Annual Report 201 8-2 0 1 9
Annual Report
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Ripon’s Generational Promise
P R E SI D EN T ’S LETTER
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ON THE COVER Barbara Sisson, associate professor of biology, and Vanessa Villarreal ’19 of Union Grove, Wisconsin, load DNA into a gel to study a gene that helps control cartilage formation.
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Ripon College
y great-grandparents came to the United States at the beginning of the 20th century to find a better life. One worked as a shopkeeper in Chicago, another was a streetcar conductor in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Their children (my grandfathers) both went to college, and, in turn, they sent their children (both my mom and dad) to get an education and then off into the world. Four generations later, my wife and I are about to send our eldest son off to college next fall.
research between Ripon professors and students
I see the same generational family cycle at Ripon every May when students cross the stage and receive their diplomas at graduation. And I see it in August on the first day of classes. We welcomed the Class of 2023 this fall, including 14 legacies (who had close relatives who attended Ripon). Forty-eight percent of the students in the first-year class are the first in their family to go to college. In addition, over the past decade the diversity of Ripon’s student body has nearly doubled.
College alumni, so many of whom supported the
The majority of our expenses this year, and every year, are devoted to making sure that our students can afford to study at Ripon through graduation. One hundred percent of our students receive financial assistance from the College, and we are proud to be known as a “Private School at a Public School Price.” U.S. News and World Report ranks us as the best school in Wisconsin for social mobility and value, and we are in the top 30 schools in the nation in both categories. As part of our ongoing commitment to making sure our students get the most out of college and graduate in four years, we are proud to open the new Franzen Center for Academic Success. Thanks to the generosity of Mark Franzen ’83 and Janice Heinz Franzen ’83, the renovated space on the first floor of Lane Library now houses all academic support services, including group tutoring sessions for introductory courses, study skills workshops and academic coaching. In addition, there are new technology-enhanced active learning classrooms in Farr Hall of Science and Todd Wehr Hall. And we’ve added lighting, risers and other enhancements to Benstead Theatre in C.J. Rodman Center for the Arts. Our students continue to excel in the classroom and beyond in 2019. Our first Catalyst Day April 24 highlighted the achievements of our nationally recognized new curriculum. Inside this Annual Report, you will read about recent collaborative
on environmental problems in Green Lake, innovations in creating drugs to treat degenerative diseases and research on the fourth-century Spanish Christian poet Prudentius. Our faculty members continue their strong commitment to teaching, research and service, but they also won significant grant funding that totaled more than $700,000 this past year. And all of our success starts with the 12,000 Ripon College this past year. Contributions during FY’19 were more than $5 million. Seventy percent of the recently graduated Class of 2019 contributed to the Senior Class Gift, and #OneDayRally brought in more than $1 million for the Ripon Fund in 18 hours, 51 minutes, surpassing our fundraising goal set for the day by 39%. At our June Alumni Weekend, we welcomed back 750 alumni, students and guests from 39 states, spanning 1958-2022. Our award-winning Career Discovery Tour met with alumni in Texas last spring, and the College helped organize 65 events in 16 cities during 2019. The Annual Report shows many ways in which Ripon has continued to move forward and invest in the success of our students. However, like many small liberal arts institutions, we are facing financial challenges because of the fact that our operating expenses are outpacing revenues. The coming months are going to require all of us to step up and give more of our time, treasure and expertise. These are challenging times for small liberal arts colleges across the country, and we must continue to safeguard the long-term financial stability of an institution that we all love and care about so much. I am committed to Ripon’s future, one that continues to educate the best and brightest minds at an affordable price and in an idyllic setting. But we need your support more than ever in 2020 so that Ripon can continue to provide an excellent education for first-, second-, third-, fourth- and fifth-generation (and beyond) college students.
ZACH P. MESSIT TE President
NEW ON CAMPUS
New Franzen Center for Academic Success enhances support services for students
The Franzen Center for Academic Success is a dynamic new learning environment that opened on the first level of Lane Library in the fall of 2019.
Made possible through the generosity of Mark Franzen ’83 and Janice Heinz Franzen ’83, the center supports Ripon College’s belief in the transformative power of education. The centralization of all academic support services ensures students have easy access to resources and allows Ripon College to meet student demand for these services.
Katelyn Peroutka ’20 explains a lesson.
The center coordinates student tutoring services, improves resource allocation and provides more visible offerings for all students seeking tutoring at Ripon College. Plans are to expand student success programming, such as PLUS group tutoring sessions for introductory courses, study skills workshops and academic coaching. PLUS is Peer Lead Undergraduate Study, a 90-minute workshop lead by a peer leader who works with the instructor to create a more hands-on, activity-based learning environment.
THIS ADAPTIVE APPROACH WILL RESPOND TO THE CHANGING NEEDS OF STUDENT LEARNING AND THE EVOLVING NEEDS AND EXPECTATIONS OF THE WORLD. The center is under the direction of Brenda Gabrielson, who oversees approximately 80 highly trained student tutors, including contracted tutors, writing/presentation tutors, PLUS and quantitative tutors.
Mark Franzen ’83 visits with Franzen Center Director Brenda Gabrielson and students, including Haley Reierson ’21, center, and Kayley Grabowski ’21, to Franzen's right.
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REVENUE & EXPENSES
T
he majority of our expenses in Fiscal Year 2019 were devoted to student tuition support, costs to sustain academic instruction as well as curricular services and upgrades to facilities.
REVENUE
Financial statements for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2019, reflect an increase in total net assets of $1,733,857, as shown in the charts on the right. Change in net assets without donor restrictions was -$2,841,781, and change in net assets with donor restrictions was $4,575,638.
THE COLLEGE PROVIDED $20,591,043 IN FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO 100 PERCENT OF ITS STUDENT BODY DURING THE 2018-19 ACADEMIC YEAR. The market value of our investments as of June 30, 2019, was $94,069,498. This reflects an increase of $2,790,136 from the prior year. The average endowment investment returns for one, three and five years were 5.8 percent, 8.8 percent and 4.8 percent.
Student Tuition & Fees
$12,311,057
35.9%
Auxiliary Enterprises
$6,391,988
18.7%
Contributions
$8,678,695
25.3%
Investments
$5,327,261
15.5%
Other Income
$1,588,676
4.6%
TOTAL
$34,297,677
100%
EXPENSES
Associate Professor of Physics Christina Othon teaches a 100-level Catalyst course, “Life and Death in the Universe,” in the newly created smart classroom in Todd Wehr B22. The room features collaborative technology.
Instruction
$12,292,657
37.7%
Institutional Support
$6,160,783
18.9%
Planned expenses in FY’19 included outlays for upgrades to student-
Auxiliary Enterprises
$5,890,635
18.1%
centered spaces. Notable projects were the new Franzen Center
Student Services
$6,278,671
19.3%
for Academic Success; a new technology-enhanced active learning
Academic Support
$1,095,216
3.4%
$845,858
2.6%
classroom in Farr Hall of Science; a smart classroom in Todd Wehr Hall with collaborative technology; and lighting, risers and other aesthetic enhancements to Benstead Theatre in C.J. Rodman Center for the Arts.
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Ripon College
Public Services TOTAL
$32,563,820
100%
GIFTS & GRANTS Cash gifts to Ripon College during FY’19 included $2,622,675.41 in unrestricted funds; and $3,089,498.41 in restricted funds, for a combined total of $5,712,173.82.
REA L I ZED FU N D I NG PRO PO SA L S Eighteen grant proposals with a total value of $1,249,903 were submitted to foundations, corporations and grant-funding agencies on behalf of Ripon College or individual faculty members; five proposals were funded as of June 30, 2019, totaling $703,400. They include:
Seventy percent of the Class of 2019 contributed to the Senior Class Gift. The total of $3,177.40, including an Alumni Board match, will go to the Ripon Fund.
$400,400: National Science FoundationMajor Research Instrumentation Program, to expand and upgrade the supercomputing cluster of the Midwestern Undergraduate Computational Chemistry Conference’s Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure and Chemistry divisions, Joseph Scanlon, associate professor of chemistry.
NE W G I VI NG C LUB M EM BERS 1851 Club: Now in its eighth year of existence, the club welcomed 82 new member households for a total of 633 members by household in FY’19. This special society recognizes the value of annual giving in the life of the College. Members include donors who give $50,000 or more to the College during their lifetime, donors who give $1,000 or more during the fiscal year, and young alumni (up to 10 years out) who give an equivalent of $100 for each year since graduation. Partners in the Legacy: 10 new households notified us of estate plans which include Ripon College, bringing the total current number of Partner households to 509.
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$275,000: Arthur Vining Davis Foundation, Leadership Fellows Program, Ed Wingenbach, former vice president and dean of faculty. $20,000: Kohler Company, scholarships for business majors, Terri Fredenberg-Holzman, director of grants and sponsored projects. $7,000: CSII- University of WisconsinStout Civil Liberties, Steve Martin, associate professor of communication and chair of the Department of Communication.
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$1,000: Kohler Foundation, building a collection of touchable art for the visually impaired, Travis Nygard, associate professor of art and director of Caestecker Gallery.
Caitie Carpenter ’20 of Clintonville, Wisconsin, works at her job at Willmore Center. Carpenter is a recipient of a scholarship from a Mead Witter Foundation Endowed Scholarship fund. She is majoring in sports management and business management. 1 William Jordan ’69 accepts the trophy on behalf of his class for the largest five-year class gift total at Alumni Weekend 2019. The Class of 1969 raised $722,044.52 in the five years since their last reunion. This presentation was held Saturday, June 29, 2019, during the Class Celebration Lunch. 2 A grant from Kohler Foundation Inc. is enabling Associate Professor of Art Travis Nygard to build a collection of touchable art as a teaching aid for the new “Museums, Artifacts and Cultural Heritage” class. The class will debut in spring 2020, and the collection will help museum studies students learn how art museums can become more accessible to people with visual impairment.
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#ONEDAYRALLY
#OneDayRally raises more than $1M for Ripon Fund in 18 hours, 51 minutes The second annual #OneDayRally held May 1, 2019, raised a record $1,085,314 for the Ripon Fund in 18 hours and 51 minutes. This surpassed the fundraising goal set for the day by 39%. There was a total of 1,446 donors, up 506 donors from #OneDayRally 2018. Special #OneDayRally Rally Hours were held in Milwaukee, Madison, the Chicago area, the Twin Cities, Cincinnati and Washington, D.C., inviting alumni engagement and celebration during the big day. The Ripon Fund provides an average of $2 million annually to enhance the student experience at Ripon College. The Ripon Fund serves as a necessary complement to our endowment and tuition dollars, and it is fully dedicated to the current needs of the College.
Peggy Hutchings, gift administration and stewardship coordinator at Ripon College, processes gifts as they come in during #OneDayRally May 1, 2019. The Center for Career and Professional Development served as #OneDayRally headquarters that day.
1,446 DONORS, UP 506 DONORS FROM #ONEDAYRALLY 2018
139% PERCENTAGE OF FUNDRAISING GOAL ACHIEVED
$1,085,314 DOLLARS RAISED
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Ripon College
DIVERSITY
Focus on diversity expands horizons for all students
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DIVERSITY GROUPS ON CAMPUS • Amnesty International • Asian Student Association • Black Student Union • Brothers Reaching Out (B.R.O.) • Cultural Diversity Club • Diversity Coalition • Disability Rights Education Activism Movement (D.R.E.A.M.) • La Unida • Queer Straight Alliance • RC Feminists • Young African American Sisters
TOTAL DIVERSITY
ithin the Student Life Division, Ripon College students seek assistance with medical and mental health issues, academics and interpersonal conflicts. They participate in fun activities that enhance their lives and expand their worldview. And they share their pride in their ethnicity/ races of origin. Over the past decade, the percentage of total diversity in Ripon’s student population has nearly doubled, from 11.4% in 2009-2010 to 22.2% in fall 2019-2020.Total diversity is the percentage of students who are not U.S. citizens/permanent residents or who self-reported ethnicity/race other than white. The director of multicultural affairs, who oversees the Center for Diversity and Inclusion, helps facilitate this celebration. During FY’19, multicultural-focused groups met regularly to reflect on experiences, offer peer support and plan educational and social programs. Campus-wide activities were offered in monthly celebrations focusing on Hispanic heritage, LGBTQ history, international culture, black history, women’s history and culture. They included forums, discussions and social events; international game night; and a Native American singer performing on campus.
Students also traveled to seminars, performances and gatherings with students from other campuses: the Wisconsin Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (WAICU) student diversity conference; conferences in Chicago by the Black Student Union (BSU) and La Unida; a Queer Straight Alliance (QSA) conference in Kansas; Chinese Lantern festival in Milwaukee; and the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis. International students enjoyed off-campus social trips and free on-campus housing during vacation periods. Families in the Ripon area again offered to be “Home Away from Home” participants for these students. Catalyst curriculum 200-level classes are devoted to intercultural competence, with a focus on identifying and challenging cultural assumptions. Activities in this area were part of the first Catalyst Day, held April 24, 2019, and students enjoyed a morning packed with related activities. Focused activities developed in FY’19 expanded horizons for all students, brought additional cultural awareness to Ripon’s rural campus and allowed students from underrepresented backgrounds to share their uniqueness.
22.2%
11.4% 2
1 Italia Falcon ’22 of Chicago, Illinois, shows off the paper flower she made at La Unida’s Dia de Muertos craft night.
20092010
20192020
CONTRACTS SIGNED
2 Members of the Diversity Coalition, representing eight student diversity organizations on campus, meet for planning and camaraderie.
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CATALYST
Catalyst Day highlights achievements of new curriculum
Ripon College's public showcase of its new Catalyst curriculum brought hundreds of people together April 24, 2019, to celebrate the success of the first cohort of students to complete the program.
Faculty, staff, students, alumni, friends, admissions counselors, and family and community members attended Catalyst Day or tuned in remotely to learn more about this unique approach. Twenty-five interdisciplinary teams of juniors from the Applied Innovation seminar, Catalyst 300, worked collaboratively to integrate knowledge. Each team addressed one of five problems derived from the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals framework: food for all, mental health systems, climate change mitigation, water pollution and reducing inequalities.
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THE STUDENT TEAMS PRESENTED THEIR SEMESTER-LONG WORK, PROPOSALS OF AN APPLIED INNOVATION, IN CONFERENCESTYLE FORMAT. Presentations included “The Positive Effects of Bringing Green Plastic Products to Ripon,” “Reducing Anxiety and Depression Among New College Students: Easing Transitions and Improving Student Health and Wellness Throughout College” and “Advertising Caffeine in Cosmetics and Pharmaceuticals to Prevent Damage to Freshwater Aquatic Wildlife.” The details of the course, structure of projects and faculty development resources needed for
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Ripon College
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE STUDENT CHALLENGES, WATCH THE RECAP HERE:
ripon.edu/catalyst-day
Abby Korb ’20 of Burlington, Wisconsin, discusses “Youth Mental Health Education” at Catalyst Day 2019.
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success were developed in the fall by a team of faculty and administrators. Ongoing support for the curriculum has come from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Margaret A. Cargill Foundation. Teams of students also competed in an applied innovation “hackathon,” designed to quickly generate new ideas, where they were asked to develop strategies that could be implemented by Ripon College to address rural poverty in Fond du Lac County.
The five-course Catalyst curriculum rigorously develops the 21st-century skills that employers seek while streamlining the path to graduation. The curriculum requires only five courses, a total of 20 credits, and culminates with a certificate of applied innovation. This ensures that students are able to complete multiple majors and minors, experiential study and hold internships in four years.
1 Haley Stowell ’20 of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and Wyatt McGillen ’19 of Neenah, Wisconsin, collaborate at Catalyst Day 2019. 2 Tyler Sturzl ’19 of Madison, Wisconsin, speaks at the Applied Innovation Hackathon during Catalyst Day 2019. 3 A presentation at Catalyst Day 2019 is led by Tori Braun ’21 of Juneau, Wisconsin.
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COLLABORATION
Student-faculty collaborative research yielding significant results John Hughes, left, assistant professor of music and director of choral activities, chats with Maria Reber ’21 of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Reber is majoring in music education and minoring in theatre. The two have a personal mentorship and work closely in multiple capacities. Reber is learning firsthand all that goes into being a choir director.
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hallmark of a Ripon College education is the chance to conduct undergraduate research, in particular collaboration with professors on meaningful research with far-reaching applications. Students gain valuable research experience which proves to be an advantage when applying to graduate schools and internships; and provides the opportunity to further explore a chosen field of study.
“I REALLY LIKE FEELING LIKE THE STUDENTS ARE MY TEAMMATES instead of me being the boss or the expert.”
ANDREA YOUNG Vice President for Finance and Director of Strategic Initiatives, formerly associate professor of mathematics
“TO PEOPLE WHO ARE INTERESTED IN RESEARCH, TALK TO YOUR PROFESSORS!
Students also have been published as co-authors with their professors in professional journals and have presented research at regional, national and international conferences, often as the only undergraduates attending.
There are opportunities out there, and professors love to help students build on their dreams.”
MICA RIVERA ’2 1
Professors say collaborative research helps speed up their own research, provides fresh perspectives on the work that they do, and gives them satisfaction in furthering the knowledge and experience of their students. Recent collaborative research at Ripon has tackled such issues as a real-life environmental problem in nearby Green Lake; effects of oxidative stress on protein structure that could aid in creating drugs to treat degenerative diseases; creation of new compositions in molecules that could have pharmaceutical or agricultural applications; and the little-researched but significant fourth-century Spanish Christian poet Prudentius.
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Ripon College
River Falls, Wisconsin
1 Micaela “Mica” Rivera ’21 of River Falls, Wisconsin, left, and Associate Professor of Biology Memuna Khan work with Eastern bluebirds from nest boxes in Ripon. Rivera spent summer 2019 studying bluebirds in the more than 85 nest boxes Khan and her students have installed throughout Fond du Lac and Green Lake counties. Rivera also has worked with Assistant Professor of Psychology Julia Meyers-Manor on cognitive behavior in mammals and presented research at a conference in Florida alongside graduate students.
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2 Brett Barwick, associate professor of physics, center, works with Lydia Wiley Deal ’22 of Whitewater, Wisconsin, and Garrett Radtke ’22 of Watertown, Wisconsin, to align an ultrafast laser beam to produce a very intense laser focus for use in experiments. Wiley Deal and Radtke spent the summer of 2019 on campus conducting research with Barwick.
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FACULTY HONORS Honors and achievements that regularly go to Ripon College professors demonstrate the significant recognition they receive for their work as active scholars and leaders in their disciplines. Their rich, real-world experiences offer unique educational mentoring and collaborative research opportunities for our students. Here are some of the highlights of their achievements for FY’19.
PRESIDENT ZACH MESSITTE is co-author of the book Republican Populist: Spiro Agnew and the Origins of Donald Trump’s America, released by The University of Virginia Press. He also had opinion pieces run in numerous national newspapers. Messitte was on sabbatical in Italy during the spring semester. While there, he was interviewed on Dinamo TV. “Why do young adults vote at low rates? Implications for education,” by MATT KNOESTER, associate professor of educational studies, was published in Social Studies Research and Practice and was selected as Highly Commended in the 2018 Emerald Literati Awards. Knoester also presented at the American Educational Research Association annual meeting in Toronto, Canada, and as the keynote speaker at the Democratizing Education Conference at TED University in Ankara, Turkey. In January 2019, he traveled to Delhi University in India on a Fulbright-Nehru Fellowship. BOB WALLACE, professor of biology emeritus, was among the authors of the paper “Anemochory of diapausing stages of microinvertebrates in North American drylands,” published in Freshwater Biology. He also is a co-author of a chapter in the recently published book Thorp and Covich’s Freshwater Invertebrates, Keys to Palearctic Fauna, fourth edition. He retired in May 2019. JULIA MEYERS-MANOR, assistant professor of psychology, was quoted as a dog behavior expert in a PBS NOVA story about a researcher’s study with dogs and wolves. She also presented a talk, “Lending a Helping Paw: Variables in Canine Empathy,” at the Comparative Cognition Conference in Florida in April 2019.
LAMONT COLUCCI, associate professor of politics and government, had numerous works published with major news sources, such as American Media Institute (AMI), The Washington Times and the online news organization Newsmax. He debuted a new column, “From the Heartland,” on Newsmax Media. A peer-reviewed, long academic essay published by Praeger Security International is a major work that took 11 months for research, writing, peer review, editing and finalization. “The Influence of Corporate Lobbying on Federal Contracting,” co-written by HENRIK SCHATZINGER, associate professor of politics and government, chair of the department and co-director of the Center for Politics and the People, was published in Social Science Quarterly May 16, 2019. SARAH MAHLER KRAAZ, professor of music emeritus, edited the book Music and War in the United States, published by Routledge. It is a textbook for college courses and general readership. She retired in May 2019.
The Supernatural in Society, Culture, and History, a book co-edited by Associate Professor of Sociology MARC EATON, was published in August 2018 by Temple University Press. The book demonstrates the value of serious academic inquiry into supernatural beliefs and practices. JOHN C. HUGHES, assistant professor of music and director of choral activities, is the director of the Composer Residency program for the Green Lake Festival of Music. Hughes also has been named the festival's new executive and artistic director.
JOHN DALZIEL ’02, associate professor of theatre, presented “Technology for the Theatre Classroom” at the Alliance for Wisconsin Theatre Education Conference 2018, and “Computer Animation for Theatre Design” at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Region 3 Festival 2019. In the photo above, Dalziel helps Bailey Jerrick ’20 of Stoughton, Wisconsin, at Benstead Theatre’s new light board. The light board is among updates completed in Benstead during the summer of 2019.
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CAMPUS HIGHLIGHTS ripon places highly in national rankings
Campus Apartments. Ripon College apparel and
of the Center for Politics and the People, and
Ripon College produces the highest-earning
gifts are offered at the brick-and-mortar store,
associate dean for faculty development.
graduates in the state of Wisconsin, according
supplemented by an online store. Students order
to the Department of Education’s 2018 College
textbooks online using one of their own devices
Scorecard. The website Zippia used scorecard
or an online kiosk located in Bovay’s. Student
data to determine the school in each state
interns working in the space benefit from
whose graduates earned the most in mean
hands-on experiential training in marketing,
wages 10 years after graduation. The report has
event planning, apparel design, merchandising
been shared by news media across the country.
and small business management.
other r anking achie vements for
Order College merchandise online at
crises in Washington, D.C., and Flint, Michigan;
bovaysestore.com
and John Nelson, adjunct professor of civil and
the 2018-19 ac ademic ye ar :
• Ripon College was ranked the top liberal
4 Commencement speaker Marc Edwards urges courage to lead a ‘life well lived’ At the 153rd Commencement in May, 164 students received degrees. With the theme of “Caring for Our Environment,” the ceremony honored Marc Edwards, who helped lead investigations into high-profile drinking water
environmental engineering at the University of
arts school in Wisconsin and eighth in the
photo :
nation for colleges that promote social mobility,
Korzeniewski ’17, center, talks with customers
according to U.S. News & World Report. The
at Bovay’s Mercantile’s new location.
Retail and Activation Manager Noelle
Wisconsin-Madison, with honorary degrees. The 2019 Founders’ Day Award recognized regional partners the Green Lake Association, Green Lake
ranking for social mobility measures schools’ success at supporting their students from
2 Michael Milburn, Ann Rawding
low-income families and rates them based
are new Trustees
on the graduation rates of those students.
Michael J. Milburn ’97 of Chicago, Illinois,
5 Ripon team wins international
and Ann M. Rawding ’83 of Grandview,
business ethics competition
• Ripon College is ranked first in the state of
New York, began terms on the Ripon
A Ripon College team placed first in the
Wisconsin and 15th in the nation among all
College Board of Trustees in October 2018.
undergraduate division of the International
colleges and universities offering economics
Milburn is chief customer officer for the
Business Ethics and Sustainability Case
programs, as published by Study.com.
service cloud at Salesforce. Rawding is
Competition in April at Loyola Marymount
senior director of public sector government
University in Los Angeles, California. Tyler
practices at Salesforce.com Inc.
Sturzl ’19, Crandon, Wisconsin; Wyatt
• The College Consensus website ranks Ripon College on its Top 50 list of Most Innovative
Conservancy and Green Lake Sanitary District.
McGillen ’19, Kalispell, Montana; and Haley
Colleges. Ripon is recognized for its 20-credit
3 Leadership changes made
Stowell ’20, Eau Claire, Wisconsin, placed first
applied innovation Catalyst curriculum and its
in several College departments
in the undergraduate division with the topic
dedication to bringing Career and Professional
shown in the photo from left to right :
“A Continent That Counts: Solving Statistical
Development resources into all four years of a
• Andrea Young is the new vice president for
Inequalities with Clean Data Collaboratives.”
student’s time on campus. Ripon is just one of
finance and director of strategic initiatives.
three schools in Wisconsin to make the list.
For the previous six months, she had served
photo :
as acting dean of faculty, and prior to that
Stowell ’20 and Wyatt McGillen ’19
• Ripon College is ranked as one of the top schools in Wisconsin focused on studies of
was an associate professor of mathematics.
Tyler Sturzl ’19, left, Haley
Ripon’s ROTC unit celebrates 100 years
political science and government, according
• Shawn Karsten ’09 is the new vice president
The Fox Valley Battalion of ROTC, of which
to the website Collegefactual.com.
for advancement. He had served as the
the Ripon Red Hawks Company is a part, held
College’s interim associate vice president for
its spring commissioning ceremony May 24
advancement for the previous 1½ years.
at Willmore Center. Senior commissionees
Major NSF grant assisting study of quantitative reasoning
were sworn in as second lieutenants in the
Ripon College received a National Science
• Ryan Kane is the new director of athletics and
U.S. Army. Those from Ripon College were
Foundation grant of $297,715 for the project
also will continue to serve as the head men's
Christian Ryan of Caledonia, Wisconsin;
“Building Capacity for Interdisciplinary
basketball coach. In December 2018, he earned
Nathan Faucett of Marinette, Wisconsin;
Quantitative Reasoning Instruction.” The
his 100th career victory in win over Illinois
Justin Filter of Janesville, Wisconsin; Aubreigh
grant is providing support for faculty to
College and earned the status of the third
Zimmerman LeFleur of Ripon, Wisconsin;
develop expertise in quantitative reasoning
winningest coach in program history. Kane
and Justin LaFleur of Belvidere, Illinois.
and to study how the College’s approach to
replaces Julie Johnson, who died in June 2019.
quantitative reasoning instruction affects
This year also marked the 100th anniversary
• Professor of History Rebecca Matzke is
of the creation of the ROTC program at Ripon.
serving as interim vice president and dean of
A history of the unit, Faith and Courage: The
1 Bovay’s Mercantile moved
faculty. She has served on the faculty since 2003
History of the Ripon ROTC Unit. 1919- 1991, was
to Campus Apartments
in a variety of faculty leadership roles, including
published in 1992. An updated version was
Bovay’s Mercantile has moved to a new location
chair of the Faculty Advisory Committee and
compiled for the 100th anniversary and can be
at 430 Woodside Ave., on the first level of
Faculty Development Committee, co-director
viewed here: ripon.edu/rotc/learning-to-lead.
student attitudes and learning gains.
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Ripon College
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women ’ s basketball wins second consecutive mwc title
The women’s basketball team won its second consecutive Midwest Conference (MWC) Championship, advancing to the NCAA Division-III Tournament for the first time in 10 years. Their 19-9 record tied for fifth in program history. Their 16-2 MWC record reflected the most conference wins in program history. Head Coach Lauren Busalacchi earned MWC Coach of the Year honors.
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ALUMNI ENGAGEMENT
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Ripon College has a base of about 12,000 alumni worldwide. Ripon continues to maintain strong ties with alumni throughout their lives in ways that benefit both the alumni and the College. A LU M N I WEEK EN D
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1 Molly Kneip Maurer ’03 of Neenah, Wisconsin, shares a photo op with Rally the Red Hawk at the Doc Weiske ’50 Memorial Golf Scramble at the Golf Courses of Lawsonia as part of Alumni Weekend 2019. 2 Former Trustee Bob Witt ’55 and his wife, Patricia, of Georgetown, Texas, met with students for dinner in Austin on the Career Discovery Tour Texas in spring 2019. Included were Gisselle Tellez ’21, left, of Round Lake, Illinois; Andie Lemkuil ’21 of Waupaca, Wisconsin; and Yupar Oo ’20 of Rangoon, Myanmar, far right.
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Ripon College
Alumni Weekend, held each year in June, is a lively gathering of camaraderie and nostalgia. More than 750 alumni, students and guests attended Alumni Weekend activities June 27-30, 2019. Alumni gathered from 39 states and represented classes from 1958 through 2022. The 215 participants of the Doc Weiske ’50 Memorial Golf Scramble raised more than $32,000 for Red Hawks Athletics. The generosity of classes celebrating special reunions was recognized. The Class of 1969, celebrating its golden reunion, led the way with a giving total of $247,225.66 and a giving percentage of 52%. Its five-year total is $722,044.52.
C A R E E R D ISCOV ERY TO UR This program further expands student-alumni career networking opportunities. Offered annually, during fall or spring break, the tour provides 12-15 students the opportunity to travel to vibrant cities across the United States to
gain first-hand knowledge of a variety of careers directly from successful Ripon alumni and friends. During spring break 2019, the destination was Texas. Over seven days and six nights, 16 students and three staff members traveled 500 miles between four cities, stayed in four different hotels, and made 11 alumni visits and 10 unique site visits. The cost to each student was just $425 thanks to generous donors including the Alumni Association Board of Directors. Previous tours visited Chicago, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Washington, D.C., Boston and Colorado.
REG IO N A L A N D O N -CA MPU S EV EN T S Approximately 1,500 alumni, parents and friends attended 65 events in 16 cities during FY’19. Events ranged from Rally Hours to sporting events, picnics and presidential receptions. They were supported by 45 volunteer hosts.
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R
ipon College welcomed 221 first-time, first-year students to campus in the fall of 2019. There are also 13 transfer students for a total of 234 new students.
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C LASS O F 2023
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makeup of this class is 75% white, 13% Hispanic, 6% black or African American and 6% other. In looking at their academic achievements, the first-year students have an
This total includes 14 Legacies whose brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, grandparents or great-grandparents also have called Ripon College home. Representing 48% of the class are 105 first-generation students. The College received 2,900 first-year applications for admission to the Class of 2023.
average grade-point average of 3.42 and an average ACT score of 22.5, in
The gender breakdown of the class is 50 percent female and 50 percent male. The most popular names for female students in the Class of 2023 are Emily and Abigail. The most popular name for our first-year male students is Jacob.
students and as few as 17 students. Ninety-two percent of the first-years
Students from Wisconsin represent 66 percent of the class. There also are students from 16 other states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming; and from the countries of Canada, Jamaica and Nigeria. The ethnicity
221 new students
48%
first- generation students
25%
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domestic diversit y
legacy students
line with recent entering classes at Ripon College. Thirty-four percent of the class chose to go test-optional on reporting scores. Forty percent of the class have received federal government Pell Grants in financial assistance. The first-years come from high school graduating classes as large as 778 came from public high schools, and 8% came from private high schools. Virtually all of the first-year students were involved in extracurricular activities in their schools and had donated their time to some form of community service. There are 133 student-athletes who will participate in varsity sports on campus; and 54 artists, musicians and thespians who plan to continue with their fine arts interests. Students have chosen 42 different major areas of study.
1 Abigail Gilbertson ’23, left, of Marquette, Wisconsin, and Kara Vande Brink ’23 of Markesan, Wisconsin, prepare for their first march as Ripon College students at the Matriculation Convocation Aug. 24, 2019. 2 Anjelika Dombrowski ’23 of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, and her mother, Michelle, could not fit one more thing in the family’s minivan when bringing her belongings to campus for the year. 3 Brionna Reed ’23, left, of Houston, Texas, and Shaney Murphy ’23 of Missouri City, Texas, enjoy the Matriculation Convocation for new students Aug. 24. 2019.
Annual Report
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