Bharat Goel started a full-time job with Consumers Energy months before he will officially earn his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, and he's already gotten started on a master's. He says multiple research opportunities combined with student organizations and an internship prepared him to hit the ground running in his field.

Aleksander Slotwinski is double majoring in sales and business marketing and Spanish at Western Michigan University. With several vice president and director roles across student organizations on campus, as well as a sales internship at Whirlpool, he is ready to enter the professional world as a purposeful salesperson. 

Dylan Sing is a team player as a student athlete on the WMU men's soccer team and as a supply chain management major. With a procurement internship at the company Foundry, Sing is learning to be a leader on and off the field.

Senior Design Conference. It’s a time for College of Engineering and Applied Sciences’ students from all disciplines to showcase their work, share fresh perspectives and develop new systems. Each semester, graduating seniors present projects they have worked on for an entire year—projects that are sponsored by industry partners, non-profit organizations or faculty members conducting research.

Western’s Board of Trustees approved the recommendation to honor Petersen with an honorary Doctor of Laws degree during its June 24, 2021, meeting. Petersen, co-founder of Jabil Circuit, has been a staunch advocate for higher education. Both of her children attended Western and were a driving force in the success of Jabil, a multibillion-dollar electronic product solutions company.

"This year’s symposium is a testament to all the important work being done through WMU’s continued collaboration with the Kalamazoo Literacy Council. The sessions at the symposium will highlight many wonderful examples of our dynamic university/community partnership,” said Lisa Garcia, WMU's assistant vice president for community partnerships.

Gabby Fentem, B.A.'18, made her debut in the famed kick line in Radio City Music Hall this year.

Seniors Erin Rogers and Trenton Sands represented Western as a team and as individuals in the State Farm Marketing and Sales Competition. The team placed second in the overall competition, and Rogers also took first place earning $3,000 in prize money in the life insurance sales role-play category.

The creativity and innovation needed to be an entrepreneur is extensive, but senior Bartekt Scheibe views it as an exciting challenge.

Senior Anna-Maria Astor is president of the Financial Planning Association of WMU, a member of co-ed business fraternity Delta Sigma Pi and a personal finance coach at the Sanford Center for Financial Planning at Western.

Lily Zwanka's path to food marketing started in Albany, New York and led her to the Haworth College of Business. The encouragement and mentorship she received from professors in the program, including her own father, has helped her develop her skills and kept her on the road to success in her chosen field.

Except for essential services, all Western Michigan University campuses will close at 4 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 18, due to worsening winter weather. All classes scheduled for 4 p.m. or later are canceled.

Studying advertising along with leadership and business strategy has given Western Michigan University senior Nicole Miller the skills to set her apart in her field.

Preston Koslakiewicz has made it his life mission to learn what it takes to be a leader. Through Western's financial planning program and his internship with Zhang Financial, he is building skills that will give him a competitive edge in the financial industry.

Mary Ghazarian has a passion to create a unified world. Through global internships, mentors and student organizations, she is finding ways to use her major in human resources management and leadership and business strategy to enact the change that she wants to see in the world. 

Dr. Julian Vasquez Heilig will be Western Michigan University's next Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs following a nationwide search. Currently the dean of University of Kentucky's College of Education, Vasquez Heilig's appointment will be effective Jan. 4, pending approval of the WMU Board of Trustees.

Western senior Jacob Remington is leaving his mark as a food marketing major at the Haworth College of Business. Between tremendous networking opportunities as a member of the Food Marketing Association, a category management internship at Kellogg's and a study abroad experience in Italy—Remington is ready to feed the world.  

Dr. David Lyth, M.S.'79, professor emeritus of engineering, shared a passion for education with his late wife, Joyce. A scholarship established in their name will now support engineering management students for generations to come.

Dr. Lauron Kehrer's first book delves into the roots of hip-hop, wading through long-held stereotypes of misogyny and homophobia to expose a richer lineage of queer Black and Latinx music-making practices and spaces as well as reclaim the work as essential to hip-hop history.

Alumna Koretta King-Jackson found her passion in teaching and achieved her dream job after completing Western's Urban Teacher Residency Program.

Weather extremes are impacting humans at an increasingly continuous clip as climate change intensifies, leading to catastrophic flooding, droughts and other weather events.

Drs. Nicholas Hanson and Rachel Dykstra discovered the secret to being a better gamer is in the training done away from screens.

When a West Michigan mother quickly found her home in need of major improvements to help her son move around, interior design students stepped up to create an accessible future and bring the family together again.

From the lab to the classroom, faculty are giving Kalamazoo-area science teachers invaluable experiences to enhance their curriculum and inspire future STEM leaders.

Dr. Adam Mathews, an accomplished geography professor and researcher at Western Michigan University, went back to basics with the release of his debut book, "ABCs of Geography." It is part of Chris Ferrie's Baby University Series of board books, which aims to introduce young children to the basic concepts of a STEM topic for each letter of the alphabet.

Western rarely closes or delays classes, so always assume campuses are open. In the absence of notification via one of the methods listed below, all normal operations will continue as scheduled.

The Western alumna starred in two Broadway productions within a month—first as John Adams in a groundbreaking reboot of the Tony Award-winning musical "1776" and then reprising her Lucille Lortel Award-winning role as Passenger 5 when hit comedy "Ain't No Mo'" made its debut Broadway run in November.

Zenia Gutierrez, B.A.'12, M.A.'22, created a bilingual book library at an elementary school as a project when she was pursuing her master's degree. It was so successful that school leaders in multiple districts are now inquiring about implementing the program.

Classes resume at 8 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 28, following Thanksgiving recess.