Ripon College

Two Ripon College juniors contributed to a poster that received the Peer's Choice Award at this year's Great Lakes Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society. Chloe Studinski and M.K. Powers, along with Brennan Martin - a 2025 graduate from Ripon High School participating in SOAR this summer - were honored with the award at the conference held in June in Appleton, Wisconsin. The group's research and presentation was on "Biocatalytic synthesis of noncanonical amino acids from a hydroxy aldehyde surrogate."

Bren Davis '22 of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, received an honorable mention in the 2021 ACM Nick Adams Short Story Contest.

Meredith Thiessen '26 of Stoughton, Wisconsin, has been awarded a scholarship from the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) for Future Teacher Scholars. The Future Teacher Scholarship Program offers merit-based funding to undergraduate students and graduating high school seniors who are dedicated to pursuing a career in teaching languages other than English. Thiessen is double majoring in Spanish and secondary education with a minor in history. Her career goal is to teach Spanish at the K-12 level.

Ripon College has announced its Dean's List for the Spring 2025 semester, recognizing academic excellence. To qualify for the Dean's List, students must achieve a 3.40 grade point average or higher on a 4.00 scale and complete at least 12 credits of regular letter-graded work.

Ripon College has announced its Dean's List for the Fall 2024 semester, recognizing academic excellence. To qualify for the Dean's List, students must achieve a 3.40 grade point average or higher on a 4.00 scale and complete at least 12 credits of regular letter-graded work.

The Ripon College Class of 2024 celebrated the 158th Commencement ceremony at Ripon College May 12. The theme was "Breaking Barriers: Creating a Legacy." Among the 154 graduates, 39 had double majors; 20 graduated Summa Cum Laude (highest distinction); 20 graduated Magna Cum Laude (great distinction); and 26 graduated Cum Laude (distinction). The keynote speaker and honorary degree recipient was Jason Felts, a serial entrepreneur, Fortune 500 brand advisor, philanthropist, film producer and founding CEO of VIRGIN PRODUCED.

Ripon College's Commencement ceromony was held May 14, 2023, to celeberate its graduating class.

Ripon College has formed a new chapter of Iota Iota Iota (Triota), the National Women's and Gender Studies Honor Society with over 50 chapters nationwide. On April 25, 17 Ripon College students were inaugurated into the new chapter. To qualify for membership, students must be of at least sophomore standing, have completed at least eight credits of WGS coursework and have GPA of at least 3.0 in general scholarship as well as in Women's and Gender Studies coursework.

Every year, the College holds an Awards Convocation to recognize outstanding merit and achievement among students and faculty members. This year's awards convocation was held on Wednesday, April 19.

Ripon College recognized several students and faculty for outstanding merit and achievements at the Awards Convocation hosted on April 20, 2022.

The Ripon College choirs and orchestra performed at 3:15 p.m. Sunday, April 23, in Demmer Recital Hall, C.J. Rodman Center for the Arts. Admission was free and open to the public. The orchestra opened the concert, directed by Yukiko Grine, adjunct instructor of music. The combined orchestra and choirs performed under the direction of Paul Thompson, assistant professor of music. Selections included movements from Mass in G major, D.167, by Franz Schubert.

The Ripon College Symphonic Wind Ensemble performed on Sunday, April 16. The concert will began at 3:15 p.m. in Demmer Recital Hall, C.J. Rodman Center for the Arts and admission was free and open to the public. The ensemble was directed by Tobin Shucha and Members of the ensemble included both students and members of the community. Selections included "Flourish for Wind Band," by Ralph Vaughan Williams; "Amazing Grace," by Frank Ticheli; "Pageant," by Vincent Persichetti; "Second Suite in F for Military Band," by Gustav Holst; and "Valdres," by Johannes Hannsen.

Ripon College held its Spring 2023 Catalyst Day on Wednesday April 19. Held each fall and spring, Catalyst Day is designed to showcase Ripon College's Catalyst curriculum and celebrate the achievements of the students who are completing the junior-level collaborative capstone. Throughout the day, attendees had the opportunity to watch teams of students present problem solving projects that tackle worldwide issues.

Catalyst Day, held each fall and spring, is designed to showcase Ripon College's Catalyst curriculum and celebrate the achievements of the students who are completing the capstone seminar in Applied Innovation. The theme for Catalyst Day reflects Ripon's institutional commitments to sustainability and innovation. Throughout the day, attendees have the opportunity to watch student presentations that tackle worldwide issues. Catalyst 300 students are tasked with developing solutions to prominent real-world issues outlined by the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. After Catalyst students are assigned one of these challenges, they demonstrate their mastery of applied innovation by identifying a location where their challenge exists and working collaboratively to propose viable solutions. Presentations can be viewed at ripon.edu/catalyst-day/presenters.

Six Ripon College men's basketball players have been named to the 2021-2022 NABC Honors Court by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC). This honor recognizes men's collegiate basketball student athletes from all NCAA divisions and the NAIA for their excellence in the classroom this past season. To receive Individual Honors Court recognition, a student-athlete must academically be a junior or senior varsity player who has earned a grade-point average of 3.2 or higher at the end of the academic year. Players also must have been enrolled at their current institution for at least one year while playing for an NABC-member coach in their NCAA Division.

Payton Rahn, a Ripon College senior from Omro, Wisconsin, has been named to the 2021-22 Academic All-District Women's track and field/cross country team. Selections by the College Sports Information Directors of America recognize the nation's top female student-athletes in track and field/cross country, both on the track and in the classroom, in NCAA Division III - District 6 (Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota).

The Ripon College Choral Union and Chamber Singers, under the direction of Assistant Professor of Music Paul Thompson, in collaboration with the Ripon College Orchestra, under the direction of Adjunct Instructor of Music C. Patrick Perkins, will present a program of Mozart works in two concerts. Both events are free and open to the public. Repertoire will include "Magnificat" from "Vesperae solennes de confessore," K. 339; "Ave Verum Corpus"; "Missa Brevis in C," K. 220 ("Sparrow Mass"); and a few rarely performed church sonatas. The combined ensemble will performed on Sunday, April 24, at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, 51 W. Division St., Fond du Lac. The program also will be performed at 3:15 p.m. Sunday, May 1, in Demmer Recital Hall, C.J. Rodman Center for the Arts.

Ripon College students volunteered at the Ripon Historical Society this semester and assisted with a presentation to honor the late Lester O. Schwartz. The presentation took place on April 21st. Schwartz was a professor of Art at Ripon College from 1944-1977.

A grant from the Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium funded two student research projects during the 2020-21 academic year.

Jahaira Gonzalez '23 of Round Lake Beach, Illinois, was awarded a scholarship to participate in Project GO to study Indonesian over the summer.

On March 17th at 6:30 pm, the Center for Politics and the People at Ripon College with their student advisory board presented "Covering the Military: A Conversation on the Challenges of Military Journalism" as a zoom webinar.

Numerous students who have been working with Student Support Services (SSS) this year have achieved academically and been accepted into summer programs and opportunities and graduate school programs. They have worked with SSS to discuss connecting their degrees to various career directions, submit application statements for editing and coordinated to receive guidance and strong recommendations from faculty members.

Ripon College's Ethics Bowl team competed in the Midwest/Great Lakes Regional Ethics Bowl Tournament over Zoom. The competition is organized each year by the Association of Professional and Practical Ethics.