liberal arts

K Ranks Highly Among Top Liberal Arts Colleges

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Upjohn Library Commons in Winter for Top Liberal Arts Institutions
Kalamazoo College is the only institution in Michigan ranked among the nation’s top liberal arts colleges by AcademicInfluence.com.

AcademicInfluence.com is endorsing Kalamazoo College as one of the top four-year schools in the country where students can excel in the liberal arts, according to rankings released this week.

The website is the information center for a data-analytics company that measures the influence and thought leadership of a college’s or university’s faculty and alumni, providing prospective students a place where they can draw insightful comparisons between schools.

K, at No. 45, is the only institution in Michigan to reach the list of top liberal arts colleges. The website mentions K’s thought leadership on subjects such as political science, economics, sociology, biology, literature, mathematics and philosophy as just a few of the reasons why.

“Job demands are changing,” AcademicInfluence.com Academic Director Jed Macosko said. “More is expected of today’s college graduates. This makes the liberal arts appealing and practical. Students who can demonstrate a breadth of skills and the flexibility to take on anything asked of them are finding greater success postgraduation. … If you’re a student looking for a well-rounded education, these schools should be at the top of your list.”

The K-Plan is K’s distinctive approach to the liberal arts and sciences. Its open curriculum utilizes rigorous academics, international and intercultural experiences, a hands-on education and independent scholarship to help students think critically, solve problems creatively, and collaborate across cultures and languages.

“A liberal arts model provides the most thorough college education because it teaches students how to attain not just one, but a variety of skillsets that employers desire, while engaging with the world,” Director of Admission Suzanne Lepley said. “To be named among the top 50 liberal arts institutions in the country is an honor for Kalamazoo College as it shows how well we prepare students for a global, modern workplace.”

Learn more about the list of top liberal arts colleges from AcademicInfluence.com.

K Athlete Flexes Liberal Arts Muscle in NBA Internship

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For Amanda Moss ’19, the route to her prestigious internship this summer at National Basketball Association (NBA) headquarters in New York City began, improbably, with getting kicked out of a gym.

Amanda Moss Attending NBA Draft through her NBA Internship
Economics and business major Amanda Moss applied for a highly competitive NBA internship and was one of 50 students chosen from a pool of 6,000.

She says that while she was a basketball player in high school, she went to the community gym in her Detroit suburb daily during the summer to practice her jump shot. One day, however, an employee of the Detroit Pistons NBA team told her she would have to leave because the courts were reserved for a team-run youth basketball program.

“I started to pack up but then I looked around and saw they were way understaffed for the event they were going to hold,” she recalls. “So I went back up to the guy and I offered my assistance. He took me up on the offer and I helped set up chairs, run the scoreboard, that sort of thing, and helped to clean up when it was over.”

After the event, she says, the employee chatted with her and ended up offering her a summer job at the Pistons’ youth basketball camp.

Amanda Moss Playing Basketball NBA Internship
Amanda Moss, who plays on Kalamazoo College’s women’s basketball team, is working in an NBA internship this summer.

“I did that every summer for four years,” says Moss, who plays women’s basketball and lacrosse and was just named to the Jewish Sports Review Women’s College Lacrosse All-America Team for the second year in a row.

Along the way, she got to meet Pistons players including Andre Drummond and Reggie Jackson and people in the team’s corporate office. So when it came time to seek an internship in summer 2017, she was well-situated to apply to the Pistons. She worked in community relations and marketing for the team, conceiving a career forum for girls 9 to 16 and then running every aspect of the event, which included presenting a panel of college basketball players and women business leaders.

That, in turn, set her up for this summer’s internship. With the help of K’s Center for Career and Professional Development and with advice from her professors, the economics and business major applied for the highly competitive program and was one of 50 students chosen from a pool of 6,000. She’s working in the retail division of the NBA’s Global Partnerships Department, which manages all aspects of the league’s relationship with companies including Nike, New Era, Foot Locker and Amazon.

That relationship includes activities such as licensing the sale of NBA-branded merchandise, arranging for advertising on NBA TV, approving the use of the NBA logo in social media messages and arranging player appearances at partner businesses, she says. Her role has been mainly in research. One assignment tasked her with finding out everything she could about how the NBA could work with Target Corp., and she says she discovered a natural fit in both organizations’ emphasis on supporting community voluntarism—a synergy around which her boss now is building a partnership program.

She says her K education has given her a real advantage in her role, especially a business research methods course that prepares students for their Senior Individualized Project (SIP). Business and economics professor Timothy Moffit ’80 put a heavy emphasis on identifying information sources in research papers, so in a PowerPoint presentation to NBA professionals, she says, she included a final slide listing all of her sources—about 30, and many of them recognizable names.

She says it helped cement the credibility and validity of her proposal. “They were really impressed. It’s not something that they were expecting.”

A Chinese minor who studied abroad in China during the 2017-18 school year, Moss also has had a chance to use her language skills, aiding her boss in a conference call with the NBA office in China, she says. And content- and video-editing skills she learned in a documentary filmmaking course have turned out to be in high demand, as well.

“Every day is a new day at the league,” she says. “You have to be very multidimensional. Part of the Kalamazoo College liberal arts experience is being able to study multiple subjects because the K-Plan is so flexible.”

With the experience gained in her internships, and a planned SIP contrasting consumer perceptions of professional sports in the United States and China, she hopes to land a corporate job in international sports after graduation. Her ultimate goal—“really just a dream” at this point, she says—would be to start a nonprofit venture that uses sports to connect with and empower Chinese girls.

“I was adopted from China, and when I went to my study abroad in China, I got to volunteer coach in some of the schools, and there was a huge absence of girls in all of the basketball programs,” she says, adding that Chinese girls get little encouragement to participate in team sports in general.

In another effort to help people achieve their goals, she is teaming with fellow Kalamazoo College athletes Alex Dupree ’21 and Jordan Wiley ’19 to form a sports business club for K students that will aid them in charting their way to careers in sports-oriented businesses and link them with alumni in the field.

Her effort to create what she calls “new channels and opportunities” for her classmates echoes what she says is her goal on the lacrosse field and basketball court: “to play for my teammates and make great memories.”

Moss’ enthusiasm and cooperative yet competitive spirit wins high praise from K physical education professor and coach Jeanne Hess.

“Amanda is one of the most committed players and teammates I’ve seen come through Kalamazoo College,” Hess says. “She plays with passion and ferocity and she’s fun to watch. She’s going to do great things.”

Archivists Create Display on Immigrant and International Students at K

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Archivists Shelby Long and Lisa Murphy
Shelby Long and Lisa Murphy

Can there be a better metonym for — or higher measure of — the virtues of courage and love than the word immigrant? It is a question posed by the new Upjohn Library Commons exhibit titled “Immigrants and International Students at Kalamazoo College.” That history is a long one at K, beginning in the 1860s and continuing today. College Archivist Lisa Murphy ’98 is responsible for the library’s main-floor displays, which she alters term to term. And hers was the idea for this spring’s. However, the execution — including the research, writing, design and installation, was accomplished by senior political science major Shelby Long. Long has worked in the College’s archives for three years doing multiple tasks but never, until now, a museum-quality exhibit. “I wanted to be sure she had that opportunity,” says Murphy, who admits she will sorely miss her colleague after June’s commencement. “Shelby did a wonderful job on this timely display.” Preparation and installation required a month, and the most difficult task was choosing the few students (from many possibilities) that the display would feature.

Among Long’s favorites is Nagai Kafu, who attended K in 1904-05. “He became one of the most prominent writers in Japan in the 1920s and ’30s,” said Long, “described by some as Japan’s Ernest Hemingway. Fans of his work still visit the house on Elm Street where he lived when he studied at K.” Asked what strikes her most about K’s immigrant and international students, Long says: “All their remarkable accomplishments after they left, in the U.S. and in their home countries.

Immigrant and International Students Display
Sam Song Bo

Those countries (in addition to Japan) included Burma, Poland, Latvia, Nigeria, Kenya, Iceland, Iran and China. Sam Song Bo left China to attend college in the United States (first McMinnville College in Oregon, then K in 1881-82). He decried the discrimination Chinese immigrants endured in the United States, writing about that injustice some dozen years after Chinese workers helped complete the building of the transcontinental railroad. One of the earliest immigrant students to attend K (although one could consider all Americans immigrants) was Martha den Bleyker, class of 1863. At the age of nine she and her family arrived in Kalamazoo from the Netherlands. They were soon thereafter quarantined from cholera in a shack outside the city limits. All but one brother recovered from the disease. Martha’s father went on to establish Kalamazoo as a premier celery growing region.

Immigrant and International Students Display
Martha den Bleyker

Martha was an anomaly in that most 19th-century immigrant students at K were men. That began to change after World War II. One example is Hilda Arzangoolian who traveled from Iran to study chemistry and mathematics at K in 1946-47. She spoke six languages and had studied English a mere six months before arriving at K. In addition to her academic pursuits, she played excellent tennis for the College’s team. You can learn more about the history of K’s immigrant and international students by traveling no further than the first floor of Upjohn Library Commons. Shelby Long remains very interested in archival work, and plans to earn to Master in Library Science degree. Lisa Murphy will be seeking a student to take Long’s place. “It’s wonderful work,” says Long. Interested students should write to Murphy at archives@kzoo.edu.

African Studies Lecture at K

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African Studies Lecture with Saheed Aderinto
Saheed Aderinto

The African studies program at Kalamazoo College is sponsoring a lecture that is free and open to the public. Saheed Aderinto, Ph.D., will give a talk titled “Did a Gun Society Exist in Precolonial and Colonial Africa?” on Wednesday, May 3, 2017, at 4:30 p.m. in the Mandelle Hall Olmsted Room. Dr. Aderinto is a professor at Western Carolina University and author of the book, Guns and Society in Colonial Nigeria. Guns are an enduring symbol of imperialism, used to impose social order, create ceremonial spectacle, incite panic, or inspire confidence. In his book, Aderinto considers the social, political, and economic history of these weapons in colonial Nigeria, sharing insights into how colonialism changed access to firearms after the 19th century. He explores the unusual ways in which guns were used in response to changes in the Nigerian cultural landscape. More Nigerians used firearms for pastime and professional hunting in the colonial period than at any other time. The boom and smoke of gunfire even became necessary elements in ceremonies and political events. Aderinto argues that firearms in the Nigerian context are not simply commodities but are also objects of material culture. Considering guns in this larger context provides a clearer understanding of the ways in which they transformed a colonized society.

May Marcia Wood Exhibition Includes Silent Auction

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May Marcia Wood Exhibition
Marcia Wood inspects “Prospect” prior to finishing stages. The sculpture is part of K’s campus.

The late Marcia Wood ’55 served Kalamazoo College as a professor in the art department from 1965 to 1998. She also was a renowned and award winning artist whose works appear throughout the country. An exhibition of her work, Marcia Wood: Monuments and Miniatures, will occur in the Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo EPIC Center Gallery from May 5 through May 26, 2017.

According to Wood’s friend and former colleague, David Curl, who served as a visiting professor of Art at Kalamazoo College from 1989-2000, the exhibition will feature legacy work—various examples of Wood’s smaller sculptures, maquettes, and early paintings. Many of the items have been donated by the Wood family for sale by silent auction. Proceeds of the auction benefit the Marcia J. Wood Scholarship Fund at Kalamazoo College.

“Marcia touched and inspired many lives through her original work and 40-year career,” said Curl. “She conceived and executed sixteen large-scale public art sculptures that were installed in four states, as well as literally countless paintings and smaller sculptures. Her style was conceptually and symbolically representational, but reflected the abstract expressionism of the times.” One of her large-scale installations, Prospect, was commissioned to celebrate the College’s 1983 sesquicentennial and is located in front of the Light Fine Arts Building. In 1980 Wood received the Florence J. Lucasse Fellowship for Excellence in Scholarship, the highest award bestowed by the College’s faculty honoring contributions in creative work. In 1997 Wood was honored with the Governor’s Art Award from the Concerned Citizens for the Arts in Michigan.

Prices of the artwork donated for auction, according to Curl, are not expected to approach “gallery” levels; only to reflect the maximum that each buyer is willing to commit to the scholarship fund. Online bidding will end as of the close of the EPIC Center exhibit on May 26, 2017, but bids entered by the exhibit opening on May 5, 2017 will be posted during the exhibition to encourage further bids from gallery visitors. “This silent auction of some of her lesser known work,” Curl says, “is a rare opportunity to continue Marcia’s legacy through contributing to her scholarship fund, and a last chance to acquire for your own collection a unique artifact of art history.”

The website is sponsored and supported solely by Curl, as agent for the Wood family, and is not connected directly to the College, to the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, The Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo, or to any other entity. All proceeds from online and gallery sales will go entirely to the Marcia J. Wood Scholarship Fund at Kalamazoo College. By bidding, you agree that your contact information will be used only for communication about your bid, to notify you if you submit a winning bid by close of this online auction at midnight Friday, May 26, 2017, and to arrange for payment and for pick-up or shipment of your purchase(s).

“I’m grateful to all who browse these few remaining items from her legacy work,” says Curl, “and to all those who purchase one in her honor, and attend her exhibitions!”

K’s Latest K-Trek Passes all Tests

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K to the Windy City students on K-Trek
Roundtable meeting in Chicago during K to the Windy City, the newest K-Trek.

Kalamazoo College’s latest K-Trek, K to the Windy City, tested two expansions — in numbers and event type. The results are in: success above expectations!

“We wanted a K-Trek that would accommodate more students and provide more types of student-alumni and student-thought leader interaction,” said Valerie Miller, assistant director for external relations in K’s Center for Career and Professional Development. K to the Windy City is the largest K-Trek to date. Twenty-five students and 57 alumni participated in the three-day event, which featured round-table meetings (standard for K-Treks) and also offered panels, a networking event, a customized itinerary for nearly every student, and some fun and relaxation at a Second City performance.

Coordinated by the CCPD, K-Treks are multi-day immersive discussions with leaders in various industries. Previous treks (inspired by the thinking of alumnus Brad O’Neill ’93) have visited San Francisco (where the focus was on entrepreneurship) and New York City (finance and business). The Windy City trek focused on the law and nonprofit administration, with social justice as the bridge between those areas of interest.

“Our 25 students divided themselves roughly into three tracks,” says Miller. “About a third was certain they wanted to pursue a career in law. Another third were equally sure about nonprofit administration. The final group was on the fence. All were interested in social justice.”

Valerie Miller Prepares for K-Trek
Valerie Miller during the extensive K-trek prep phase.

K to the Windy City “started” the day after winter term finals, but prep work commenced long before that. Wade Thomson ’98, an attorney at Jenner & Block who also does pro bono work with persons seeking political asylum in the United States, provided the unique framework for this K-Trek that focused on the intersection between Chicago and justice.

For their part, student participants researched the alumni whom they would meet (and the organizations they worked for) and then prepared a list of questions for the interaction.

For her part, Miller relied on the cover letters and résumés of each student to customize individual itineraries that would provide the most educational impact.

The meetings provided some excellent outcomes and revelations for the students, according to Miller. “Some very practical advice,” she explained, “such as the need for solid business skills in nonprofit administration; timing for law school and how to optimize a gap year, should one choose that option; and the surprising number of law-related work opportunities that do not require a J.D.

“For those students certain about their choice (law or nonprofit administration),” she continued, “the experience may have confirmed or focused their vision. Those less certain found value in the additional information they could use to eventually decide.”

Students on a bus heading to the latest K-Trek, K to the Windy City
K to the Windy City departs Kalamazoo College, headed for the newest K-Trek experience.

Student participants represented a cross section of classes, majors and geography. Twelve seniors, six juniors and seven sophomores composed this first Windy City trek. Fourteen academic majors were represented; 11 students call Michigan home; 11 come from a variety of states; three were international students.

“I learned more in two days about what a legal career entails than I had learned in my entire life up to that point,” said Benjamin Toledo, a senior anthropology/sociology and business double major.  “Given the chance to speak with successful lawyers from K provided us with the opportunity to clarify any uncertainty that we had in regard to a career in law, all while receiving advice from individuals who were once in our shoes.  It was a truly phenomenal opportunity to meet and connect with such talented people.”

“I was surprised by how many alumni didn’t always know exactly what they wanted to do or have a clear vision of where they’d end up,” said sophomore Lauren Arquette (political science). She was grateful for the insight. “It takes away a lot of the pressure we put on ourselves of feeling like we always have to have a plan, because often times, things don’t exactly go according to plan. I realized that life doesn’t have to be stressful and meticulously planned out for you to be successful.”

After the event, students were provided a survey to prompt reflections on the value of the experience. The participants also are writing biographies of the alumni with whom they met to post on the CCPD website for future Windy City trekkers.

K-Trek on public transportation
K students riding public transportation in Chicago.

“That’s a future for which we all hope,” says Miller. “This K-Trek was so successful that we’ll continue to work hand in hand with our colleagues in the Office of Development to encourage participation from alumni and to raise the funds for this and other treks.”

2017 Student Participants included: Abby Lu ’17, Ailih Weeldreyer ’19, Andrea Beitel ’17, Anja Xheka ’17, Anne Waugh ’19, Ben Toledo ’17, Blanca Moreno ’17, Carmen Nogueron ’18, Cat Cook ’17, Cody Howrigon ’18, Emily Levy ’17, Gunyeop Lee ’17, Hannah Lehker ’17, Heather Brown ’18, Honora Stagner ’17, Jasmine Khin ’18, Lauren Arquette ’19, Lauren Perlaki ’17, Madison Triplett ’19, Matthew Ryder ’18, Monet Foster ’18, Regina Shaw ’19, Ren Ballew ’17, Sirui Chen ’19 and Sydney Brown ’18.

The following alumni participated in a panel event, met with a group of students and/or hosted students at their place of work. Many of these alumni also provided additional support through funding, space, food and/or ideas for the planning of K to the Windy City, and many attended networking events — Kelly Bauer ’10, Assistant Corporation Counsel, City of Chicago Department of Law; Marietta Bowman ’02, Senior Survey Director, NORC at the University of Chicago; Jane Burchfield ’85, Manager of Talent Acquisition, NORC at the University of Chicago; Michael Cansfield ’87, Director of Development, Lookingglass Theatre; Megan Carney ’92, Director, Gender & Sexuality Center, University of Illinois at Chicago; Jeremy Cole ’96, Partner, Jones Day; Andrea Dakin ’98, Director of Program Development, AIDS Foundation; Kant Desai ’99, Principal, Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund; Mike Doornweerd ’92, Partner, Jenner & Block; Kim Drew ’00, Senior Project Manager, Economic Security Policy, Heartland Alliance; Caitlin Finan ’11, Research Analyst, NORC at the University of Chicago; Mark Furlong ’83, Chief Operating Officer, Thresholds; Marie Halverson ’93, Associate Director, Education and Child Development Studies, NORC at the University of Chicago; Cole Hardy ’06, Staff Counsel, FTD; John Hayes ’96, Assistant Unit Supervisor, Illinois Attorney General; Kathleen Hirsman ’76, Faculty, Loyola School of Law; Will Hobart ’06, Program Officer, Youth Guidance; Peter Knight ’95, Partner, Latham & Watkins; Carla Kupe-Arion ’02, Assistant Corporation Counsel, City of Chicago Law Department; Matt Lango ’97, Deputy Commissioner, Chicago Commission on Human Relations; Hope Lassen ’02,

K-Trek to the Windy City
Some fun at Second City

Restorative Justice Specialist, Alternatives, Inc.; Jodie Lawton ’99, Major Gifts Officer, McCormick Foundation; Stephanie Leite ’01, Lead Trainer and Curriculum Designer, Global Learning Modules; Matt Longjohn ’93, Evidence-Based Health Interventions and Community Integrated Health/National Health Officer, Y-USA; Carlton Marcyan ’76, Senior Partner, Schiller DuCanto & Fleck LLP; Elizabeth Okey ’07, Senior Associate, Corporate Responsibility, Burson-Marsteller; Jeff Owen ’76, Partner, DLA Piper; Anne Renaud ’10, Community Support Specialist, Thresholds; Sam Sedaei ’06, Associate Attorney, Foran Glennon; Wade Thomson ’98, Partner, Jenner & Block; Carla Varner ’97, Chief Legal Officer, Franklin Monroe; Mary Woolever ’70, Former Architectural Archivist and Reference Librarian, Ryerson and Burnham Libraries, Art Institute of Chicago; Mike Woolever ’71, Partner, Foley and Lardner.

The following alumni provided support for K to the Windy City through donations or through support/guidance around the development of trek events. Many also attended networking events — Alexandra Altman ’97, Doug Doetsch ’79, Jay Goodwin ’85, Andrea Johnson ’15, Alex Morgan ’11, Aaron Ries ‘06, Sonya Olds Som ’94, Juli Scalf ’09 and Elizabeth Schweitzer ’09.

And the alumni listed below participated in networking opportunities with students — Margy Brill ’11, Mathew Duggan ’09, Justin Evans ’09, Christine Grodecki ’06, Kelly Koss ’04, Haley Madel ’13, Kristen Nuyen ’12, Kathleen O’Donovan ’11, Sara Reschly ’95, Christopher Rollyson ’82, Christie Schuessler ’11, Jeannette Srivastava ’00, Erin Stockall ’11, Ajka Suljevic ’10 and Rachel Zarit ’02.

K Students and Faculty Present at ASIANetwork

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K Students Present at ASIANetworkThe 25th annual conference of the ASIANetwork in Chicago drew a K presence from Kalamazoo, Tokyo and Toronto. ASIANetwork is a consortium of some 160 North American colleges that strengthens the role of Asian Studies within the framework of liberal arts education. Three Kalamazoo College Freeman Foundation Student Fellows (Frank Meyer ’18, Emerson Brown ’17, Hannah Berger ’18), one former student fellow (Dalby-eol Bae ’18, who transferred from K to the University of Toronto), and Dennis Frost, the Wen Chao Chen Associate Professor of East Asian Social Sciences at Kalamazoo College, presented a poster on the role of Okinawan identity in the protests against U.S. military bases on the island. That presentation was based on a research trip the five made to Okinawa last summer. Frost flew to the Chicago conference from his sabbatical in Tokyo. Other K presenters at the conference were Bailee Lotus ’17 and Assistant Professor of Japanese Noriko Sugimori. Lotus discussed her Senior Individualized Project, “Moving Forward of Standing Still: Black Women in South Korea.” Professor Sugimori talked about the Oral History in the Liberal Arts, a project that has produced for widespread classroom use 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. Pictured (holding an Okinawan newspaper “Ryukyu Shimpo”) are the K attendees (l-r)–Noriko Sugimori, Dalby-eol Bae, Hannah Berger, Bailee Lotus, Emerson Brown, Frank Meyer, and Dennis Frost.