Campus News

Lizeth Gutierrez ’12 is the first Grinnell College Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship (MMUF) fellow to complete her Ph.D., graduating with a doctorate in American Studies from Washington State University in 2017. Grinnell developed its MMUF program in 2009, and Gutierrez was accepted into its second cohort in 2010.

Shanna Benjamin, associate professor of English and Grinnell’s MMUF faculty coordinator, invited Gutierrez back to Grinnell in September as the program’s kickoff dinner keynote speaker. “Having Lizeth there as an example of persistence and belief in oneself … I can’t imagine having anyone else,” says Benjamin.

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’s goal in funding MMUF programs across the country is to diversify the professoriate by providing fellows with a set of tools — including strong mentors, financial support, and research and time management skills — that can be harder to access for students who feel like outsiders in the academic sphere. 

Funding supports an average of five new MMUF fellows at Grinnell each year. Fellows design a two-year research project with a faculty mentor and receive student loan debt forgiveness up to $10,000 if they enroll in graduate school. MMUF also sponsors travel to regional networking events, connecting students with a vast network of peers and mentors to help them through the graduate school application process and beyond.

The importance of networks based on shared experience is central both to Gutierrez’s success in academia and to her own research. Currently a postdoctoral fellow at Macalester College, Gutierrez, who majored in Spanish with a sociology concentration at Grinnell, is studying how chisme (roughly translated as “gossip”) among Latina women working in the domestic industry functions as a tool of survival, helping them navigate their economic conditions and negotiate their rights.

 “I don’t think I would have survived my time at Grinnell if it wasn’t for the mentorship I received,” she says. “Grinnell College is very lucky to have [MMUF].”

The College Board of Trustees recently elected four new members: Jeanne Myerson ’75, Sheryl Walter ’78, Odile Disch-Bhadkamkar, and Julie Gosselink. 

Myerson is a real estate industry leader with three decades of experience in commercial real estate investment. Most recently she served as CEO of the Americas region of the Urban Land Institute, an interdisciplinary research and education institute dedicated to leadership in land use and creating thriving communities worldwide. She founded The Belgrave Group, an independent consulting firm, in 2015. 

Walter has worked in all three branches of the federal government for more than 25 years. She is general counsel of the administrative office of the U.S. Courts, the first woman to hold this position. During her time on Capitol Hill, she worked for then-Sen. Joe Biden Jr. and the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan.  

Disch-Bhadkamkar recently retired from Stanford University after 23 years in finance administration. Before joining Stanford she was a vice president at JP Morgan Chase & Co. in the corporate finance division. She and Neal Bhadkamkar are parents of Ishan Bhadkamkar ’13.

Gosselink is president, CEO, and chair of the Claude W. and Dolly Ahrens Foundation, which was established by her grandfather. She has worked for the Ahrens Foundation since 2001 and has served as a director for several other Grinnell organizations, including the Galaxy Youth Center, Grinnell Chamber of Commerce, Grinnell Regional Medical Center Foundation, Iowa Council of Foundations, and Mayflower Community Foundation. 

Peter Calvert ’79, who was elected Alumni Council president for 2017–18, will serve as an ex-officio trustee. He works as executive director of Ethical Metalsmiths, an organization that leads jewelers and consumers in becoming informed activists for responsible mining, sustainable economic development, and verified, ethical sources of materials used in making jewelry. 

The board re-elected Patricia Jipp Finkelman ’80 to a second term as board chair. She has been a member of the board since 1998 and a life trustee since 2014. The board also re-elected Barrett Thomas ’97 and Matthew Welch ’96 to new terms.

Trustees Anne Campbell Spence ’66 and Clinton Korver ’89 recently retired from the board. They both joined in 2001 and completed four terms each. Korver also served as board chair from 2011–15.

See trustees’ full biographical profiles. 

The U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR) notified Grinnell College by letter, dated July 28, 2017, that the Title IX complaint opened in July 2015 has been administratively closed. The notice stated: “OCR has determined that there are no systemic issues pending that warrant OCR continuing the investigation.”

“This, by no means, suggests our work is done,” says Angela Voos, chief of staff, vice president for strategic planning, and Title IX coordinator. “Nor is it a signal to stop any of our efforts in education, prevention, or response to sexual violence or misconduct. Rather, we will take this letter as encouragement about our efforts to date. In keeping with our commitment to these issues, we will continue to broaden our efforts to reduce the incidence of sexual misconduct while also expanding our work to address other forms of discrimination.” 

See Grinnell’s Sexual Respect website for information about Title IX policies, procedures, and resources available to the campus community.

Shuchi Kapila, professor of English, has been named assistant vice president for global education and senior global officer. She succeeds David Cook-Martín as head of the Institute for Global Engagement. 

The institute, which was established in 2016, focuses on internationalizing Grinnell on multiple levels. Kapila describes the institute as a central node that facilitates conversations between the Office of Off-Campus Study, the Language Learning Center, departments and divisions, and external partners.

Kapila hopes to continue the excellent work that the institute has been doing with the Global Learning Program and course-embedded travel. She also plans to foster partnerships between faculty with expertise in different global regions in the service of comparative study. 

“I’m excited to see more partnerships, more collaborations, more interdisciplinary, cross-divisional work,” says Kapila. “I’m excited to see how this will both support and transform our teaching.”

Cook-Martín left Grinnell in 2017 for a position with New York University Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.

Sept. 22–Dec. 10, 2017

This exhibition, featuring 47 paintings by 24 artists, showcases works from the Gond and Warli communities of central India, the Mithila region of Bihar, and the narrative scroll painters of West Bengal. Divided into four broad categories — Myth and Cosmology, Nature – Real and Imagined, Village Life, and Contemporary Explorations — the exhibition explores the breadth and variety of cultural traditions in India, revealing a dynamic aesthetic that remains deeply rooted in traditional culture, yet vitally responsive to issues of global concern.

Many Visions, Many Versions: Art from Indigenous Communities in India was organized by BINDU Modern Gallery and toured by International Arts and Artists, Washington, D.C.

Shanna G. Benjamin, associate dean and associate professor of English, is one of 45 mid-level administrators in higher education nationwide selected by the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) to participate in the 2017–18 Senior Leadership Academy. 

The academy is designed to prepare prospective leaders to assume positions as the chief officers in any division in independent higher education. 

“Professor Benjamin’s breadth of experience, including work in inclusive teaching and learning, mentoring, and development, make her especially well-suited for this opportunity,” says Michael E. Latham, vice president for academic affairs and dean of the College.  

Benjamin looks forward to merging her theoretical work in the academy with her practical work in the dean’s office. “I am honored to be part of such an energetic and diverse group of up-and-coming leaders,” she says. 

Benjamin will undertake a mentoring program, work with experts, participate in webinars and engage in a series of readings and case studies during the academic year, as well as participate in opening and closing seminars.

Benjamin is a literary critic and biographer who studies the literature and lives of black women. Her term as associate dean at Grinnell began in January 2017.  

Shonda Kuiper, professor of mathematics and statistics whose work in statistics education is nationally recognized, recently received a $300,000 grant from the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE) program. 

The grant project, titled “Student Engagement in Statistics Using Technology: Making Data Based Decisions,” will enable Kuiper and her team to develop inquiry-based, online games that simulate data-based decision-making embedded in a research-like experience. 

Kuiper says these inquiry-based games will help students understand and apply concepts from statistics and data science as they work with complex, “messy” datasets.

She is collaborating with Rod Sturdivant of Azusa Pacific University and Ursula Wolz, Noyce Visiting Professor in Computer Science in spring 2017, now with Bennington College. David Lopatto, director of the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment, will help develop an assessment tool for the games.

This is Grinnell’s first grant from the IUSE program, which is relatively new, although many Grinnell faculty members, including Kuiper and Lopatto, previously have received funding from the NSF for pedagogical projects.

This project fits well with the College’s efforts, supported by a grant from the Roy J. Carver Trust, to develop a curriculum in data science.

“Before America was my home, Iowa was my home, and before Iowa was my home, Grinnell was my home.”

— Kumail Nanjiani ’01, Doctor of Humane Letters

“How lucky you are to be emerging from this place where the past four years have provided you with tools of intentionality, intellect, and empowerment.”

— Daniel Werner ’91, Doctor of Laws

“I hope that after your four years here you are prepared to take on the awesome task of attacking the problems of this nation and, indeed, the world.”

— Emily Pfitsch, Doctor of Humane Letters

“Remain calm — and polite — under pressure.”

— Barb Van Ersvelde, Doctor of Humanities

Gina Clayton is the recipient of the 2017 Grinnell College Innovator for Social Justice Prize. The attorney and activist founded and directs Essie Justice Group, a nonprofit, California-based organization that developed a nine-week Healing to Advocacy program. It’s built on the belief that those directly impacted by oppressive systems are the most effective change agents. …

Approximately 50 women have graduated and been invited into the “Essie sisterhood,” the organization’s mobilization base. This year, Essie is building a statewide network dedicated to bringing about decriminalization, reducing incarceration and ending state-sponsored violence against women and communities of color.

During Grinnell Prize Week, Oct. 2–6, 2017, students, faculty, staff, and local residents will be able to interact with Clayton, learning her best practices to design, organize, and launch innovative programs to address social justice issues. The award ceremony will be held Oct. 3 at the College.

The Grinnell Prize, which began in 2011, awards $100,000 — $50,000 to the prizewinner and $50,000 to the prizewinner’s organization — to recognize efforts in social justice. 

Nominations for the 2018 Grinnell Prize open July 1. To submit nominations, see grinnell.edu/grinnellprize.