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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.

The enrollment growth of the past two years continues in 2017 for Albion College, which welcomed nearly 570 new students at today’s Matriculation ceremony, 130 more than a year ago. Along with 525 first-year students, the College expects an additional 44 transfer students, an increase of more than 25 percent over last year, when classes begin on Monday, August 21.

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.

Albion College has again been named one of the nation’s top undergraduate educational institutions with its inclusion in The Princeton Review’s new 2018 edition of its college guide, The Best 382 Colleges.

Final fundraising results for fiscal year 2017 indicate that alumni and friends of Albion College are expressing support for the College’s current direction—and what Albion sees for its future as one of America’s exemplary liberal arts institutions.

Mick McCabe, who spent 46 years carving out a special niche at the Detroit Free Press, didn’t attend Albion College. But his respect and love for the school runs deep nonetheless thanks to the fact that two of his kids graduated from Albion. And that’s why, at his retirement roast in May, McCabe earmarked the $3,500 in proceeds to Albion’s journalism program. “I really liked everything about Albion,” he said.

Albion College has once again been recognized for its programs and accomplishments in the 2018 edition of the Fiske Guide to Colleges. Established by Edward B. Fiske, former education editor of The New York Times, the Fiske Guide provides detailed information on 322 colleges and universities in the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom.

“For the anniversary edition [of Gladiator on DVD] I pulled some images of costumes and I ended up with a ‘Special Thanks,'” says Jason Moritz about his only film credit. That was long ago and far away for Moritz, who after six years as a movie studio archivist and librarian has marked 10 years at Albion College as the Education Department’s teaching-certification officer, serving as the department’s liaison with the state of Michigan.

A new cooperative agreement signed earlier this month will grant Albion College premedical students early assurance of admission to the Central Michigan University College of Medicine through the College of Medicine’s Early Assurance Program (EAP). The program provides an enhanced opportunity for admission to medical school for up to three Albion premedical students annually who demonstrate a desire to practice medicine in Michigan with an emphasis on rural and underserved regions. The EAP is in effect for the student cohort beginning their medical-school studies in fall 2018.