News in Brief

They Literally Appeared Overnight

Brightly colored plastic Adirondack chairs, arranged in small circular groupings, appeared on campus one morning late last spring. The Round Table’s April Fool’s Day parody issue had fun at the chairs’ expense, speculating about their meaning in a story headlined “Students Haunted by Rings of Adirondack Chairs.” Once the surprise wore off, students discovered how easy the chairs were to move and reconfigure. They quickly became favorite impromptu spots for hanging out.

Winkelmann Moves On

After 35 years at the center of student life and residential programs, John Winkelmann retired from Beloit in May. Winkelmann is known to generations of students, first in his role as assistant dean, and most recently as associate dean of students and director of residential life. He oversaw campus housing, student involvement programs, food service, health and wellness services, summer conferences, spiritual life, and the Coughy Haus, and hired and trained countless RAs.

Free Laundry

All students living in Beloit College housing now have access to free washers and dryers. Prompted by student feedback and in partnership with student government, the college worked with campus laundry vendors to convert selected machines to operate coin free. Brand new machines without the need for coins were also installed in Brannon, Maurer, Aldrich, Porter, Whitney, Peet, Wood, and Haven over the summer.

C-Haus Future

In late summer, the C-Haus campus pub lost its manager after a staffer resigned, giving the college an opening to consider accessibility and ventilation issues with the building, especially the lower level. Dean of Students Christina Klawitter’98 says the goal is to re-open the main floor by fall break with limited programming, after minor renovations. The basement will be closed until plans for the building take shape. The college is collecting feedback from students about what they want out of the C-Haus in the future.

Teaching Collections Care

This summer marked a pilot offering of the Center for Collections Care, a new program taught at Beloit for museum, library, archive, and conservation professionals and emerging professionals. The concept for the five courses, taught by professionals from across the country, came out of Beloit’s collective staff expertise in managing two teaching museums, historic costume and natural history collections, and a thriving college archive. Students helped set up labs, sat in on classes, and networked with museum professionals during the intensive three- to four-day courses.