So eventful was the junior year of senior Zoe Beaudry that she made sure the summer following was just as worthy in terms of experiential opportunities. Zoe studied abroad in Israel during her junior fall and winter terms. That was followed with spring quarter on campus, during which she worked toward her major in art. Then came a summer of two internships. The first found Zoe in Massachusetts, working with Israeli and Palestinian youth to build community across cultures and differences through art. The second half of Zoe’s summer was spent in Haiti, as an intern with International Child Care. ICC is a Christian health development organization that has operated in Haiti since 1967. It works to change the conditions of poverty that impact health and well-being. Zoe kept a blog while she was in Haiti. Its entries cover her first impressions and hopes and her first art session with children at ICC’s Grace Children’s Hospital. She also worked in the wider community. ICC’s community outreach program serves families of mentally or physically handicapped children in the community by sending hospital staff to their homes for weekly physical therapy or mental exercise sessions. News of her art sessions spread, and so she did artwork with children who participate in community inclusion program. The photo was taken after that session: Zoe is pictured in the back row, at left. Her blog entries are worth a read. Zoe’s senior year promises to be as rewarding as her junior year. Among other activities, she is a Civic Engagement Scholar (CES) for the program Partners in Art. The CES program is administered by the College’s Mary Jane Underwood Stryker Center for Civic Engagement.
career development
K Grads Receive “Preferred” Admissions Status to New WMU Medical School
The new Western Michigan University School of Medicine (WMed) has announced a “preferred” relationship with Kalamazoo College, Western Michigan University (WMU), and WMU’s Lee Honors College. Prospective students from these institutions may apply to WMed through the American Medical College Application Service, a centralized application processing service available to applicants to first-year entering classes at participating U.S. medical schools. Students will be selected through the regular selection process and must meet all admission requirements. All things being equal, students from K, WMU, and Lee will receive preference in admission.
“We are excited about this relationship between K and Western Michigan University School of Medicine,” said Kalamazoo College Provost Mickey McDonald. “This acknowledges the strength of K’s Health Sciences Program and provides K graduates an opportunity to pursue a medical degree while remaining in southwest Michigan.”
Construction of the new medical school in downtown Kalamazoo is underway. Students in the first WMed class will begin their studies in August 2014.
K-Plan Cultivation
Kalamazoo College students may not be in class during the summer, but they are busy cultivating their K-Plans, across the country and around the world, in externships and internships supported by the Center for Career and Professional Development.
This summer 109 students are taking part in the CCPD’s summer career development programs. The Discovery Externship Program, in its 12th year, offers 46 first-year and sophomore students the opportunity to test the waters of a possible career by living and working with an alumni or parent professional for up to four weeks. Externs and hosts agree that the intensity of sharing both workday and “porchtime” experiences leads to rich relationships and deep discovery about the reality of the working world. This summer discovery externs can be found shadowing alumni in hospitals and health networks, a maritime museum, an organic food truck, dentistry and veterinary practices, financial and consulting firms, a school in India and a farm in Michigan.
To ensure the educational quality of their workplace experience, interns enrolled in the CCPD’s Field Experience Program agree with their supervisor on a learning contract outlining mutual goals and objectives for their summer together. They commit to regular structured reflection about their workplace experience, and they receive evaluation feedback at the conclusion of the internship. This summer, 63 interns are spending at least six weeks working with alumni professionals, Kalamazoo area non-profits, social justice organizations, and a wide range of independently-secured experiences across the country. Most Field Experience Program interns receive a stipend to help defray the costs of their unpaid experiences.
Externships and internships challenge students to apply theoretical learning to practical situations and to examine assumptions about work and careers. One current student mid-way through her internship described her summer work experience as “both gratifying and challenging.” She said, “In many ways this internship is not meeting my expectations and is showing me how off-base those expectations have been. These past three weeks have helped me rid myself of assumptions I held, and have given me new ways of thinking about how work at a non-profit can be done.”
The CCPD is already at work recruiting hosts and supervisors for summer 2014. Alumni and parents interested in offering a workplace experience to a student may contact career@kzoo.edu to request more information about becoming part of the Discovery Externship Program or the Field Experience Program.
Mud for Kids
Suzanne Curtiss ′14 has been running things at International Child Care (ICC).
Literally, running.
Curtiss is the ICC student intern working out of the Christian health development organization’s headquarters in downtown Kalamazoo this summer. ICC is partnering with the Warrior Dash II mud run in Walker, Mich., near Grand Rapids on an event in September, and Curtiss has been charged with getting the word out. So she laced up her running shoes and has been running the streets of Kalamazoo to deliver news releases to Kalamazoo-area news media, running clubs, and anyone else who will listen.
She encourages everyone to join ICC′s Labou Pou Timoun (Creole for “Mud for Kids”) running event to help raise money for ICC’s childhood poverty and health initiative in the Dominican Republic and Haiti. The mud run, held September 21, is a 3.1-mile obstacle course that includes man-made obstacles and “tons of mud,” she says.
Working with ICC on the mud run has been Curtiss′s first real public relations experience and the English major (with a business minor and concentration in media studies) loves it.
“The work that ICC does is really inspiring, and I feel very honored to be able to spend my summer working to promote the organization and its international projects and involvements” said Curtiss.
ICC operates in both the Dominican Republic and Haiti with a children′s hospital and another that serves tuberculosis patients. It’s working to change the conditions of poverty that impact health and well-being in those countries.
Curtiss′s classmate, Zoe Beaudry ’14, also has an internship with ICC and will head to Haiti in August 
to work at ICC′s Grace Children’s Hospital on art projects with the patients. At the end of her six weeks there, she will compile the projects into a photo book for distribution in Haiti and back in Kalamazoo.
Keep running, Suzanne and Zoe!
Story by Mallory Zink ′15.
Kalamazoo College Guilds Reach 1,833rd Member
At tonight’s Major League Baseball all-star game, players from the National and American Leagues will contend to make their team number 1. But it takes someone really special–like Gail Raiman–to be number 1,833. Today (July 16) Raiman became 1,833rd member of the global professional network known as the Guilds of Kalamazoo College. The special number corresponds to the year 1833, when Kalamazoo College was founded.
A graduate of the Class of 1973, Raiman majored in philosophy, studied abroad in Strasbourg, France, and completed a career service internship for then house minority leader Gerald Ford. After graduation she worked in the Ford Administration and later held executive positions for the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, the American Textile Manufacturers Institute, and the national trade association Associated Builders and Contractors, Inc. She serves on the College’s Board of Trustees and the Alumni Association Executive Board. And now she’s joined the Guilds LinkedIn group, becoming the 1833rd member of the extended K community to do so since the Guilds launched their LinkedIn network in June 2010.
Other new Guild members admitted along with Raiman this week include Jeff Outslay ’06, an MBA Associate at Delta Airlines in Atlanta, Georgia; Leslie Knox ’01, a case management professional at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, New York; Riley Lundquist ’16, a rising sophomore and summer engineering intern at Eaton Corporation outside Kalamazoo; and Elinor Epperson ’13, an aspiring video editor and public historian who just graduated in June.
The Guilds of Kalamazoo College launched in January 2008 as part of a strategic initiative to engage alumni professionals in current students’ career development. In January 2013, five Guilds became seven when the Arts & Media Guild and the Education Guild joined the Business Guild, the Health Guild, the Law Guild, the Nonprofit & Public Service Guild, and the Science & Technology Guild.
Reaching the 1833rd member mark is the result of sustained outreach and growth on the LinkedIn professional networking platform, according to Joan Hawxhurst, director of the Center for Career and Professional Development. Overall membership in the College’s Guilds is up 40 percent compared to last year. Guild members seek and offer mentorship, career advice, summer and entry-level positions, insight into industry trends, and networking opportunities.
Sustainability Goes Fourth at Kalamazoo College
Kalamazoo College will host the fourth annual Sustainability SIP Symposium on Monday, April 29, 6-9 p.m., in 103 Dewing Hall on the K campus (1200 Academy St.), co-sponsored by the College’s Guilds and Environmental Studies Program. Free and open to the public, the event will feature student presentations of sustainability-related Senior Individualized Projects (SIPs) ranging in topic from English to Economics. Audience members will have time for questions following each presentation, and an opportunity to meet student researchers at the interactive poster session and reception beginning at 8 p.m. in Dewing Hall Commons. Refreshments will be provided by the People’s Food Co-Op.
Student presentations include:
Mysha Clarke: Energy Recovery in Landfills: A Jamaican Case Study
Monika Egerer: Ecosystem Services on the Mariana Islands: Implications of bird loss for a wild chili pepper species
Rebecca Rogstad: Zane, the Curious Little Zooxanthellate
Shoshana Schultz: Inverting the Atlas: Mapping Geographically Based Food Security in Kalamazoo
“The annual symposium recognizes the scholarship and research that many K seniors devote to their SIPs (a graduation requirement) and showcases the breadth and depth of sustainability-related work taking place at the College,” said Joan Hawxhurst, Director, Center for Career and Professional Development.
This year’s Symposium is the first since the reorganization and expansion of the Guilds to include seven career path clusters: Arts & Media, Business, Education, Health, Law, Nonprofit & Public Service, and Science & Technology. Sustainability infuses the conversations and collaborations in all seven Guilds, and the Sustainability SIP Symposium showcases how this value cuts across disciplines and departments and informs the work of all professionals.
Kalamazoo College’s Career Center Growing Stronger
Two new reports recently released by the Center for Career and Professional Development (CCPD) document an increase in student and alumni use of CCPD programs and chart the first post-graduate destinations of the Kalamazoo College class of 2012. The 2012 CCPD Annual Report is the unit’s first. CCPD has conducted “Life After K” surveys since 2009. Highlights of the two reports include the following findings.
Of the reporting 2012 graduates seeking employment, 80 percent had secured it by the end of the calendar year.
Of the reporting 2012 graduates seeking graduate education, 95 percent had secured it by year end.
The CCPD supported 98 students’ career development opportunities in summer 2011, including 30 externships and 68 internships.
Alumni engagement in CCPD programs and services rose by 40 percent in 2011-12.
Membership in the Guilds of Kalamazoo College, as measured by new additions to the group on LinkedIn, grew by 554 individuals, or 42 percent, in 2011-12.
Kalamazoo College Guilds Renamed and Expanded
On the program’s fifth anniversary, the Guilds of Kalamazoo College announced the addition of two new guilds and the re-christening of two others. An open house to celebrate this growth and evolution will occur Wednesday, January 9, from 6 PM to 8 PM in the Center for Career and Professional Development resource room on the first floor of Dewing Hall. Birthday cake will be served, and attendees will get first look at the summer 2013 internship and externship opportunities. The Guilds are active communities of engaged professionals—apprentices and masters—supported by the College’s Center for Career and Professional Development (CCPD). Membership in the Guilds groups on LinkedIn has surpassed 1,500 individuals, including more than 1,000 K alumni. The names of two Guilds have changed—the Justice & Peace Guild becomes the Nonprofit & Public Service Guild, and the Sustainability Guild becomes the Science & Technology Guild. The Nonprofit & Public Service name reflects the life work of the majority of that Guild’s members, allowing apprentices and masters to more easily recognize their career paths within that Guild. The Science & Technology Guild creates a Guild home for a group of students and alumni professionals that until now hadn’t determined where they fit in the Guilds. The two name changes in no way undermine those Guilds’ engagements with matters of peace, justice, and sustainability. Says CCPD director Joan Hawxhurst: “The CCPD remains committed to those core ideals. Working with Guilds members we will bring these topics into conversations across all Guilds.” The new “all” includes two new entities: the Education Guild and the Arts & Media Guild. The Business Guild, Health Guild, and Law Guild complete the magnificent seven. CCPD will continue to work with the Environmental Studies concentration to co-host the annual Sustainability SIP Symposium, which showcases senior research that aligns with professional pathways in multiple Guilds. And, says Hawxhurst, “We also will continue to partner with the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership to address social justice issues across all the Guilds.”
Post-Grad Public Service
“Politics and Public Service: K-Plans and Career Paths” was the theme of the Week Six (Oct. 19) Community Reflection in Stetson Chapel. Co-sponsored by the Center for Career and Professional Development and Alumni Relations, the reflection hosted a panel of Kalamazoo College alumni working in the areas of politics or public service.
College Republicans Co-Leader Aubry McIntyre ’15 and College Democrats President Alex Werder ’15 began the Reflection with a mock political debate. They sparred over the issues central to this year’s presidential election, modeling “civilized political discourse” for the audience of students and alumni present for Homecoming weekend.
Arnold Campbell ’72 spoke about his meandering path from study abroad at K to the United States Foreign Service, where he currently serves as Officer and Chargé d’Affaires for the U.S. Embassy in Malta. After studying abroad in Germany, he said he found his calling. “I no longer wanted to be a tourist in the world; I wanted to be participating in those other cultures, and that was because of what I’d experienced here.” His wife, Martha Campbell ’72, also held office in the Foreign Service after K, most recently as U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Marshall Islands. She said her K education prepared her for a rigorous, demanding, and exciting job.
Lastly, Amanda Stitt ’02 read from an essay chronicling her journey in Michigan politics rooted in a few influential K classes. She founded K’s chapter of the College Democrats and opted to leave school during her junior fall to help with the 2000 election. Stitt served as former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s political director, ran a statewide nonprofit, and now works with the UAW. She said her K-Plan helped her develop the communication, networking, and leadership skills she would later need in the political world.
Community Reflection offers a unique forum for discussion, worship, performance, and community expression each Friday at 10:50 AM in Stetson Chapel. The campus community and general public are invited. [Story and photo by Elaine Ezekiel ’13]
Kalamazoo is Among “Colleges That Change Lives”
“If you were to build your own liberal arts college, you’d look closely at Kalamazoo College for ideas about how to do it. That’s because other colleges offer some of the same distinctive features you’ll find at Kalamazoo, but few integrate all of them so thoughtfully to create life-changing experiences.”
So begins the chapter on Kalamazoo College in the 2013-14 edition of “Colleges that Change Lives: 40 Schools that Will Change the Way You Think about College.”
Colleges That Change Lives (Penguin Books; ISBN: 9780143122302 On-Sale Date: August 28, 2012; 352 pages; $17.00) was first published in 1996 by Loren Pope, former education editor of the New York Times. Pope was also the founder of the College Placement Bureau, a college administrator, and the author of “Looking Beyond the Ivy League.”
Pope published updates to his book in 2000 and 2006. He died in 2008.
The fourth and most recent edition has been updated by Hilary Masell Oswald a journalist who writes about education, architecture and design, and public policy. Her work has appeared in Newsday, the Chicago Tribune, Edutopia, and other publications and websites.
She anticipates the questions that prospective students and their parents will have and provides the answers. Topics include:
• The look and feel of the campus
• Quality of dining hall food
• Percentage of students who study abroad
• Percentage of students who go to grad school
• Average SAT/ACT scores
• What professors have to say about their schools
“We are thrilled to be included once again in Colleges That Change Lives,” said Kalamazoo College Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Eric Staab. “Prospective students and their parents have more than 4,000 colleges and universities in the United States to choose from. This book helps them cut through the clutter and move beyond the ratings and rankings to find a college that is a good, affordable fit.”
Kalamazoo College has been included in each of the book’s four editions. Other colleges in the fourth edition include Allegheny (Pa.), Beloit (Wis.), Clark (Mass.), Hendrix (Ark.), Rhodes (Tenn.), Southwestern University (Texas), and University of Puget Sound (Wash.). Hope College and, for the first time, Hillsdale, are the only other Michigan schools included.
Oswald, as did Pope before her, visited K’s campus to conduct extensive interviews with students, faculty and staff.
She cites characteristics of the K-Plan —the College’s multilayered academic program—as a key to K’s success. These include a solid liberal arts curriculum, study abroad, experiential learning opportunities such as service-learning and leadership development, and a Senior Individualized Project.
“The K-Plan makes so much sense,” says Professor of Biology Binney Girdler in the book. “The first two years are the students’ foundation. The third year, they go far. The fourth year, they go deep. By the end of their time here, we’re willing to coauthor papers with them. That transformation—I’ll never get tired of it.”
According to Oswald, “What happens to students here is remarkable,” and K faculty members are a big reason why. “Over and over again,” she says, “students rave about their teachers, even as they complain about the amount of work. That’s a sign of good teaching.”
As proof a value for a Kalamazoo College education, Oswald cites Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA) test results. CLA tests freshmen and seniors for their critical thinking, analytical reasoning, problem solving, and written communications skills.
“CLA examiners compare results across a variety of four-year colleges to answer the question: Are student really learning anything?” writes Oswald. “At Kalamazoo they are. CLA said the students performed well above expected.”
Dean of Students Sarah Westfall describes the K student body: “We have a student body of individuals. There’s very little herd mentality. They feel a call to activism and learning, but they’re also garden variety kids—some from small towns, working-class families, and a good number are first-generation college kids.”
Oswald concludes her chapter on Kalamazoo College with her own observation about its students by saying they are “enthusiast about their learning and thoughtful about their responsibilities to their community. A few conversations with current students will convince you that Kalamazoo’s component parts are remarkable, but if ever there were a place where the effect is greater than the sum of its parts, that place in Kalamazoo College.”
K is a proud partner of CTCL Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement and support of a student-centered college search process. Separate from the book, CTCL Inc. works to dispel publicly held myths about college choice by hosting information sessions nationwide and coordinating outreach efforts with high school counselors and college counseling agencies.
Founded in Kalamazoo, Mich., in 1833, Kalamazoo College (www.kzoo.edu) is a nationally recognized liberal arts college and the creator of the K-Plan that emphasizes rigorous scholarship, learning by practice, leadership development, and both international and intercultural engagement. Its 1,400 students hail from 30 states and 24 countries. Kalamazoo College does more in four years, so students can do more in a lifetime.