Ripon College Annual Report 2021-2022

Annual Report 2021-2022

Together, we are defining the impact of a Ripon education

Since I first entered the presidential search process as a candidate last winter, I have been in awe of the commitment of Ripon College’s alumni, friends and community to this institution. This could not have been more evident than during this past year as we returned to pre-pandemic levels of alumni engagement, community activities and student involvement.

My first interaction with the larger Ripon alumni and community network was at Alumni Weekend in June when we welcomed more than 450 alumni and guests back to campus. It was awe-inspiring and energizing to witness firsthand the passion that alumni hold for Ripon as they reminisced about past memories and shared their enthusiasm for Ripon’s future.

For the second year in a row, Ripon has realized a record-breaking year in fundraising, with a large portion of that designated for the dynamic science center and on-campus

Institutional Initiatives

stadium infrastructure projects that will spearhead our drive toward enhancing the education of the future. Innovative research by our faculty and students, often in collaborative projects, not only is having realworld results, but also is setting the foundation for our graduates who will continue to impact the world for decades to come.

I am energized by this momentum and am eager to work with each member of the Ripon College community to achieve continued success for upcoming generations of students. It is a great honor that Ripon and the collective “we” get to be a part of a formative time in a student’s life.

I look forward to an ongoing dialogue and sharing of ideas with our Ripon community to augment and enhance Ripon College and the lives of our students. I invite all alumni and friends to continue to engage with the College in our strategic

• Local Commitment Award outreach was expanded to two additional counties in Wisconsin — Outagamie County and Brown County. The award offers financial assistance of up to $38,000 per year to students who graduated from high schools in neighboring counties.

• Ripon faculty approved a cross-registration pilot with Marian University of Fond du Lac, which allows qualified Ripon students to take up to two classes per semester at Marian and vice versa. This is a first step to facilitate academic collaborations between the two schools, which are about 25 miles apart. In the pilot program, seven Ripon students enrolled in classes at Marian and one Marian student enrolled in a class at Ripon for fall 2022.

• A new collaboration with the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) Pharmacy School in Milwaukee allows students to earn dual degrees from Ripon College and MCW in only six years. Students in the 3+3 PharmD accelerated program earn a liberal arts degree from Ripon and a doctor of pharmacy degree from MCW. One student already has been accepted into the program.

• Momentum Leadership Fellows Program, launched in summer 2021, is a summer bridge for highly qualified incoming first-year students from historically underrepresented and first-generation populations. It is partially supported by a $275,000 three-year grant from the Arthur Vining Davis Foundation. Twenty-six incoming first-years participated in the inaugural Momentum session with 20 continuing into the second year. Thirteen new students joined in 2022.

Revenue & Expenses

The majority of our expenses in FY’22 were devoted to student tuition support, costs to sustain academic instruction as well as general operations of the College.

The College provided $25,372,579 in financial assistance to 100 percent of its student body during the 2021-22 academic year.

Financial statements for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2022, reflect a decrease in net assets of $3,772,223.

The market value of our investments as of June 30, 2022, was listed at $105,281,437. This reflects a decrease of $5,466,585 from the prior year. The average endowment investment returns for one, three and five years were 2.6%, 1.1% and 6.1%, respectively.

Record-breaking fund-raising year

planning journey as we embark on exciting and progressive times.

I’d also like to thank you for your continued generosity. The impact of your time and gifts cannot be overstated. Your commitment to Ripon College will help sustain our tradition of providing an accessible and relevant liberal arts education for generations to come.

VICTORIA N. FOLSE President

• Summer Opportunities for Advanced Research (SOAR) allows students in all disciplines to engage in collaborative research and creative activity with faculty. In the inaugural session in 2021, 36 students and 20 faculty members participated. Twelve academic disciplines were represented. In summer 2022, 22 students participated.

• Numerous students who worked with Student Support Services (SSS) during the academic year achieved academically and were accepted into summer programs and opportunities and graduate school programs.

• The strategic planning process will involve all internal and external campus constituents throughout the 20222023 academic year and will leverage existing committee structures. A working draft will be completed by April 2023 to inform Capital Campaign priorities.

Ripon College provides financial assistance in some form to 100 percent of its student body. Here, Kyle Koss ’25 of Poynette, Wisconsin, takes in a presentation during Catalyst Day.

Following the most successful fundraising year in Ripon College’s history in FY’21, loyal supporters from around the world came through once again with a second record-breaking year in FY’22.

More than $26 million was committed in FY’22, half of which was designated to the new science center and stadium projects.

The fifth annual #OneDayRally giving day, held April 27, 2022, garnered a spirited show of support to sustain the Ripon Fund, Red Hawks Club in athletics and Friends of the Arts; and ultimately to support current and future Ripon College students.

$1,414,881 was raised from a record total of 2,217 donors.

Revenue Expenses

Vice President and Dean of Faculty John Sisko leads a session during the inaugural session of the Momentum Leadership Fellows Program in summer 2021.

Kate Maynard ’23 of Roscoe, Illinois, left, keeps track of donations coming in during #OneDayRally while Ryan Schmit ’22 of Appleton, Wisconsin, watches.

Gifts and Grants

Gifts to Ripon College during FY’22 included $2,771,350.53 in unrestricted funds; and $7,461,509.13 in restricted funds, for a combined total of $10,232,859.66. Seventy percent of the Class of 2022 contributed to the Senior Class Gift. The total of $3,007.00, including an Alumni Board match, will go to the Ripon Fund.

NEW GIVING CLUB MEMBERS

1851 Club: Now in its 11th year, the club welcomed 58 new member households for a total of 610 members by household in FY’22. Members include donors who give $50,000 or more to the College during their lifetime; 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 number of Partner households to 539.

Alumni Engagement

Ripon College has a base of about 12,000 living alumni worldwide. Ripon continues to maintain strong ties with alumni throughout their lives in ways that benefit both alumni and the College.

ON-CAMPUS AND VIRTUAL EVENTS

2021-22 saw the return of both in-person, on-campus and regional events. More than 30 events were held on campus, virtually and in six regional locations, attended by nearly 1,500 alumni, parents, friends and students. Events ranged from #OneDayRally Hours to Family Weekend, to sporting events and athletic alumni reunions, as well as Friends of the Arts celebrations and special farewell receptions for President Zach Messitte. These events would not have been possible without the support of Trustees, Alumni Board members and Ripon Parent Network volunteers who hosted and staffed these events throughout the year.

ALUMNI WEEKEND 2022

Alumni and guests from 29 states and Canada were on campus June 22-25, representing the classes of 1962 through 2023, participating in this campus event at the highest rate since before the pandemic.

The Doc Weiske ’50 Memorial Golf Scramble was held June 24 and welcomed 225 golfers to the Golf Courses of Lawsonia in Green Lake. This annual outing raised more than $30,000 to directly benefit the Red Hawks student-athlete experience.

The 2022 Reunion Classes raised $5.2 million in the five years since their last Reunions:

• Class of 1977/45th Reunion: Most New Partners in the Legacy since the last reunion (two) and High Reunion Gift Participation (46%)

• Class of 1972/50th Reunion: Largest Reunion Class Gift ($124,842) and largest five-year class gift since the last reunion ($630,074)

Grants

• Assistant Professor of Biology Robin Forbes-Lorman and Logan Zeinert ’22 of Wittenberg, Wisconsin, were awarded a $1,500 Psi Chi 2021-22 Spring Undergraduate Research Grant for their proposal, “The effect of environmental enrichment on glucocorticoid receptors in the rat hippocampus.”

• Cydney Pittenger ’23 of Broomfield, Colorado, earned a $600 2021-2022 TriBeta Research Grant from Beta Beta Beta, the national biological honor society. The grant supports undergraduate research.

• Brian Bockelman, professor of history and interim director of strategic initiatives, was awarded a residential fellowship at Dumbarton Oaks, a Harvard-owned estate, museum and humanities research center in Washington, D.C., for the spring 2023 semester. The competitive national fellowship, which provides both a stipend and housing near the estate in Georgetown,

will support his research and writing while he is on sabbatical from Ripon College next year.

Bockelman began his current book project with a Franklin Research Grant from the American Philosophical Society, allowing him to do archival research in Buenos Aires, and he did much of the early writing while on a year-long fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

• Professor of Biology Memuna Khan received funding of $1,600 and materials from the Bluebird Restoration Association of Wisconsin for her skylight nest box and wren guard projects.

• Assistant Professor of Theatre Lillian Brown was awarded a Mellon Faculty Fellowship from Associated Colleges of the Midwest. At the post-graduate level, Mellon Faculty Fellowships offer tenure-track appointments at an ACM college to new Ph.D. or terminal master’s degree graduates whose backgrounds and life experiences will enhance diversity on the ACM campuses.

2022 Alumni Association Awards

Distinguished Alumni Citation

• Bradley W. Alberts ’92 of Dallas, Texas, president/ CEO of the Dallas Stars hockey team.

• Susan J. Bundock ’82 of Takoma Park, Maryland, retired after 39 years with C-SPAN, where she most recently was executive producer of American History TV. Outstanding Young Alumni Award

• Gisela J. Ortega ’12 of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, director of Startup Community for gener8tor, a Milwaukee turnkey platform for the creative economy that connects startup founders, musicians, artists, investors, universities and corporations

• Erin R. Schaick ’12 of Concord, New Hampshire, vice president and director of development and community relations for CATCH Neighborhood Housing in Concord Athletic Hall of Fame

• Natalie Geenen Anderson ’09 of Evansville, Wisconsin, softball

• Michael J. Diedrick ’97 of Delafield, Wisconsin, football, track and field

• Michael J. Milburn ’97 of Austin, Texas, and Kevin G. Weber ’98 of Limerick, Pennsylvania, tennis

• Aristotle B. Wurtz ’12 of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, basketball

All alumni are encouraged to save the date for Alumni Weekend 2023, which will be held on campus June 22-25. Class years ending in the numbers three or eight will celebrate their Class Reunion next summer. Plus, the 2023 Doc Weiske ’50 Memorial Golf Scramble will be held Friday, June 24, at the Golf Courses of Lawsonia.

ABOVE Artworks donated during FY’22 include “Nebraska Towers,” 1 a painting by Ripon area artist Ralph Colonna; “Send in the Clowns,” 2 an acrylic painting by Claudette Beall Lee-Roseland ’60 of Cedarburg, Wisconsin, which was donated to the College by her family after her death Oct. 3, 2021. It is on display in the Smith Hall office of John Sisko, vice president and dean of faculty; “Sea Pigeon,” 3 a 1970 stonecut print by Canadian Inuit artist Pitaloosie Saila; a 20th-century Chinese ink and watercolor painting on fabric; and a print and collector plates by Lester Schwartz, artist-in-residence and professor at Ripon College from 1944 until 1992.

Nancy Buck Hintz ’82 and Susan Boothroyd Loomer ’67 connect at Alumni Weekend 2022.

Blaine Gibson ’81 was the keynote speaker at the spring 2022 session of Catalyst Day. He is vice president of RBC Wealth Management, a global financial management company, and serves on the Ripon College Board of Trustees.

Student Experience

One hundred percent of our students receive financial assistance. Our mission to provide an accessible and premier liberal arts and sciences education to all students remains unchanged, even in the midst of an ever–changing and challenging higher education landscape.

Life at Ripon

Graduates

• 172 from July 1, 2021, to June 30, 2022

• 44 double majors, 2 triple majors

• 9 Phi Beta Kappa

• 21 Summa cum laude, 24 Magna cum laude, 38 Cum laude

• Top majors: Exercise science, psychology, education, biology, political science

Class of 2026

• 2,142 first-year applications

• 1,742 offered admission

• 200 first-time, first-year students plus 12 transfer students.

• 19 legacies

• 44 as part of Local Commitment Award program

• 23% ethnic diversity

• 36% first-generation

• 36% Pell Grant-eligible

• 64% of new students are from Wisconsin, with others from 18 states and the countries of Canada and Myanmar.

Student Body

• 766 enrolled in fall 2022 vs. 812 in fall 2021

• 754 degree-seeking students in fall 2022, vs. 790 in fall 2021

Career and Professional Development

• 387 student appointments online, virtual, in-person

• 2,026 visits to Career Center

Excellence at Ripon Rankings

FACULTY ACHIEVEMENTS

Gov. Tony Evers appointed Professor of Art Rafael Francisco Salas to the Wisconsin Arts Board, the state agency responsible for the support and development of the arts throughout Wisconsin. He will serve a three-year term. Salas also has an essay in the anthology Hope is the Thing: Wisconsinites on Perseverance in a Pandemic. The collection is edited by B.J. Hollars and published by Wisconsin History Press.

Ripon College again has been placed on national rankings lists of the best institutions for undergraduate education.

• Ripon is ranked the top school in Wisconsin for promoting social mobility by U.S. News & World Report. The ranking is included in the 2022-2023 U.S. News Best Colleges rankings. It ranks 38th among colleges nationally.

ABOVE Rally Band debuted during the FY’22 academic year. The band plays at home football games and basketball games and is expanding to other events. Playing in fall 2021, are, clockwise from top left, Raquel Potter ’25 of Randolph, Wisconsin; Kylar Kinyon ’23 of Dowagiac, Michigan; Jacob Zuehlke ’22 of Whitewater, Wisconsin; Abbe Lane ’22 of Neenah, Wisconsin; and Jade Weber ’25 of Phillips, Wisconsin.

• Career events: 1,748 student touchpoints in workshops, career and internships fairs, tabling, events

• 51 Admissions Collaborations for overnight prospective students or prospective students over Zoom

• 385 student engagements with employers

• 120 donated articles of clothing for Rally’s Career Closet; 22 uses by students

Franzen Center for Academic Success

Data for both semesters

• 412 signed tutoring contracts, back in person

• 1,066 papers dropped online or brought in for review

• 25 quantitative drop-ins online

• 33 participants in PLUS (Peer Led Undergraduate Study) groups

Student Life

• 41% of students on Dean’s List in fall semester, 45% in spring semester

• 31% upperclassmen in sororities and 34% in fraternities

• 95% lived on campus

• 2,730 visitors to Health Services

• 752 counseling hours provided

• 49% student-athletes

AT LEFT In April 2022, Dameco Walker ’23 shattered the longest-standing record in school history — a 98-year-old mark in long jump set in 1924. The men’s and women’s track teams each won their indoor conference championship for the first time in program history. He also qualified for indoor and outdoor nationals. The men’s team won the MWC Outdoor Team Championship for just the second time and the first time in 98 years. The women’s team placed third, its best finish ever.

Assistant Professor of Music Erin K. Bryan won an honorable mention as a finalist in the 2022 The American Prize in Vocal Performance — Women in Art Song and Oratorio. The American Prize National Nonprofit Competitions in the Performing Arts is the nation’s most comprehensive series of contests in the performing arts. Also, Bryan’s research on the final Neapolitan operas of Niccolò Jommelli (1714-1774) was selected for a poster paper presentation at the 2022 National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) Conference in Chicago in July. She has created modern piano/vocal editions of four contrasting soprano arias extracted from previously unedited scores.

Lillian Brown, assistant professor of theatre, presented a solo performance of her original play “The OREO Complex” in Ripon. She then performed the show at fringe festivals in Washington, D.C., and St. Louis, Missouri. “The OREO Complex” is an exploration of internalized segregation, a celebration of resilience, a practice of rigorous patience, honesty and veneration of ancestors from the African and black diaspora.

The State Bar of Wisconsin announced Dec. 1, 2021, that Steve R. Sorenson, adjunct professor of politics and government and a local Ripon attorney, received the Wisconsin Law Foundation’s 2021 Charles L. Goldberg Distinguished Service Award. The award recognizes a lifetime of service to the profession and the community.

Associate Professor of Art Travis Nygard has a chapter in the new book A Companion to American Agricultural History, edited by Douglas Hurt and released June 1. His chapter, “Agriculture and Art,” explores how farming has been depicted in art over the past 200 years. During the summer of 2021, Nygard mentored three students to do research at the Ripon Historical Society as part of the Summer

• Ripon is included in The Princeton Review’s 2023 edition of The Best 388 Colleges. Ripon also was named to its Best Regional Colleges list for the Midwest.

• Ripon was named to Money Magazine’s 2022 Best Colleges in America and Best Liberal Arts Colleges lists. The list ranks schools that successfully combine quality and affordability, based on factors such as tuition costs, family borrowing and career earnings.

Opportunities for Advanced Research (SOAR) program, in which students do projects with faculty.

A book with a chapter by Professor of History

Brian Bockelman made “The Shortlist” of readings recommended by The New York Times on Dec. 3, 2021. Bockelman’s contribution to Mapping Nature Across the Americas (Chicago, 2021) is “Palms and Other Trees on Maps: Exoticism, Error, and Environment, from Old World to New.” Research for the project, supported in part by grants from Ripon College, took him to map libraries in Madison, Madrid, Chicago, Washington D.C., Paris, Amsterdam, New Haven and more.

Work by Julia Meyers-Manor was cited in the article “Do Dogs Recognize Sadness?,” published in June by Newsweek, Washington Newsday and other outlets.

“Inquiry into the educational implications of voting practices of young adults in U.S. mid-term elections,” a paper co-written by Matthew Knoester, associate professor of educational studies, has been published in The Journal of Social Studies Research Michael Burke ’22 of East Troy, Wisconsin, and Ryan Hanrahan ’19 of Pewaukee, Wisconsin, served as research assistants on this project.

Ground-breaking research resulted from a collaboration between 17 students, Professor of Chemistry Joe Scanlon and Associate Professor of Chemistry Patrick Willoughby over a period of several years. An article based on the research was published in summer 2021 in the Journal of Organic Chemistry It addresses the discovery of a new chemical reaction, the aryneAbramov reaction, and how the process was used to prepare numerous molecules that had not previously existed; supercomputer calculations to understand how the reaction proceeds; and the first report of how solvents can be used to change the products formed in a reaction with benzyne intermediates, which is “fundamentally significant,” Willoughby says.