Io Triumphe! Fall-Winter 2018-19

Io Triumphe!

THE MAGAZINE FOR ALUMNI AND FRIENDS OF ALBION COLLEGE

PROVIDING THE FOUNDATION

VOL. LXXXIII, NO. 2

FALL-WINTER 2018-19

Contents

FALL-WINTER 2018-19

Features A LIFE-CHANGING CLASS Behind the First-Year Seminar’s impressive staying power.

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BUILDING AND BINDING The first Build Albion Fellows are preparing to graduate in May. Plus: James Curtis, ’44, inspires.

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ACADEMIC MASHUP 26 A chat between students eyeing Earth’s foundations and those pondering the foundational questions of life. Why? Why not?

Plus: Geology professor Bill Bartels.

BEDROCK PRINCIPLE 30 Paying it forward through 366 endowed Albion scholarships, and digging into some of the stories behind the generosity.

NEW HOME FOR MUSIC A special section’s sneak peek at the future Richard & Marilyn Vitek Center for Musical Arts.

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Departments BRITON BITS ALUMNI ASSOCIATION NEWS

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ALBIONOTES 38

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ON THE COVER: Students from Patchwork America, assistant professor of sociology Matthew Schoene’s First-Year Seminar, in the Ludington Center with their First-Year Experience peer mentor, Isabel Allaway, ’20 (center). Photo: Carrie Freeland, ’06 (who easily recalls her First-Year Seminar, Innovations in Imaging, with David Reimann, professor of mathematics and computer science).

BRITON BITS

First Impressions Last year one of our students observed that she never saw me attending a class. That’s silly, I thought. Presidents go to basketball games and plays and concerts and lots of committee meetings. But they never go to class.

As I reflected, I wondered, “Why not?”

So this fall I put the word out to faculty teaching First-Year Seminars that, if invited, I would attend. I picked FirstYear Seminars (FYS) because I wanted an opportunity to get to know our new students. I picked FYS because of the important role these courses play in our curriculum. I picked FYS because the content topics were intriguing. I picked FYS because I met all the prerequisites. And I wasn’t disappointed.

I asked students how they would respond when their grandmother asked why they were paying tuition to watch music videos or talk about zombie movies or rehash questions that have been around for thousands of years. Most weren’t quite ready for that conversation.

It’s not easy, but it is important to be able to articulate the link between what we talk about in class and our ultimate learning goals.

Each class session was fascinating. I watched students mature as the semester progressed. I saw learning communities begin to emerge. I was heartened to see students do more listening and reflecting as the weeks went by. Like the other students, I was presented with an ideal forum for wresting with the age-old question of “What is this liberal arts education all about and why does it work so well?”

Despite hundreds of thousands of case studies, it is hard to accept that studying literature, philosophy, history, classics, art history, or even zombie movies is great preparation for a career in medicine, law, or business. How could studying classical languages or contemporary music videos prepare one for a life of meaning?

Early in the semester, I joined many discussions on Make Your Home Among Strangers, which served as the text for our Common Reading Experience for all first-year students. In a short stretch mid-semester I attended a seminar that considered the various genres of zombie films, another that looked for the message in Beyoncé’s music video “Lemonade,” and a third that considered arguments on whether space is relative. On the last day of classes, I joined a group of students who were reflecting on the impact of their seminar about the Holocaust.

The Graduates We Create

The explanation, I think, is in understanding what we want our students to learn. And that is not so easy as there is a longstanding debate on whether our goal is to create graduates who are inventors of knowledge or to create graduates who understand how to make a democratic society function. Regardless of which you think is more important, or if you think they are equally important, how we teach and the environment in which we teach is more important than what we teach.

Learning how to ask and answer important questions is more important than knowing the answers in advance. Discovering how to listen to and then eventually learn from

those who disagree with us is often more important than what we are prepared to say.

I am encouraged by what I learned in my 15 FYS visits this semester. Professors expected students to have read texts and analyzed arguments before coming to class. They expected students to articulate their thoughts and listen to classmates. In many important ways, the make-up of the seminars reflected the America that our graduates will lead.

I watched as our students realized that they could discover the answers to questions that they had never before considered. I saw students grappling with new ideas expressed by those whose background was very different from their own. Although they might consider it too audacious, when asked why they read House on Mango Street, our students could explain that it prepared them to make democracy work. When asked why they studied the Leibniz-Clarke-Newton debate on whether space was relative, they could argue that it prepared them to solve the most vexing problems of our time.

Mauri Ditzler President

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BRITON BITS

Pre-Medical Breakthrough The Wilson Institute for Medicine, created through a $5.1 million gift from Lisa and James Wilson, ’79 ’77, will put Albion at the vanguard of American pre-med programs.

Faculty from a variety of academic disciplines are enhancing the curriculum to better meet the needs of today’s medical schools. New courses will debut next fall.

With medical education’s significant changes in the 21st century— recalibrating to give increased emphasis to the discipline’s universal human and social aspects—there is growing concern in the field that the core pre-medical curriculum, virtually unchanged for decades, must similarly adapt.

Some say the need is urgent. And a major gift to Albion will put the College out in front nationally, leading the way in closing the undergraduate preparation gap.

In what amounts to a $5.1 million statement, Dr. James Wilson, ’77, and Lisa Wilson, ’79, have established the Lisa and James Wilson Institute for Medicine at Albion College.

Announced publicly October 8, it’s the largest gift by an individual or couple in the history of the College, which quickly has seen a distinct goal emerge on campus as it forms plans and action steps for the months and years ahead.

Jim and Lisa Wilson, the parents of four children, welcomed a team from Albion into their Philadelphia home this fall for a video and photo shoot. The College’s YouTube channel features a Wilson Institute video playlist—find a link to it at albion.edu/iotriumphe.

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“It’s time for us to once again take the lead in innovating pre-medical education,” said President Mauri Ditzler. “Medical schools have changed dramatically in the last decade. We need to make certain that pre-medical education keeps up with that. We’ve always been a leader in this field; it’s time for us to be a role model.”

‘The Opportunity Now Is Great’ An evolution from the former Institute for Healthcare Professions, the Wilson Institute for Medicine will rethink and advance undergraduate teaching and preparation so that all Albion students who aspire to become physicians can realize their dreams in a fast changing medical-education environment.

Through updated and more pertinent pre-med and pre-health coursework, Albion students will have a competitive advantage in gaining entrance to top-tier medical schools and in their overall career paths.

“People have been thinking about this idea for a while, but no one has really tackled it yet,” said Brad Rabquer, associate professor of biology and director of the Wilson Institute for Medicine. “As the MCAT has changed, as medical schools have revamped their curricula, there is this large gap at the pre-med side, in the undergraduate curriculum. So we’re really striking while the iron is hot.

The opportunity now is great.”

Increasingly, medical schools are incorporating patient care and interaction—traditionally the focus of

the later clinical years—into the curriculum’s first two years, which previously had been dominated by “heavy, hard sciences” according to Rabquer. Today, he said, “there is more exposure to patients earlier, an emphasis on caring for people right at the start.”

This fall, a group of 10 faculty from the departments of Anthropology and Sociology, Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics and Computer Science, Physics, and Psychological Science began to review changes in medical school curricula, read current literature on some of the resulting outcomes, and merge those findings with current best practices in undergraduate teaching. Following their pedagogical groundwork, the professors will move into course development over the winter and spring, Rabquer said, “so that we can roll out some new integrated, novel courses in time for the fall 2019 semester.”

The Institute, and Albion’s intentions, are already being noticed at the medical-school level.

“The practice of clinical medicine has changed dramatically in the last 20 to 30 years,” said Dr. James Woolliscroft, professor of medicine and former dean of the University of Michigan Medical School. “And yet when you think about the whole preparation that students go through in their undergraduate years, it hasn’t changed that much. Prerequisites to most medical schools have remained essentially constant for over a hundred years despite dramatic changes in the practice of medicine and the scientific basis thereof.

programs where this kind of change would be welcome,” said Dr. Wilson, Rose H. Weiss Orphan Disease Center director’s professor and director of the gene therapy program at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine. He received his M.D. and Ph.D. from the University of Michigan after graduating Phi Beta Kappa with a degree in chemistry from Albion. “I’m confident that the Albion College community will have the resolve and the agility to be able to move in this very different and transformative direction.”

“Over the years, I’ve gotten to know many of the students Jim has taught who have worked in his lab, and I saw their struggles and I saw how difficult it was for them,” said Lisa Wilson, who after receiving her degree in economics and management from Albion worked in hospital administration for a number of years.

“What I hope the Institute accomplishes is that every pre-med student at Albion College who qualifies and works really hard reaches their dream to become a doctor.”

In November, Dr. Wilson was named a finalist for the $1 million Sanford Lorraine Cross Award, created in 2017 by Sioux Falls, South Dakota-based Sanford Health, the largest rural not-for-profit healthcare system in the

country. The award recognizes contributions to medicine, science, and innovation.

Similarly, Jim and Lisa are excited about their alma mater’s innovative road ahead in preparing the doctors, nurses, and healthcare professionals of tomorrow. “Our hope,” Jim said, “is that with the kind of resources we can bring and leverage to bring in other resources, we can enable this to happen.”

And Albion College, its president added, is the ideal place to fulfill the vision.

“A liberal arts college like Albion is nimble. We can make changes in a year or two that a bigger institution might take a decade to accomplish,” said Ditzler, himself a chemist by training. “The work we’re doing in pre-medical education through the Wilson Institute should not be underestimated. This is a fundamental change in the way we and others will think about preparing students to become doctors. But it’s something that we’re well prepared for. The faculty and staff from all over the institution, as well as our alumni, are committed to making this work.”

Visit albion.edu/wilson-institute to learn more about the Lisa and James Wilson Institute for Medicine.

“It’s very timely that this is being looked at and readdressed,” Woolliscroft continued. “I see Albion leading what will hopefully be a national movement of liberal arts colleges who are intent on preparing their students not for the past, but for the future.”

Helping Students Fulfill Their Dream The gift follows several years of conversation between Albion faculty and the Wilsons, acknowledging a gap that appeared to be widening in the discipline and tapping into their passions and expertise to do something about it.

“We’re at a time in the whole ecosystem of medical schools and colleges and residency

Jim Wilson (center) stands with Albion faculty who are creating a new model for pre-med education, including (from left) Kevin Metz, associate professor and chair of chemistry; Marcella Cervantes, assistant professor of biology; Scott Melzer, professor of sociology; Ken Saville, professor and chair of biology; Karla McCavit, instructor of mathematics and computer science and director of the College’s Quantitative Studies Center; Craig Streu, associate professor of chemistry; Mareike Wieth, professor of psychological science; and Brad Rabquer, associate professor of biology and Wilson Institute director.

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BRITON BITS

Albion 24/7 500,000

Each year, more than apples are grown at President Ditzler’s Indiana orchard. That’s a lot of pies.

$71,030

in state grant funds will support campus sexual assault programming, including the nationally known Green Dot Bystander Intervention program, as well as upgrades to the College security camera system.

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people from a Metro Detroit production company dropped in one September day to film part of a Consumers Energy TV and YouTube ad. The 90-second spot, titled “Hard Hat,” includes 7 seconds of Science Complex footage.

3,000 student rides were provided this fall by the new BritBus service. The 15-passenger vans are operated entirely by trained and appropriately licensed student drivers. The most popular stop: Family Fare, followed by the Ludington Center.

Cassandra Vince, ’19, became the third Albion cross country runner in as many years to achieve All-American status.

She finished 10th at the NCAA Division III Championship, the highest-ever finish by a Britons runner on the national stage. states are represented in Albion’s current student body. Beyond Michigan, 157 students come from Illinois.

The most after that?

California, with 41 students.

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HEARD IN TOWN “He loved butterflies and had a butterfly collection; he wrote poetry to his wife.

He loved Michigan; this was his home.”

—Ilyasah Shabazz, author of X: A Novel, speaking about her father, Malcolm X, during an October event for Albion’s Big Read at the Bohm Theatre

Books at the Bohm

On Exhibit: Entrepreneurship

Lisa McCubbin, author of the 2018 biography Betty Ford: First Lady, Women’s Advocate, Survivor, Trailblazer, headlined the Joseph & Donna Calvaruso Speaker Series event October 4 at the Bohm Theatre. The evening also featured retired Secret Service agent Clint Hill, with whom McCubbin has written three New York Times bestsellers. Following her opening presentation, the two engaged in an on-stage conversation with Joe Calvaruso, ’78, executive director of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation in Grand Rapids.

“Art gallery owner” is an unlikely job title for a 25-year-old. Tack “successful” onto the front of that and you would be hard-pressed to find much company for Hannah Litvan, ’15, owner of the Ice House Gallery, which opened in October 2017 in Evanston, Illinois.

McCubbin signed a copy of her latest work for Andrea Benson, ’19.

Coming Soon at the Bohm Rochelle Riley, awardwinning columnist for the Detroit Free Press, will speak January 30 at the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Convocation and Community Celebration.

Riley is also editor of The Burden: African Americans and the Enduring Impact of Slavery (Wayne State University Press, 2018). The event begins at 7 p.m.; visit albion.edu/mlk for more information.

An Albion art and English-creative writing major who worked at the Ella Sharp Museum in Jackson as well as the Field Museum in Chicago, Litvan started her gallery plans with the knowledge that “art sales don’t pay the rent”—and she wasn’t going to sell anything if she didn’t get people in the door. As a result the Ice House hosts concerts, poetry nights, and storytelling; it also offers studio space and classes on its second floor. Most events are free and Ice House art classes are priced below the going rate, both of which also help attract potential buyers.

One formula for a successful gallery is to focus on a few artists with wide appeal. That idea, however, doesn’t square with Litvan’s interest in the wealth of local talent she sees. Rather, the one-of-a-kind vibe of the

Ice House (named for the brick building’s onetime purpose as an ice-storage facility, steps away from the CTA Purple Line train) comes from gathering some 30 artists’ work at any given time. Litvan further encourages her artists to price their work “to go home with someone,” she says.

“The Ice House is accessible and locally focused,” she adds. “It’s about having a good experience.”

Growth for year two is well under way, with a marketing campaign unfolding and three or more events planned for each month. “I also started the Ice House because I found out I didn’t like working for other people,” Litvan says with a laugh. “If I do the due diligence, I want the payoff. So I’m here all day, every day.

But I think it’s going well.”

Visit icehousegalleryevanston.com to learn more about Litvan’s venture.

–Jake Weber

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BRITON BITS

A Discovery, an Understanding, a Connection During an early evening in late August, in front of respectful faculty, staff, and students, a long and sometimes frustrating yet always enlightening journey for the Zuni people and Albion College reached its conclusion.

And now, an important artifact, a symbol of the Zuni tradition, is back where it belongs in the high desert of New Mexico.

“We come together to mark a special day in Albion College’s history, the day we are able to return an important cultural item to its rightful owners,” said art history professor Bille Wickre, who began this repatriation endeavor more than two years ago. “For me, today is a joyous end of a journey that began with collaboration with other scholars and students and that was supported by many people at Albion and at Zuni.”

The Ahayu:da, a two-foot-long carved symbol that was donated from an alumna’s family to the College decades ago and was lost in time and memory, will take its place among hundreds of other Ahayu:da in a roofless building on tribal lands in New Mexico, where its energy and spirit will be absorbed back into the ground.

Three Zuni elders—Carleton Bowekaty, Octavius Seowtewa, and Nelson Vicenti—came to

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campus to receive an Ahayu:da that had resided in storage within the Bobbitt Visual Arts Center collections since 1973. The saga actually began in 2012 when Wickre found the artifact in the Bobbitt basement vault as she prepared to teach a class on Native American art that fall.

After learning just how important it was, she contacted the Zuni, who saw a photo and determined that it was authentic. Thus began the process of repatriation through the federally mandated Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), signed into law in 1990.

Returning the Ahayu:da was no simple matter. Both Albion and the Zuni had to complete NAGPRA protocol, which took several months, after which the Ahayu:da had to be claimed in person by Zuni representatives at an auspicious time.

The repatriation process culminated August 30 in a private cleansing ceremony, followed later by an exchange of gifts and then a public event featuring a documentary on the Zuni nation.

It ended with pleased visitors.

The three elders returned with the artifact to their home in Zuni, New Mexico, and presented it to

the bow priest, who prayed over it before placing it in its final resting place.

“This was a day that was a long time in coming,” Bowekaty said during his Albion visit. Albion College President Mauri Ditzler also acknowledged that while it took several decades for the Ahayu:da to find its way home, the result will endure.

“Sometimes we do what’s right because it’s the right thing to do,” he said. “This was the right thing to do. There will always be a special bond between Albion College, its students, and with the Zuni and their descendants.”

A donation has also been made to the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center for the Zuni Kiva Project in honor of the repatriation of a Zuni War God by Albion College to the Pueblo of Zuni.

“We know we’ve made a friend in Albion College,” Bowekaty said.

–Chuck Carlson A feature article about the Zuni Ahayu:da, and the College’s growing understanding of its importance, was published in the Fall-Winter 2016-17 edition of Io Triumphe!

Upper Baldwin was filled for an August 30 gift exchange between representatives of the Zuni people and Albion College (top). Earlier in the day the College formally repatriated a Zuni artifact known as an Ahayu:da, which until the last few years had resided deep within the Art and Art History Department’s collection since the 1970s. The above photograph shows the sacred object days before it was received by the Zuni, who conducted a private cleansing ceremony on campus in advance of its return home to Zuni Pueblo in New Mexico.

Successful Experiment The conservation science workshop for Michigan educators sponsored by the world-renowned San Diego Zoo Global and held at Albion College this summer was everything Rolanda Matthews, ’92, hoped it would be.

“It’s been an invaluable experience,” said Matthews, who teaches fifth-grade anatomy and physiology and fifth- and sixth-grade math and science in the Detroit Public Schools Community District. “Albion is taking a giant step for humanity.”

The four-day workshop welcomed 32 educators from around the state, who stayed on campus and studied traditional

curriculum in addition to some new content specific to Michigan and which will be applicable to students.

The Whitehouse Nature Center was one of the prime locations for the workshop.

“We can think globally but we’re going to act locally,” Matthews said. “It’s like building a web. It’s so strong, it becomes unbreakable and it compounds your impact.”

The San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research has held these workshops for 12 years, but this was the first offered in Michigan.

Mark Stuart, ’89, is president of the Foundation of San Diego Zoo Global and for

years has hoped to bring this event to his alma mater.

“It’s a win for science teachers, who are the hardest-working people in education because science is changing so darned quick, and to arm them with innovative curricula to reach their kids is a huge win,” Stuart said. “It’s a win for Albion College because they now have 32 teachers who are going to be advocates for Albion and help guide students to come to Albion.”

The workshop went so well that plans are under way to hold it again next summer.

–Chuck Carlson

“It’s a win for Albion College because they now have 32 teachers who are going to be advocates for Albion and help guide students to come to Albion.”

Natural Fit

“An educated public makes better decisions,” says Nicole Wood, a wildlife ecologist specializing in invasive species who was named director of the Whitehouse Nature Center in August.

Shortly after arriving on campus, she welcomed members of the Nottawaseppi Huron of the Potawatomi to look at the wild rice growing along the Kalamazoo River, which led to a harvest celebration in September. In particular, Wood wants to enhance outreach to local schools and educate young students on just what the center has to offer.

“To get people interested in the environment, it’s best to get them as kids,” says the Central Michigan University grad, who came to Albion from the Indian Springs Metropark Environmental Discovery Center in White Lake. “Kids are fun. They may see things with their eyes that I might not see. It’s always amazing the feedback you get.”

Wood replaces David Green, who served as director for nearly nine years and recently accepted a position in South Carolina.

Clockwise from top right: Stuart and Matthews; Matthews in the lab; the workshop utilized Whitehouse Nature Center.

Visit albion.edu/iotriumphe to read more about Wood, and follow the Whitehouse Nature Center on Twitter at @WNCalbion.

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BRITON BITS

Hanging Up the Headset Craig Rundle, ’74, made a professional commitment to football. But more than anything, he devoted a career to developing generations of young men. what kept Rundle going through the highs and lows of coaching.

Craig Rundle, who played at Albion under fellow alumni Tom Taylor, ’59, and Frank Joranko, ’52, will see offensive coordinator Dustin Beurer, ’05, succeed him as head coach. Reflecting on his career, Rundle said, straightforwardly, “I like football. The game changes and it evolves. If you are going to be successful, you have to stay with it or get ahead.”

One hundred twenty-seven victories.

Seven MIAA championships. Five NCAA playoff appearances.

Statistics in athletics are important, of course.

Craig Rundle, who served as head football coach at Albion College for 22 seasons—the longest tenure in program history—before retiring in November at the end of a 7-3 campaign, certainly produced successful metrics in terms of winning.

However, Rundle’s impact on generations of men will be his enduring legacy.

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“Of the many lessons he knowingly or unknowingly taught me, it is to never compromise the integrity of your program,” said Eric Scott, ’01, the Albion women’s soccer coach who was a four-year Britons kicker and punter. “Having said that, behind closed doors, he showed tremendous compassion for the individual athlete.”

After all, it was the interaction with the student-athletes—not the victories and the championships— that Rundle maintains were the highlights of his career.

Witnessing the development and maturing of young men from firstyear student to adulthood was

“If you are just into [coaching] to win games, and that’s the only benchmark you have for success, you are going to struggle because you are going to go through some lean years,” Rundle said.

“But if you’re in it to compete and develop kids and try to be as good as you can be, then I think you can survive those things.

The reason I’ve done it is to teach them how to be productive adults, good citizens, husbands, fathers, employees. I think we’ve always done a good job in that regard, and it didn’t matter what the scoreboard said.”

Rundle broke into coaching as an assistant at Central Michigan and Wayne State before accepting his first head coaching position at Saint Mary’s College of California in 1986. After leading the Gaels to a 10-0 season in 1988, he moved on to Colorado College for seven seasons before coming back to Albion.

In all, Rundle devoted more than four decades to the profession and finished with a 33-year college head-coaching record of 184-1411. To achieve that longevity, he had to stay current with society’s cultural shifts.

“There are so many options, distractions, things that take [students’] time and attention

away from the things that are important,” Rundle said. “They have a lot of things tugging at their interest, whether good or bad.

“In order to coach kids they need to understand they are going to be wrong in some things, and that’s not a bad thing,” he added. “That’s the hardest thing now; the kids are not used to taking as much constructive criticism or coaching as they are going to get in football.

By the same token, I think kids still want discipline. They want to learn and be challenged.”

For his part, Rundle never stopped learning about the game. He kept up with the latest trends by visiting, among others, longtime Texas Christian head coach Gary Patterson.

In 2015 Albion was among the first NCAA Division III squads to implement the no-huddle, spread offense. Multiple records have been set since then, notably quarterback Dominic Bona, ’16, throwing for 8.824 yards in his career and Kyle Thomas, ’21, racking up 466 passing and 542 total yards against Franklin this season.

“Anytime you feel like you have it all figured out—in anything—you are in for trouble,” Rundle said.

“The offensive stuff, the run-pass option, is probably the biggest change in football now. But it’s just a branch of option football.”

Rundle and his wife, Ann, will move to Alabama where he already has his next coaching job lined up.

“My daughter-in-law says I’ll coach the grandkids in little league in whatever sport,” he said.

–Bobby Lee

Leave your mark on the Craig Rundle Locker Room initiative.

Visit advance.albion.edu/rundle.

Two Minutes with . . .

KRISTIN DE ST. AUBIN

The head volleyball coach and 2007 alumna has created a positive culture inside Kresge Gym. The 2018 Britons notched 17 wins and a victory in the MIAA Tournament, milestones last achieved in 2009.

Io Triumphe!: What’s the best part about being a college volleyball coach? de St. Aubin: I love being able to work with great women who are driven and motivated by a lot of the same things that motivate me now and motivated me as a student-athlete. Seeing where they come in as first-year studentathletes and seeing where they finish—not just athletically but academically and what their career aspirations are—that is super fun and positive. From a volleyball perspective, we are competing at the national level every match, and working with student-athletes who want to win is fun.

Can you describe the energy it took to get the Albion program to this level?

It has taken a lot of off-season recruiting and finding the right kind of people who want to be great, to have great academic careers, and be about a positive culture. I’m proud of the direction we’ve gone in, and I think our players have really decided they want to have a high-level volleyball program. And that took time. We are no longer a rebuilding

program; we are a consistent, top-tier performing program.

What is it like to come full circle? You played here and now coach here.

Coming back, I had so much love for Albion. What my experience gave to me, I wanted to create that for other women. I want to give them a great student-athlete experience, the opportunity to compete at a high level and give them some consistency with competing on the national level.

Coaching is an important part of your family. Your father, Al Slamer, coaches the Briton football running backs after a successful high school headcoaching career. What is it like following in his footsteps?

My mom always says he and I are twins. Growing up in a coaching family and being around athletics and competition is a great childhood opportunity. I think I always looked up to my dad in that respect of how athletes looked up to him and how meaningful his impact was on so many young men’s lives. When he retired from Battle Creek Central someone wrote him a really nice note

saying, “Thank you for inspiring an entire generation of men.” That has resonated with me. I hope to make an impact on a lot of great women and be a part of their lives.

I hope I can teach them things, and I hope I can learn some things from them.

When women complete four years in your program, what do you want them to remember?

I want them to remember being part of a great team where they have loved and respected each other as teammates. Where they have been able to learn and grow.

I want them to think back on their first year and think, “I really improved, I really grew up.” I want them to remember trips to New York and Costa Rica and Chicago, and remember the great volleyball that went along with that.

“I started my college coaching career wanting to come back to Albion,” says Kristin (Slamer) de St. Aubin, ’07, who has guided the Britons since 2012.

Her previous coaching experience includes time as an assistant coach at NCAA Division II Northern Michigan University. Her B.A. is in K-12 physical education and secondary health education; she also holds a master’s in educational leadership from Western Michigan University.

Leave a legacy. Winning is part of that, and so is being part of a family that is bigger than them.

The story they leave impacts the first-year students who never got to meet them. I hope they think their legacy is going to be remembered, whether they put their names in the record book or not.

Interview by Bobby Lee.

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THE CLASS THAT CHANGES EVERYTHING

First-Year Experience peer mentors are a pillar of support for new Albion students in their First-Year Seminars as well as in their acclimation to college and adult life.

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For nearly two decades, the FirstYear Seminar has been a foundation of the Albion experience. Here’s why it’s had staying power.

By Erin Peterson Ashley Cadilac, ’21, admits she felt no small amount of apprehension when she arrived on Albion’s campus in the fall of 2017.

After taking some time off to pursue other interests after high school, she worried that she wasn’t ready for college-level work.

But she was excited about her First-Year Seminar course, which promised to help ease the transition between high school and college academics. She had made her selection—Zombies!!—from a list of more than 20 options. It promised to examine the monsters that haunt our nightmares and to delve into the real meaning behind these imaginary creatures. “I have always had a love for all things related to fantasy and horror,” Cadilac recalls. “I jumped at it.”

When she arrived in the classroom of Alli Harnish, assistant professor of anthropology and sociology, she knew she had found the class that would make her college-readiness fears vanish.

Certainly, the class succeeded at its stated objective: Cadilac learned about the real cultural fears that hummed just beneath the surface in the most popular monster stories. But the course also gave her skills she needed to succeed at Albion. She had plenty of chances to test out her discussion, group work, and writing skills in a safe environment. “I had a professor and a peer mentor who offered constant guidance, encouragement, and assistance,” Cadilac says, noting that the course helped her dramatically improve her skills as a writer and researcher.

Now, as a sophomore, Cadilac is thriving academically. She’s earned her way onto the Dean’s List. And she sees only opportunity ahead. “If it were not for this class and the people it allowed me to meet, I would not be part of the [Prentiss M. Brown] Honors Program and exploring a possible major in English and environmental studies,” she says.

Harnish, who is also director of the First-Year Seminar Program, says that Cadilac’s growth is what the First-Year Seminar is designed to encourage. “We want to help students develop the durable, transferable skills that will serve them in other classes—critical thinking, writing, information literacy,” she says. “But we also want them to find a place for themselves at Albion, their new home.”

For nearly 20 years, Albion’s First-Year Seminar (FYS) has been a foundational element of the William Atwell Brown, Jr., and Mary Brown Vacin First-Year Experience for incoming students. Every FYS course topic—about 30 each year—is dreamed up by the professor who teaches it. Class sizes are capped at 16. Ongoing support from trained students, known as peer mentors, help new students find their footing in a new place with new rules. Travel, which helps cement relationships among classmates, is included in nearly every course.

This combination of attributes has proven wildly effective, and students often describe their First-Year Seminar in glowing terms.

Fall-Winter 2018-19 | 13

While the courses, professors, and topics could hardly be more different, their end goals are the same. “They’re designed to smooth the academic and social transition to Albion—to build both capacity and community,” says Harnish.

“I came to Albion with the goal of a career in medicine, but because of my First-Year Seminar, I added a second major in anthropology/sociology. [Former sociology professor] ‘Dimeji Togunde brought me into his research and we published multiple peer-reviewed articles. This had a big impact on how I still look at complex academic questions. We still keep in contact to this day.” –Jacob Rinkinen, ’11, clinical fellow in surgery, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA

Expanding Capacity Albion students typically arrive on campus having excelled in high school classes.

Oftentimes, they may not have even needed to push themselves hard to earn top-notch grades.

But for many, that formula for success needs to change once they’re on campus. Barry Wolf, director of the First-Year Experience Peer Mentor Program, explains, “Incoming students had a system that worked for them in the past, but they discover that [to do well at Albion] they need to change the way they think and behave.”

FYS faculty know this transition is tough, and it’s why they adapt their teaching to help students meet new academic expectations.

Take Nels Christensen. Over the years, the associate professor of English has taught numerous First-Year Seminars. Topics have included Orcs, Elves, and the Environment, a course on J. R. R. Tolkien’s environmental vision in The Lord of the Rings. He has also taught All Power to the People: Why the Black Panthers Still Matter, which explores why the political organization’s struggle for justice remains as relevant today as it was decades ago.

The subject matter varies, but one thing remains constant for Christensen: his approach to teaching. “In a First-Year Seminar, I start off teaching high school students,” he says. “I need to be an effective high school teacher before I can be an effective college professor. My job is to teach

14 | Albion College Io Triumphe!

students the rules and rewards of learning the ‘game’ of being in college.”

That game typically involves teaching students that they need to implement a range of different systems to succeed. For some students, it means setting up a weekly schedule that includes plenty of dedicated time for studying. For others, it means attending office hours with professors to go over difficult course material. For many, it also means receiving peer tutoring through the Learning Support Center.

In other words: at a place like Albion, success doesn’t come by winging it. “A lot of students come into college with this false idea that they’re just going to make it here on their own, sink or swim,” says Harnish.

“Everybody, especially the most successful people, are successful because they’ve gotten help from others.”

While Albion’s First-Year Seminars are designed to help students develop skills that will stay with them for a lifetime, they’re also—crucially—a place where they can find answers to the countless questions they’ll need to solve during the early days and weeks of college: How can I add or drop a class? What do I do if I can’t afford my books? How does my meal plan work?

From the start, students learn that they can lean on their peer mentor, says Isabel Allaway, ’20, a mentor for Patchwork America, taught by assistant professor of anthropology and sociology Matthew Schoene. “We’re the first

responders to these kinds of daily questions,” she says. “Many of the questions are simple, but a lot of these things are tough for firstyears to deal with, because they are new and happening at the same time.”

Expanding Community When students arrive at Albion, they may not know a single person on campus. That doesn’t last long. The First-Year Seminar is a way for students to start building a big, rich support network, says Carrie Menold, associate professor and chair of geological sciences.

It starts with FYS faculty, all of whom have volunteered for the role. They’re passionate not just about the topics they’ve chosen to teach, but about the role they play in new students’ lives. Menold, for example, was drawn to teaching her geology-linked FirstYear Seminars because of her own experience in college. “I’m a first-generation college student, and I went to a big school,” she says.

“But there was one professor who was pivotal, and who helped me succeed. I know how important it is to have somebody who has your back that first semester in college.”

FYS professors take an especially active role in new students’ experiences. They help them select classes and serve as their first academic advisor as they begin the process of choosing a major.

Peer mentors are the second piece of the puzzle. Each seminar has one, and each

First Things First mentor—typically a junior or senior—has received a full week of training and is committed to helping new students tackle any problem that comes their way, from homesickness to roommate disagreements to stress management. Peer mentors meet with first-years at least once a week and are available to help at other times as well. Not far removed from that crucial first year of college, peer mentors bring a level of empathy and insider knowledge that new students crave.

Lynette Gumbleton, ’19, a three-time peer mentor, says her own experience with a peer mentor during her first year was transformative. It wasn’t just that her mentor was willing to talk through any problem that she might have had. It was also that she was willing—quite literally—to walk the extra mile with her mentees. “My mentor offered to walk us to classes if we couldn’t find them,” Gumbleton recalls, a detail that has stuck with her for years. “As a mentor now, I try to help students sort through things—or just be alongside them as they do.”

The third essential piece of building community via First-Year Seminars comes through the students in the courses themselves. Every FYS

student is new to Albion—everyone is just beginning to build their network of friends.

And no First-Year Seminar is part of any major’s requirements; this gives students a bit of breathing room to take risks and approach assignments with a sense of possibility.

While “freewheeling” might go a little too far to describe any seminar, there is a level of playfulness in the courses that lends itself to building meaningful relationships quickly.

Ciara Beal, ’21, who took Harnish’s seminar on zombies, ticks off an array of activities she can’t imagine being included in any other course. “We had field trips to the cemetery and a ghost carriage ride through the city at night,” she says. “As a class, we performed Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ dance on Halloween.

Overall, we built an amazing bond.”

While the First-Year Seminar is the flagship component of the First-Year Experience, an array of other initiatives support students as they get their bearings at Albion College. Here’s what that looks like.

Common Reading Experience. Even before First-Year Seminars were launched, the Richard M. Smith Common Reading Experience (supported by the 1968 alumnus and former Newsweek editor-in-chief) has been a way to build vital early connections. Entering students read a selected book, which is discussed both in the First-Year Seminar and informally in residence halls and around campus. In some years, the author is brought to campus. The book for fall 2018: Make Your Home Among Strangers; on April 18, author Jennine Capó Crucet will visit Albion.

Course travel—a common FYS feature— accelerates the relationships between classmates. Seminars have included trips to Traverse City, to sail on tall ships on Lake Michigan; to Ann Arbor, to watch a violin maker in his studio; and to California, to learn about how natural disasters are represented in film.

Such travel is considered so integral that faculty receive a budget to support it. While students

“Late in my first year [kinesiology professor] Bob Moss reached out to me and expressed his concern that I was not applying myself as consistently as he saw I was capable of. I will never forget how impactful it was to have someone advocating for my success even when I may have lost sight of it myself. The FirstYear Seminar allows for the development of these meaningful relationships.” –Mark Feger, ’11, a 2019 M.D. candidate at Virginia Commonwealth University. Last summer he received the David H. Perrin Doctoral Dissertation Award from the National Athletic Trainers Association Research & Education Foundation.

SOAR. A one-day session for new students and their parents and families before the academic year begins, Student Orientation, Advising, and Registration serves as a welcome to Albion and introduces academic programs and requirements as well as faculty and staff.

Residential Program Learning Strategies. Led by Student Affairs staff and resident assistants in first-year residence halls, sessions feature topics in time management, decision-making, and academic and personal goal-setting.

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“My First-Year Seminar opened my eyes to an entirely new idea, the intersection of art and the environment.

I will never forget reading the beautiful words of A Sand County Almanac my very first week at Albion and witnessing the embodiment of our group discussions at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater. For me, this wasn’t just an introductory class—it literally shaped the trajectory of my education and my career.” –Catherine Game, ’08, executive director, Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods, Riverwoods, IL

16 | Albion College Io Triumphe!

may have to cover some costs for optional travel, these fees are spelled out during course registration. And professors work hard to ensure that funding isn’t an obstacle for any student who wants to go on a trip.

Menold, who has taken several FYS classes on 10-day trips to Hawai’i to study its unique geology and culture, says that pairing new environments with deep learning brings students together. “They’re already pretty bonded as a group by the time we go,” she explains. “But all that feels like a drop in the bucket compared to how tight they become once they’ve been on these trips.”

When the End Is Just the Beginning It is designed to be the ideal introduction to Albion, but both students and professors say that the power of the First-Year Seminar often stays with them long after the semester ends.

Drew Dunham, associate dean of academic affairs and registrar, says students and graduates come up to him years after a seminar to tell him how a specific concept or approach to learning resonated. “They’ll say, ‘I didn’t really get it then, but I do now,’” he says. “Students might like a course right after it’s finished, but they often have a deeper reaction to it years later,” he says.

“We were always doing something different than what typical classes do. Once, [English professor Nels Christensen] took us canoeing and some guy from Albion grilled hot dogs for us and we had a picnic by the river. This seminar really opened me up to exploring throughout the town. My first semester was rough, but we had really good discussions in class and built a real community there. Nels did a great job of creating those open relationships.” –Syriah Dobis, ’19, a sociology major double-minoring in kinesiology and psychology

Menold is thrilled to be with students at one of the most important inflection points in their lives, but adds that her ultimate goal is to render herself unnecessary. “Students don’t need me forever,” she says. “My philosophy is to give students all the tools they need so they can apply them to their own situations to be successful.”

Erin Peterson is a freelance writer based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

FALL LINEUP A selection of First-Year Seminars offered last semester to the Class of 2022: • A Sense of Place: Albion and the American Dream

• Knowledge: Searching for Truth and Meaning in Information, Facts, and Statistics in the Internet Age

• All Power to the People: Why the Black Panthers Still Matter

• Latino USA

• American Culture, Grit, and All That Jazz • California Screaming: Natural Disasters in the Golden State and on the Silver Screen • Free Speech on Campus • Great Lakes Playlist: The History and Culture of Music in the Midwest • Grey’s Anatomy and Ethics

• Mauka and Makai: Place and Education in Hawai’i • Medicine in the Information Age • The Evolution of Consciousness • The Holocaust • The Natural History of Love • Who Runs the World: The Importance and Influence of Women in Popular Music

See ’em all at albion.edu/ firstyear/seminars.

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BUILDING AND BINDING Created in 2014, the College’s Build Albion Fellows Program has awarded fouryear tuition, housing, and meals each year to qualifying students from Albion who attended local public schools. In return, students give their time and talent through ongoing service in their home community.

With more than 30 students now participating and the first seniors set to graduate this spring, staff lead Clarence Stirgus, ’12, reflects on how the endeavor has linked a college, a city, and people in a profound new way.

One of the things that college teaches you is that there is always something right around the corner. Do we always know what it is?

No, but that knowledge keeps me moving.

In 2008 I came to Albion College as a firstyear student. Little did I know that my experiences would lead me to reentering the College as an employee eight years later.

Working at Albion after attending Albion as a student has been an eye-opening experience. Being able, as a staff member, to participate in campus life on the same campus I called home just a few years before is nothing short of a blessing. I am able to encourage students the way that I was encouraged as a student, and having that opportunity to relate to them is incredible.

18 | Albion College Io Triumphe!

Sometimes I find myself reminiscing about when I was a student and how things have changed. Among many, two things that have changed this campus for the better in the last 10 years are the increase in the underrepresented student population and the Build Albion Fellows Program. However, it’s not just campus that has shifted; it’s also the City of Albion and its perception here at the College. And working with the Fellows program continues to give me pride in the City of Albion.

Appreciating the Journey

learning what service is and how it impacts those around them, for the good and the bad. Sophomores concentrate on leadership, and begin to explore career development and internships and what their future will look like. Juniors continue with internships and begin official work on their capstone project, which they present as seniors at the Elkin R. Isaac Student Research Symposium.

Throughout their time in the program, Fellows not only have the chance to work and network with members of the Albion community first and foremost, but also to establish connections with the College’s large alumni base to help create more opportunities.

Each cohort of Fellows has a different focus depending on their respective place, or class year, in the program. First-years focus on

The Fellows have served the City of Albion in numerous ways, forming new and lasting relationships with organizations all around

Beyond his leadership and advisory role with the Build Albion Fellows, Assistant Director for Global Diversity Clarence Stirgus says it’s particularly rewarding to serve Albion’s more diverse student body as an alumnus himself.

“I am proud to say that I have an Albion College degree because I know how hard we work to let the world know that people who look like me, at minimum, deserve a great education.” Stirgus, who grew up in Belleville, Michigan, received his B.A. in philosophy and sociology; he also was an all-MIAA hurdler for the Britons’ track and field team.

town—too many to name. They’ve worked with the city’s Recreation Department to host the popular Summer Dreams and Peapods programs, and they created an annual basketball tournament that helps fund pay-to-play sports through the Rec Department during the academic year for families in need. More recently, the Fellows ran a canned food drive through Harrington Elementary School, and all items were donated to the local food bank. Additionally, they successfully planned and executed a field day for the school last spring.

The Build Albion Fellows have reached out and truly touched many, from the youth of this city to its elderly. Sometimes, the students don’t always see the impact of their service because they are so ingrained in the work. It’s

a part of their program. But I’ve noticed that they enjoy being able to look back and see the lasting effects of said service.

A Unique Moment The City of Albion and Albion College have had a tumultuous relationship for many years.

However, due to community leaders who have continuously pushed forward and the work of President Ditzler, town and gown have begun to forge a new mold. The Build Albion Fellows Program is part of that new mold.

Here we are, nearly four years after the induction of the first class of Fellows and many things have progressed positively.

What I want the senior class to know and

take pride in is the fact that this newfound relationship has been built upon their backs as the foundation. These students have worked tirelessly not only to perform well academically, but to participate in a program that requires them to give up much of their own time. They’ve been involved with the program every school year and summer for the last four years, on top of having internships and local jobs.

Being a Fellow is no easy task, but these students manage it all—and more—on a daily basis. Exceptional is all they know how to be. Their example is one that the College and City are learning from.

Turn the page and learn more about the first senior class of Build Albion Fellows. >>

Fall-Winter 2018-19 | 19

D

Dominique Givens, ’19 Major: Sociology Minor: Communication Studies College has taught me a lot, and over these three years I can say that it has taught me more than I thought it would. It’s always been an accomplishment that I’ve planned on achieving, but after putting in so much work to get through, I see that college has been a very important aspect in shaping me to become who I am today as a person. It is more than getting an education—I was able to learn more about myself and what I want to truly become.

If I could go back to 2015, I would tell myself to stay focused and always put God first. To not stress so much over little things and to realize that hard work pays off. I would tell myself that no one is in control of your happiness and success but you. Therefore, you have the power to change anything about yourself or your life that you want to change.

I enjoy working with people and finding ways to make the community better. This program has helped me do things that I enjoy studying about. I am super grateful to be able to call myself one of the first Build Albion Fellows.

Givens inside Olin Hall.

20 | Albion College Io Triumphe!

K Khaliah Roberts, ’19 Major: Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

During the past three years, I’ve learned that the key to succeeding in college is keeping God first no matter how challenging college could get. Afterwards, I hope what I have learned will rub off on others.

Being a part of Build Albion Fellows has opened many doors for me. I had the opportunity to attend the National Women’s Studies Association conference in Baltimore. It was a pleasure to be in the same room as feminist scholars and activists for the black lives movement.

If I could go back in time and visit myself in summer 2015, I would tell myself not to worry at that point about having a good job, relationships, and knowing what I am supposed to do, because there is so much more to life.

Roberts in the gymnasium of her high school, Albion High School, today the Marshall Opportunity High School.

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M M MarKeese Boyd, ’19

Major: Communication Studies Minor: Business and Management Being an Albion College student has meant so much to me and my family. I hope that my experience inspires those who are coming after me to realize that we have a great college in town, and that we can become great and successful people graduating from Albion.

The biggest challenge I have had was just being there during the beginning stages of Build Albion Fellows. As expected, there were things that we had to work out in order to create a better framework for the program.

I have been a part of the track and field team for three years now and look to finish out this last year with an MIAA championship.

Graduating from Albion College will be an amazing accomplishment, but my goal is to use the connections I have made to further my life and have the life I want to have. As far as post-graduation goes, I plan to move out of the state of Michigan for work. I don’t have a job yet but I am ready for a new experiment.

Boyd, a sprinter for Britons track and field, on the Elkin Isaac Track at SprankleSprandel Stadium.

22 | Albion College Io Triumphe!

M Mercedes Pace, ’19 Major: Theatre

I have felt very privileged and have met some great people, from my friends to my professors to the grounds department. This campus is full of big-hearted people.

There are now four classes of Fellows and that makes me so happy. Four groups of young people wanting to help the community that helped raise us, and that makes it all better.

Change doesn’t happen overnight. This program has definitely had some rough patches that we all have just wanted to fix immediately.

But the truth is, that’s not how it works. Same goes for doing community service.

There were so many times, especially my first year, that I felt like we as the Fellows could just erase all of Albion’s struggles and better our community with the wave of a wand. As much as many of us would like that to work, it won’t. Building up your community takes time, and people. Lots of people.

Our first summer was hard, and we all wanted to quit, but with our hard work and perseverance, the four of us will be walking across the Kresge stairs in May. After graduation, I plan on attending a graduate school in Europe somewhere for directing, and will be looking into how to become a writer for Disney!

Pace, on the Herrick Theatre set of the November production Men on Boats, is a resident assistant and four-year cheerleader in addition to being involved in several campus theatre organizations.

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A MOST DISTINGUISHED FELLOW Dr. James Curtis, ’44, who resettled in Albion as a retiree 15 years ago, is among his hometown students’ most ardent supporters.

By Chuck Carlson When James Curtis first heard about the program known as Build Albion Fellows, he knew he wanted, and needed, to be a part of it.

“I thought it was an excellent idea and I was very enthusiastic when President [Mauri] Ditzler developed Build Albion Fellows,” he explains. “I thought this was a tremendous program that would spark the enthusiasm of a lot of students coming to Albion. It provides a first-class education.”

The Build Albion Fellows Program was introduced in November 2014 as a way to help local students interested in pursuing a liberal arts education get that opportunity at Albion College. Eligible students need to live within the greater Albion area or former Albion school district and, after being admitted to Albion College, demonstrate high financial need based on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Fellows receive four-year tuition, housing, and meals and give back in the form of service to their community during their semesters and summers enrolled at the College.

The program now has 33 students, with the first four set to graduate in the spring. The classes of 2020 and 2021 each have eight students and the class of ’22 is the largest of all, with 13 students.

24 | Albion College Io Triumphe!

And Curtis, a longtime Albion College supporter, has liked what he has seen.

“I’m an enthusiastic supporter,” he says, adding, “This was not something new for me. I thought it was right on target to build a stronger Albion community and a stronger Albion College at the same time. I like the idea that students are supposed to do volunteer work and projects in the city.

The experience of living and working at the College seems to me to be a way to make it a really strong program. It comes just at the right time when it’s most needed.”

A Similar Idea 75 Years Ago Jim and his wife, Vivian, had already created an endowed scholarship for the College in 1992, and in 2013 the plan was for a new gift to go toward a reading room as part of a Stockwell-Mudd Library renovation. But two years later, when he heard about Build Albion Fellows, those plans changed and he directed that a gift and estate commitment should go to the start-up program.

J

Michigan when his father got a job at Albion Malleable Iron Company as part of the first Great Migration of African Americans.

“Albion was a factory town and a college town, so it provided [my father] an opportunity for jobs that paid well,” Curtis says. “It changed the course of my life.

When I graduated from Albion High School [in 1940], all of the students who finished and who were accepted at Albion College and enrolled received a partial scholarship.

So the idea of something like Build Albion Fellows was prominent way back then.

“And it seemed almost a natural thing to go Albion,” Curtis continues. “I came from a lowincome family and right here was one of the best colleges anyone could think of attending.

I didn’t even apply to any other college. It was a natural course of events. And back in those days, almost all the teachers at Albion High School were graduates of Albion College, so there was almost a straight highway between Albion High School and Albion College.”

Albion—both community and college—is of vital importance to Curtis, even at age 96 and even after having spent more than 50 years of his professional career in New York building a renowned psychiatric practice.

An honors student in high school, Curtis says he originally planned to become a lawyer and studied pre-law at Albion. “But World War II broke out during my sophomore year so I thought I’d prefer to become a physician instead of a lawyer,” he recalls.

Curtis was born in Georgia but at nine months old moved with his family to

Pictured above: A sophomore-year portrait of Curtis that appeared in the 1942 Albionian.

Jim Curtis (left) received the President’s Mackinac Leadership Award from President Mauri Ditzler during Albion’s 2018 Grand Getaway at the Grand Hotel in September.

Fifty years earlier, in 1968, Curtis, a noted New York City psychiatrist at the time, received the College’s Distinguished Alumni Award.

A Quick Glance, a Lasting Impression

Never Forgetting Where He Came From

where he was clinical professor of psychiatry and director of psychiatry.

He went on to medical school at the University of Michigan and focused on psychoanalytic training that would eventually land him in New York. But the lessons learned at Albion always stayed with him.

After retiring, Jim and Vivian (a leader in the social-work field) moved to Albion in 2003.

Vivian passed away in 2007, yet Jim has continued to play an active role in the life of his home community. In October 2017, he published Memoirs of a Black Psychiatrist: A Life of Advocacy for Social Change.

“While at Albion I had many faculty members who were extremely helpful to me in my life’s mission to help improve conditions for black Americans,” Curtis remembers.

Among the highlights of his professional career were his 12 years at Cornell University Medical College, directing the school’s Affirmative Action program. According to Curtis, “It was a medical school that very seldom graduated any black students.”

He developed a program where students would spend 12 weeks in the summer following their third year serving as research assistants for faculty members in basic sciences. They would spend the rest of their time with Curtis learning about healthcare programs in New York City that served the black and Hispanic communities.

A decade and a half following his return to town, Dr. James Curtis has witnessed, participated in, and inspired the evolution of Albion.

“Since I’ve been back I’ve found that Albion is a city that had lost a great deal of its vitality and power and strength, which it had enjoyed in the years I was growing up,” he says. “But now it seems to me Albion is on the way up.

The city has already changed its appearance, the way the downtown district is being developed. And the College is bringing a lot of activities to [downtown]. The Ludington Center and the new hotel and the Bohm Theatre are all examples of a new Albion.”

“When I left in 1980, Cornell had graduated approximately 100 minority students,” he says.

Curtis also counts the Build Albion Fellows as part of the rejuvenation, as he sees more students involved in the program remaining in the community to help it grow and thrive.

Curtis’ career also took him to Columbia University’s Harlem Hospital of Psychiatry,

“I think it can become a centerpiece,” he says. “I’m glad to be a part of it.”

Numbers can help tell a story. Below are a few that pertain to the Build Albion Fellows Program and its impact.

33

Fellows enrolled in 2018-19, spanning all four class years for the first time.

10/40 40/10 The general concept of the Fellows’ service requirement: 10 hours a week for 40 weeks during the academic year, 40 hours a week for 10 weeks during the summer.

$4,000,000 The approximate total value through May 2019 in tuition, housing, and meals for Fellows since the first class enrolled in fall 2015.

MVQ The date a feature ran in The Wall Street Journal describing collaborations between Albion College and the City of Albion, including Build Albion Fellows.

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ACADEMIC MASHUP 26 | Albion College Io Triumphe!

WHEN GEOLOGY AND PHILOSOPHY MEET, IS IT A COLLISION OR A CONNECTION? WHAT KIND OF CONVERSATION CAN EMERGE BETWEEN THOSE STUDYING THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE EARTH AND THOSE PONDERING THE FOUNDATIONAL QUESTIONS OF LIFE? WE TRIED IT. OVER PIZZA.

President Ditzler says a hallmark of an exemplary residential liberal arts college is the “serendipitous learning” that occurs outside of the classroom.

And while this experiment of getting nine students together to shoot the breeze wasn’t exactly spurof-the-moment—I planned the early October, Monday evening meetup weeks in advance with professors Carrie Menold and Jeremy Kirby, the current chairs of Geological Sciences and Philosophy, respectively—some initial lighthearted conversation gradually evolved, got a bit deeper over nearly 90 minutes, and confirmed past findings: learning, in its many manifestations, does indeed happen in every corner of Albion College, at every time of day.

A few snippets from the setting, which eventually took on an aura of a student-led seminar class, are presented here, but further research is recommended to collect more data about this timetested yet always fascinating human activity.

– John Perney

How Did We Get Here?

Dr. Menold and Dr. Kirby brought nine students—some majors, some minors—with them. Studying geology are Alex Hoinville, ’19; Alex Horman, ’20; and Kierstin Rose, ’21.

Pursuing philosophy are Rachel Appel, ’19; Logan Bohlinger,

’20; Temi Fadayomi, ’20; Sam Raseman, ’19; and Xingzhu “Ceci” Wang, ’19. Tackling both disciplines as a double major is John Calhoun, ’19. I asked them about their roads to Albion and their chosen programs of study.

Alex Horman: My orientation day when we got to choose classes, Carrie came up to me and she said, “Are you Alex Horman?”

Carrie: I did. I did do that.

Alex: And I was like, “Yes…” I was there with my mom, and [Carrie] was like, “So, you want to do water science I’ve heard, but I think you need to go and take a geology class.” And I was like, “OK…” She found me later when I was picking my classes [at registration]; she had the class picked out. She was like, “I’m going to be your advisor. And it’s going to work.” And it did. It worked perfectly.

Kierstin: At first I was biochem or trying to be, and I didn’t love the courses as much as I thought I would. But I felt that the campus was so open that I could try anything. And I’ve been thinking, well, I like rocks and taking rocks into my house against my mom’s wishes, so let’s try Geology 101. And I absolutely loved it.

Rachel: I always overthink everything. I took an intro philosophy class and thought, I kind of like this. Then I took Biomedical Ethics with Dr. [Bindu] Madhok and I thought, I really like this. And so I wanted to become a minor and focus on the ethical side of philosophy and combine that with my psychology [major].

Logan: I have a twin brother and we always like to debate big ideas. We always come at it from very different perspectives.

I didn’t originally start taking philosophy courses here, but eventually I started realizing I really like philosophy, so why am I not taking it?

What Are We Doing Here?

I shifted to the present by asking the students the most interesting thing they read, watched, or wrote that day.

(On this day the aftermath of a deadly earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia was still unfolding.)

The discussion then moved to standout academic experiences at Albion overall. After that, not quite knowing where it would lead, I asked the geology students if they ever get “philosophical about geology,” and the philosophy students if they get “geological about philosophy.”

Thoughts about a sense of place started to emerge.

John: I watched a video on YouTube and they were talking about that it’s possible there are exotic forms of ice in the mantle.

Particularly, they found Ice 7, which is pressure ice, inside of a diamond found deep within the earth. And there’s some seismic data that backs up the conclusion that it’s possible there’s more solid ice that was created from pressure in the mantle than there is normal temperature ice on the surface of the earth.

Temi: I read some poems for my Creative Writing class and there was one particularly weird one. …

I was just really caught off guard by the way the poet was stringing

Fall-Winter 2018-19 | 27

Temi Fadayomi, ’20 (right), and Alex Hoinville, ’19.

her words together. It was weird. I didn’t really like poetry that much before, but that was weird.

Logan: So can we go back to Ice 7? What’s Ice 6?

Please tell us what Ice 6 is.

Kierstin: My final paper for my art history class last year was on how artists would outsource and find minerals they used in their paintings. And I had so much fun writing that paper. That was before I declared my major and I was like, “Well I might as well, because I like minerals and stuff,” and I had a really good time writing it.

Rachel: [In my psychology project] on moral decision-making and gender, although a lot went wrong—the part about getting people in groups—I learned that I could combine my interest in ethics and my interest in psychology and I learned about a field called moral psychology, and it kind of gave me a direction for my career path I’m hoping to get into. I’m really proud of that.

John: The piece of writing I’ve done that I was most proud of at the time was in Dr. [Dan] Mittag’s Philosophy of Mind class. I wrote a paper about whether or not nonhuman creatures can feel human feelings. I specifically focused on pain. And I argued that because the words we use to describe those feelings are so intrinsically tied to who we are, it wouldn’t be correct to say that an octopus could feel pain even if there was some analog that an octopus does feel.

Ceci: Over the summer I did research with Dr. Mittag. I am studying human ontology, so it’s more like a question of “What are we?” There is a book that’s called The Oxford Handbook of the Self, and there is one thing in it that strikes me heavily—about Buddhism, and human beings, and illusions of perceiving self.

28 | Albion College Io Triumphe!

Sam: So I’ve been reading Tim Williamson’s arguments about epistemic contextualism recently.

Rachel: Some light philosophy…

Sam: He treats knowledge as a primitive concept, I think. That’s kind of peculiar to me, and I want to see exactly why he thinks that.

Alex Hoinville: I read an interesting article the other day about how a lot of people don’t really have a good grasp on what time looks like. And so with environmental disasters, you’re going in there, and the system has been roughly the same for a monumental amount of time, and you’re changing it very quickly, and kind of the consequences there will be. And so for example, with climate change—looking at the largest scale—the climate is changing so blisteringly fast, and I don’t think they quite get the scale of that.

Temi: I think people as a whole aren’t very deterministic in their frame of thought, and we need to have these frames of understanding.

They’re necessary to be able to contextualize issues like climate change. You have all this data. If I want to prove something, I have to get every single detail right. But, you know, if I want to disprove something I only have to point out one thing, and it doesn’t have to be wrong.

It could be wrong. It might be wrong. I just have to sow some doubt. That’s a fight people have right now, and it’s frustrating and difficult for me watching.

Alex Horman: Obviously we have the data, we have everything that we need to tell people. It’s understanding the human brain and knowing how to tell people, and understanding each different type of person and relaying the information in different ways, I guess.

Kierstin: I’m not sure exactly what I want to do after [Albion], but I know being a geologist you kind of have to have an earth to look at. (Of the many laughs we had, that drew the biggest.) So anything to do with climate change and climate education in the future is, I think, one of the most important steps we have to take. We kind of need the earth to learn more about it.

Where Do We Go From Here?

An hour or so into it, it became clear that climate change is, and likely will continue to be, front and center in how these students—future Albion alumni—approach and live their lives.

John: One or two years ago there was a philosopher of science (Michael Goldsby of Washington State University) who came and gave a talk, and something he said that really stuck with me was that scientists have done their job; maybe philosophers have to pick up the ball and start helping people understand what it means.

Logan: But sometimes that’s not enough.

I mean, we all feel like we have to do something. We shouldn’t have to wait until a philosopher comes up with an unassailable argument to do something.

Jeremy Kirby and Carrie Menold enjoyed accolades in their disciplines in 2018.

Menold received a National Science Foundation grant, and in a published book Kirby analyzes the fourth book of Aristotle’s Metaphysics. Find a link to more information on each professor’s work at albion.edu/iotriumphe.

AN EXPLORER THROUGH AND THROUGH Both in the field and in the classroom, Bill Bartels has always had “an inner craving to see over the next hill.”

By Chuck Carlson In the basement of Palenske Hall, in a room full of the history of life on Earth, Bill Bartels is searching for his baby doll.

The longtime Albion College geology professor checks one tray full of fossils, then another. Then a third.

Then he opens another and finds it.

others he’d found in more than 25 years of digging in the desperate landscape of central Wyoming’s Green River Basin, which was a teeming sea millions of years ago.

But as he kept digging, he kept finding more and more of the skull that he and a student assistant, Matt Mahony, ’11, would later name Baby Doll, part of a crocodile that looks very much like today’s version.

Handling it as though he were cradling a newborn child, Bartels displays “Baby Doll,” a 50-million-year-old crocodile skull that is one, but certainly not the only, reason he made paleontology his life’s work.

These are the moments that make it all worthwhile—and of which Bartels will miss most of all.

Baby Doll is about a foot long and still has a few of its teeth. He dug it out of an unforgiving piece of rock in an equally unforgiving part of Wyoming in July 2005. He thought at first it was just a small piece of fossil, like thousands of

But it’s not a complaint. It’s a statement of fact and a badge of honor.

“Every bone in my body aches,” he says. “All that work in Wyoming takes a toll.”

Bartels came to Albion College 32 years ago, knowing nothing of the place except on those days

he would take a train from Ann Arbor, where he was doing his graduate studies in geology, to Chicago, and the Field Museum in particular—to look at reptile fossils, of course.

“I looked out the window of the train and saw this little college and thought that’s exactly what I wanted,” he says.

Offered a one-year appointment in 1986, he never left. “I didn’t see any reason to move on,” he says.

“Michigan was my new home and I viewed Albion as my new home.”

Bartels is winding down now. He’s inching toward retirement—remaining fulltime through next spring and moving to half-time in the 2019-20 academic year before stepping away in June 2020.

“The whole decision to retire was agonizing because I love what I’m doing,” he says.

He will continue to teach an array of geology courses as well as his First-Year Experience seminar, which is simply, but not quite accurately, titled Dinosaurs.

“I mostly just talk to them about life,” Bartels says. “And it has nothing to do with dinosaurs.

I try to explain to them the importance of college. I tell them how important it is to try and find their passion.”

This is not news to John-Paul Zonneveld, now a worldrenowned paleontologist and professor of earth and atmospheric sciences at the University of Alberta. The two men got to know each other when Zonneveld attended Albion’s geology field camp in Wyoming

Bill Bartels’ love of nature took hold after a childhood move from New York City to rural northern New Jersey.

Following his undergraduate work at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, he received his master’s and Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. At Albion, he served as chair of Geological Sciences from 1995-2007 and has received research grant funding from the National Science Foundation, National Park Service, National Geographic Society, and Pew Charitable Trusts.

in 1987. They have worked together often for years.

Zonneveld says Bartels has never lost the wonder of being a paleontologist.

“You can fake an awful lot of things in life, but you can’t fake passion and he’s always had it,” Zonneveld explains. “It’s that explorer’s mentality. The last fossil doesn’t count. It’s the next one that matters. It’s this inner craving to see over the next hill. It’s that joy, and Bill never lost that.”

And likely, he never will.

“I loved that life more than anything,” he says. “I loved looking for fossils.”

Fall-Winter 2018-19 | 29

Bedrock Principle

April 11, 1937: Groundbreaking for Stockwell Memorial Library. Among those participating was W. Clark Dean, vice president of the College’s Board of Trustees.

30 | Albion College Io Triumphe!

Establishing a college in south-central Michigan Territory in the mid-1830s was one group’s way of paying it forward to future generations.

Nearly two centuries later, the rich tradition of scholarships at Albion continues to expand on that rather simple yet profound notion, providing opportunities for students today and tomorrow.

By Chuck Carlson There are 366 endowed scholarships offered to students who decide to attend Albion College.

Of those, 98 percent were established by Albion alumni, their families, and faculty whose hope and desire is to leave their legacy by supporting the student experience at Albion.

“I believe that’s the most telling part of the story,” says Kimberly Frick Arndts, ’84, lead director of donor relations and stewardship. “You become part of something larger than yourself that doesn’t go away after you leave campus.”

Those scholarships, which literally run the length of the alphabet from the Thelma A. Allen Endowed Scholarship to the Margaret Zollicker Endowed Scholarship, also tell a story with every dollar endowed and with every student who benefits.

Anna Thompson, ’80, remembers working three jobs during her time as an Albion student pursuing her love of music while majoring in English and music education.

The College, and the experience, have shaped her ever since.

“Albion always gave students a way for things to connect,” she says. “It’s where kids learn to think for themselves and have a civil discourse.”

Thompson’s mother, Kathryn Klager, was a 1942 graduate. When she brought Anna for a campus visit, her daughter was hooked.

“I heard the [Goodrich] Chapel chime and I saw the Observatory and I said, ‘I’m going here,’” Thompson recalls.

And while her arts education and philanthropy career has taken her over the years from Indianapolis to the University of Notre Dame as well as to Alabama and Wisconsin, Thompson has made sure that Albion remains a part of her life.

Her mom began the Klager Memorial Scholarship to first benefit students interested in string instruments. Then Thompson expanded it for all students who needed financial assistance.

That’s because she knew only too well how much financial assistance can help.

“Scholarships make a big difference,” Thompson says, adding about her intensive

student work schedule, “I don’t remember sleeping a lot. But there were a lot of us who did that, because you could work jobs but you still needed scholarships to make it. And these scholarships are what you do to give back.”

There are so many other stories about people impacted by scholarships—scholarships created by those for whom Albion has meant so much. Here are just a few examples.

‘It Got Me in the Door’ Gertrude Gray’s first husband, Paul Aultman, attended Albion College in 1911 but eventually completed his degree at the University of Michigan en route to becoming a chemist. Yet he never lost his affection for Albion.

Aultman died in 1942 and his widow received an inheritance that she shrewdly invested in the stock market. But Gray was no Wall Street insider. She spent much of her time in her modest Broward County home in Florida, watching game shows on TV, eating ice cream, and driving her 1973 Buick.

Fall-Winter 2018-19 | 31

Still, she watched the market closely and, in time, it resulted in a $1.2 million estate gift to the College. Called the Paul W. Aultman Endowed Scholarship, it has benefited Albion students for decades.

One of those students was Richard Straughen, ’03, who received the Aultman Scholarship, among others, for four years.

Straughen, a native of Sterling Heights, Michigan, wanted to run track and cross country at a small college but knew just how expensive that could be.

“A small school helped with that opportunity [to compete in athletics] plus the smaller classrooms were important to me,” he says.

“Scholarships to a private school could make it less expensive than a public school, but without the scholarship a private school was expensive. So it definitely helped. Getting that scholarship is what got me in the door.”

In all, Straughen, who majored in math and computer science, earned more than $40,000 in scholarships, allowing him to pursue his interest in education and teaching. He has been a computer science and math teacher at Eisenhower High School in Rochester, Michigan, for the past 13 years, and earlier in 2018 he was named Teacher of the Year for the College Board’s Midwestern Region, a 13-state area stretching from West Virginia to the Dakotas.

Straughen now talks to students about the importance of college and finding as many scholarship opportunities as they can—because he knows how important they were to him.

“And twice I’ve steered kids toward Albion,” he says. “Scholarships helped me stay at Albion. They were all important to me and I’m so grateful.”

Honoring a Brother The Stefan H. Kobiljak Pre-Med Endowed Scholarship was created in 1999 and has awarded almost $740,000 to 92 different students.

32 | Albion College Io Triumphe!

And nothing makes Kurt Kobiljak, ’88, who helped establish the scholarship in his late older brother’s name, happier.

“My brother’s love was medicine,” Kurt says. “He wanted to help, he was extremely gifted, and he was everything you’d want in a physician.”

Stefan, ’81, studied pre-med at Albion, went to medical school at Michigan State, and was in his residency and engaged to another medical student, Marie Konczalski, when on a September night in 1986 a car ran a red light and smashed into Kobiljak’s car, killing Stefan and injuring Marie.

“He never got a chance to do what he wanted to do,” Kurt explains. “And that was practice medicine and marry Marie (who survived and is a practicing physician).”

To honor his brother, Kurt and their father, Stefan, started the renewable scholarship that has now helped pre-med students at Albion for nearly 20 years.

“It’s important to take care of these students who need financial help,” says Kurt, a lawyer in Wyandotte, Michigan, who has turned over coordination of the scholarship to his oldest daughter, Katherine. “If they follow on the same road as my brother to help people, those are the kinds of students we need.”

“My kids never met their uncle, but he was my mentor,” Kurt continues. “The idea is you want your physician to be caring and compassionate and knowledgeable. And if these funds in his name help them go into the medical world, that’s what matters.”

Relaying a Positive Message They were the days of high idealism and even higher responsibility. The Vietnam War was raging and Lyn Ward Healy remembers making her visit to campus as a high school senior the week Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., was assassinated in 1968.

“We were definitely politically aware,” says the 1972 alumna.

Once at Albion, Healy dove into projects that included the Student Senate and Student Affairs Committee. She was also part of a group that formed Project 250, a student fundraising effort launched in the spring of 1971 to raise a $250,000 endowment for scholarships in honor of Albion’s new president, Bernard Lomas, ’46.

“We wanted to come up with a special way to acknowledge the inauguration of our new president,” Healy remembers. “Dr. Lomas was willing to work with students and brought a positive message to Albion.”

The scholarship, now known as “P-250,” continues today and assists at least seven students annually, awarding scholarships between $10,000 and $25,000 based on leadership and service to the campus community.

“We were a little bit unusual while we were on campus,” says Healy. She also honored her parents for their efforts in allowing her to attend college when she established the Jinny and Fred Ward Memorial Endowed Scholarship. The award is merit-based and typically presented to a junior or senior in the Fritz Shurmur Center for Teacher Development who holds a minimum grade point average of 3.25.

“It was a way to recognize two people who had been so influential in my life and supported me through college,” says Healy, who, after receiving her master’s from Harvard University, has devoted her career to education.

In her view, the two scholarships are essential to helping Albion students realize and fulfill their wide-ranging aspirations.

“That’s one of the good parts of the Albion experience,” she says. “You have the opportunity to go wherever you want to go and I happened to get involved in things I really did enjoy. I know I was so lucky to have so many opportunities, and if there’s a way to help, that’s what I do. My parents brought us up that way, and I believe it is right to pass it on.”

Music to Their Ears The Louis Upton & Ruth Carter Rowland Endowed Music Scholarship was created anonymously in 2004 in recognition of the couple’s enduring service to the College: he taught in and chaired the Music Department from 1926-53, and together they wrote the alma mater, “Albion, Dear Albion.”

But in keeping with the concept of an evolving liberal arts education that serves the needs of individuals, the scholarship that originally was awarded to music students has branched out to helping those who may not necessarily be majoring in music.

One recent recipient is Isabel Allaway, ’20. The Des Moines, Iowa, native is a member of the Gerald R. Ford Institute for Leadership in Public Policy and Service and the Prentiss M. Brown Honors Program; she is a sociology faculty research assistant; a First-Year Experience peer mentor; public relations co-chair for the College’s AAUW chapter; and an admission tour guide.

Oh, and she is also currently program director for Albion College Euphonics, the campus a capella student organization.

“I’m not a music major, but I’ve been a member of the Concert Choir and the Briton Singers Ensemble through the Music Department while at Albion,” Allaway says.

“The Rowland Scholarship has helped me pursue an education at Albion while encouraging me to stay connected to my passion for music.”

And, as Kim Arndts sees it from her stewardship and alumna perspective, Allaway’s experience is the way it was always meant to be.

“When you enroll at Albion, you are joining a network of support—financial, emotional, and spiritual—that has been well established for over 180 years,” she says.

“And you realize it’s pretty gratifying to know that people you’ve never met before have your back.”

Every Scholarship Has a Story Some are reflections of their time and adapt.

But each delivers an impact all its own.

It began in 1915, when the Ford Model T was showing up everywhere; the Great War was tearing Europe apart; and a young Babe Ruth was on his way to winning 18 games as a pitcher for the World Series champion Boston Red Sox. In a little corner of Michigan, Albion College was looking to its future and celebrating a $5,000 donation “from various and sundry persons” that would establish the first endowed scholarship in the school’s 80-year history.

Established in the name of Ella Hoag, an 1871 alumna who died in 1899, it would provide $500 a year to female students “who are properly recommended and selected by the Women’s Society for Christian Service.”

The gift agreement, typed neatly and formally and featuring the signature of College President Samuel Dickie, laid out the terms: put simply, the Hoag Memorial Scholarship would benefit young women who were preparing for missionary service. And if no one was approved, the funds would go to students getting ready for other forms of religious work.

But times change and so do students. Today, the scholarship has $30,000 available with a $2,800 disbursement for general need.

Scholarships created decades (or a century) ago can speak of an Albion and an America far different than the one today. Take the Neal and Elva B. Spangenberg Scholarship, for example.

Drawn up in 1966, it follows many of the typical scholarship criteria—financial need; no “race, color or creed” restrictions; no requirement of a specific major.

But one condition was laid out clearly: “The character of the student is of utmost importance. Recipients will be abstainers in regard to drinking and smoking.” An interesting stipulation to be sure, given the country was just entering a time that would seem to challenge or change every social norm.

Adding to the lore, it’s been said that recipients had to sign a no-drinking/nosmoking pledge in front of the dean. Needless to say, finding a student became a bit of a challenge. Even so, the agreement went on: “In the event no candidate is available, funds will be left to accumulate until such time as a qualified student is identified.”

Over the years, the scholarship was altered slightly to focus on students with no Student Affairs infractions. Originally endowed with $3,000, the fund’s market value today is $117,000, and one student receives $11,000.

Then there’s the scholarship created by longtime Albion doctor Ralph Cram, who in 1958 looked around Michigan for the ideal place to start his family practice.

Albion was on the short list and when he brought his wife, Mary Ellen, to check it out, she was sold.

“She felt Albion was the best choice,” he says. “The deciding factor was that Albion College was here.”

Over the years, Cram developed a flourishing practice that included everything from delivering babies (he estimates some 2,500 deliveries over the years) to treating community members and even College presidents and their families.

But Cram—now 88, retired since 2012, and still living in Albion—recalled his undergraduate days at Augustana College in Illinois and how he made it through thanks to $2,000 saved by his mom and the different jobs he worked. “Having been of modest means, I felt I’d like to help somebody who was planning to go into medical school or health services,” he says.

So the Ralph and Mary Ellen Cram Endowed Scholarship was born and continues to this day.

– Chuck Carlson

Fall-Winter 2018-19 | 33

ALUMNI ASSOCIATION NEWS

WHAT A TEAM—ALL OF US! A little early October rain won’t ever put a damper on Albion Homecoming fun! (And, for that matter, neither will a defeat in a close game to a rival who shall not be named...) From the morning’s good food and times around the grill in the parking lot to the afternoon’s action on the gridiron, and from the great postgame Walk the Beat music all around campus and town to the grand class gatherings in the evening, Albion was a clear winner. Visit flickr.com/albioncollege for more than 230 photos of the festivities, and mark your calendar: Homecoming 2019 is October 4-6. Go Brits!

34 | Albion College Io Triumphe!

1) Members of the Class of 1958 came together for a group photo. From left to right: Donald Priest, Sue Delbridge Dinger, Margaret Burr Kidston, Elizabeth Heuman Beauchamp-Johns, Beverly Burnham Hannett-Price, Judith Jamieson, David Dinger, Susan Koepfgen Dempsey, Alfred Bamsey, Marcia Smith Olson.

2) Attorney and education policy activist Tracy Ames Peters, ’89, shares insights during her brief yet impactful BRITx Talks presentation at the Ludington Center in downtown Albion. The TEDx-style event, held for the second straight year during Homecoming weekend, also featured Rachel Lippert, ’08, a postdoctoral researcher at Max Planck Institute for Metabolism Research in Germany; Dannie Lynn Fountain, ’14, a marketing strategist for Google; and Judy Jamieson, ’58, of the Sandra Bornstein Holocaust Education Center and a Providence College professor emerita.

3) Alumni from the Class of 1963 gathered for a photo. From left to right (including front and back): Earl Burton, Rob Reed, Joanna Norris Burton, Gail Sedwick Reed, Bruce Hunt, Kathreen Zinnecker Iseler, Mary Jane McDonald Williams, Judy Wyant, Carolyn Evans Bruns, Dave Keefer, Loretta Carney Konecki, Ruth Keefer, Mary Maynard Place, Bob Place, Jim Goodnow, Tamara Transue Royle, Jim Royle, Bob Maxfield, Sharon Farthing Haight, Paul Haight, Sarah Meriweather Maxfield.

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4) Albion men’s basketball star Brandon Crawford, ’06 (standing with Peg Turner, ’69, and his coach Mike Turner, ’69) was among the Britons inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame. Find a link to all the 2018 honorees and their accolades at albion.edu/iotriumphe.

5) Ray Loeschner, ’53 (left), with Erik Braun, lead director of advancement and assistant athletic director, at the Hall of Fame ceremony. Earlier this year, the College dedicated the Loeschner Hall of Honor, which showcases inductee plaques in the Dow Recreation and Wellness Center.

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6) Class of 1993 alumni and friends at Dark Horse Brewing Co. in Marshall.

7) Members of the Class of 1998 met at the Medalist Golf Club in Marshall.

Fall-Winter 2018-19 | 35

ALUMNI ASSOCIATION NEWS

New to the Alumni Board In 2018, the Albion College Alumni Association welcomed eight new members to its Board of Directors.

Jim Whitehouse, ’69 Albion, MI

Milton Barnes, ’79 Albion, MI

Travell (T.O.) Oakes, ’16 Muskegon, MI

Michael Haines, ’85 Bloomfield Hills, MI

Mary Agles Carley, ’91, Troy, MI

John Burks, ’03 Chicago, IL

Roohia Meer, ’18 Washington, D.C.

Rosemary Smith Zander, ’64 Englewood, NJ The Alumni Board’s support of the College includes regular on-campus meetings (like recently at the Ludington Center, pictured), committee work, and selection of the annual Distinguished and Young Alumni Award recipients. View the entire board roster at albion.edu/alumni/board.

SPREAD THE WORD TO FUTURE STUDENTS! 36 | Albion College Io Triumphe!

You know all about the life-changing opportunities that an Albion education provides. Why not share them with a prospective student? Consider your family, neighbors, friends, children of co-workers, members of your religious community, civic groups, and others.

And it doesn’t have to end with the referral. A dedicated web portal enables you to see if your students have visited campus or completed the admission application. Encourage your students along the way!

Visit albion.edu/referral and click on Become a Referrer to get started. For more information, contact Corey Grazul, ’08, associate director of admission, at 800/858-6770 or admission@albion.edu.

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Here, There, and EVERYWHERE During the fall months, Albion alumni and friends (and future alums) came together in (1) Grand Rapids, at Robinette’s Apple Haus & Winery; in (2) Chicago, at Flight Club; and by the hundreds in (3) Detroit, at a Tigers baseball game, wearing with pride the Old English D on a purple-and-gold fitted cap.

But that’s just a preview.

On March 21, 2019, plan to kick it up a few more notches as we celebrate Albion Everywhere!

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One Day. 50 Locations.

One Huge Celebration.

In 2018, events were hosted in 28 states and two additional countries.

This year, let’s go for all 50 states on the same night.

Host an Albion Everywhere event—it’s easy! Pick a location, let us send you swag, and spread the word to other alums in your area.

Go to albion.edu/ everywhere for more information, or contact the Office of College Events at collegeevents@albion.edu or 517/629-1835.

May Milestones Back on Campus 3

Did you graduate in 1969? ’59? ’64 or ’74?

Plan your return to Albion for your 45th, 50th, 55th, or 60th class reunion May 16-18. The campus will be yours—for tours, to reminisce, and yes, to take a class or two. You can even relive your dorm days in Mitchell Towers (or stay downtown at Albion’s very own Courtyard Marriott). Cap off the visit with a Milestone Reunion dinner event with your classmates.

Recent grad of the last 10 years? May 18 is your day, too! Come Back2Campus, catch up with familiar faces, make new friends, and build your network.

Get all the details on the get-togethers at albion.edu/alumni/events.

Fall-Winter 2018-19 | 37

Io Triumphe!

EDITOR John Perney DESIGNER Katherine Mueting Hibbs CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Chuck Carlson, Bobby Lee, Erin Peterson, Jake Weber CLASS NOTES WRITERS Kim Fisher, Jake Weber, Erin Dunlop, ’19, Troy McCallumMhor, ’21, Patrick Barclay, ’18 MARKETING/COMMUNICATIONS Matt Ray, Eric Westmoreland Io Triumphe! is published twice annually by the Office of Marketing and Communications. It is distributed free to alumni and friends of the College.

Letters to the editor may be sent to: Office of Marketing and Communications Albion College 611 E. Porter Street Albion, MI 49224 communications@albion.edu www.albion.edu ABOUT OUR NAME The unusual name for this publication comes from a yell written by members of the Class of 1900. The beginning words of the yell, “Io Triumphe!,” were probably borrowed from the poems of the Roman writer Horace.

In 1936, the alumni of Albion College voted to name their magazine after the yell, which by then had become a College tradition.

For years, Albion’s incoming students have learned these lines by heart: Io Triumphe! Io Triumphe!

Haben swaben rebecca le animor Whoop te whoop te sheller de-vere De-boom de ral de-i de-pa— Hooneka henaka whack a whack A-hob dob balde bora bolde bara Con slomade hob dob rah!

Al-bi-on Rah! FIND MORE ONLINE: www.albion.edu

Connect with students, faculty, staff, and alumni through Albion College’s social media channels.

Transfer your donor-advised fund or personal foundation to the new Albion College Donor-Advised Fund Program – you may see your dollars do a lot more!

Albion College now offers a donor-advised fund (DAF), providing opportunities to support the College, and other charitable organizations, with a single contribution. The cost is below what many investment organizations offer, and the impact is life-changing!

Consider opening a new account, or transferring your existing DAF or foundation account, to create your own individual or family Albion College Donor-Advised Fund.

Our DAF offers very competitive rates and flexibility; it’s a benefit to both you and Albion College.

For more information, please contact Wendy Miller Bueche at 517/629-1835 or email albioncollege-daf@albion.edu.

NON-PROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID LIVONIA MI PERMIT NO. 198

Office of Marketing and Communications 611 East Porter Street Albion, MI 49224

Kiwane Perry, ’20, completed an internship last summer with KPMG in Chicago. He and all future Albion grads can enter the workforce with extra confidence knowing employers notice an Albion degree—and that the College’s Career and Internship Center is always there. Visit albion.edu/cic to learn more.

No. 1 in graduate earnings

among Michigan small colleges

(Career site Zippia.com, using 2018 College Scorecard data 10 years after enrolling)