Maccolades for Summer 2024: Among the best in books, career services, waste reduction, and more

Maccolades is a monthly round-up of the most recent accolades and accomplishments earned by members of the Macalester community. Below are highlights from Summer 2024.

GOTV Macalester style

Macalester earned the Highly Established Action Plan Seal for the 2024 election cycle from ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge. The college’s nonpartisan democratic engagement action plan was recognized as among the best in the country for fostering civic learning, political engagement, and student voter participation. Macalester is one of 192 campuses recognized for this cycle, with action plans evaluated using the Strengthening American Democracy Action Planning Rubric.

Intercultural care for snakebite victims

Chloe Vasquez ’24 co-authored a paper published in PLOS-Neglected Tropical Diseases, based on her summer 2023 field research. The article, “Therapeutic itineraries of snakebite victims and antivenom access in southern Mexico,” was a collaboration with Dr. Eric D. Carter, Edens Professor of Geography and Global Health, and Mexican biologist Edgar Neri Castro.

The research focused on rural areas in Oaxaca and Chiapas, where snakebites are especially dangerous due to the long distances victims must travel to receive antivenom. The team interviewed 47 snakebite victims, exploring the challenges they face in accessing treatment and the reasons behind their use of traditional remedies. The authors emphasize an intercultural approach, advocating for interventions that respect both Western and indigenous health beliefs. The research was supported by the The Mann-Hill Fellowship for Student-Faculty Research.

Student group saving lives, one donor at a time 

A new student organization called NMDP at Macalester is working alongside the national nonprofit previously known as Be the Match and the National Marrow Donor Program. NMDP helps connect patients in need of stem cell and bone marrow transplants to matching donors. 

In their first year, the student group has held several recruiting events, added over 150 people to the registry, and raised $1,151. They also collaborated with the football team to coordinate a two-day recruitment event and walk-a-thon. Their efforts earned national recognition, with the chapter president attending the 2024 NMDP National Chapter Leadership Summit. The Macalester chapter received the Chapter of Excellence Award and a Top 5 Fundraising Award for their dedication to this cause.

Star-studded panel on public health 

President Suzanne Rivera will join a distinguished panel featuring Dr. Anthony Fauci, Dr. Amy Acton, and LeVar Burton, an actor and director. The academic symposium, “Addressing Moral Imperatives in Public Health, Locally and Globally,” will take place Sept. 19 as part of Case Western Reserve University’s Inamori Ethics Prize Symposium. 

Before being appointed president of Macalester, Dr. Rivera was vice president for research and technology management at Case Western Reserve University and served on the faculty in the Departments of Bioethics and Pediatrics at CWRU, leading original research projects funded by the National Institutes of Health, the federal Office of Research Integrity, and The Cleveland Foundation. 

A top book of the century 

Marlon James, professor emeritus of English, earned #42 on The New York Times’ list of “100 Best Books of the 21st Century” for his novel A Brief History of Seven Killings. With an eye toward determining the most important, influential books of the era, the New York Times Book Review assembled the list with the votes of 503 novelists, nonfiction writers, poets, critics and other book lovers. 

About the book, the Times wrote, “To skip even a paragraph, though, would be to forgo the vertiginous pleasures of James’s semi-historical novel, in which the attempted assassination of an unnamed reggae superstar who strongly resembles Bob Marley collides with C.I.A. conspiracy, international drug cartels and the vibrant, violent Technicolor of post-independence Jamaica.”

Alum to lead Illinois Department of Children and Family Services

Macalester graduate Heidi Mueller ’96 was appointed to head the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. Mueller previously served as the director of the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice since 2016.

“The work Director Mueller has done at the Department of Juvenile Justice over the last several years has been transformative for the juvenile justice system in Illinois, and I am thrilled that she will bring her unique experience and talents to DCFS,” said Illinois Governor JB Pritzker.

“As someone who has devoted my career to supporting children and families, I am honored and humbled to be entrusted by Governor Pritzker with the responsibility of leading DCFS,” Mueller said. She holds degrees in psychology and history from Macalester, a graduate degree in social psychology from Stony Brook University, and a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School.

Paving the way for safer roads 

Aram Petrosyan ’27 was named a 2024 Traffic Safety Scholar and attended the Lifesavers Conference in Denver, where he learned about road safety topics such as large vehicle safety, autonomous vehicles, data systems, post-crash care, and teen-driver testing. 

“I had the opportunity to raise concerns about how international students like me could be incentivized to legally avoid the graduated licensing processes,” he said. He also advocated for better visibility tools for deaf and hard of hearing cyclists.

Petrosyan pointed out that around 1.5 million people die on the roads every year. “Collectively, action needs to be taken,” he said. “The only acceptable number of road deaths should be zero.” 

A member of the Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety, he thanked geography and economics professors Laura Smith and Sarah West for their support in attending the conference. 

Making waves in the classroom

The College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America selected the Macalester men’s and women’s swim and dive teams for a Scholar All-America award. This recognition honors programs that achieve the highest standards in the classroom. 

“Coach Kyllian Griffin and the entire team have demonstrated a commitment to success both academically and athletically, setting a standard of excellence that we can all be proud of,” said Samantha Barany, the association’s executive director.

Distinguished Career Services 

Jen Guyer-Wood, executive director of Career Exploration, received the Distinguished Service Award, the highest honor from the Minnesota College and University Career Services Association. At the association’s summer conference, John Mountain, director of student engagement and career counseling, was honored with a 20-Year Service Award. Kerri Roesner, director of employer engagement, and Mia Smith ’19, employer, alumni, and parent engagement coordinator, gave a presentation, “Harnessing Student Insights for Intentional Student Programming,” on using focus group data to increase student participation and engage new employers through monthly tabling events.

Eat, prey, love

Biology Professor Stotra Chakrabarti traveled to Konstanz, Germany at an invitation from the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior to speak at their seminar series and brainstorm collaboration. His seminar was titled “Eat, Prey, Love: The Role of Food & Mates in Shaping Lion Societies.”

A seat at the World Bank table

Zhijun He ’26 was appointed group leader of the World Bank Youth Advisory Group, which brings youth perspectives and innovations to pressing development challenges in agriculture.

“I’m incredibly excited about the potential impact of this role,” He said. “Growing up in a socio-economically disadvantaged community, I’ve always dreamed of assisting countries in adapting to our ever-changing world.” Young leaders in the group are spearheading projects such as sustainable poultry farming in Sierra Leone and insect-based animal feed production in Colombia.

“What thrills me most is the opportunity to bring youth perspectives directly to the decision-making table at one of the world’s most influential development institutions,” he said. 

Advisor extraordinaire 

Dr. Paul Dosh, associate professor of political science, received Pi Sigma Alpha’s 2023-2024 Best Chapter Advisor Award, one of four faculty nationwide to earn the honor. The award recognizes extraordinary dedication, commitment, and leadership in advising political science honor society chapters.

Pi Sigma Alpha, the national political science honor society with over 850 chapters, appointed Professor Dosh as chapter advisor in 2021, which was a challenging year for many chapters. Despite obstacles, he maintained an active chapter, sponsoring student-centered activities, including a student conference. The award includes a $250 cash prize, and honorees will be featured in the American Political Science Association’s magazine Political Science Today. 

Waste watchers

Macalester won the waste diversion category of the 2024 Campus Race to Zero Waste Case Study Competition. Sustainability Office student worker Abby Lane ’27 wrote about her work with the Green Residence Program, which is aimed at increasing sustainability in residence halls. Lane piloted three initiatives in first-year residence halls to improve waste-sorting, using weekly audits to measure their effectiveness. Her case study is now featured on the Campus Race to Zero Waste website as part of their “Learn from your peers” resource, sharing best practices with colleges and universities nationwide. 

The sociology of Cardi B 

Macalester sociology graduate Shantee Rosado ’09 co-authored the new book The Sociology of Cardi B: A Trap Feminist Approach. The book creatively engages with the topics of Black and Latinx femininity, motherhood, sexuality, racial and ethnic identity, and political engagement through the life and artistic work of hip-hop artist Cardi B. The authors highlight examples from Cardi’s lived experiences and artistry using a trap feminist framework as a starting point for sociological conversations about Black women and the trap. Dr. Rosado is an assistant professor of Afro-Latinx Studies at Rutgers University-New Brunswick.

How to be considered for future Maccolades

If you or someone you know recently earned an award, fellowship, or honor and would like it to be considered for inclusion in next month’s Maccolades, please let Communications & Marketing know by filling out this Maccolades form. For recent book publications, please use this book publication form.