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E-Newsletter | March 2024

Director's Message
The British art critic John Ruskin believed "Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather." I don't know how many of us in Michigan would agree with him as we work our way through a long winter, but he does make a good point. Even the times that challenge us can lead to good things and growth. This month, we have been thinking here at the Foundation about how much we appreciate all of the good that you alumni are doing for our communities. Thank you for using your education to help our region be a better place. Even on the grayest winter days, you are a breath of fresh spring air.


Alisha Siebers
Associate Vice President for College Advancement
and Executive Director for the KVCC Foundation
asiebers@kvcc.edu
269.488.4821

Seal of Transparency
The KVCC Foundation recently earned Candid/Guidestar's Platinum Seal of Transparency!  Check out our nonprofit profile to keep up to date with our impact here. 

Alumni Spotlight

Kalamazoo Valley Community College Alumnus Taylor Dils was named the 2024 Firefighter of the Year by the Holland Department of Public Safety. Dils holds an associate degree in fire science from Kalamazoo Valley Community College and became a full-time member of the Holland Department of Public Safety in 2018. See article
Foundation Hosts - Taps on Tuesday - 501 Alumni Event  


On April 16, 2024, The Foundation will be hosting a Taps on Tuesday Alumni Social at 5:01 p.m., - at the Marilyn J. Schlack Culinary and Allied Health Building in downtown Kalamazoo.  The event will feature the talents of Valley's culinary and brewing students and staff. Enjoy student crafted beer and food pairings as well as appetizers and wine. Come out to see a short presentation of the 2024 Distinguished Alumni Award. Mark your calendars and join us after work!



 

Register Now for Kalamazoo Valley Youth Summer Camps
Looking for some summer fun for your children? Explore Kalamazoo Valley's wide variety of youth summer camps. From athletics to hands-on learning, there's plenty at Kalamazoo Valley to keep kids busy all summer long! Click here to register and learn more.
 



April 11, 2024
Kai Harris | Craft talk at 10 a.m., Reading at 2:15 p.m.
Student Commons Theatre, Room 4240 at the Texas Township Campus

Harris is a writer and educator from Detroit, Michigan who uses her voice to uplift the Black community through realistic fiction centered on the Black experience. She is an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at Santa Clara University. Kai Harris

Harris's novel, "What the Fireflies Knew," a 2023 Michigan Notable Book, is the college's common read selection for Winter Semester 2024. After her father dies of an overdose and the debts incurred from his addiction cause the loss of the family home in Detroit, almost-11-year-old Kenyatta Bernice (KB) and her teenage sister, Nia, are sent by their overwhelmed mother to live with their estranged grandfather in Lansing.


African Heritage Foodways Symposium April 5 - 6, 2024
Enjoy a keynote presentation on April 5, 2024 at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum, then a day full of workshops, cooking demonstrations and panel discussions on April 6, 2024 at Kalamazoo Valley Community College's Marilyn J. Schlack Culinary and Allied Health Building in downtown Kalamazoo. Recently, several community gardeners collaborated to grow a variety of African heritage crops such as millet, sorghum, eggplant, okra, beans and more. Stay tuned for more information. Kalamazoo Foodways
 

New Interactive Exhibit Illuminates the Wonders of Skin
Explore the shape-shifting, color-changing and adaptable nature of skin and the technological innovations it inspires in the interactive, traveling exhibit "Skin: Living Armor, Evolving Identity," available from Feb. 10, 2024 through June 2, 2024 at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum. The free exhibit aims to inspire wonder and curiosity about this uniquely complex organ, illustrate the incredibly adaptive properties of skin across all organisms, and spark dialogue and reflection about skin's role in shaping human culture and identity.
 

165-Year History of Kalamazoo Psychiatric Hospital Explored
Did you know that Michigan's longest-operating mental hospital is in Kalamazoo? Learn the fascinating history of the Kalamazoo Psychiatric Hospital at a new exhibit at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum, on display from Feb. 3, 2024 through Jan. 19, 2025. "Kalamazoo State Hospital: 165 Years of Psychiatric Care" examines the history of its patients, employees and buildings on its Oakland Drive campus. It is a free exhibit.
 
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Staff Support
If we can be of any assistance to you please give us a call.

Alisha Siebers                                             Annette Chapman
Executive Director                                        Foundation Officer
269.488.4821                                               269.488.4442
asiebers@kvcc.edu                                      achapman@kvcc.edu







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Kalamazoo Valley Community College · 6767 W O Ave · Kalamazoo, MI 49009-7402 · USA