Maccolades for November 2024: Immigrant stories on stage, student awards, food security solutions, 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 November 2024.

Joining forces with Lt. Governor Flanagan 

COPAL, an organization dedicated to advancing the Latine community, recognized Anahi Sanchez Lazcano ’26 with the COPAL Power and Action Award for her work on immigration, housing, and education. She testified during the Minnesota legislative session to support a bill allowing ITIN-holders (individuals without Social Security numbers) to own and rent homes, which passed and will take effect Jan. 1, 2025.

Sanchez Lazcano also developed a FAFSA guide to help mixed-status families nationwide navigate the complex financial aid process. She spoke alongside Minnesota’s Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan and education leaders on barriers these families face.

“This recognition inspires me to keep advocating for change and breaking down barriers to ensure everyone has the opportunity to live an equal life,” she said. “As a Mexican-American, I believe it is my responsibility to advocate for my community, amplify their voices, and address the issues that matter most to them. My community and I are interconnected—I need them just as much as they need me, to guide me in discovering who I am and how I can best serve others.” 

Propelling Macalester forward

Twin Cities Business Magazine named Dr. Lisa Anderson-Levy, executive vice president and provost of Macalester, as one of its 2024 Notable Military Veterans. Dr. Anderson-Levy leads both the academic affairs and student affairs divisions at Macalester. Since her arrival in 2021, she has played a pivotal role in creating the college’s strategic plan and initiating a proposal that secured funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to create a new program in global Indigenous studies. Originally from Jamaica, Dr. Anderson-Levy’s path to academic leadership is unique; she spent 20 years with the U.S. Air Force and 13 years as a professor of anthropology at Beloit College and has served in multiple administrative roles, including as president of the Beloit Board of Education, before joining Macalester.

Ultimate victory at worlds 

Macalester graduate Randy Gage ’96 was part of the Surly ultimate frisbee team that won the great grandmasters open division at the 2024 World Masters Ultimate Championships, held in Irvine, Calif. 

In the national STEM spotlight

Two Macalester students, Delilah Acosta ’27 and Gustavo Marchant Allende ’25, won awards for their poster presentations in geosciences at the National Diversity in STEM Conference held in Phoenix and hosted by the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science. Student research presentations help students refine presentation skills, receive one-on-one mentoring and feedback on research, and connect with a supportive community, the organization noted.

From Mac to the Minnesota House 

Macalester graduate Curtis Johnson ’92, a computer science major as a student, won the race for Minnesota House of Representatives District 40B. 

When in Spain 

Dr. Claire Lozano, visiting assistant professor of Spanish, was awarded the Don Quixote de La Mancha Scholarship by the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities and the University of Castilla-La Mancha. Dr. Lozano will participate in a weeklong program in Toledo, Spain in March 2025. The award offers an opportunity to engage with other academics and gain insight into Spanish language and culture education. As a scholarship recipient, Prof. Lozano will participate in a Spanish-teaching course and an integrated cultural program in Toledo and Consuegra. 

Second place and one cool bird

Sam Price ’25 and Will Kochel ’27 took second place in a prestigious, invite-only Round Robin hosted by the University of Iowa’s A. Craig Baird Debate Forum. Beating teams from University of Kansas, University of Houston, James Madison University, George Mason University, and University of Iowa, this duo excelled with a resolution centering clean energy policy, with the most common affirmative case calling for a federal carbon tax. The two took home a very cool bird trophy.

Two weeks prior, their teammates David Adams ’25 and Lawrence Salonga ’27 placed third at the University of Minnesota Invitational in the junior varsity division. These back-to-back wins were catalyzed last month by a visit to practice by debate alumni Chris Cloutier ’89, a field expert on decarbonization.

Inside the mind of a poet 

English Professor Sarah Ghazal Ali was interviewed about her award-winning poetry collection Theophanies for the Poetry Foundation’s podcast “VS.” Prof. Ali discussed an array of topics, including writing as a spiritual practice, matrilineage, and the generative force of fixed forms.

A valuable return on student papers 

Several Macalester students were recognized in the 2024 Minnesota Economic Association Undergraduate Paper Contest. In the senior thesis category, Mahmoud Majdi ’24 earned first place for “What Is the Impact of an Anti-Poverty Program on Resilience to Negative Shocks? Evidence from Bangladesh” (Advisor: Professor Amy Damon). Second place went to Anna Durall ’24 for “Partisan Perspectives on Inflation: Exploring the Influence of Political Alignment on Inflation Expectations” (Advisor: Professor Mario Solis-Garcia). Zak Yudhishthu ’24 earned third place for “Supply and Demand in my Backyard: How New Affordable Housing Affects Nearby Rental Prices” (Advisor: Professor Sarah West). In the term paper category, Eleanor Petrin ’25 earned honorable mention for “Asset Test Elimination in Medicaid: Exploring the Financial Implications for Enrollees.” 

Binding knowledge for future generations

Katy Gabrio, associate library director for Collection Development and Discovery, earned the 2024 Minnesota Library Association Above & Beyond Award for helping to create and lead the Minnesota Shared Print Program. Libraries statewide commit to retaining scarcely held scholarly items in their collections and make them accessible to researchers around the world. 

“This initiative brings together many of the things I love most about working in libraries — working with really smart people from around Minnesota who are passionate about working together to preserve collections and ensure access to information for all,” she said. 

She added that the initiative addresses challenges in managing physical collections while ensuring equitable, long-term access for users.

Dancing across borders and generations

Dr. Cláudia Tatinge Nascimento, professor and chair of theater and dance, earned a grant from the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council and the Minnesota Humanities Center’s Cultural Heritage and Community Identity Grant program for her work titled “Reasons for Moving.” The awards recognized a performance and a documentary film on the piece that takes an interdisciplinary, multicultural, and multilingual dance-theater performance about the experiences of first-, second-, and third-generation immigrants living in Minnesota as its point of departure.

Prof. Tatinge Nascimento also received the Spring 2025 Bogliasco Fellowship from the Bogliasco Foundation for a one-month residency at the Bogliasco Center in Italy in January 2025.

King Lear through a new lens

English Professor Penelope Geng published an article, “Against White Cripistemology: Seeing Race and Global Disability in King Lear,” in the Shakespearean International Yearbook: Disability Performance and Global Shakespeare.

The graduate students of the English department at Johns Hopkins University invited Dr. Geng to share her research at the English Literary History Colloquium, a longstanding speaker series. At Macalester, Prof. Geng will teach a course titled Disability in the English Renaissance in spring 2025.  

Working toward a hunger-free campus 

Macalester received a Hunger-Free Campus Grant from the Minnesota Office of Higher Education, providing more than $14,600 for the Open Pantry, with 50 percent in matching funds from the Emergency Aid Fund.

The grant supports operations and initiatives like expanding MacShare’s voucher program from 70 to 200 vouchers per semester and offering grocery gift cards for students in residence halls over winter break. 

“The goal is to provide students access to perishable food and produce that is not able to be stored in the pantry when campus food service is not available,” said Andy Williams, director of Campus Center and Programming in the Center for Student Leadership and Engagement. 

Targeting students with low food security (28.9 percent in Spring 2024, according to the American College Health Association) this funding helps to address the 5.8 percent increase in food insecurity since 2021.

Debaters leave opponents speechless 

Sam Price ’25 and Will Kochel ’27 beat the #1 team in the country (University of Kansas) and #3 team in the country (Dartmouth) to end up with a 7-0 pre-elimination record at Wake Forest University’s 2024 Franklin R. Shirley tournament. In addition to these wins, Price received the #5 speaker award and Kochel received the #15th speaker award, out of 374 debaters at the tournament. Such accomplishments are even more impressive considering the debate team was restarted just four years ago in 2021. While they lost in elimination rounds to the University of Kentucky, this success gives the duo a shot of winning the National Debate Tournament in April at Gonzaga University. 

Poetic license for excellence

English Professor Michael Prior is currently an Amy Clampitt Residency Fellow. This fellowship includes the opportunity to live in the late poet’s house in Massachusetts, where Prof. Prior is working on a new collection of poems. He also has been named the Michael Koch guest poetry editor of EPOCH magazine — Cornell University’s literary magazine — for the 2024-2025 academic year.

Making every vote count 

The ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge named Macalester a 2024 ALL IN Most Engaged Campus for College Student Voting for outstanding efforts to increase nonpartisan student voter participation in the 2024 election.

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.