Coe News & Features

Sophia John ’24 set foot on campus for the first time eagerly facing a future where she graduates from Coe and puts on a white lab coat. John’s medical career aspirations are inspired by her mother, Shivanthi Ponniah ’96, a nurse practitioner who taught John medicine isn’t a profession. It’s a way of life.

Over 100 years ago, Mabel Lee, Class of 1908, enrolled at Coe College after seeing a photograph of the women’s basketball team. Little did she know she would become one of the most influential figures to advance women’s athletics and even serve as substitute for First Lady Lou Hoover in presiding over the women's sessions of the 1932 Olympics.

The Coe College Theatre Arts Department is proud to announce the winner of the Coe National Playwriting Contest and Festival. “30 Seconds” by Jayne Deely took first place from nearly 100 scripts submitted across the country. Established in 1993, Coe’s National Playwriting Contest and Festival is led by Assistant Professor of English Kate Aspengren and celebrated every two years.

In the winter of 2020, Marley Carviou ’22 landed a summer internship most can only dream of. With her plans set to complete an internship with FOX Sports in Los Angeles in the summer of 2020, COVID-19 derailed any chance of fun under the California sun. But there was a rainbow on the other side of stormy clouds when Marley’s Los Angeles internship was rescheduled for the summer of 2021. Meanwhile, she was offered a virtual internship in place of her planned trip.

Since its early years, Coe has been a college dedicated to offering an inclusive coeducational experience. Founders and members of the original board of trustees were early advocates of equal rights and education for all individuals. Last summer, the Coe College Board of Trustees continued that tradition by unanimously passing a resolution addressing diversity, equity and inclusion. Authored by Trustee Robert Darryl Banks ’72, the passing of the resolution was described as momentous by Life Trustee Bruce Spivey ’56.

Coe College is proud to announce Angelina Ramirez ’22 has been named a 2021 Truman Scholarship finalist. The Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation awards a $30,000 graduate fellowship to distinguished college students pursuing careers in public service. Nearly 845 students across the nation completed the rigorous application process that includes seven essays and a detailed policy proposal. Ramirez is among 193 students shortlisted as a finalist for the prestigious award.

Once again, Coe College is receiving national recognition as one of the U.S. colleges and universities with the most Fulbright U.S. students. As the producer of 32 Fulbright students in the last eight years, Coe has been named a top producer of Fulbright U.S. students three of the last four years. Coe holds the highest percentage of applicants receiving awards among bachelor’s institutions in Iowa for 2020-2021.

Kohawks have one of campus’s best kept secrets right under their beaks. For many of life’s biggest questions, people oftentimes turn to counselors or clergy members for answers. At Coe, students find both in the Rev. Melea White. Melea serves as Coe’s college chaplain and counselor. A role that is more unique than most realize.

For the fourth year in a row, Coe College is recognized as one of the nation's most environmentally responsible colleges in the 2021 edition of The Princeton Review’s Guide to Green Colleges.

Coe College is proud to be the first-ever school in Iowa and one of only three schools in the nation this year to receive the Award for Improving Undergraduate Physics Education from the American Physical Society.

Kohawks played a major role with Theatre Cedar Rapids’ first virtual “Halloween Horror Night!” Flash Play Fest. Coe students and alumni wrote two of the 12 short plays showcased on October 30 before a panel of judges and over 100 attendees. In addition, a few Kohawks took center stage acting or directing various plays.

It may seem like the National Football League (NFL) is all about sports, but it has an artistic side to it as well. That’s where you’ll find Olivia Leisinger ’17, a digital content producer editor who uses her Coe art and film studies background every day on the job.

Kohawk Startup is a C3: Creativity, Careers, Community series of workshops and mentorships with local business professionals. It typically includes a weekend of hands-on entrepreneurial experience in partnership with NewBoCo. This year’s event lasted a full month to accommodate the virtual setting.

It was a windy autumn afternoon with thick grey clouds threatening rain, and by pure coincidence, Coe College was receiving the Stormwater and Urban Watershed Partner of the Year Award.

Joe Demarest and his role as director of community and civic engagement at Coe College is a match made in...upstate New York with a soccer ball nearby. Trading the soccer field for Coe’s nest, Joe is living his dream after joining Coe’s C3: Creativity, Careers, Community center four years ago as an internship specialist.

Coe College faculty and staff will receive paid time off to serve as poll workers on Election Day, November 3. The college is encouraging any employee interested to help support poll sites that may be facing staffing issues due to COVID-19.

Sisters (and Kohawks) Gretchen Oelrich ’19 and Leeann Oelrich ’16 share a passion for international travel, study and culture that has led them to share one more thing: the honor of receiving Fulbright English Teaching Assistantships.

With Coe’s wide range of classes and course flexibility, Sean customized his studies to fit his interests.

After witnessing the devastation of the August 10 derecho, Cedar Rapids native Maddye Cavanagh ’21 wanted to help her hometown and college town recover. As the Coe College Panhellenic Council Vice President of Philanthropy, Cavanagh organized a storm relief donation drive for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Cedar Rapids and East Central Iowa.