Dear Alumni, Families and Friends of KalamazooCollege:
Lux Esto—Be Light!—has been the guiding motto of Kalamazoo College for generations of students and graduates. The College’s Brighter Light Campaign has magnified this charge, with thousands of donors coming together to support our mission, light a path for our students, and provide them with the tools they need to create a brighter world.
To ensure K’s long-term stability, sustainability and adaptability, growing the College’s endowment has been a significant goal of this campaign. With a strong endowment, we can provide more financial aid to meet student need, open the doors of every part of the K-Plan to all students, provide competitive compensation and support to our faculty and staff, develop and strengthen programming, invest in technology and maintain our beautiful campus.
I am grateful for the multitude of ways that our alumni, families and friends have been supporting these efforts. The Class of 1966 Endowed Scholarship, which supports students with financial need, is one such example. The fund has been awarded to 17 students since its creation in 2006, and it has continued to grow thanks to their generosity. In fact, during 2022 Homecoming, the Class of 1966 presented the College with an additional significant gift for the scholarship. This endowed fund has created an enduring legacy that will benefit K students forever.
As the parents of two K graduates, Drs. Chandrashekhar and Sushila Virupannavar sought to honor their children’s time at K while enhancing academic and co-curricular experiences for future generations. The Virupannavar Family Merging Rivers Endowed Fund—established to support projects related to Hindu faith and cultural studies—assisted a student’s SIP research as she investigated the meaning of Indian identity among descendants of indentured servitude. Their fund also helped to broaden cultural awareness on campus by sponsoring a Diwali celebration this past fall.
These are just a few examples of how our community’s philanthropy has created an immediate impact and allowed us to focus on the future. Looking ahead, we will celebrate the conclusion of the Brighter Light campaign in September 2024. I am so thrilled with how far we’ve come, and I can’t wait to see where the next year and a half takes us.
Kalamazoo College aspires to be an institution where bright, curious students from all walks of life can take advantage of every transformative aspect of the K-Plan. If this aspiration resonates with you, we invite you to join the Brighter Light Campaign today.
Saludos and lux esto,
Jorge G. Gonzalez
President
