Family and Supporters Newsletter: January 2022
January 28, 2022
Temporary COVID-19 Policies
Albion has implemented new temporary COVID-19 mitigation policies for Spring 2022, effective January 22 to February 11. Masking continues to be required in all indoor spaces. The College will provide each student, faculty, and staff member with KN95 masks.
Institutional Advancement and Admission events will be virtual, moved off campus, or rescheduled for after Feb. 11. For dining, the number of grab-and-go/to-go options will be increased. Upper Baldwin will be open for student dining only Monday to Friday for lunch and dinner. Dining in Baldwin will be restricted to students, faculty, and staff only.
In-person social gatherings in campus buildings, including residence halls, fraternity houses, sorority lodges, College-owned apartments, etc. will be prohibited. The capacity in all indoor campus recreational and workout spaces will be reduced to 50%. No outside visitors will be allowed in residential buildings. Theater, music, and lecture halls will be limited to 50% capacity of the venue or 250, depending on which is smaller.
These are temporary measures lasting until February 11. We thank you and your students for your commitment to maintaining a safe and healthy campus as we navigate the high COVID-19 case count in Michigan.
Class of 2022 Commencement
Spring semester may have just started, but students are already looking forward to Commencement on Saturday, May 7. Commencement information can always be found on our website.
If you have questions about ordering caps and gowns, invitations, or other commencement merchandise you can contact the Albion College bookstore at (517) 629-0391.
If you have questions about events, you can contact Hannah Mattson at hbmattson@albion.edu or (269) 223-2236.
Welcoming New Staff
We are pleased to announce that Clark Dawood, ’98 has accepted the position of Assistant Dean for Community Living and Student Conduct. Clark has a degree in English from Albion College and an M.Ed. in Counseling and Personnel Services from the University of Maryland, College Park. Clark’s professional work experience includes serving as the Director of Housing and Residential Life at the University of Michigan Flint, the Associate Dean of Residential Education at Stanford University, the Director of the Office of Student Affairs at John F. Kennedy University, the Dean of Student Affairs at the Art Institute of California San Francisco, and the Resident Director and Living/Learning Program Coordinator at the University of San Francisco.
We also welcome Laura Todd as the new Assistant Director for Spiritual Wellness. Laura earned her Bachelor of Arts in English and Religious Studies from Guilford College and received a Master of Divinity degree from Vanderbilt Divinity School. Prior to coming to Albion, Laura was a spiritual formation intern at Vanderbilt Divinity School as well as an intern at the LGBTQI Center at Vanderbilt University. Laura also worked for a year at the Center for Interfaith Cooperation in Indianapolis, Indiana. We are excited to have filled these two new positions and look forward to seeing all that Clark and Laura bring to the College.
Faculty Highlight: Nancy Demerdash
In a recent profile, assistant professor of art history Dr. Nancy Demerdash discusses her specialization in Middle Eastern and North African art. Her love of art has led to a passion for teaching art history, and she says, “the rewards of this job are priceless: seeing that ‘eureka!’ sparkle of discovery in a student’s eyes, mid-lecture; making the foreign familiar to students; helping them to debunk stereotypes and their own presuppositions about peoples and cultures they’ve never encountered. My ultimate goal is to inspire students and have them leave my classroom as more resilient, humane, empathic, culturally competent and curious people.”