A crowd of hundreds convened on the Quad and on the roof of Palenske Hall to witness the first solar eclipse to cross the entire continental United States since 1918. In Albion, skygazers saw the moon cover nearly 90 percent of the sun for a couple of minutes during the nearly three-hour astronomical event.
Students learn a lot of interesting things while doing research, and Athena Balcoff, '18, is no exception. "I found out you can order dead bees online," she says. "I'm not really sure what other people use them for, but I wanted to use them for my art."
The first total solar eclipse to make its way across the length of the United States in 99 years is set for, coincidentally, the first day of the 2017 fall semester at Albion (August 21), and the College—with help from Antoniu Fodor, '18 (left), and other students in the astronomy club, as well as the backing of physics professor and planetary scientist Nicolle Zellner—will chronicle it all.
Andrew Wittland, '19, has lofty goals for the upcoming cross country season and for his career after college. That's why, in addition to logging the miles necessary to run near the front of the pack this fall, he is gaining an experiential learning opportunity this summer as a social media intern for the Spectrum Health sports medicine and orthopedic group based in his hometown of Grand Rapids, Mich. An added bonus: Wittland is working under the direction of Albion athletic training alumnus Luke Murray, '13.
