Engaged Students

Student engagement at Adrian College involves cutting edge teaching and learning for students.  Research today shows that students who “do” learn best.  From service learning opportunities to class projects to lecture series, students learn in an environment rooted in our philosophy called the Ribbons of Excellence. These values are taken from the long-standing tradition of attaching ribbons with graduates names to the shepherd’s crook during graduation ceremonies, these ribbons of excellence support the College’s mission. - a mission rooted in personal and professional excellence standards.  Just as the Latin inscription on the shepherd’s crook suggests, the Ribbons of Excellence cannot be achieved without hard work.  The Ribbons of Excellence are:

• Caring for humanity and the world
• Crossing boundaries and disciplines
• Thinking critically
• Developing creativity
• Learning throughout a lifetime

Caring for Humanity and the World

Students learn and live this ribbon at Adrian College through various courses involving outreach to the local and global community.   For the past two years, students enrolled in a “Global Health Experience” apply their knowledge and skills to a medical and dental outreach trip each December to Nicaragua.  In Nicaragua, students work with medical professionals helping to organize, advertise and assist in mobile health clinics, reaching the neediest sections of the population.  Over 40 Adrian College students and staff have taken advantage of this opportunity and students recently presented their work at the annual student conference on campus, “Ribbons of Excellence Day.”

Crossing Boundaries and Disciplines

For the past three years, Adrian College’s “Model Arab League” course has offered students an opportunity to study international politics, hone their research and speaking skills and travel to Washington D.C. to compete with other nationally recognized schools in a simulation experience.  Model Arab League is a student leadership development program administered by the National Council on U.S. - Arab Relations. Participants learn about the politics and history of the Arab world and the arts of diplomacy and public speech. It is also a gateway to exchange programs in the Arabic world.  The Adrian College delegation won outstanding delegation in 2011 during the Michigan competition and competed in the national session.  Numerous students were recognized as “outstanding chairs” of countries and “outstanding delegates” during the competitions.   Furthermore, one student Sara Smither ’11 is now working on her Master’s Degree in Trinity College, Dublin was invited to participate in a US student exchange program in Lebanon.

Thinking Critically

The Honor’s Program at Adrian College offers an opportunity it its colloquium for students to embed themselves into 19th century England and the evolution debate.  Using role-playing simulation pedagogy called Reacting to the Past, students play characters, research key debates around a topic and present their perspective in an interactive game.  Over the many weeks of the course, the historic event unfolds before their eyes, as its relevance today is reinforced through reflection papers and class discussion. 

Developing Creativity

Upon arriving at Adrian College in the spring of 2009, Dr. Jennifer Ellsworth brought over twenty years of experience from the business world by working at such internationally known companies such as American Girl, Patagonia and Williams-Sonoma. As a result of these experiences, Dr. Ellsworth knew that to succeed in business students need more than theories and concepts, they need experiences directly tied to that world.  So, she immediately procured a seed donation for a project and the students worked over the next fifteen weeks on developing, budgeting, marketing and selling the “Downs Hall Holiday Ornament” commemorating the oldest building on the Adrian College campus.  Since this class, every class has taken a project from conception to profit.  Engaged learning at its best!

Learning Throughout a Lifetime

Engaged learning at Adiran College takes on special meaning during Homecoming, when alumni return for the popular, “Professor for a Day” program.  This program invites alumni to come and teach a class to current students and share life lessons and provide advice.   This program allows students and alumni to connect and continue to live this ribbon of excellence.

Great Teaching

Whether it is in small classes (with a 15:1 student to faculty ratio) or in individualized academic advising for each student, Adrian College faculty always make students their top priority.  They utilize innovative pedagogy, such as Reacting to the Past’s Darwin Games, and regularly take students into the field for hands-on and service learning.  And they have crafted a curriculum that balances traditional liberal arts inquiry with professional preparation.

Adrian College faculty do not complacently reuse old lectures; they attend conferences in order to stay up to date on the latest ideas in teaching and to learn how to create effective teaching environments.  Additionally, you will also find them winning teaching awards and giving presentations about their own teaching research and successes.  For example Art professor Garin Horner was recently the featured speaker at the Great Lakes Conference on Teaching and Learning, and Biology professor Marti Morales-Ensign participated in a teaching and research symposium held by the National Science Foundation.

Research shows that the best teachers are also active and engaged scholars and creators.  In addition to being award-winning teachers, Adrian College faculty have diverse and lively research and creative interests.  Dr. Sarah Hanson recently discovered a new mineral, Allanite.  Drs. Carissa Massey and Fritz Detwiler attended NEH Summer Institutes to study Appalachian and Native American Pacific culture, respectively.  Recent faculty articles can be read in such places as Theology Today Journal and Journal of Comparative Neurology, and you can catch them making presentations to the Association of Asian Studies and the National Lawyers Guild.  Additionally, Adrian College has hosted several Fulbright scholars to teach Arabic language classes.

Vibrant Community

There is never a dull moment on the Adrian College campus.   Nearly every day and evening you can hear engaging speakers, engage in community service, perform creatively, or be a leader in a student organization.  There is sure to be a community that meshes with your interests, so prepare to get involved at Adrian College

Adrian College students belong to more than 80 student organizations, including religious, professional, academic, Greek, and special interest groups.  More than 50% of students participate in athletics, where 22 varsity sports are nationally competitive.  Rounding out these activities, several music ensembles, theatrical productions, and visual art groups are open to anyone. 

Numerous organizations bring nationally-renowned speakers to campus.  Recent speakers include Native American activist Charlotte Black Elk, investigative journalist Radley Balko, and humanitarian Steven Lewis.

The College also celebrates numerous annual events that bring together campus and community to engage in academic pursuits, to raise awareness, to give back to the community, and to simply have fun.   Right away during the Community Plunge, freshmen help out around the community as a part of Welcome Week activities.  Conferences, speakers, and student group activities mark Women’s History Month, Black History Month, and Hispanic Heritage Month.  The annual Dance Marathon and Gift of Life Ball are student-led events that raise awareness and money for selected causes.  Military Appreciation Day honors student and community veterans.  Ribbons of Excellence Day rounds out this calendar with a celebration of student research.

Successful Outcomes

Students at Adrian College, both recent and past alum are living successful lives rooted our mission of personal and professional excellence.   Current students demonstrate their excellent academic preparation through their ability to compete for national awards in fields from science to religion.  The following are a few highlights of their success:

• Choir invited to perform at Carnegie Hall (NYC)
• Amanda Liske ( history major) won the Military History Prize paper award at the Phi Alpha Theta Regional Conference.
• Krystin Stiefel (chemistry major) received a grant from the US Department of Energy to study Nuclear Chemistry/Physics at San Jose State, California in the summer 2010. She was one of only 24 students selected nationwide.
• JaLisha Belle ( business major) participated in the Henry Clay Student Congress at the Henry Clay Center for Statesmanship. The Senior Senators from each of the 50 states are asked to nominate one Junior from their state to join the Student Congress and the representative from the state of Michigan was  JaLisha.
• Perry Kuipers (political science) was selected to go to the University of Illinois in summer 2010 under a research for undergraduate experience funded through the Council on Undergraduate Research.
• Shane Hinson (political science) was elected Chief Justice of the Arab Court of Justice for the 2011 National Model Arab League competition.
• Kelly Eberhardt (Biology major) is a paid intern at NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland working in a space exploration-related research facility this summer.
• Rebecca Kamody (Psychology major) is selected by the national honor society Psi Chi to present her senior research at the annual American Psychological Association.
• First cohort of 5 students in Athletic Training pass Board of Certification national exam in Athletic Training (national pass rate is 50%; ours is 100%).

For the past two years over 25% of the graduating classes is attending graduate or professional school studying anything from law and medicine to ecology.    The following is a short list of graduate schools our alums are attending:

University of Michigan, School of Law
University of Notre Dame
Indiana University, School of Law
Loyola University
Xavier of Louisiana College of Pharmacy
University of Chicago
Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary
Michigan State University School of Medicine
University of Wisconsin

From business, medicine, law and education to serving as a pastor at a church, Adrian College alum contribute to their fields and the world in general and as a result, shows the historic evidence of the impact of an Adrian College education.

The following is a short list of notable alum:
Charles Baer ’59, former President of the National American Diabetes Association
Dr. Robyn Arrington, ’66, Medical Director of Total Health Care
Steve Wolfe  ‘71, CEO (retired) Toro International
Ron Batory, ’71, President/CEO Conrail
Sue Ekberg, ’72, Counselor and owner Career Focus
Mark Magnuson, ’75, President Anode Design
Mark V. Courade ’76, Assistant US Attorney, Department of Justice
Kurt Darrow ‘77, CEO La-Z-Boy Corporation
Shelley Brown Milano, ’78, Senior Vice President, General Counsel (retired) Eddie Bauer
Kevin Young ’83, partner PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP
Erin Burt Ibele, ’83, Vice President Health Care REIT, Inc.
David Beachnau, ’84, Executive Director for Detroit Sports
Michael J. Rogers, ’85, 8th District Michigan Congressman, U.S. House of Representatives
Richelle Voelbel, ’85 Director of Global Retail Training, Godiva Chocolate
Doug Hudgins ’86, Ph.D. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) astrochemist
Bob Miller ’86, U.S. Department of Foreign Service (Tanzania, Belarus)
Virgil P. Bernero, ’86 Mayor, City of Lansing Michigan
Yvonne L. Benham Wolf, ’91, FBI Agent
Chris Timmis, ’95, Superintendent of Adrian Public School System
Jeff Thomas, ’02, Senior Research Proctor and Gamble
Melody Morris, ’05, U.S. Department of Justice Law Enforcement Officer