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Former K professor and administrator, Dr. Wen Chao Chen, dies at age 92

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Former K Professor and Administrator Wen Chao Chen
Dr. Wen Chao Chen was a pillar of the Kalamazoo College and Greater Kalamazoo communities.

Wen Chao Chen, Ph.D., a farmer’s son from rural China who became a celebrated Kalamazoo College educator and civic leader, died August 13, 2012, at Friendship Village in Kalamazoo. He was 92.

“Dr. Wen Chao Chen was an extraordinarily loving person,” said Kalamazoo College President Eileen Wilson-Oyelaran. “He especially loved Kalamazoo College and the Kalamazoo community. He worked tirelessly for decades to help make each the best it could be.

“Dr. Chen had a brilliant mind and a gift for bringing people together. He often said he felt fortunate to be embraced by the community, but the people who continue to be touched by his legacy know just how much his life enriched all of ours.”

Chen joined the faculty of Kalamazoo College in 1950 as professor of political science. During his 36-year career with the College, he also served as librarian, director of academic services, dean of special services, vice president, acting president, and executive director of the L. Lee Stryker Center. He also helped establish the Heyl Scholarship program, which brings outstanding area high school graduates to Kalamazoo College to study science and to Western Michigan University to study nursing.

Throughout his career, Chen was a mentor to countless Kalamazoo College students, faculty, staff, alumni, and several presidents. His impact was so significant that he was repeatedly honored by the College. He was a recipient of Kalamazoo College’s Weimer K. Hicks Award, which honors current or retired employees who have provided significant long-term contributions to the College, and was named a Fellow of the College, Emeritus.

Shortly before his 1986 retirement, a faculty resolution acknowledged the College’s “long history of debts owed” to Dr. Chen,” his “steady hand” as “a source of security and reassurance,” and his commitment to K as “a treasured resource.”

In 1998, Chen’s friends and former students provided more than $1 million to endow the Wen Chao Chen Chair in East Asian Social Sciences at the College. In 2000, he and wife Lilia, a long-time substitute teacher in Kalamazoo Public Schools and a gifted artist, created a scholarship fund for art students.

During and after his years at Kalamazoo College, Dr. Chen was also active in local civic, business, and cultural matters. He co-founded the Michigan Festival of Sacred Music and helped establish the Kalamazoo Network, which developed leadership opportunities for women. He also helped establish the Kalamazoo Forum, which brought together business and academic leaders to discuss communitywide issues, and the Core Council of Governments, which sought greater cooperation among Kalamazoo County municipalities.

Wen Chao Chen was born October 14, 1919, in Chen Village, Fenxi County, Shanxi Province, China. He was one of seven children. At the age of six he began working on his father’s 33-acre farm. After several years in small village elementary schools, an older brother paid for him to attend a boarding school and later an American-administered Christian missionary training center.

Before he could complete high school, however, the Japanese army invaded China, and in 1937 Chen’s family was forced to flee the fighting. For several years, he worked a series of jobs as a tax collector, medic, and newspaper proofreader, in addition to taking some college courses.

By 1943, Chen was a lieutenant in the Chinese Army assigned to translation duties with United States Army forces in China. Toward the end of World War II, he was among 100 Chinese translators sent to the U.S. for further training. When the war ended, he enrolled at Grinnell College in Iowa where he completed his bachelor’s degree in political science. He went on to earn a master’s degree in public administration and doctorate in political science, both at St. Louis University.

Later, while teaching at Kalamazoo, he earned a master’s degree in library science from the University of Chicago. He also was awarded honorary degrees from Nazareth College, WMU, and Kalamazoo College.

Chen became a naturalized United States citizen in 1983.

In addition to Lilia, his wife of 62 years, Dr. Chen is survived by sons Michael (Niki) of St. Charles, Ill., and Philip (Janet Lootens Chen) of Ann Arbor, Mich.; and grandchildren Alice Chen of San Antonio, Tex.; Megan Chen of Falls Church, Va., and Dylan Chen of Ann Arbor.

Memorial gifts may be directed to the Wen Chao Chen Chair in East Asian Social Sciences at Kalamazoo College, 1200 Academy St., Kalamazoo, MI, 49006.

A memorial service for Dr. Wen Chao Chen will take place at Stetson Chapel on the Kalamazoo College campus at a date and time to be determined.

Author Eve Ensler Visits Kalamazoo College

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Eve Ensler at a podium
Eve Ensler presented “Theater as a Tool for Revolutionary Change” at the Dalton Theatre in the Light Fine Arts building. The Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership invited the famous feminist to campus. Photo by Jill McLane Baker

Eve Ensler has devoted her life to stopping violence against women and girls, envisioning a planet in which they will be free to thrive, not merely survive. She has traveled to Afghanistan, Bosnia, Haiti, and the Congo providing innovative programming to support women survivors of sexual violence. She is the creator of V-Day, a global movement to stop violence against women and girls.

Her documentary, What I Want My Words to Do to You, about her work with a writing group at Bedford Hill Correctional Facility in New York, highlights her work exploring the voices of women as a path to empowerment. Her latest book, I Am an Emotional Creature: The Secret Life of Girls around the World, made the New York Times best sellers list. Ensler is best known for her Tony award-winning play The Vagina Monologues, which has been performed in more than 130 countries.

On Tuesday May 15, she spent the afternoon and evening on the Kalamazoo College campus meeting students, faculty, staff, trustees, and community guests. She wowed a large audience in Dalton Theatre with her talk, Theater as a Tool for Revolutionary Change, and stayed late into the night to sign books and autographs in the Light Fine Arts lobby. Thank you, Eve Ensler, for your authentic and inspiring visit to K as the 2012 Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership annual spring lecturer.

Engaged Citizens

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Civic engagement scholars at Kalamazoo College

In academic year 2011-12, some 28 Civic Engagement Scholars (CES) are leading 20 different service-learning programs in collaboration with some 17 community partners. According to Breigh Montgomery, Mary Jane Underwood Stryker Institute for Service-Learning, Institute programming this year will focus on food justice – with CES for MiRA (Migrant Rights Action), Farms to K, El Sol Elementary School Garden, Community Garden/Nutrition Liaison, and Club Grub at Woodward Elementary School.

Other programs use creative expression for empowerment among incarcerated youth and returning citizens; promote health (including provision of Spanish interpreter services in clinical settings and reproductive health education to young women); educate public school children about nutrition and gardening; encourage critical dialogue about access to arts; advocate for fair and local food; foster adult literacy; and reduce educational disparities and promote college access by working with hundreds of Kalamazoo Public School students in schools, community-based organizations, and on our campus.

This year’s civic engagement scholars and programs are:

  • Luis Basurto-Jimenez (Kalamazoo Center for Medical Studies Medical Spanish Interpreter Program),
  • Zena Blake Mark (Keeping the Doors Open Math Enrichment Program ),
  • Ebony Brown (KDO),
  • Fanny Cruz (Helping Youth Through Personal Empowerment),
  • Faiza Fayyaz (Autism Awareness/Young Adult Program),
  • Raven Fisher(Community Advocates for Parents and Students),
  • Angela Frakes (Partners in Art),
  • Paul Garza(El Sol Elementary School Parent Liaison),
  • Alexander Griffin (Fire Historical and Cultural Arts Collaborative),
  • Amy Jimenez (El Sol Elementary School Tutoring Program),
  • Emily Katz(Woodward Elementary School Tutoring Program),
  • Komal Khan (KDO),
  • Colin Lauderdale(Farmworker Legal Services/Migrant Rights Action),
  • Roxann Lawrence (CAPS),
  • Jack Massion(HYPE),
  • Jay McMillan (Goodwill Adult Literacy Tutoring),
  • Anna Miller (Razas),
  • Ellen Murphy(Nutrition/Garden Liaison),
  • Catherine Oldershaw (Heartbeat),
  • Jamie Patton (Woodward Elementary School Tutoring Program),
  • Ian Powell (El Sol Elementary School Garden),
  • Meredith Quinlan (Women & Gender),
  • Dana Robinson (KCMS Medical Spanish Interpreter Program),
  • Chelsey Shannon (Rising Up),
  • Taylor Stamm (Partners in Art),
  • Charlotte Steele (Farms to K), and
  • Anna Witte (Woodward Club Grub).

Student Shines as Peace Corps Volunteer

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Megan Barnes
Megan Barnes ’10

Megan Barnes ’10 is featured in the March 21, 2012 issue of Harbor Light newspaper, published in her hometown of Harbor Springs, Mich.

Megan is a Peace Corps volunteer in the Western Highlands of Guatemala. Working in small communities of 10 to 100 homes, she trains community members to pass along preventive health information to their neighbors and families on topics that range from basic illness and care to more complex skills and issues, such as midwifery, first aid, mental health, and domestic violence.

While at K, Megan studied art history with a concentration in classical civilization. She played tennis for the Hornets, was a member of student commission, and studied abroad in Rome. She also assisted migrant farm workers during her senior year, was a mentor at a local elementary school, and completed a Senior Individualized Project on repatriation of artifacts, following a few months of interning at the de Young Museum in San Francisco.

Institute of Arts Exhibits Kalamazoo College Rare Book Collection “Birds of a Feather”

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AudubonThe Kalamazoo Institute of Arts has gone to the birds with a new exhibition, Birds of a Feather: John Costin and John James Audubon, featuring works loaned by the A.M. Todd Rare Book Collection at Kalamazoo College.

The exhibition is open from March 24 to June 24 and pairs images of species featured in Michigan native Costin’s recent “Large Florida Birds” project with corresponding work created in the 1830s by Audubon, still America’s most famous ornithologist.

Kalamazoo College Contributed $32 Million to Area Economy During 2010-11 Academic Year

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CONTACT: Jeff Palmer, 269.337.5724

February 9, 2012

– College generated 685 direct and indirect jobs, $25.7 million in personal income –
– Students and campus visitors spent $5.6 million –
– Analysis conducted by W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research –

Kalamazoo, Mich. – Kalamazoo College contributed $32 million to the Kalamazoo area economy during the 2010-11 academic year, according to the findings of an economic impact analysis conducted by the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.

The College impacts the economy through three major activities, according to the analysis: operations, student expenditures, and visitor expenditures.

The College employed 396 full and part-time workers earning an annual payroll of approximately $19.6 million during the 2010-11 academic year. Another 289 jobs and personal income of $6 million were indirectly generated by the presence of the College and the expenditures of students and visitors.

Additionally, “K” students spent approximately $3.6 million in the local community, and out-of-area campus visitors spent approximately $2 million.

“Kalamazoo College has been a vital part of the Kalamazoo economy since the College’s founding in 1833,” said “K” President Eileen B. Wilson-Oyelaran. “I expect that to continue for many years.”

“Our strategic goals call for us to grow the College’s enrollment to 1,500 students. Reaching this goal will make our financial contribution to the community even greater.”

Wilson-Oyelaran pointed to recent campus construction projects as further evidence of the College’s positive impact on the area economy, by helping provide much needed construction jobs. These include a $14 million renovation of the Hicks Student Center completed in 2008, and a $16 million renovation of the “K” athletic fields that is currently underway and due to be completed in fall 2012.

The College also hopes to begin construction this summer on a building to house the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership estimated to cost about $4 million. A new fitness and wellness center estimated to cost $7 million and a new natatorium estimated to cost $14 million are in early stages planning.

“Beyond the economic contributions ‘K’ makes to the local economy are the cultural, educational, and social contributions our students, faculty, and staff make to the local community,” said Wilson-Oyelaran. “Our students alone performed nearly 33,000 hours of community service-learning last year with nearly 50 local partner organizations.”

According to Brad Watts, regional analyst for the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, because “K” is a unique, competitive liberal arts college, it is assumed that none of the $32 million would be channeled to the region if not for the presence of the College.

“Even if the students’ families live in the Kalamazoo metropolitan area, it is assumed that they would choose to attend other small liberal arts schools elsewhere if Kalamazoo College did not exist. Their expenditures are considered to be “export” dollars in the sense that the money would not be spent in the region if not for the presence of the college.”

The Upjohn Institute analysis was commissioned by Kalamazoo College and is based on data provided during the 2010-11 academic year that ended June 30, 2011.

The W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, a nonpartisan, not-for-profit research organization, was established on July 1, 1945. It is an activity of the W.E. Upjohn Unemployment Trustee Corporation, which was founded in 1932 to administer a fund set aside by the late Dr. W.E. Upjohn (1852-1932), founder of the Upjohn Company, for the purpose of conducting research into the causes and effects of unemployment and measures for the alleviation of unemployment. Today, the Institute’s Research Division analyzes the dynamics of the labor market and conducts evaluations of employment programs around the world. For more information see www.upjohn.org.

Founded in Kalamazoo, Michigan, in 1833, Kalamazoo College (www.kzoo.edu) is a nationally recognized liberal arts college and the creator of the K-Plan, which emphasizes rigorous scholarship, experiential learning, and both international and intercultural engagement. “K” has approximately 1,400 students from 36 states and 31 countries; 18 percent are domestic students of color. At Kalamazoo College, we do more in four years so students can do more in a lifetime.

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Students, Staff, and Partners Present: “Students as Colleagues: A Fellowship in Learning”

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Panel participants
L-R: Alison Geist (MJUSISL Director), Artrella Cohn, Breigh Montgomery ’06 (MJUSISL Assistant Director), Raven Fisher ’14, Teresa Denton (MJUSISL Associate Director), Roxann Lawrence ’14.

The Mary Jane Underwood Stryker Institute for Service-Learning (MJUSISL) at Kalamazoo College gathered a team of students, staff, and a community partner to give a panel presentation, “Students as Colleagues: A Fellowship in Learning,” at the Michigan Campus Compact Service-Learning and Civic Engagement Institute 2012 on January 30 in East Lansing.

Sophomore Civic Engagement Scholars Raven Fisher (Detroit) and Roxann Lawrence (Jamaica), with Kalamazoo Communities in Schools Program Director Artrella Cohn, discussed the powerful learning and community impact of the award-winning program they lead, Community Advocates for Parents and Students (CAPS), at Interfaith Homes in Kalamazoo.

CAPS is a grassroots, all-volunteer organization that provides tutoring opportunities to KPS students from kindergarten to adult.