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1. Ripon, Marian University agree on cross-registration
College’s commitment to a partnership between the College and community.
the atrium of Willmore Center has been named The Zach P. Messitte Atrium.
The Ripon faculty has approved cross-registration with Marian University of Fond du Lac, which allows qualified Ripon students to take up to two classes per semester at Marian and vice-versa.
Now, as downtown Ripon thrives again, the new owners plan to create more space for business downtown. The offices of the president and vice president and dean of faculty have been returned to Smith Hall in the heart of campus, where they previously had been located.
Messitte’s vision for the $24 million renovation and expansion of Willmore Center was realized in the fall of 2017. Since that time, Willmore Center has drastically increased student-athlete enrollment, enhanced student life and campus vitality and has served as another connector to the community of Ripon.
The Office of Marketing and Communications has moved to the second floor of Harwood Memorial Union.
Messitte left the College at the end of 2021 to pursue other opportunities in higher education on the east coast.
3. City of Ripon formalizes College internship program
Welcome to incoming Class of 2026
While Ripon College students have long served mutually beneficial internships for the City of Ripon, the city has now formalized a program to enable students to receive management internships with the city, college credit and scholarships.
From numbers recorded Aug. 26, 200 first-time, first-year students plus 12 transfer students are starting at Ripon College this fall.
This is a first step to facilitate academic collaborations between the two schools, which are about 25 miles apart. Cross-registration will expand the number and type of classes available to students at each college, and it will allow them to meet and work with more faculty members than either school can offer alone. “Ripon students in particular will benefit from coursework at Marian in hands-on fields such as graphic art, social work, marketing and forensic science,” says Brian Bockelman, professor of history and interim director of strategic initiatives. “These practical subjects nicely complement Ripon’s core focus on the liberal arts and sciences.” He says this new study option also will allow students from each campus a wider network of social and extracurricular activities.
2. Sale of Carnegie brings administrators back to campus Ripon College has sold the historic Carnegie building in downtown Ripon to a local developer to support the growth of the community. The building housed the Office of the President, the Office of the Vice President and Dean of Faculty and the Office of Marketing and Communications for the past several years. The College purchased the building in 2011 as the downtown area was struggling. It was meant to demonstrate the
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Professor of Political Science Henrik Schatzinger worked with the city to formalize the partnership. “The program will provide a strong foundation by which student interns are able to build a successful career in local government and public management,” he says. “Overall, the partnership between the city and the College will help cultivate the next generation of municipal leaders.” City Administrator Adam Sonntag ’08 shadowed a former Ripon city administrator when he was in college and says this program will benefit both students and the community.
4. Willmore Center atrium named in honor of Zach Messitte In honor of the many accomplishments Ripon College enjoyed during the tenure of 13th president Zach Messitte,
Among this year’s class, there is 23% ethnic diversity and 36% are first-generation students, whose parents/guardians did not receive a four-year college degree. There also are 19 legacies, those with another family member who has attended or is attending Ripon. The majority, 64%, are from Wisconsin, with others from 18 states and the countries of Myanmar and Canada.
5. Erin K. Bryan excels on national stage Assistant Professor of Music Erin K. Bryan won an honorable mention as a finalist in the 2022 The American Prize in Vocal Performance — Women in Art Song and Oratorio. The American Prize National Nonprofit Competitions in the Performing Arts is the nation’s most comprehensive series of contests in the performing arts.