Albion College’s institutes, faculty and course development are among the key areas of support in a recently awarded $500,000 grant from the Midland, Michigan-based Rollin M. Gerstacker Foundation. As one example of how community-based learning will benefit, grant funds will facilitate the completion of the move of the Carl A. Gerstacker Institute for Business and Management and the Gerald R. Ford Institute for Leadership in Public Policy and Service into the downtown Ludington Center by fall 2019.
Albion College is pleased to announce four recipients of the 2019 Distinguished Alumni Award, along with three recipients of the 2019 Young Alumni Award. A dinner and ceremony in recognition of this year’s honorees is scheduled for Friday, April 12 in Baldwin Hall.
The two longtime supporters of Albion College are driving a new fundraising initiative to make a pair of dreams a reality on campus. The first is a newly expanded fitness and student activity facility at the site of the current Dow Recreation and Wellness Center. The second is a new or renovated competition facility for the teams that currently call Kresge Gymnasium home.
An award-winning author and an environmental researcher will offer a wealth of ideas during Albion College’s 2019 Elkin R. Isaac Student Research Symposium. Natalie Dubois, ’97 (pictured near left), will present the Isaac Alumni Lecture on Wednesday, April 17, while Make Your Home Among Strangers author Jennine Capó Crucet (far left) will deliver the Symposium Keynote Address on April 18.
One of the iconic figures in Albion College athletics as a student-athlete, a coach and an administrator, Frank Joranko passed away March 8. The 1952 alumnus was a nine-time Britons letter winner (four in football, four in baseball, one in basketball) who returned to Albion in 1973 and coached two MIAA championship teams in football and nine in baseball. Joranko also served as athletic director for 16 years and was an associate professor of physical education.
With nearly 20 years of experience working with students in a higher education setting, Detroit native Leroy Wright has been named Albion College’s new vice president for student development and dean of students. Wright, who has been associate vice chancellor for student affairs at Appalachian State University in North Carolina since 2016, will begin his duties at Albion on July 1.
Detroit Free Press columnist Rochelle Riley brought both criticism and inspiration to a full house February 26 at the Bohm Theatre in a powerful address at the 2019 Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Convocation and Community Celebration. The annual event, co-presented by Albion College and the Albion Branch NAACP, was originally scheduled for January 30 but was postponed due to the state-declared cold weather emergency.
The February 11 opening of a new primary and express health clinic is the realization of a longtime plan that will benefit both Albion College students and the Albion community at large. Oaklawn Express Care – Albion is the result of a partnership, first announced in summer 2018, between the College and Marshall-based Oaklawn Hospital. Says President Mauri Ditzler: “The new clinic comes at just the right time.”
After postponement due to extremely cold weather January 30, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Convocation and Community Celebration, featuring Detroit Free Press columnist Rochelle Riley as guest speaker, has been rescheduled for Tuesday, February 26, at the Bohm Theatre, 201 S. Superior St. The event will begin at 7 p.m. and is free and open to the public.
Former President George H. W. Bush died Friday, Novemer 30, at the age of 94. On May 9, 1987, then Vice President Bush (pictured with Albion College President Melvin Vulgamore) delivered the Commencement address at Albion College.
