace McKnight

Department of Chemistry Prize
Aleksandra Bartolik
Grace McKnight

First-Year Chemistry Award
Robert Barnard
Saudia Tate
Andrew Walsh

Professor Ralph M. Deal Endowed Scholarship for Physical Chemistry Students
Leonardo Sota

Lemuel F. Smith Award
Christopher Vennard

Computer Science Prize
Shruti Chaturvedi
Caroline Skalla

First-Year Mathematics Award
Haley Crabbs
Thomas Saxton
Carter Wade

Thomas O. Walton Prize in Mathematics
Lisa Johnston
Dahwi Kim
Samuel Ratliff

Cooper Prize in Physics
Revaz Bakuradze
Samuel Barczy
Kate Roberts

SOCIAL SCIENCES DIVISION

Departmental Prize in Anthropology and Sociology
Yuridia Campuzano
Mauricio Guillén
Jillian Lynk

Wallace Lawrence Prize in Economics
Rebekah Halley
Chaniya Miller

William G. Howard Memorial Prize
Georgie Andrews
Jade Jiang
Zachary Ray
Adam Snider

Wallace Lawrence Prize in Business
Nathan Micallef
Sage Ringsmuth

Irene and S. Kyle Morris Prize
Mihail Naskovski

William G. Howard Memorial Prize in Political Science
Ava Keller
Christian Zeitvogel

PHYSICAL EDUCATION DIVISION

Division of Physical Education Prize
Walker Chung
Kaytlyn Tidey

Maggie Wardle Prize
Darby Scott

COLLEGE AWARDS

Gordon Beaumont Memorial Award
Yasamin Shaker

Henry and Inez Brown Prize
Mya Gough
Mathew Holmes-Hackerd
Rosella LoChirco
Elizabeth Munoz
Erin Radermacher

Virginia Hinkelman Memorial Award
Jilia Johnson

HEYL SCHOLARS
Class of 2023

Samuel Ankley
Ben Behrens (’20)
Carter Eisenbach
Rachel Kramer
Rachel Lanting
Alexis Nesbitt
Suja Thakali
Elizabeth Wang

POSSE SCHOLARS
Class of 2023

Jayla Ekwegh
Naile Garcia
Devin Hunt
Juan Ibarra
Angel Ledesma
Milan Levy
Katharina Padilla
Milagros Robelo
Emilio Romo
Diego Zambrana

NATIONAL MERIT SCHOLARS
Class of 2023

Donald Brown
Claire Kvande

VOYNOVICH SCHOLARS

Audrey Honig
Nikoli Nickson

ALPHA LAMBDA DELTA
CLASS OF 2022

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. The Kalamazoo College chapter was installed on March 5, 1942.

Elizabeth Abel
McKenzi Baker
Natalie Barber
Samuel Barczy
Aleksandra Bartolik
Mitchell Baty
Julia Bienstock
Alexander Bowden
Haylee Bowsher
Irie Browne
Elizabeth Burton
Abigail Cadieux
Rebecca Chan
Gabriel Chung
Haley Crabbs
Sofia Diaz
Adam Dorstewitz
Imalia Drummond
Daniel Fahle
Emma Fergusson
Kaitlin Gandy
Levon Gibson
Jessica Gracik
Madeline Guimond
Emiley Hepfner
Ellie Jones
Joseph Jung
David Kent
Yung Seo Lee
Marissa Lewinski
Donna Li
Isabella Luke
Deven Mahanti
Clara Martinez-Voigt
Mihail Naskovski
Rushik Patel
Houston Peach
Anthony Peraza
Lucas Rizzolo
Marco Savone
Isabella Shansky-Genovese
Caroline Skalla
Emily Smith
Abby Stewart
Emily Tenniswood
Carter Wade
Samantha White
Zachary Worthing
Christian Zeitvogel

ENLIGHTENED LEADERSHIP AWARDS

Performing Arts: Music
Marilu Bueno
John Carlson
Emily Dudd
Sarma Ejups
Peter Fitzgerald
Rose Hannan
Garrett Hanson
Koshiro Kuroda
Milan Levy
Matthew Mueller
Clarice Ray

MIAA AWARDS

These teams earned the 2018-2019 MIAA Team GPA Award for achieving a 3.3 or better grade-point average for the entire academic year:

Men’s Baseball
Women’s Basketball
Men’s Cross Country
Women’s Cross Country
Men’s Golf
Women’s Golf
Men’s Lacrosse
Women’s Lacrosse
Women’s Soccer
Women’s Softball
Women’s Swimming and Diving
Women’s Volleyball

MIAA ACADEMIC HONOR ROLL

Student Athletes 2018-2019

The Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association each year honors students at MIAA member colleges who achieve in the classroom and in athletic competition. Students need to be a letter winner in a varsity sport and maintain at least a 3.5 grade point average for the entire academic year.

Hayleigh Alamo
Georgie Andrews
Hunter Angileri
Lauren Arquette
Brooklyn Avery
Julia Bachmann
Sonal Bahl
Nicole Bailey
Lillian Baumann
Brad Bez
Rose Bogard
Jacob Bonifacio
Maria Bonvicini
Alexander Bowden
Molly Brueger
Jane Bunch
Pierce Burke
Alexander Cadigan
Gabriel Chung
Isabelle Clark
Noah Coplan
Rachel Cornell
Chase Coselman
Eva Deyoung
Alexis Dietz
Adam Dorstewitz
Amanda Dow
Sydney Dowdell
Thomas Fales
Colton Farley
Anders Finholt
Clifton Foster
Jakob Frederick
Brendan Gausselin
Sarah George
Jacob Gilhaus
Anthony Giovanni
Rachel Girard
Sophia Goebel
Preston Grossling
Garrett Guthrie
Rebekah Halley
Emily Hamel
Grace Hancock
Megan Heft
Alyssa Heitkamp
Mathew Holmes-Hackerd
Matthew Howrey
Benjamin Hyndman
Samantha Jacobsen
Benjamin Johanski
Jaylin Jones
Jackson Jones
Claire Kalina
Grace Karrip
Lucas Kastran
Maria Katrantzi
Greg Kearns
Jackson Kelly
Brandon Kramer
Benjamin Krebs
Matthew Krinock
Stefan Leclerc
Kathryn Levasseur
Rosella LoChirco
Molly Logsdon
Nicholas Ludka
Andrea MacMichael
Rachel Madar
Deven Mahanti
Cydney Martell
Samuel Matthews
Eliza McCall
Benjamin Meschke
Hannah Meyers
Nathan Micallef
Zachary Morales
Max Moran
Amanda Moss
Elizabeth Munoz
Kelly Nickelson
Nikoli Nickson
Ian Nostrant
Drew Novetsky
Michael Orwin
Dylan Padget
Paul Pavliscak
Calder Pellerin
Anthony Peraza
Erin Perkins
Eve Petrie
Zach Prystash
Daniel Qin
Erin Radermacher
Harrison Ramsey
Zachary Ray
Jordan Reichenbach
Benjamin Reiter
Lucas Rizzolo
Margaret Roberts
Scott Roberts
Lily Rogowski
Marco Savone
Ashley Schiffer
Nicholas Schneider
Justin Schodowski
Darby Scott
Justin Seablom
Sharif Shaker
Drew Sheckell
Nathan Silverman
Maya Srkalovic
Abby Stewart
Grant Stille
Shelby Suseland
Garrett Swanson
Jacob Sypniewski
Nina Szalkiewicz
Jack Tagget
Leah Tardiff
Emily Tenniswood
Cade Thune
Matt Turton
Madison Vallan
Zachary Van Faussien
Travis Veenhuis
Tejas Vettukattil
Vanessa Vigier
Maija Weaver
Megan Williams
Hannah Wolfe
Sophia Woodhams
Austin Yunker
Christian Zeitvogel

Two K Student-Athletes Attend NCAA Convention

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Two student-athletes represented Kalamazoo College at the 2019 NCAA Convention in Orlando, Florida, earning an insider’s look at the governance and maintenance of college sports.

Jared Pittman and Amanda Moss at NCAA Convention
Jared Pittman ’20 and Amanda Moss ’19 attended the NCAA Convention in Orlando, Florida.

Jared Pittman ’20 and Amanda Moss ’19 attended business sessions with hundreds of athletes, athletic directors and college administrators from Division I, II and III schools around the country, including K Athletic Director Becky Hall. By attending these sessions and sharing their feedback with Hall, a voting member of the NCAA, they were able to have a voice in how rules affect Division III athletes’ experiences.

Football coach Jamie Zorbo approached Pittman, a running back and captain on the football squad, about attending. Women’s basketball coach Katie Miller recommended that Moss, a guard on Miller’s team, attend. As leaders in their sports at K and as participants in the school’s Athletic Leadership Council, Pittman and Moss were logical choices, especially as they hope their careers one day involve athletics.

“It was fascinating because the NCAA president [Mark Emmert] emphasized that [the organization] is a democracy,” said Moss, who is also a midfielder for K’s women’s lacrosse team. “In addition to being informational, it was also a time for college representatives to interact and share best practices.” For example, through Division III legislation proposed at the conference, representatives agreed to drop some social media restrictions for coaches and athletic department staff to better align Division III recruiting rules with those in Divisions I and II.

“The world of college athletics is much bigger than I thought it was,” Pittman said of his experience at the convention. “It gave me a new-found appreciation for how rules and regulations are developed in college sports. It also gave me a bigger passion for all sports, because I interacted with athletes I wouldn’t otherwise know, especially those from sports K doesn’t have. Athletics can do a lot for young people.”

NCAA Convention
Jared Pittman ’20 and Amanda Moss ’19 attended the NCAA Convention with hundreds of athletes, athletic directors and college administrators from Division I, II and III schools around the country, including Athletic Director Becky Hall.

Pittman and Moss agreed an opportunity to network was their best benefit of attending at the convention.

“We were fortunate enough to travel in a group with other MIAA [Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association] athletes from schools like Calvin, Hope and Alma,” said Moss, who also has prepped for a career in sports with an NBA internship and by serving as the president and co-founder of K’s Sports Business Club. “It was enjoyable because we brought that K perspective, but heard from the schools we compete with each year. It was great because we attended business sessions during the day, and at night, we were able to explore Orlando.”

“Honestly, we didn’t talk about sports much,” Pittman said. “It was more about character and how we improve our institutions, especially with Division III being about academic experience as much as athletics.” In fact, he noted from his networking that K’s student counseling resources such as the Counseling Center and efforts related to sexual-violence prevention through groups such as Green Dot are advanced when compared with its peer institutions. “It was really cool getting to know the delegates from other MIAA schools and developing friendships,” Pittman said. I’m blessed to have the chance to attend K and compete in Division III. If I didn’t, I probably never would have had the chance to attend the convention.”

Read more about the 2019 convention and its news at the NCAA’s website.

Honors Day 2018 Celebrates Student Achievements

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Kalamazoo College Family Weekend served as the backdrop for the Honors Day 2018 convocation. More than 250 students were recognized Friday, Nov. 2, 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 awards. Student athletes and teams who won Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association awards also were honored. The students receiving Honors Day awards or recognition are listed below.

5 students and Provost on stage during Honors Day 2018 Convocation
Interim Provost Laura Lowe Furge applauds students receiving awards in the Fine Arts Division during the Honors Day 2018 convocation at Stetson Chapel.

FINE ARTS DIVISION

The Brian Gougeon Prize in Art
Isabel McLaughlin
Angela Pastor

The Margaret Upton Prize in Music
Dylan Beight

Cooper Award
Alysia Homminga
Megan Wilson

Sherwood Prize
Christina Diaz

Theatre Arts First-Year Student Award
Christina Diaz
Ynika Yuag

FOREIGN LANGUAGES DIVISION

LeGrand Copley Prize in French
Avani Ashtekar
Jessica Gougeon

Hardy Fuchs Award
Emily Eringaard

Margo Light Award
Grace Stier

Romance Languages Department Prize in Spanish
Sophia Goebel
Samantha Vasquez

Clara H. Buckley Prize for Excellence in Latin
Madeline Ward
Zhi Nee Wee

Provost’s Prize in Classics
Mara Hazen

HUMANITIES DIVISION

O.M. Allen Prize in English
Avani Ashtekar
Ynika Yuag

John B. Wickstrom Prize in History
CJ Martonchik

Department of Philosophy Prize
Johanna Jeung
Rosella LoChirco
Merrick Richardson

L.J. and Eva (“Gibbie”) Hemmes Memorial Prize in Philosophy
Max Fitzell
Daniel Qin

NATURAL SCIENCES AND MATHEMATICS DIVISION

Winifred Peake Jones Prize in Biology
Alexa Dulmage

Department of Chemistry Prize
Joseph Keller
Priya Pokorzynski

First-Year Chemistry Award
Lillian Baumann
Camden Gardner

Lemuel F. Smith Award
Sean Walsh

Computer Science Prize
Josephine Hosner
Ian Nostrant

First-Year Mathematics Award
Samuel Ratliff
Minh Dang

Thomas O. Walton Prize in Mathematics
Austin Cramer
Ethan Cuka
Michael Orwin
William Tait
Madeline Ward

Cooper Prize in Physics
Andrew Backer
Adam Decker
Emily Eringaard
Daniel Qin
Eleri Watkins

SOCIAL SCIENCES DIVISION

Departmental Prize in Anthropology and Sociology
Julia Bachmann
Nyima Coleman
Vivian Enriquez
Marcos Ferguson Morales
Yasamin Shaker

Wallace Lawrence Prize in Economics
Jade Jiang
Zachary Ray

William G. Howard Memorial Prize
Shayaan Dar

Wallace Lawrence Prize in Business
Georgie Andrews
Valentina Cordero

Irene and S. Kyle Morris Prize
Nick Klepser

William G. Howard Memorial Prize in Political Science
Alaq Zghayer

Department of Psychology First-Year Student Prize
Cavan Bonner

PHYSICAL EDUCATION DIVISION

Division of Physical Education Prize
Alex Dupree
Hannah Wolfe

Maggie Wardle Prize
Sophia Goebel

COLLEGE AWARDS

Gordon Beaumont Memorial Award
Anthony Diep
Malak Ghazal

Henry and Inez Brown Prize
Alex Cadigan
Sarah George
Nicholas Ludka
Amanda Moss

Virginia Hinkelman Memorial Award
Sara Lonsberry

Heyl Scholars – Class of 2022
Evelyn Bartley
Eva DeYoung
Thomas Fales
Madeline Guimond
Alina Offerman
Molly Ratliff
Syeda Tooba
Tatianna Tyler

Posse Scholars – Class of 2022
Sonia Arreguin
Nicholas Davis
Nathan Garcia
Zy’ere Hollis
Tytiana Jones
Aaron Martinez
Udochi Okorie
Joshua Pamintuan
Anthony Peraza
Samantha Rodriguez
Fiorina Talaba

National Merit Scholar – Class of 2022
Carter Wade

Voynovich Scholars
Haley Harris
Kathryn Martin

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.

Nicole Bailey
Angel Banuelos
Catherine Carlberg
Justin Christopher-Moody
Nyima Coleman
Karli Crouch
Alexandro Cruz
Sela Damer-Daigle
Shayaan Dar
Adam Decker
Julia Dobry
Talea Fournier
Anna Gambetta
Camden Gardner
Sophia Goebel
Stanton Greenstone
Emily Hamel
Kelly Hansen
Kaylee Henderson
Amelia Hensler
Audrey Honig
Samantha Jacobsen
Madeline Jump
Liza Kahn
Joseph Keller
Hannah Kerns
Lu Liu
Rachel Madar
Natalie Markech
CJ Martonchik
Daniel Mota-Villegas
Kelly Nickelson
Nikoli Nickson
Abigail O’Keefe
Daniel Qin
Sage Ringsmuth
Maelle Rouquet
Kimberly Schmidt
Lily Shearer
Hannah Shiner
Caitlin Tremewan
Carter Vespi
Claire Ward
Maija Weaver
Ehren White

ENLIGHTENED LEADERSHIP AWARDS

Performing Arts: Music
Robert Barnard
Irie Browne
Rebecca Chan
Nolan Devine
Daniel Fahle
Grace Hancock
Julia Leet
Thomas Saxton
Lia Schroeder
Matthew Swarthout
Jonathan Townley
Ethan Tuck
Andrew Wright

MICHIGAN INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION (MIAA) AWARDS

The following Hornet teams earned the 2017-2018 MIAA Team GPA Award. Team members achieved a 3.3 or better grade point average for the entire academic year.

Men’s Baseball
Men’s Cross Country
Men’s Golf
Men’s Soccer
Men’s Swimming and Diving
Men’s Tennis
Women’s Basketball
Women’s Golf
Women’s Lacrosse
Women’s Soccer
Women’s Softball
Women’s Swimming and Diving
Women’s Tennis
Women’s Volleyball

MIAA ACADEMIC HONOR ROLL

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

Alexandrea Ambs
Georgie Andrews
Ryan Andrusz
Hunter Angileri
Lauren Arquette
Julia Bachmann
Nicole Bailey
Zoe Barnes
Lillian Baumann
Jacob Bonifacio
Thomas Bryant
Jane Bunch
Alexander Cadigan
Charles Carson
Claire Cebelak
Joshua Claassens
Noah Coplan
Chase Coselman
Christina Dandar
Elan Dantus
Ricardo DelOlmo-Parrado
Guillermo Dominguez Garcia
Anders Finholt
Matthew Flotermersch
Benjamin Forhan
Maria Franco
Alex Fultz
Andre Gard
Sarah George
Jacob Gilhaus
Anthony Giovanni
Rachel Girard
Beau Godkin
Sophia Goebel
Connor Grant
Keenan Grant
Preston Grossling
Rebekah Halley
Griffin Hamel
Kaiya Herman-Hilker
Mathew Holmes-Hackerd
Matthew Howrey
Briana Huisken
Shannon Irvine
Samantha Jacobsen
Tim Jeske
Benjamin Johanski
Katherine Johnson
Lisa Johnston
Jackson Jones
Madeline Jump
Claire Kalina
Grace Karrip
Maria Katrantzi
Donald Kearns
Sai Klein
Emily Kozal
Matthew Krinock
Rosella LoChirco
Molly Logsdon
Nicholas Ludka
Rachel Madar
Cydney Martell
Eliza McCall
Courtney McGinnis
Clayton Meldrum
Tytus Metzler
Nathan Micallef
Madison Moote
Amanda Moss
Elizabeth Munoz
Kelly Nickelson
Nikoli Nickson
Jonathan Nord
Skyler Norgaard
Ian Nostrant
Abigail O’Keefe
Ryan Orr
Michael Orwin
Alexandria Oswalt
James Paprocki
Cayla Patterson
Caleb Patton
Zachary Prystash
Erika Pueblo
Daniel Qin
Erin Radermacher
Zachary Ray
Joshua Reuter
Julia Riddle
Scott Roberts
Anna Roodbergen
Justin Roop
Peter Rossi
Matthew Ryder
Claire Schertzing
Nicholas Schneider
Eleanor Schodowski
Justin Seablom
Sharif Shaker
Reagan Shapton
Danielle Simon
Jordan Skidmore
Adam Snider
Grant Stille
Shelby Suseland
Jack Tagget
Liam Tait
Kathryn Thamann
Alayna Tomlinson
Madison Vallan
David Vanderkloot
Zachary VanFaussien
Travis Veenhuis
Maija Weaver
Alex White
Jessica Wile
Jordan Wiley
Clayton Wilkey
Hannah Wolfe
Madeline Woods

Coach, NCAA Forum Nurture K Student’s Career Aspirations

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Brad Bez ’19 says he has wanted to be a coach since he was in his first year at Kalamazoo College.

“I think I’ve always had it in the back of my mind,” he says. “But that was when I really started to pursue it and decide it was what I wanted to do.”

Future College Coach Brad Bez Squatting Next to Logos
Brad Bez ’19, an offensive lineman who aspires to be a collegiate coach, points out the Kalamazoo College athletics logo in a display at the NCAA national office in Indianapolis, where he was one of 240 collegiate athletes from across the nation to attend the NCAA Career in Sports Forum.

The Hornet football offensive lineman’s ambition is well known to Head Coach Jamie Zorbo ’00, who mentors his players both on and off the field. In keeping with the emphasis in the K-Plan on experiential education, Zorbo nominated Bez for the NCAA Career in Sports Forum at the NCAA’s national office in Indianapolis in late May and early June 2018.

Bez was one of just 240 juniors and seniors chosen from more than 460,000 U.S. collegiate athletes to attend the all-expenses-paid forum, which the NCAA says is designed to assist them in charting their career paths as athletics professionals.

Over four days, he got to meet coaches, athletic directors and athletic staff from colleges and universities across the nation.

“It was all networking and workshops: how to make a better resume, different ways to connect with people, more information about the different careers in athletics, and particularly college athletics,” he says. “There were so many things we learned how to do and learned more about.”

The history major and political science minor says the biggest benefit may have been meeting fellow college athletes who will be among his future professional peers.

“Initially a lot of us went there with the idea that we were going to try to meet people in a position we want to be in. So a lot of us were trying to network with the people who have jobs,” he says. “And by the end, we all realized it was way more important to network with our peers, to try to get to know them. For example, I want to coach, and I met a guy who wants to be an athletic director. So we got to talking, and I was like, ‘Down the road, maybe one day, we’ll cross paths and you’ll get to hire me.’ ”

Bez, who is spending the summer as an intern in the Michigan State University athletic director’s office, says the biggest takeaway from the conference was “you have to build genuine relationships with people. If they just know your name, that’s not really enough. You have to know who people are and they have to know you in order for that to be a productive relationship. For both of you it has to be genuine.”

That’s the sort of relationship he—and, he says, his teammates—have with Zorbo.

“I’ve been pretty lucky that I’ve gotten to be around Coach a lot during my time at K,” he says. “Whether it’s calling me into his office to have an extended conversation or just encountering something and him saying, ‘Hey, if you want to be a coach, this is what you need to know,’ I’ve had a pretty in-depth relationship with him.”

He says Zorbo’s off-field efforts for his players also include making sure they get to know K football alumni who can help them in their athletic and academic pursuits.

“Through Coach, I’ve been able to build my own network and have these people who share a commonality with me,” Bez says.

With Zorbo’s example, he talks about coaching not in terms of wins and losses, but as a way of making a difference in other people’s lives—and his own.

“I think the best thing about coaching is the relationships you get to build and the effect you get to have on people,” he says. “I mean, when I look back on my life, aside from my parents and family, the biggest impact on me has been my coaches. Those people shaped me to be who I am. I think that would be a spot really suited to me to have an impact on other people, but also for them to have an impact on me.”

Baseball Player Makes a Surprise Proposal

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It was always going to happen.

Connor Grant ’18 and Kelsey Corless had known each other since seventh grade in Lake Orion, Michigan. They were high school sweethearts. And though he went to Kalamazoo College while she attended Grand Valley State University, they remained committed to one another.

Connor Grant on one knee in front of Kelsey Corless for surprise proposal
Connor Grant ’18 gave Kelsey Corless a surprise proposal last weekend during a Senior Day doubleheader at Kalamazoo College’s Woodworth Field.

“We talked about it and she knew something like this was coming,” Grant, a first baseman for Kalamazoo College’s baseball team, said of his engagement to Corless.

The inevitable, however, didn’t have to be predictable. Grant wanted to make sure his proposal was a special — and very memorable — moment.

So before last weekend’s Senior Day doubleheader at K’s Woodworth Field, he went to Head Baseball Coach Michael Ott and asked for permission to carry out a secret plan. It was crafted to make sure that when he made his proposal, not only Corless but both their families would be there and that she would have no clue as to what was about to happen.

Grant’s plan revolved around the Senior Day ceremony, which takes place during the break between games. The graduating players line up along the third base line, then are called one by one with their families and friends to home plate, where they receive a bat engraved with their name and position. Grant, the team captain, deliberately asked to be called last so as not to overshadow his fellow senior players and he made sure he had their assent.

He also arranged it so that when his roommate, catcher Alex Fultz ’18, presented him with the bat, he would slip him the ring, as well. The announcer would then set up the moment, saying, “This is more than a Senior Day …”

Grant’s proposal to get hitched went without a hitch, and the appropriately stunned bride-to-be said yes. And both of their families got to witness the engagement, as planned.

“I had a nervous day leading up to it,” Grant said. “But other than that, it went perfect.”

For the crowd, one of the biggest of the season, it was an unexpected treat.

“Their reaction was amazing,” Grant said. “People were ecstatic for us. All the seniors’ families were there and got to be a part of it.”

“I think there were some people wiping away tears,” said Ott, adding that the opposing team joined in the cheers and applause.

The wedding date has yet to be set, but Grant said he expects it to occur sometime next summer, after he and Corless get settled in to post-college life. Corless last month received her degree from Grand Valley in management information systems, and Grant, a business and economics major who graduates June 17, is set to start work this summer as a mortgage banker with Quicken Loans in Detroit.

Ott said the proposal “was a really cool moment” for the baseball program, and “definitely a first.”

It capped a weekend when the Hornets finished their season with a sweep of Olivet College, making it even better. And despite his nervousness, Ott said, Grant drove in four runs in the afternoon’s first game.

For Grant and Corless, Ott said, “I’m sure it’s something they’re going to remember.”

He said it was also a reminder for Grant’s graduating teammates that, although their collegiate athletic careers are coming to an end, their lives—like Grant and Corless’ together—are just getting started.

“I think it was a moment that was a little bit bigger than baseball,” Ott said. “It provided some perspective about what’s really important.”

He said he was proud to have been able to make the surprise proposal possible for Grant, who is fourth on the list of Hornets baseball players for most games played.

“I just love the kid,” he said.

Grant said being at a school like K allowed him to forge a strong relationship with his coaches and fellow players so he could share his big moment with them.

“That’s what made it possible,” he said.

Anderson, Longtime Men’s Athletics Director, Dies at 97

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Rolla Anderson
A memorial service for Rolla Anderson will be held at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, May 5, in Stetson Chapel.

Rolla Anderson, namesake of the Rolla L. Anderson Athletic Center on Kalamazoo College’s campus, died on Wednesday, April 25. He was 97 years old.

Anderson came to K in 1953 and was director of men’s athletics until his retirement in 1985. In 1962, he led the Hornets to an undefeated football season and was named Michigan Coach of the Year in news media balloting. Under him, the team again won the MIAA championship in 1963. He also led teams to championships as a coach in tennis, golf and cross country, and he coached basketball. Anderson was a long-time director of the United States Tennis Association (USTA) Boys’ 18 & 16 National Championships.

“Generations of Kalamazoo College student-athletes benefited from Rolla’s guidance and leadership,” said President Jorge G. Gonzalez. “He was well-known for tirelessly stressing the importance of sound physical education in the liberal arts.”

Named a professor of physical education in 1965, he continued to be an active and enthusiastic supporter of the College in retirement, and was a leader in Kalamazoo civic organizations and the USTA.

Anderson Athletic Center was dedicated in his name in 1981, and he was inducted into the Kalamazoo College Athletic Hall of Fame in 1992. In 1997, he received the Kalamazoo College Alumni Association’s Weimer K. Hicks Award, which recognizes employees who have made exceptional long-term contributions to the College.

Rolla Anderson obit 1920-2018A 1944 graduate of Western Michigan University, he was a star in basketball and football there and was inducted into the university’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 1982. He also is in the hall of fame at Southeast Missouri State University, where he was a member of a championship basketball team before transferring to Western.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Patricia, in 2010.

A memorial service will be held at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, May 5, in Stetson Chapel, followed by a time to visit with the family. Anderson’s family has asked memorial gifts be made to the Rolla and Pat Anderson Athletic Endowment at Kalamazoo College, a fund that will support the Hornets in perpetuity.

Women’s Football Champion Inspires Campus with Tale of Perseverance

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Every year Kalamazoo College athletes and coaches present a Community Reflection session titled “Why We Play” where they share with the entire campus stories of what motivates them to compete, and the lessons and rewards of NCAA Division III athletics.

Women's Football Champion Liz Okey
Former women’s football champion Liz Okey ’07 displays the gold medal she won as part of the 2013 U.S. team.

Inevitably, a few seniors also express regret that their sporting careers are about to end. In 2007, Liz Okey was one of them. A Hornets volleyball player who served as team captain, Okey was moving on to graduate school and a career in Chicago.

“When I graduated … I thought my athletic career was over,” she told the audience in Stetson Chapel as she returned to K share her story at this year’s “Why We Play” reflection in late January.

Instead, she began a completely new adventure, discovering women’s tackle football, and in 2009, becoming a lineman for the Chicago Force, part of the Women’s Football Alliance.

“I tried out for the Force and traded my knee pads for shoulder pads,” she said.

Women’s tackle football is just like the men’s game, she said, except the ball is slightly smaller — and there’s no pay. She loved the game, and kept on playing until her fourth year. In the home opener of that season, which would see the Force contend for a national championship, she suffered a devastating injury.

Recovering from surgery for a fractured fibula required extensive physical therapy, she said, and after the Force lost a “nail-biter” championship game, she thought about retiring from football.

Women's Football Champion Liz Okey at center
Former women’s football champion Liz Okey ’07 lines up at center for the Chicago Force during the 2014 season.

“My body had been through it all, and I had spent eight months a year for the last four years living and breathing football,” she said. “After a lot of soul searching, I returned to the questions that brought us all here today: Why do I play? And I realized I was not ready to hang up my cleats. I had more to give.”

She recalled an annual volleyball drill at K that, as she put it, was “designed to cause players stress” by forcing them to compete against a numerically superior squad while repeatedly changing up their offense.

“Essentially, these players had to achieve the near-impossible, and yet the rule was they couldn’t quit. Every year we knew we were going to be pushed to the edge, and we only had one choice: to dig deeper and overcome,” she said. “I knew following that injury that I had more inside of me. I had more to give to my teammates, to my coaches, to the city that I represented and to the sport of football. I was not done yet.”

Nine months after her surgery, she won the competition to become the starting center on the U.S. Women’s National Team. The team went on to win the world championship that July in Finland, where the Americans crushed opponents from Sweden, Germany and Canada.

Women's Football Champion Liz Okey kneels
Former women’s football champion Liz Okey ’07 in a Chicago Force official team photo.

After that, Okey returned to the Force, which won a national championship the next month. When the team failed to repeat in 2014, she retired. She still proudly wears her championship rings and serves on the executive committee of the board of USA Football, the official youth football development partner of the NFL.

“There’s a magical thing about sports,” she said. “It teaches you things about life. How to withstand, react and rebound from life’s greatest adversities.”

She said returning to speak at K had been a dream of hers, and she urged current Hornets to pursue their own dreams with similar dedication.

“Future Hornets, this amazing campus and community has not seen your talents yet. Prepare to give it your all. Current students, your adult life is about to take off. Give the world everything you’ve got,” she said. “Faculty and coaches, you’re shaping the leaders of tomorrow. Protect them, push them and give them all the tools they need to succeed. Each of us will be tested on a regular basis. And under the layers of doubt and fear we each have more to give. So do one more rep, run that extra mile, volunteer one more hour and give it one more shot. You never know where that extra effort will take you.”

K Alumnus Named to International Tennis Hall of Fame

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Kalamazoo College Alumnus Vic BradenRejuvenation might be a theme for this year’s tennis Australian Open. Venus and Serena Williams meet in the women’s singles championships match. And if Rafael Nadal (age 30) wins his semifinal match, he’ll face the 35-year-old (ancient by professional tennis standards) Roger Federer in the men’s championship.

There’s a K connection to this year’s Open as well. The late Vic Braden, Kalamazoo College class of 1951, is one of the 2017 recipients of the International Tennis Hall of Fame. That class was inducted during the Australian Open on January 23. Vic was a groundbreaking tennis instructor and sports scientists. Other members of the hall-of-fame class of 2017 include former world number-one ranked players Kim Clijsters and Andy Roddick, wheelchair tennis player Monique Kalkman-van den Bosch and journalist and historian Steve Flink.

Women’s Athletics Pioneer Passes

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Women's Athletics Pioneer Tish Loveless

Ada Letitia (“Tish”) Loveless, Ph.D., women’s athletics pioneer and longtime Director of Women’s Athletics at Kalamazoo College, died on Thursday, September 22, 2016, at her home. She was 91 years old.

Tish served as Director of Women’s Athletics from 1953 until she retired in 1986. Prior to her arrival, there were no women’s intercollegiate athletic teams at Kalamazoo College. During her tenure, she established women’s varsity teams in tennis, field hockey, archery, swimming, basketball, volleyball, soccer, and cross country.  She is the most successful coach of women’s teams in the history of the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association, the oldest athletic conference in the country. Her teams won 28 league championships: 23 in tennis, four in archery, and one in field hockey. Her 1986 women’s tennis squad finished third in the nation. In 1992, Kalamazoo College inducted Tish into its Athletic Hall of Fame and, in 2015, the College dedicated the “Tish Loveless Court” in the Anderson Athletic Center.

Tish believed in the benefits of competition for everyone, regardless of skill level, and she worked tirelessly to ensure all students had opportunities to compete. She added new sports and classes based on student requests, and not just her own skills.  On several occasions, Tish coached sports largely unfamiliar to her at the urging of passionate students. Over the years, she learned, and then taught, fencing, archery, modern dance, folk dance, social dance, and swimming.

“Tish’s legacy includes the thousands of students whose lives she touched,” said Marilyn Maurer, coach emerita of women’s swimming and a longtime colleague and friend. “She opened their eyes to doors of possibility to which they hadn’t realized they already possessed the key. Many of her students remained in close contact to the very end.”

Tish earned a BS in physical education from the University of Illinois in 1948, an MS from UCLA in 1952, and a PhD in education from Michigan State in 1977.  In 1988, she was inducted into the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics Hall of Fame.  She received the Weimar K. Hicks Award from the Kalamazoo College Alumni Association for service to the College in 2002.

Thanks to the loving care of friends and caregivers, Tish spent her last days at her Kalamazoo home that she had shared with Marilyn Hinkle, a lifelong good friend and member of Kalamazoo College class of 1948.  Marilyn died on January 25, 2007.

Tish is survived by many nieces and nephews and their children, as well as several generations of Kalamazoo students who always treated her like family.

A memorial service is being planned for Saturday, November 12, 2016, at 3:30 p.m. in Stetson Chapel followed by a reception in Anderson Athletic Center Lobby. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Tish Loveless Women’s Athletics Endowment or the Marilyn Hinkle Endowed Scholarship for Arts at Kalamazoo College.