For Kalamazoo College student Sarah Guerrero Gorostieta ’28, a passion for writing has opened doors all the way to the New York Times.
Guerrero learned in August that she’s been selected for the New York Times Corps, a program for college students who could benefit from mentorship and career guidance. The Corps connects participants with veteran journalists and provides professional training before the students visit the Times newsroom. Although she won’t be writing for the Times, the program represents an extraordinary opportunity.
“I’m grateful for this because practicing skills in journalism will help me learn to be curious and how to ask questions,” she said.
Guerrero attended a student conference through the National Association of Hispanic Journalists in April, later attending the association’s full conference in July thanks to the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership Fund at K. When the association posted about the Times’ mentorship program on LinkedIn, she felt earning a spot might be difficult with her limited experience—she only had two writing classes and no previous freelance work. Yet the post suggested the Times was looking for students just like her.
With that thought and some encouragement from Professor of English Marin Heinritz, she decided to apply. Today, Guerrero is paired with Motoko Rich, the Times’ Rome bureau chief. She will receive guidance from Times journalists and attend training sessions with her cohort for the next three years.
Guerrero—who enjoys studying English, political science and Spanish—began her journalism journey in high school outside Chicago. She pursued independent writing and joined her school newspaper during the pandemic to stay connected with classmates. Although K does not offer a journalism major, she has discovered that courses and opportunities at K are helping her prepare to become an independent journalist.
“Dr. Heinritz was a philosophy major, and she told me that you don’t need to major in English or journalism to become a journalism professional,” Guerrero said. “You just have to be curious. You just have to push yourself to learn. Motoko Rich, my mentor, told me that it’s important to learn a little bit about a lot of things. That’s why I think K, with our open curriculum, is so good for me. I can take a little bit of everything while also learning how to be good at one niche thing.”
Taking the introduction to journalism course with Heinritz further piqued her interest in the profession. One assignment for the class pushed her to interview strangers around campus and she learned to write stories on tight deadlines.
“It was nerve-wracking, but it also made me excited,” she said. “It was a way to orient myself as a first-year student and Dr. Heinritz encouraged me to keep going, even when it was difficult.”
Since then, Guerrero has leaned into every opportunity to develop her craft as she writes for K’s student newspaper, the Index, contributing campus stories, and freelances for NowKalamazoo, a nonprofit newsroom known for in-depth local reporting. Her first published story profiled a Nigerian food truck in downtown Kalamazoo.
“It was intimidating, writing for a broader audience I didn’t know,” she said. “But I realized I don’t have to wait until after graduation to do the real work. I can do it now.”
Those experiences complement her national opportunities, giving her both mentorship at the highest level and practical reporting experience in her community. Guerrero is especially drawn to solutions journalism, which highlights how communities address challenges. She also feels a strong responsibility to represent voices at K that might otherwise go unheard.
“We have a lot of students of color here, and their stories need to be shared,” she said. “I want to help build a bigger, more diverse staff at the Index.”
Guerrero’s long-term vision is to mentor younger student writers, expand the paper’s reach and ensure that it reflects the full K community.
Alumni of the Times Corps often go on to fellowships, freelance opportunities and newsroom careers. Guerrero hopes to one day pitch stories to the Times, perhaps even for its Modern Love section, which she has followed since high school. For now, she balances classes, reporting and her growing network of mentors. She admits she still gets nervous before interviews, but she sees that as a good thing.
“Journalists should be a little nervous,” she said. “It means the questions we’re asking matter.”
As she looks ahead to study abroad, internships and more bylines, Guerrero remains motivated by the same curiosity that brought her to the field in the first place.
“The future of journalism belongs to people who ask good questions and believe in the freedom of the press,” she said. “That’s the kind of journalist I want to be.”
Sarah Guerrero Gorostieta ’28 attended a student conference through the National Association of Hispanic Journalists before the association’s full conference thanks to the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership Fund.
Guerrero applied for the New York Times Corps mentorship after attending two journalism conferences.
Guerrero writes for K’s student newspaper, the Index, while freelancing for NowKalamazoo, a local nonprofit newsroom.
The Aspiring Law Student Organization (ALSO) at Kalamazoo College is seeking alumni to return to campus to talk with students about their journeys in the legal profession. Group leaders say those conversations are among the most valuable ways to show students what’s possible with a law degree.
“Hearing from someone who sat in the same classrooms and then went on to pass the bar is incredibly valuable,” said Libby McFarlen ’26, ALSO’s president. “Alums can talk about how K prepared them in a way that other schools can’t.”
McFarlen is leading the effort to reinvigorate ALSO after the group had been relatively quiet in recent years. She stepped into the presidency at the encouragement of last year’s leader, who believed her passion for the field and professional connections could help strengthen the organization. She now works alongside Vice President Laura Goia ’27, an exchange student from Romania; Secretary Ella Miller ’26; and Treasurer Isabelle Mason ’27 to establish ALSO as a go-to resource for students considering careers in law.
A major focus this year is to help students see law as a less-intimidating, more accessible field. McFarlen wants ALSO to balance serious programming—such as alumni panels and attorney visits—with lighter events designed to spark interest. For example, students can enjoy an upcoming movie night featuring the comedy film Legally Blonde, and also attend one of the standout events of this fall: an October 22 campus visit from the assistant director of admissions at Harvard Law School.
Through these events, McFarlen hopes to showcase the variety of paths available in law. “A lot of people think being a lawyer is only about arguing in a courtroom, but there are so many areas—sports law, election law, patent law,” she said. “Students deserve to see that breadth.”
McFarlen’s own experiences highlight the importance of real-world connections. Over the summer, she completed a legal internship with the City of Grand Rapids, working alongside prosecuting and litigation attorneys. As the only undergraduate among law school interns, she conducted legal research, prepared cases, and assisted attorneys in court. The experience confirmed her interest in criminal prosecution and underscored how rare it can be for undergraduates to access hands-on legal opportunities.
“I was the youngest in the office, but it didn’t matter,” she said. “I learned so much, and I want other students to have those opportunities, too.”
Looking ahead, ALSO is considering initiatives such as a mock trial team, law-themed trivia nights and panel discussions with government attorneys. McFarlen emphasized that inclusivity will remain central to the group’s mission along with it providing a support system and a launching pad for students whether they’re preparing for law school or simply curious about the profession.
“Law can seem like a predominantly white, elite field,” she said. “We want students of color and students from all identities to see attorneys who look like them and know this path is open to them. Anyone is welcome to join whether they’re studying for the LSAT or just wondering what lawyers actually do.”
Aspiring Law Student Organization President Libby McFarlen ’26 wants Kalamazoo College students to see a breadth of opportunities available to them when they pursue the legal field.
Calling K Alumni in Law
The Aspiring Law Student Organization (ALSO) wants to hear from you. If you’re a Kalamazoo College graduate working in the legal field, students would love to learn from your journey.
Ways to get involved:
Speak on a career panel or Q-and-A session.
Host a small-group discussion with students.
Offer virtual mentoring or job-shadowing opportunities.
For Dwight Williams, the Kurt D. Kaufman Associate Professor of Chemistry at Kalamazoo College, persistence has paid off. After nearly a decade of research and one unsuccessful grant application, Williams has been awarded a three-year grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to support his work developing new molecules that could help protect brain cells from dying from neurodegenerative diseases.
The grant, worth nearly $385,000, is a milestone for both Williams and his students, who have played a central role in shaping the project since its inception.
“After an unsuccessful application in 2018, I went back to the basics and sought guidance and mentoring from my networks, which ultimately strengthened the resubmission,” Williams said. “Receiving this award is such an encouragement, not only for the research ahead, but also for the opportunities it generates for Kalamazoo College’s students.”
Tackling Neurodegeneration
Williams said that while neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Huntington’s and Glaucoma each begin in different ways, they have been found to share a common cellular process that significantly damages or kills brain cells. His lab focuses on ways to block or reduce this process, extending the health and function of brain cells.
Over the course of the grant, Williams and his students will aim to synthesize and test five families of compounds, each consisting of several unique molecules, for their neuroprotective potential. Results will be shared with the broader scientific community through peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations.
Expanding Opportunities for Students
The NIH funding represents more than just progress in the lab. It directly supports K students by providing stipends for two of them each summer for the next three years, ensuring that financial barriers don’t prevent their participation in research.
“Many of our students want to engage in scientific research, but limited funding has often been the biggest barrier,” Williams said. “This award helps bridge that gap by expanding access to meaningful research experiences.”
In addition to stipends, the grant will allow the lab to acquire new equipment and instrumentation, speeding up experiments and enabling access to data that previously wasn’t possible for the lab to collect. These upgrades, Williams said, will help his students grow as independent scientists while working on a project with real-world significance.
Williams defines success in part by the progress of his student researchers. His aim is to help them strengthen their scientific identity, deepen their research independence, and prepare for graduate school, professional careers and leadership roles.
“Being awarded this funding shows the scientific community the incredible talent and aptitude of the young scholars here at K,” Williams said. “The majority of the data used in this proposal was produced by our students. That is very impressive to me.”
Dwight Williams, the Kurt D. Kaufman Associate Professor of Chemistry at Kalamazoo College, has been awarded a three-year grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to support his work developing molecules that could help protect brain cells from neurodegenerative diseases. The grant is a milestone for both Williams and his students, who have helped shape the project.
Williams Thanks …
“I want to thank my many mentors, Dr. Yan Zhang and Dr. Jill Bettinger of Virginia Commonwealth University; Dr. Laura Furge; and Dr. Syliva Fitting of UNC-Chapel Hill, who have helped me bring this together. I am also deeply grateful to every young scholar who has contributed to this project over the years. Their dedication and creativity have been essential to moving the work forward. I am especially thankful to:
Suma Alzouhayli ’17
Myles Truss ’17
Rachel Chang ’18
Natalie Hershenson ’18
Christina Keramidas ’18
MinSoo Kim ’18
McKinzie Thiede ’19
Madeline Harding ’22
Skyler Rogers ’23
My-Anh Phan ’23
Rhys Koellmann ’24
Jenna Beach ’24
Cassy Bennett ’25
Katya Koublitsky ’25
Thank you for sharing your skills and talents with the Williams Lab and for contributing uniquely to this project since its inception. This award is a reflection of your hard work.”
Since Williams arrived at K in 2015, he has mentored dozens of students in the lab, recalling each by name and recognizing the role they played in advancing the work. “Their dedication and creativity have been essential to moving the work forward,” he said. “This award is a reflection of their hard work.”
Persistence and Gratitude
Williams also acknowledged the challenges of securing federal research support at a time when funding is increasingly limited. The lab’s first NIH application in 2018 was administratively withdrawn and rejected. The resubmitted proposal, sent in February 2024, required patience while awaiting the decision.
“Knowing that the federal funding landscape is changing only reinforces the necessity of persistence, perseverance and patience,” Williams said. “Things are going to be very different moving forward, but I am continually encouraged by our students because I know they can face tough challenges, execute excellent science and solve big problems by working together—all while having fun and building community along the way.”
Williams added that his faith has guided him throughout the process.
“I must first thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ,” he said. “Without Him, this opportunity would not have been possible.”
He also expressed gratitude to mentors at Virginia Commonwealth University, the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and K, as well as to colleagues such as former Director of Faculty Grants Jessica Fowle ’00.
Looking Ahead
For Williams, the NIH grant represents both an achievement and a launching point. It will allow him to pursue ambitious research goals, expand opportunities for student scientists, and share discoveries that might one day contribute to new treatment strategies for people around the world.
“The work supported by this grant has the potential to benefit people far beyond our campus,” Williams said. “And the students engaged in this work will carry forward skills that will influence communities and fields for years to come.”
When Olivia DiGiulio ’25 arrived at Kalamazoo College, Michigan was new to her. She was a Portland, Oregon, native with a budding interest in civic engagement and a curiosity about how policy could shape communities. Just four years later, she is growing local roots and works in what has become an ideal full-time role in youth advocacy.
The bridge between those two points was a Community Building Internship (CBI) through the Mary Jane Underwood Stryker Center for Civic Engagement (CCE) at K. In summer 2024, DiGiulio was placed with the Kalamazoo Youth Development Network (KYD), a nonprofit that supports after-school and summer programs across the city. The organization acts as an intermediary for dozens of community programs, ranging from the YMCA to the Kalamazoo Nature Center while providing training, coaching and professional development for program leaders.
Each summer, the CBI program supports students and CCE community partners by offering immersive paid roles developed with the organizations exclusively for K students. Since 2009, with funds from donors and K’s Center for Career and Professional Development, the CCE has offered about 20 internships a year in positions that promote social change and equity in Kalamazoo. In these six- to eight-week experiences, students gain exceptional professional skills and knowledge of local and global issues, while building community capacity to address food security, youth development, the creative arts, health equity, neighborhood planning, neurodiversity, community gardens and childcare policy, among others.
“It was a great opportunity to get the lay of the land for Kalamazoo grassroots, community-based movements,” DiGiulio said. “I could see all the ways their internal network supported the external network of programs in the area. It was energizing and beautiful to witness all the amazing work they were doing.”
Finding Her Place in Kalamazoo
DiGiulio’s internship gave her a firsthand look at the joy behind youth development and revealed the systemic barriers that keep many young people from participating, chief among them was transportation.
Olivia DiGiulio ’25 found an internship at Kalamazoo Youth Development Network through the Mary Jane Underwood Stryker Center for Civic Engagement before turning the experience into a dream career with the Michigan After-School Partnership.
“There are a lot of youth in Michigan who don’t have access to after-school or summer programs because of the limitations related to transportation,” DiGiulio said. “That realization led me into conversations about policy and advocacy that reaffirmed my desire to support systems-level barrier removals as part of my career.”
DiGiulio’s daily schedule at KYD rarely ever repeated itself day to day. Some mornings began with a drive out to observe summer programs, where she helped assess the quality of activities. Other days, she tabled at community events such as the National Day of Summer Learning at Bronson Park, connecting with families and showcasing opportunities for youth. Back in the office, DiGiulio helped process evaluations from youths and families, and supported staff with program-improvement efforts. But what stood out most to her was the culture of the organization.
“KYD Network is very focused on ensuring staff develop as people as much as professionals,” she said. “We had team meetings where we reflected on our values and how to live them out authentically in our work. Seeing my coworkers build such trustworthy and meaningful relationships with community partners was really inspiring.”
Through KYD Network, DiGiulio supported a transportation affinity group that brought together leaders and advocates to think about solutions. The Michigan After-School Partnership (MASP) is a statewide organization that does for Michigan what KYD does for Kalamazoo by supporting out-of-school programs, advocating for funding and pushing for systemic change. By the time graduation rolled around, MASP offered her a full-time position as a policy and advocacy coordinator.
“Truly, this is my dream job,” she said. “I have to pinch myself that I get to do this work. And it all started with that summer internship.”
The Long Game of Change
Today, in her MASP role, DiGiulio leans on those lessons. Advocacy, she said, is rarely about quick wins. Instead, progress comes in steady steps with incremental policy changes, persistent conversations with legislators, and deepening relationships with program directors across the state.
“Measuring success in this work means recognizing that it’s the long game,” she explained. “It’s about building transformational relationships and keeping the drumbeat of advocacy going so momentum continues to build.”
One of her current priorities is transportation equity, which ensures that young people across the state can get to the programs designed for them. Another is securing increased funding for after-school and summer programs. Both, she said, are multi-year efforts.
“I break it down into what can I do this week, what I need to plan for next month, and what has to be set up for the next budget cycle,” she said. “It’s about moving the vision forward one step at a time.”
Seeds Planted Before College
DiGiulio’s passion for civic engagement was first nurtured back home in Portland. In high school, she worked with the Blanchet House, a nonprofit offering free meals and addiction-recovery programs. As a student ambassador, she designed projects that introduced middle school students to issues of food insecurity and houselessness.
“That experience helped me realize I love building connections with people and also analyzing the systems shaping their lives,” she said. “I wanted to find a way to bring relationship building and systems change together. That’s what led me to policy and advocacy.”
K turned out to be the right fit to grow those interests. She took part in CCE programs such as Club Grub, volunteered with Building Blocks of Kalamazoo, and enrolled in courses such as Urban Planning as a Liberal Art, taught by then-CCE Director Alison Geist and local city planners.
“K really values experiential learning,” DiGiulio reflected. “And the friendships I made across disciplines were just as transformative. My friends in biochemistry, public health, and music all shaped how I see the world and the work I want to do.”
Though she never expected it, Kalamazoo—and Michigan more broadly—have become a second home. She cherishes the green spaces, the walkable neighborhoods and the friendships that stretch beyond campus.
“As someone who didn’t grow up here, it’s been special to see the city through the eyes of young people who call it home,” she said. “I feel like I’ve built a community both at K and in Kalamazoo itself.”
Looking Back and Ahead
As DiGiulio settles into her role at MASP, she often thinks back to that pivotal summer in 2024 and the CBI program that made it possible. Her story is a reminder of what CBIs are designed to do as they give students a chance to learn from the community, serve in meaningful ways, and sometimes discover the work they were meant to do all along.
“I’m extremely grateful for the CBI program,” she said. “It fostered meaningful connections with the Kalamazoo community and opened the door to my career. The relationships I found at K have been transformational in my life.”
Kalamazoo College is bringing its tight-knit community even closer together with the launch of a new social media site designed exclusively for students, faculty, staff and alumni. This LinkedIn-style platform provides a professional space to build connections, seek career advice and share opportunities with fellow K Hornets.
KConnect, designed through the platform AlumniFire, grew out of a desire to strengthen the K network and build relationships. Through it, alumni have options to share one-time advice or serve as ongoing advisors as they control how often they want students to contact them. They also can review students’ resumes, provide interview tips and join a community for fresh ideas, collaboration and partnerships. Students then can explore career paths through conversations with alumni in their prospective fields, get tips on searching for jobs and professional life, set up virtual conversations and in-person meetups, build confidence by networking in a low-pressure space and help fellow students by sharing personal experiences.
In KConnect, alumni can share one-time advice or serve as ongoing advisors to students as they control how often they want students to contact them. It’s also a place where alumni can make connections with former classmates.
“Alumni reach out to us often and say, ‘I don’t want to just wait for students to find me on LinkedIn. I want to have career conversations with students because I navigated a difficult situation with my career, and I don’t want other students to have to go through that,’” CCPD Director Valerie Miller said. “If we can direct alumni to this platform, they can say exactly what they want to offer students, and students can find them more quickly.”
Although K alumni and students have always been proud of having strong connections, the new platform offers a digital home for those interactions to flourish. KConnect ensures that students won’t need a LinkedIn Premium account or an appointment with a career coach to reach out to alumni. And because K alumni sign up for it specifically to provide mentoring and more, students know that the alumni want to be contacted. It’s also a great tool for alumni to connect with old friends, contact each other with career questions, and post about their businesses in the business directory.
CCPD Associate Director Rachel Wood added that the platform provides students with a tool to prepare for their careers sooner in their years at K.
“We used to see students engaging a little bit with career stuff their first year, and a little more their sophomore year before doing so heavily into their senior year,” Wood said. “We want to help students approach that differently. We think of KConnect as a great place for sophomores to have those career conversations earlier at K, around the time that they’re making decisions about their majors. It’s not that a major equals what someone does in their career, but if they want to go into finance, for example, they’re going to want to have an internship in that field, so they’re going to want to make connections with folks that work in finance earlier on. Students can do that in KConnect.”
“We have students who come to K with great professional networks, and potentially, the skill to log into KConnect and know exactly what to do with it,” Wood said. “But for those who are new to networking, this platform comes with us doing work on the back end to teach students how to use it, as they all will receive access to it. That elevates what you get from being a K student and it opens doors for people who might not have a professional network coming into K.”
Miller and Wood credit CCPD Assistant Director for Experiential Opportunities Richard Sylvester with doing much of the behind-the-scenes work to select a platform, test it with stakeholders and ensure that it meets the needs of students and alumni.
“One of the biggest initial challenges was selecting the right platform—one that would not only meet the current needs of students and alumni but also scale with us as we grow,” Sylvester said. “We didn’t take that decision lightly. We explored and evaluated several options and AlumniFire stood out as the partner best aligned with our goals and vision for students.”
From start to finish, the process of building KConnect took about seven or eight months, which Sylvester said speaks to the care the CCPD took to set it up right. The result is an exciting and easy-to-use platform. In fact, once they’re registered, participants won’t even have to log in to the platform to use it should they choose only to exchange messages. They can receive email alerts when they get messages and simply reply to them while automatically replying to the message on KConnect at the same time.
Students, faculty, staff and alumni can find instructions for KConnect and register for it through the CCPD website. Registering is possible with a kzoo.edu email address or, for alumni, with a personal email address.
“A platform like KConnect, which will eventually serve hundreds, if not thousands, of alumni and students, needs broad support and trust across campus,” Sylvester said. “We knew this tool had the potential to address a long-standing challenge: reducing the friction that often exists in connecting students with alumni for mentorship, networking, career exploration and experiential learning opportunities like internships and job shadows. Because of the platform’s potential impact, we invested time in meeting with people, demoing the platform, listening to feedback and concerns, and making sure everyone felt confident in the direction we were heading.”
As the platform continues to grow, the CCPD hopes it will serve as an example of the power of a liberal arts community that fosters relationships, sparks collaboration and ensures that Hornets always are buzzing with opportunities to share with each other thanks to having shared experiences as students.
“I often tell the story that I went to a large university and, despite the massive size of my network, I don’t have the network that K grads have because there just isn’t the same kind of alumni affinity for my university,” Miller said. “Here, if somebody says, ‘I did this on the Quad or at Red Square,’ everybody knows what that means. There’s a recognition and a connection that students can share with alumni before they even meet.”
The CCPD won’t measure its success with KConnect by the number of users it has, even though Sylvester admits he would love to see thousands of people using it over time. It’s more about fulfilling a deeper promise of what it means to be a student or alum in the K community.
“When someone chooses K, they’re not just choosing a school, they’re joining a community that cares about them,” Sylvester said. “It’s a community that’s invested in their success during their four years on campus and through the rest of their lives. Just by creating a profile and being willing to offer a bit of your wisdom, your story or your perspective, you will help create a rich, supportive network for students and fellow alumni. That’s how we build the kind of community we all want to be a part of one connection at a time.”
About 25 students and five faculty members from the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry performed summer research together this year.
Summer was not a laid-back break for many of the students and faculty who put the sciences in the liberal arts and sciences at Kalamazoo College. It’s traditionally the time of year when students and professors often collaborate in Dow Science Center labs to advance research projects that could lead to important discoveries for the world.
“During the school year, our time to do research is limited,” said Daniela Arias-Rotondo, K’s Roger F. and Harriet G. Varney Endowed Chair in Natural Science, an assistant professor of chemistry. “And while we keep making progress, the summer is when we can really dig deep. When students have uninterrupted time to do this work, we can start looking at more questions. We can go down some rabbit holes that maybe during the school year we avoid because we have less time. It’s fantastic for the students and a transformative experience for them.”
Student participants often work full-time, with most earning stipends that allow them an immersive experience that builds critical thinking and technical skills. Many of the projects will form the basis of students’ Senior Integrated Projects (SIPs). Some may even result in publications in academic journals or clarify career paths and strengthen graduate school applications. Students also present their findings at national conferences and in peer-reviewed publications, gaining recognition that often extends well beyond campus.
This kind of high-impact learning was on full display this summer through the work of five faculty from chemistry and biochemistry and about 25 students in their labs. The faculty included Assistant Professor of Chemistry Daniela Arias-Rotondo, Associate Professor of Chemistry Blake Tresca, Kurt D. Kaufman Associate Professor of Chemistry Dwight Williams, Dorothy H. Heyl Professor of Chemistry Regina Stevens-Truss and Assistant Professor of Chemistry Cecilia Vollbrecht.
Bea Putman ’26 (from left), Ava Schwachter ’27, Will Tocco ’26, Kate Suarez ’28 and CJ Aldred ’26 worked with Daniela Arias-Rotondo, the Roger F. and Harriet G. Varney Endowed Chair in Natural Science, who is an assistant professor of chemistry at K.
Daniela Arias-Rotondo
Arias-Rotondo’s synthetic inorganic chemistry lab worked to find ways to convert light into electrical or chemical energy. In the 2024–25 academic year, that work—funded by a National Science Foundation grant—led to national recognition for her along with one of her students, Maxwell Rhames ’25, as they examined what alternative metals could possibly be used to make things like solar panels less expensive. Will Tocco ’26, Bea Putman ’26 and Kate Suarez ’28 continued that work this summer.
For Putman, the work represents her SIP. She said first-row transition metals such as manganese could hold the solutions she’s seeking because the metals are cheap and Earth abundant. Tocco, meanwhile, praised Arias-Rotondo—affectionately known to her students as Dr. DAR—for her guidance and leadership in the lab.
“A lot of people imagine their boss as a big, scary person who rags on them when they do something wrong,” Tocco said. “Dr. DAR is not like that at all. If something goes wrong, it simply went wrong. It’s all about falling forward and asking, ‘What did you learn? What can you do next time instead?’ It’s very instructive, and as a student, I get to learn a lot. Even when I fail, there’s always a bright side.”
CJ Aldred ’26 and Ava Schwachter ’27 also worked on a project for which Arias-Rotondo earned funding, this time through the ACS Petroleum Research Fund. For this project, molecules they designed acted as catalysts and unlocked chemical transformations through a process called photoredox catalysis. In this case, the transformations involved petroleum byproducts—the waste left behind after crude oil is extracted—and how those byproducts might be used.
Schwachter, much like Tocco, credited Arias-Rotondo for empowering students.
“When you make a mistake, she will ask, ‘Did you die?’ and ‘What did you learn?’” she said. “The mindset of her lab is safety first. That’s the top priority. The next priority is learning and then whether we get the product we expected. We want to move toward our goal, but the top priorities are safety and learning. It’s easy to feel high pressure because you want to succeed, but because the focus is so much on learning and safety, I feel like there’s less.”
Associate Professor of Chemistry Blake Tresca (from left) worked with Jack Bungart ’26, Max Plesscher ’26, Devi DeYoung ’26, Jocelyn Suranyi ’28 and SEED student Rowan Hagenbuch in his lab this summer along with Caleb Moore ’27 (not pictured).
Blake Tresca
In 2024, Tresca earned a National Science Foundation grant that provided three of his lab students with a stipend this summer while also covering the cost of a robot that made their research faster, easier and safer. Together, Jack Bungart ’26, Max Plesscher ’26 and Caleb Moore ’27 used organic compounds called diene amines to create peptoid nanomaterials, which are molecules showing promise in detecting harmful substances in water or people, for example.
In an independent project, Devi DeYoung ’26, a Heyl scholar from Portage, synthesized and computationally modeled peptoids to look for relationships between structural sequences and exhibited properties.
Even high school students occasionally have opportunities at K thanks to Project SEED, the American Chemical Society’s effort to provide lab experiences to underrepresented students. Jocelyn Suranyi ’28 in the past had been one of those SEED representatives and this summer mentored high school senior Rowan Hagenbuch in Tresca’s lab.
The two did similar work, but on different projects. Suranyi synthesized peptoids that will be used in the lab of Stevens-Truss. Hagenbuch synthesized peptoids that could help remove PFAS chemicals from water. PFAS are widely used in various consumer and industrial products due to their ability to repel water, grease and stains.
“I enjoy doing this work because it helps me develop more lab skills and working with people,” Hagenbuch said. “In a high school lab, I don’t necessarily get to experience what I’m doing this summer, so it helps me build my confidence.”
Suranyi was thrilled with her opportunities to perform research and with a chance to get to know Hagenbuch.
“I know what it’s like to come in as a random high school student and she’s understanding so much more than I did,” she said. “I look at her and I think how happy I am that she’s doing so well. It’s fantastic to work with her.”
Suranyi plans to formally declare a chemistry major and Chinese minor during her sophomore year, which begins this fall. She also enrolls as a guest student at Western Michigan University, which allows her to perform with the Bronco Marching Band.
“I’ve talked to people at Western and I’ve told them I’ve been doing lab research for the past three years,” Suranyi said. “They say, ‘That’s a crazy good experience. I can’t believe K lets so many undergraduates do that and without prior experience.'”
Trustin Christoper ’26 (back row, from left), SEED student Lizbeth Mares-Castro, Olivia Cannizzaro ’26, Kurt D. Kaufman Associate Professor of Chemistry Dwight Williams, Landrie Fridsma ’27, Isaac Duncan ’27 and Jake Asnis ’26, along with Alyson Ramillano ’26 (front row, from left), SEED student Dorian Roberts, Anni Schnell ’26, Julia Kozal ’27 and Eleanor Andrews ’26 were representatives of the Williams lab this summer.
Dwight Williams
You might’ve heard that too many cooks in the kitchen can spoil a dinner, but the same theory will never apply to the Williams lab at K.
Twelve students, the largest of any lab in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry this summer, worked with the associate professor of chemistry fondly known by students as Dr. D.
Those students combined their efforts on three projects, Williams said. One project designed novel antibacterial agents to hopefully make headway against antimicrobial resistance. Another designed molecules that might one day treat neurodegenerative diseases by inhibiting a specific pathway. The last designed new molecules that might be useful for treating Chagas disease and diabetes.
Alyson Ramillano ’26, a Posse Scholar from Los Angeles, was one of the students working in the first group. Specifically, she investigated the natural product Aquamyacin G, an antibiotic showing promise to see whether it can be made synthetically.
“Right now there is a need to identify novel antibiotics because antibiotic resistance has been an ongoing benefit crisis, but there isn’t a lot of financial incentive to invest in antibiotic discovery,” Ramillano said. “From my understanding, that motivated the Williams lab to look into an affordable synthetic that would lower the barriers of entry for further research into this compound.”
Ramillano added that she never would’ve thought she would be doing such research when she started college. Eleanor Andrews ’26, a biology major, didn’t originally plan on doing research this summer in the Williams lab either.
“I was going to do some shadowing at Bronson Hospital because I want to be a nurse,” Andrews said. “But a soccer teammate of mine worked in this lab last year, and I went and listened to her present her SIP. I fell in love with the idea of working here. I loved her project with how she was working to find things that fight antibiotic resistance.”
Andrews added that her lab work consisted of mixing two molecules together to see whether she can create an antibiotic.
“This excites me because it’s really hands on,” she said. “I’m a hands-on kind of person. The thought of sitting back isn’t really for me, so I’m trying find a solution by working on it and figuring out an interesting puzzle.”
Emily Dalecki ’26, Morgan Paye ’26, Dorothy H. Heyl Professor of Chemistry Regina Stevens-Truss and Anoushka Soares ’26 worked together in the Stevens-Truss lab this summer.
Regina Stevens-Truss
The Stevens-Truss lab worked in drug-discovery testing to help figure out whether science might be able to develop new antibiotics. She said her students explore by investigating whether antimicrobial peptides that are about 26 to 30 amino acids in length can kill or prevent bacteria from growing. They also analyzed the hybrid compounds synthesized in the Williams lab and the peptoids developed in Tresca’s lab to see whether they can kill bacteria.
“We’ve started working with a whole subset of bacteria known as ESKAPE pathogens,” Stevens-Truss said. “Each letter in ESKAPE stands for a different microorganism that has at least one antibiotic resistance. We know that you can go to the hospital and take penicillin because it cures certain things. But there are some penicillin-resistant bacteria that penicillin won’t kill, and many are now becoming resistant to more than one antibiotic. We’re looking at compounds now to see which of them can still kill antibiotic-resistant bacteria.”
Three of Stevens-Truss’ students—Emily Dalecki ’26, Morgan Paye ’26 and Anoushka Soares ’26—are hoping to eventually go to medical school with such research being vital to their admission applications.
“Research is just something I’ve always enjoyed,” said Soares, a Heyl scholar from Portage. “It’s not something I had a lot of experience with outside high school, so I was curious about it when I got to K. As a first-year student, Dr. Truss had me in General Chemistry II and asked me if I wanted to do research. I told her that would be perfect for me because I was getting more interested. I thought I was going to be a biologist until Dr. Truss made that offer. I thought it was fantastic, all-encompassing and something I wanted to look into more.”
Paye said she was in a science enrichment program last year making this summer a big change for her thanks to a better overall experience and more collaboration.
“Dr. Truss had offered me a spot in her lab so I could start my SIP research when I had never actually had her as a professor before,” Paye said. “In fact, it was the first time we had ever met, so it was amazing that she had offered me the spot. We blend super well together.”
Dalecki said K is a place where students aren’t just numbers, so faculty know students’ names and are interested in student growth. Dr. Truss, however, is special.
“I felt like Dr. Truss really wanted me to become confident in my lab work and as a chemist,” she said. “I really appreciated that. I’ve had a lot of things going on outside of K that some of my professors didn’t notice. But Dr. Truss noticed that and cared about me. She wanted me to come out of my shell and believe in what I’m doing.”
What Students Said About Summer Research
Julia Kozal ’27
“I would say that working in the lab provides the best opportunity for undergraduates to know themselves better as workers and scientists. I’ve learned that I work best when I’m in the lab constantly and not taking breaks outside just so I can get in the flow of the work. It’s also important to build relationships with your classmates. I think biochemistry can be very intimidating as a major, but if you get to know the people you’re working with well, you have a built-in group of friends for the summer.”
Julia Kozal ’27
Landrie Fridsma ’27
“I took Organic Chemistry this year with Dr. D. He helped me challenge myself in a way I never have before and do things I never thought I would be able to do. When I heard about his research, I was intrigued and excited to keep learning in that way. I learned how to problem solve in his class and it has continued in the lab. I’m learning life skills that I don’t think I would get anywhere else.”
Landrie Fridsma ’27
Anni Schnell ’26
“I think being in the lab has helped me develop a new appreciation for patience. It gives me a different kind of determination when I have to figure something out. I sometimes fail, but I can figure out how to keep getting back on track, and with having other good students in the lab, it’s a low-pressure environment.”
Anni Schnell ’26
Olivia Cannizzaro ’26
“I’m familiar with this department and all the professors are wonderful. Their projects are super interesting and definitely have implications for the future. It’s fulfilling to be a part of something where long-term applications are important. It’s also a good time. You get to know the professors during the year, and then you spend the summer with them. It’s a really good way to have references in the future, because you spend so much time with them. They know you really well. They can speak to your skills. It’s important to have these people for your future as well beyond K.”
Olivia Cannizzaro ’26
Jake Asnis ’26
“I’ve been playing lacrosse since I was in second grade, and I had a teammate in high school who just graduated from K. He told me to reach out to the coach to see if I could play here. It’s definitely a great opportunity to be here because we get to do research. I’m a chemistry major, so with this research, I can get ready for grad school and do my SIP. It’s tough to do that during the academic year. With lacrosse, we have fall ball through about Week 7, and we’re practicing three to four times a week with other classes on top of that. We then start practicing for the spring sport in January and we go all the way through April, so the summer is a perfect time to do research where we can. We don’t have to worry about other academics and we can focus solely on research.”
Jake Asnis ’26
Isaac Duncan ’27
“I applied to a bunch of small schools similar to K, but specifically, I really liked that K has an excellent track record when it comes to sending students to medical and graduate schools. Like a lot of small schools, you can really get to know your professors here. I particularly love my professors in the chemistry department, they’re all just wonderful to be around. Sometimes it’s frustrating because the chemistry isn’t easy, but there’s always help if you look for it. All my peers are incredibly kind, and everyone is struggling together! I never feel like I’m completely on my own.”
Isaac Duncan ’27
SEED student Dorian Roberts
“I thought being in a lab this summer would be a great opportunity to get a jump start on learning how college labs work and how I can better plan for time management. I like how forward Dr. D is with his lessons. I appreciate how he doesn’t sugar coat things, because I think that can sometimes cause overconfidence in some areas or make you not want to better yourself, so he allows me to grow as a person and as a scientist.”
SEED student Dorian Roberts; will attend Eastern Michigan University in fall
Bea Putman ’26
“It’s rigorous, but I think it’s interesting. I’m at college to learn and I want to be proud of my SIP. I want to feel like I put a lot of work into it, and that I used my degree and the brain that I earned from my college degree to put forth this pinnacle of everything that I’ve learned. I wanted to make sure that it accurately relayed all the work that I’ve been doing throughout my years here.”
Bea Putman ’26
Cecilia Vollbrecht
Teige Bredin ’28 and Luke Barnum ’27 have gone from taking their first chemistry course, General Chemistry I, to working in Vollbrecht’s lab in less than a year. Alongside Vollbrecht, they wanted to develop an instrument that can analyze their materials and quickly test how successful they are at capturing pollutants from water or the air.
Some of the pair’s work might have seemed like engineering and physics as much as it did chemistry.
“There’s a bunch of critical thinking where they need to ask themselves, ‘How do we make this instrument work?’” Vollbrecht said. “It’s not just a recipe to follow. We have to figure out how to make these parts fit together, optimize parts, and troubleshoot unexpected problems. They’re learning how to think on their feet while putting together different aspects of their research. We’re not just using our chemistry skills, but physics and math. My students are learning a lot of coding, which I think is fun and a good skill for the future, too.”
Bredin began the summer by using an optical setup and spectrometer to separate light into individual wavelengths. Barnum optimized the mirrors by attempting to make them smaller and even more reflective, so the wavelengths could tell them more about the materials they analyze.
Teige Bredin ’28 (left) and Luke Barnum ’27 (right) worked with Assistant Professor of Chemistry Cecilia Vollbrecht in her lab this summer.
The partners admitted they won’t necessarily find a lot of the answers they want during their time at K. Their subject matter might require years of research, although their summer duties were more than worthwhile to them.
“I’m trying to learn not only about the materials, but the science behind them and our research culture to preview whether I would survive and enjoy a job in this kind of environment,” Barnum said.
And despite being only done with his first year, Bredin knows attending K was a smart decision for him.
“Kalamazoo College has definitely been the right place for me because I’m getting these kinds of opportunities,” he said. “I don’t think I would be meeting the same people and be exposed to the same kinds of things had I not gone here.”
Beyond the Research Lab
The summer culminated in the annual Summer Science Symposium, where students presented their research to peers, faculty and the public. It provided a moment of pride and reflection, along with a celebration of the countless hours spent in the lab to give the faculty a reason to feel good and the students to feel accomplished.
“I was just talking with students about K versus a big school,” Tresca said. “We have a lot of spots for students per capita. In the senior class alone, at least half of our majors are doing research for their SIPs this summer in chemistry or biochemistry. Comparatively, big schools have a very small percentage of their students in labs. That makes us special.”
“Students take ownership of their projects during summer in a way that we don’t see at the very beginning, because as they keep going, they start realizing that they have agency,” Arias-Rotondo said. “They start making their own mistakes, their observations and learning from those mistakes as they come up with alternatives, possible solutions and things they want to try. That’s when they really take ownership of their projects and when they really grow as scientists. They stop being a pair of hands, doing what we tell them to do, and they really become scientists.”
Corey Garrison ’26 was among the students presenting his research at the Summer Science Symposium.
Amelie Sack ’27 is hungry to help people in Northern Michigan eat healthfully this summer through her internship at the Groundwork Center for Resilient Communities in Traverse City—a place that feels like home to her after growing up in Glen Arbor about a half-hour away.
“My dad’s office is directly next to Groundwork, so he recommended that I talk to some of their people when I was looking for an internship, because many of them have been mentors I’ve grown up with,” Sack said. “I realized that I know a majority of the staff there when I visited.”
Thanks to that proactive outreach, she has been able to work with a nonprofit organization that dedicates itself to strengthening communities through local food systems, clean energy initiatives and sustainable transportation.
“Their mission is to build resilient communities and address concerns by asking them what they actually need, rather than by interacting after they’ve created a plan,” Sack said. “I love to make the in-person connections that I do because Groundwork is very community oriented.”
It’s Groundwork’s work around food and farming that aligns closest with Sack’s experiences as a Kalamazoo College student. A double major in anthropology/sociology and women, gender and sexuality, with a concentration in community and global health, Sack interns during the academic year at K’s Hoop House garden, where she helps provide quality food to people who need it. In her Groundwork internship, she addresses community groups and populations to help them find fresh produce and beneficial foods while creating educational materials and in-person meal-prep presentations.
“Local food sources are everything to a community,” Sack said. “My local grocery store in Glen Arbor is expensive and the other closest grocery store is a Meijer that’s about a 30- or 40-minute drive away. Being able to walk or bike a mile down the road and go to my local farmers market every Tuesday and get the produce I need for the week is important for me. But in towns such as Empire and Bezonia, there isn’t a grocery store. Some people resort to processed foods available at a Dollar General rather than farmers markets.”
The good news is that the local farm communities in these areas are getting stronger and seeking publicity, so Sack helps create outreach materials for them along with educational materials for places such as the Empire Regional Food Pantry, the Project Starburst Food Pantry in Big Rapids, and the Up North Fields farm stand in Benzonia.
In addition, she offers presentations at places like the Esperance Community Teaching Kitchen, where she spoke to cancer patients from the Cowell Family Cancer Center, and at Munson Hospital in Traverse City, where she helped train local practitioners in culinary education focused on cardiovascular health.
Amelie Sack ’27 is interning this summer with the Groundwork Center for Resilient Communities in Traverse City where, among other duties, she offers presentations that help Northern Michigan residents find healthful foods.
Sack serves K as a President’s Student Ambassador, representing the College at formal events for community leaders, alumni and donors as an extension of the president’s office.
She also wrote a column this summer for the Traverse City Record Eagle. Her message addressed food access and the importance of local produce, particularly with various bills winding through Washington, D.C., that limit access to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), notably for seniors and children.
“I’m happy to help these farms and give them an honorable mention where I can while helping residents find access,” she said. “And being able to write this column and share my voice has been exciting for me and so important for our partners, especially as SNAP is facing a loss of federal funding. It’s going to harm households as well as schools because there are about 18 million children who rely on it for their school meals.”
Sack expects her internship and outreach to continue until mid-August before she returns to Kalamazoo, but she’s open to continuing it remotely. She’s grateful that she received a stipend from K’s Center for Career and Professional Development so she could concentrate exclusively on her role this summer, but she would continue that work for free if it meant she could offer more services to Northern Michigan partners.
“I’m passionate about helping my community because I’ve enjoyed growing up in this area,” Sack said. “I feel lucky to have shared my voice while meeting wonderful people and seeing what this work does for the community and for public health.”
Over spring break, 10 first-generation students from Kalamazoo College traded the familiar routines of campus life for the fast-paced energy of New York City, where they spent five days job shadowing across a range of industries and opportunities in finance, education, theater, media and nonprofit work.
Thanks to K to NYC—a new Center for Career and Professional Development (CCPD) initiative organized by Assistant Director Alejandro Alaniz— students met alumni and got a firsthand look at how a K liberal arts degree can lead to diverse career paths.
Before traveling, students participated in sessions with the CCPD to prepare for their experiences, helping them research their alumni hosts and companies, develop strong career-conversation questions, and practice professional communication strategies. Then, Alaniz said, the trek provided a transformative experience that allowed students to step into spaces they might have once felt unsure about while walking away with a sense of confidence, direction and belonging.
“For many, it was their first time in New York City, their first job shadow, and their first professional conversation outside the classroom, and yet they showed up—asking thoughtful questions, sharing their stories, and embracing every moment of growth,” Alaniz said.
The student cohort, consisting mostly of first- and second-year students, included Jay Hernandez ’28, who said he leapt at the opportunity to go the moment he saw the first email about it.
“I love traveling and being in a real work environment because it fascinates me to see how people function in a day of work,” he said. “I also had never been to New York City before, which made it even more appealing to me, a first-generation student from Texas who has never known a big city like New York.”
For the job shadow itself, Hernandez met Kriti Singh ’17, who works as an associate with Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), a nonprofit that works like a think tank while transforming global energy systems through market-driven solutions to secure a clean, prosperous and zero-carbon future.
“It surpassed my expectations by tenfold,” Hernandez said. “This trip was so enlightening, and I was so thankful, because not only did I gain in-person experience from a real job shadow, but we also had free time to explore the richness of the city and experience things on our own. It felt like we were doing everything with how much we enjoyed it. It was a good bonding experience with new people as well. All the alumni gave me foresight on important skills and taught me truly how valuable networking is. With that and the advice they gave me, I understand better what to look for in jobs and what those jobs are looking for in me.”
“This experience wouldn’t have been possible without the generosity and support of our alumni,” said Center for Career and Professional Development Alejandro Alaniz (far left). “Their willingness to open their workplaces, share their journeys, and encourage our students is what made this trek so meaningful.
“This trip was so enlightening, and I was so thankful, because not only did I gain in-person experience from a real job shadow, but we also had free time to explore the richness of the city and experience things on our own,” said Jay Hernandez ’28 of his experience in New York. “It felt like we were doing everything with how much we enjoyed it.”
In her role, Singh examines two- and three-wheel road vehicles, and how cities can develop infrastructure to increase access to transportation while adopting energy-efficient options. She said she took advantage of CCPD programs during her time at K and desired an opportunity to give back to the College.
“I did a couple of career treks including K’s first to New York, which then was called K to the Big Apple,” Singh said. “I think K prepared me well for the outside world through those experiences and more. There were classes I took that I could talk about in interviews that helped me get a job. K taught me to be flexible and willing to learn new things in quality classes with amazing professors. I think going to a small school, where professors knew my name, was important for me. I still value that today.”
Hernandez’s goals and Singh’s role weren’t a perfect match, because Hernandez hopes to work in finance rather than the nonprofit sector after earning his degree. However, Singh said there were still important lessons to learn in their time together.
“I understood that he might come out thinking, ‘This is not what I want to do,’” Singh said. “But I think it’s good to have depth and breadth regarding a variety of experiences. My goal was to give him exposure into this field. I also gave him some readings on my own work and I thought of other alumni he could connect with, whether they’re in New York or not. I wanted him to learn how to network because that was something I really benefited from.”
Amanda Johnson ’17 also wanted to give back, having benefited from three internships arranged at least in part through the CCPD during her time as a K student: working on the Raise the Wage Campaign for Michigan United, an internship with former K trustee Amy Courter at Youngsoft Inc. and a summer away at the U.S. Senate. She now works as a director at Waterfall Asset Management, where she trades residential mortgage-backed securities.
Johnson hosted one student for a job shadow and all 10 along with four other alumni for a dinner meeting in her office that night.
“I thought the questions they asked alumni were very thoughtful and showed maturity beyond their age,” Johnson said. “I recommended the students pursue a variety of career exposure opportunities at and through K. Bite size opportunities such as the experience in NYC will allow the students to learn their career preferences. Learning you don’t like something in a short term setting like a job shadow, externship or internship is incredibly useful for crafting a fulfilling, enjoyable career. I think this trip was a great experience for the students to add to their career exploration.”
As the students returned to campus, energized and inspired, their stories became fuel for Alaniz and the CCPD to expand the program going forward. In follow-up reports, Ash Rodriguez ’27 said, “This experience showed me that being first-gen doesn’t mean I have to play small. I’ve learned that I belong in professional spaces—and I want to take up space.”
Liuba Silva ’27 reflected, “Shadowing my alum taught me that career paths can be unpredictable, but that’s okay. I don’t need to have it all figured out right now—I just need to stay open and keep building relationships.”
And Sarah Guerrero Gorostieta ’28 said, “I used to think networking was about being polished and perfect. But during this trip, I learned that being genuinely curious and asking honest questions can be just as powerful.”
“This experience wouldn’t have been possible without the generosity and support of our alumni,” Alaniz said. “Their willingness to open their workplaces, share their journeys, and encourage our students is what made this trek so meaningful. The connections formed are proof that the Kalamazoo College network is not only strong, it’s deeply invested in the next generation of leaders. As I reflect, I’m already thinking about what’s next: more opportunities for career exploration, more spaces for first-generation students to thrive, and more stories of transformation waiting to unfold.”
Lily Toohey ’26 had an associate’s degree in business, an innkeeping job in Kalamazoo, and a strong desire to pursue more education challenged by financial constraints.
Nancy (Loebe) Hessler ’68, along with her husband, Jan Hessler ’65, had a comfortable retirement, deep pride in Kalamazoo College, and a commitment to pay forward the opportunities they were given.
Their chance meeting at Kalamazoo House in September 2023, where the Hesslers were staying during K’s Homecoming and Toohey was checking on guests at breakfast, started like many K stories: The proud alumni praising their alma mater, encouraging the unsure student to apply. Nancy Hessler, however, took it a step further.
“She said, ‘You should apply. If you get in, I’ll sponsor you,’” Toohey said. “And I was like, ‘You met me yesterday. What do you mean?’ But the way that she talked about it, she had so much pride that she went there and really talked highly about it. And I think in a spiritual sense, I felt like there were a lot of signs pointing to it being the direction I needed to follow.”
For Hessler’s part, she saw a drive in Toohey and aspirations in line with K’s values.
“It was so clear to me, oddly enough, so suddenly, that it was what we should do,” Hessler said. “Jan and I were given by our parents enough of a start line to do well. We both had good, solid, steady professional employment [Jan as a researcher with Argonne National Laboratory and Nancy as a Moraine Valley Community College librarian], and we were raised conservatively financially. You live within your means, and you prepare for the future, so we were positioned by the time I met this young lady, whom I consider something of a wonder at this point, to offer this.”
They exchanged contact information, and despite lingering uncertainty, Toohey decided to apply to K and see what happened. When she let Hessler know that she had been accepted and offered an excellent scholarship, Hessler promised per-term financial support that would cover the rest of her tuition.
“I would have hated to see someone like Lily, who clearly wanted very much to go to college, be denied that on the basis of finances,” Hessler said. “I would wish, in a perfect world, that it didn’t happen to any student with the ambition and drive to want to better themselves through a good education beyond high school. That’s not the world I live in, but by taking this action, I managed to make a strike on the good side of things.”
When Nancy Hessler ’68 met Lily Toohey ’26, she saw a strong drive in Toohey along with aspirations that align with Kalamazoo College’s values. When Toohey later let Hessler know that she had been accepted to K, Hessler promised per-term financial support from her and her husband, Jan ’65, that would cover the remaining cost of her education after a scholarship.
The Hesslers have long been financial supporters of Kalamazoo College, including the Kalamazoo College Fund, inspired in part by Nancy’s parents, who were determined to offer their daughter higher education.
“I’ve always been stressed about the money aspect,” Toohey said. “I always wanted more education, but I had gone to community college because it was just too expensive. Having the financial support has been such a weight off my shoulders.”
Although readjusting to student life as a transfer mid-academic year in winter term 2024 while still working presented challenges, not having to worry about the cost allowed Toohey to focus on school.
“Nancy has been so incredibly supportive of everything that I want to do,” Toohey said. “She’s all about doing something, and if you don’t like it, change your mind and try again. She’s been supportive of my photography and wanting to study away and all these things. So having that has been like I’m doing it all for Nancy. When it gets hard, it’s for Nancy.”
For example, Toohey originally planned to major in business, minor in French and study abroad in France. Then, as a dormant interest in photography came back to life, she changed her minor to studio art and study abroad became study away through the Great Lakes Colleges Association (GLCA) New York Arts Program.
Hessler encouraged her every step of the way, and in January 2025, Toohey flew to New York City. In the New York Arts program, students participate weekly in a seminar to learn about, read on and discuss the arts in New York and art world careers. In addition, each participant is placed in an internship with a professional artist.
“Oh, she was so excited when she got the internship, and I was so excited for her, because I remember the excitement I had trying something out,” Hessler said, reminiscing about her own K-Plan. In addition to enjoying classes in a range of subjects and ending up with a major in French and minors in German, economics and religion, Hessler credits experiences such as studying abroad in Caen, France, and an off-campus work study program with developing independence and supporting the transition from child to fully functioning adult.
In New York, Toohey learned from three photographers as she completed a photography internship with a business owner who shoots mainly in studio, a mentorship with an event and fashion photographer, and an additional internship with a fashion photographer who works with brands. Through those experiences, Toohey conducted studio shoots, took behind-the-scenes images of New York Fashion Week and spent days on location for branding shoots.
She learned, practiced and broadened her photography and business interests, coming away with a new focus on fashion marketing photography. The program capstone is a personal project, and Toohey’s included seven photography shoots and curation of an exhibit on the duality of womanhood.
“When I presented my work, one of my friends got really emotional, and he was tearing up, talking about my work, and my advisor said that he can’t wait to see the big things that I do,” Toohey said. “Getting those comments from people felt like, ‘OK, people are seeing it,’ and also, I was proud of myself. I never thought I’d be creating work like I created in New York.”
The New York Arts Program built Toohey’s confidence and reminded her of the importance of creating. Back on campus for spring term, she threw herself into a photography class project involving fashion shoots based on personification of her favorite beverages. She’s been thinking about opportunities she may want to pursue, including a partnership with a local vintage store or internships in Grand Rapids or Chicago.
“I want to move to New York after graduation,” Toohey said. “I fell in love with it; I literally got a New York City tattoo. The program helped me learn that I truly loved the city, and that I could make it work, and it built my photography skills and the confidence to go for it and make mistakes.”
“I’m very grateful for the way this has all worked out,” Toohey said. “I’m so incredibly grateful for the Hesslers and everything they’ve done for me.”
Was it a gamble for Toohey and for the Hesslers? Sure. Has that leap of faith paid off? Absolutely.
“You know, my parents took a chance on me,” Hessler said. “There is no guarantee in life that a student or any person will make the most of what they’ve been offered. I asked my dad once, when I wanted to thank my parents, ‘What can I do?’ He said, ‘Pay it forward.’ As it happens, I made a choice not to have children. So, OK, this is paying it forward. That’s what I’m trying to do. There was no guarantee, but boy, did we pick a winner. Lily is doing amazing things and making the most of the opportunity. If I can be part of that, as far as I’m concerned, that’s the very least I could do. It’s up to those of us who can and who have benefited from K’s education to support young people in experiencing it, too.”
Eleven recent graduates are pursuing their passions around the world during the 2025–26 academic year. As Fulbright scholars and teaching assistants, they’re continuing a rich tradition of post-grad international learning and service—and carrying Kalamazoo College’s spirit of exploration around the globe.
Fulbright
Erik Danielson ’25, Alex Nam ’25, Leo McGreevy ’25, Stacy Escobar ’21 and Joseph Horsfield ’25 are Fulbright scholars in the U.S. Student Program.
In partnership with more than 140 countries, the Fulbright U.S. Student Program is the federal government’s flagship for international educational exchange as it offers opportunities in graduate study, conducting research and teaching English abroad. K has earned recognition as a top producer of Fulbright students for six consecutive years. Graduating seniors apply through their educational institution. Alumni apply as scholars through their institution or as at-large candidates. As a nod to their academic merit and leadership potential, Danielson, Nam and McGreevy will serve Fulbright in Austria; Escobar will travel to Guatemala; and Horsfield will go to Ireland.
Danielson, Nam, McGreevy and Escobar will work as English teaching assistants (ETAs). In their roles, they will serve as teachers and cultural ambassadors while promoting an understanding of the U.S. and its culture, learning about their host country, and engaging with their communities.
Horsfield will attend the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) and begin a Ph.D. program that has been offered to only two U.S. students each year since 2019. The opportunity, based in Dublin, encourages scientists to develop innovative research projects related to cancer; neurological and psychiatric disorders; population health and health services; biomaterials, medical devices and pharmaceutical sciences; surgical science and practice; or vascular biology. Fulbright will cover the first year of Horsfield’s educational costs and RCSI will cover the last three.
NALCAP
Fuzail Ahmed ’25, Maya Hester ’25, Sierra Hieshetter ’25 and Alexa Wonacott ’25 have received Spanish government teaching assistantships through the North American Language and Culture Assistants Program (NALCAP) of Spain. And Madeline Hollander ’25 and McKenna Lee Wasmer ’25 will fulfill government teaching assistantships through NALCAP in France.
The Education Office of the Embassy of Spain, located in Washington, D.C., promotes the NALCAP opportunities in Spain, seeking diverse educational outreach and long-lasting ties between American and Spanish citizens. France Education International maintains the program for France with a desire to cooperate globally in education along with technical and vocational training while supporting the teaching of French around the world.
Both programs have similar structures with Hollander, Wasmer, Ahmed, Hester, Hieshetter and Wonacott each expecting to be abroad for seven to eight months beginning in October. Afterward, the participants may apply for renewal.
NALCAP recipients receive a monthly stipend and medical insurance for 12–16 hours of assistant teaching per week depending on their program. They make their own housing arrangements and are encouraged to immerse themselves in the language and culture of their host countries while sharing the language and culture of the United States with the students they teach.
Alex Nam ’25 will be one of five Kalamazoo College alumni abroad in the 2025–26 academic year while serving the Fulbright U.S. Student Program as an English teaching assistant in Austria. He is pictured during his study abroad experience in Regensburg, Germany.
Alexa Wonacott ’25 will return to Spain this year thanks to the North American Language and Culture Assistants Program. She will be an English teaching assistant through a program offered by the Education Office of the Embassy of Spain.
“I’m proud of the Kalamazoo College students and alumni who seek opportunities like these because they support international cooperation on issues that are shared around the world,” Center for International Programs Executive Director Margaret Wiedenhoeft said. “Each honoree is an example of the curiosity, courage and global perspective we aim to cultivate in K representatives throughout their lives. The fellowships are not just awards. They’re opportunities to engage deeply with the world, seek challenges in new environments, and grow academically and personally. Their success reflects the strength of our programs and the passion our students bring to global learning.”
