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Maddie Darby, ’20, can’t even remember a time when she wasn’t on skis. Or on a horse. “I’ve always enjoyed it and I like them both for different reasons,” she said. “When I’m riding, I’m usually working toward a competition. When I’m skiing, I’m just relaxing, going down a hill and having a good time.” They may seem like separate and mutually exclusive activities that require very different skills, but not for Darby. To her, there is not one without the other.

A handful of students from Albion College, as well as from Alma College and Calvin College, are on the cutting edge of education through a new pilot program that partners with tech giant Google, furniture maker Steelcase and the Michigan Colleges Alliance.

Michael Williams, ’78, is a funny guy, with the great gift of using humor to drill into uncomfortable subjects. The former mayor of Albion and current Albion College trustee celebrated and challenged what makes this community great during the 2018 Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Convocation and Community Celebration, held January 29 at the downtown Bohm Theatre.

In 2005, the United Nations declared January 27 Holocaust Remembrance Day, the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp in 1945 by the Soviet army. Here, Albion history professor Wes Dick recaps a November visit by his First-Year Seminar students to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.

Last spring, in looking for a new and different way to fulfill a Prentiss M. Brown Honors Program assignment, three friends decided to try their hand at forming a film festival that would highlight College and community short films. Now, the second annual Albion Film Festival will be held Tuesday, February 13, at 7 p.m. at the Bohm Theatre.

A different take on community set a fitting tone for nearly 200 participants in Albion College’s third annual Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Dialogue and Service, held January 15. Several athletic teams and student clubs gave up their last late morning of winter break for an inspiring keynote by Skot Welch, ’90, an internationally recognized consultant and facilitator for organizational diversity initiatives. Following his remarks, attendees engaged in small-group dialogues and participated in service projects.

A three-person delegation from the Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ), located near the City of Albion’s Sister Cities of Noisy-le-Roi and Bailly, France, visited Albion College earlier this week to discuss the possibility of expanding educational and cultural opportunities between the two institutions. “There’s quite a lot of potential here,” said one of the officials.

Larry Steinhauer, professor emeritus of economics and management, passed away on Christmas Day at his home in Albion, at the age of 75. A student of Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman, Steinhauer’s research and teaching focused on money, money systems and the Federal Reserve. Over his 32 years with Albion, he taught and mentored many successful Albion alumni, including some who have gone on to become Fortune 500 executives, entrepreneurs and leaders in a wide range of industries. A celebration-of-life service will be held at Goodrich Chapel on Saturday January 27, at 11 a.m.

Bram Siemers, ’19, hopes to graduate from Albion College with a degree in biochemistry and use the experience he gained from four years in the Marines, which included tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, to forge a next-generation career that can help save lives.

Beau Brockett, ’19, was one of 12 Michigan college students to be awarded a $1,000 scholarship earlier this month by the Michigan Press Association (MPA) Foundation. The English-Creative Writing major from Richmond is the managing editor of The Pleiad, the Albion College student newspaper.