2024 at Carthage: A year in review
What a year it’s been! If it feels like 2024 raced by in a blur, you’re not alone. Here’s an overview of the newsworthy developments at Carthage over these past 12 months.
January
FOOTBALL COACH
Carthage hired Matt Popino as the Firebirds’ new head football coach. In an introductory press conference, he emphasized the importance of character. Previously at Endicott College in Massachusetts, “Coach Pop” served as defensive coordinator during the Gulls’ three-year run as conference champs.
Story | Brief bio
MLK AWARDS
The Office of Equity and Inclusion presented its first Martin Luther King Jr. Legacy Awards. By honoring five members of the Carthage community and two others for embodying the teachings of the civil rights leader, the College celebrated the federal holiday in a new way.
Recap | 2025 event
CNA GRADUATION
The first student cohort completed the College’s certified nurse aide training program, attending for free thanks to scholarship funding from Tom and Jan Duncan. Other CNA sessions were offered throughout the year, including one for Brookfield high school students, providing a springboard for 75 aspiring healthcare workers.
Program website | Graduation photos
February
KOLAKOWSKI GIFT
Carthage announced a $3 million financial commitment from Kenosha resident Grace Kolakowski toward upgrades to the aging A. F. Siebert Chapel and scholarships that inspire students of color to teach. Hers was one of several early seven-figure pledges in the Light that Travels fundraising campaign.
Story | Campaign website
SPARK PILOTED
Six LMI Packaging employees earned certificates in Business Foundations for completing a series of classes that Carthage faculty taught on site. The local manufacturer piloted the Carthage Spark program, which features customized workplace-delivered education.
Story | Interest form
March
RED & READIER
Extending its annual spring fundraising event to 36 hours, Carthage brought in more than $407,000 for student-centered programs and financial aid in the 2024 Red & Ready Giving Days. A total of 772 gifts flooded in from alumni, parents, employees, students, and other generous supporters.
2025 schedule | Giving form
HEALTHCARE ADMINISTRATION
Identifying a regional need, Carthage introduced a new bachelor’s degree program in healthcare administration featuring a yearlong, paid rotation at a local hospital. Other undergraduate additions included minors in medical humanities and animation.
Story | Program website
April
ASPIRE AWARD
Carthage received the Career Services Pursuit of Excellence Award for its “holistic and long-standing commitment” to career development. The national honor provided a strong endorsement for The Aspire Program as the Class of 2024 became the first to complete the full four-year sequence.
Story | Program video
AUGIE’S 1,000TH
The baseball team gave head coach Augie Schmidt IV career victory No. 1,000 in his 37th season. He became just the 13th in NCAA Division III history to reach that milestone. Coach Schmidt recently announced that he’ll retire after the 2025 season.
Magazine feature | Tribute video
ROSA PARKS AWARD
“The Kenosha Verbatim Project,” written by a team of Carthage theatre students and professors, won the nationwide Rosa Parks Playwriting Award. The Theatre Department also earned a Citizen Artist Award for 10 years of groundbreaking verbatim plays.
Theatre awards | 2024-25 schedule
FUTURE OF HIGHER ED
More than 200 leaders gained insights from a timely conversation between Carthage President John Swallow and his Universities of Wisconsin counterpart about higher education’s role in the future workforce. The special event highlighted a busy Business and Professional Coalition schedule.
Recap | Coalition events
May
FIREBIRD KING
In his final track and field competition with the Firebirds, Joseph White ’24 won the NCAA Division III outdoor shot put title. The nursing major and five-time national champion thrower graduated as the most decorated male student-athlete in school history.
Athletics website | Carthage national champs
LEGACY OF GENEROSITY
While mourning the death of Jan Tarble at age 95, the Carthage community expressed deep gratitude for her unmatched philanthropy. Ms. Tarble’s lifetime support for the College exceeded $37 million, extending a connection her parents had formed decades earlier.
BAND SESQUICENTENNIAL
A yearlong schedule commemorating 150 years of Carthage band activities culminated in a gala anniversary concert with the premiere of “Scene One: FORTITUDE,” a commissioned work by Timothy Mahr that’s based on a musical motif for 142 — the band room’s number.
Magazine feature | Program website
June
SLINGSHOT PARTNERSHIP
A new textbook provider, Slingshot, put its Equitable Access Plan into practice, supplying each participating student with all of their required course materials for a $182 flat fee. Later in summer, the renovated bookstore reopened in the Campbell Student Union with plenty of new spirit wear.
Slingshot FAQ | Shop bookstore
BRAVER ANGELS CONVENTION
Hundreds of people from across the political spectrum gathered on campus for a three-day national convention of Braver Angels, a national organization that brings Americans together to bridge the partisan divide.
Recap | Event and conference services
July
NASA INTERNSHIP GRANT
Professor Kevin Crosby was awarded $300,000 in seed funding to build a new NASA research and internship program for Carthage students. Over the two-year period, 10 interns will spend a summer at Johnson Space Center to pursue a new line of inquiry in the College’s space sciences program.
Story | Program website
SOCIAL CHANGE PROFESSORSHIP
In honor of her father, a retired Kenosha pastor, Carthage trustee LeAnn Pedersen Pope ’79 pledged $1.5 million to establish The Rev. Raymon L. Pedersen Distinguished Professorship in Social Change. The faculty member appointed to this seat will contribute to the College’s equity and inclusion efforts.
Story | Campaign website
NEW CAMPUS PASTOR
After accepting the call to Carthage, the Rev. Adam Miller-Stubbendick began his duties as campus pastor. Rooted in the Lutheran tradition, his strong background in global ministry included 18 months in Jerusalem and the West Bank coordinating ministry opportunities for young adults.
Story | Center for Faith and Spirituality
August
TEACH FOR AMERICA
The regional Teach For America organization partnered with the College to certify new teachers and address the ongoing teacher shortage in Milwaukee. A new cohort of Carthage’s Accelerated Certification for Teachers (ACT) program is exclusively open to TFA Milwaukee corps members.
Story | Master of Education/ACT website
ENGINEERING CENTER
A second phase of renovations completed the transformation of the lower level of Lentz Hall into a robust Engineering Center, supporting the fast-growing engineering major. Additions included an Electro-Mechanical Lab, a Thermal-Fluid Lab, faculty offices, and research space.
Program website | Video
PRODUCT MANAGEMENT
The first students entered Carthage’s latest graduate business track: product management for manufactured goods. Supporting Kenosha County’s strong manufacturing base, it offers options for a certificate and a full master’s degree.
Program website | Carthage in the community
September
SPOTLIGHT ON SPORTS
The School of Business and Economics welcomed Chicago Bears president Kevin Warren as the featured guest at its second Spotlight on Sports conference. Several alumni innovators also discussed trends in sports management.
Recap | Keynote video recording
FREE ATHLETIC ADMISSION
To attract more people to its championship-caliber athletic program, Carthage announced that residents of Kenosha and Racine counties could attend most regular season Firebirds home sporting events for free throughout the 2024-25 year.
Story | 2025 schedules
October
GRADUATE ENROLLMENT PEAK
Final fall enrollment (based on the Oct. 15 census) across Carthage’s expanding menu of master’s degree programs reached 122, largely driven by record interest in two of the graduate business tracks: design and innovation, as well as sports management.
Master’s programs | Barcelona capstone story
NURSING FACILITIES
With $2.6 million in new funding — a $1.3 million state grant and a matching pledge from trustee Tom Duncan and his wife, Jan — Carthage moved ahead with plans to expand its nursing labs. A separate grant enabled the Nursing Department to acquire a set of advanced VR headsets and a medical simulation library.
Program website | Video
November
MODEL UN MILESTONE
Carthage held its 25th annual Model United Nations conference, which drew about 375 students from 21 high schools in Illinois and Wisconsin. Model UN is one of the longest-running student organizations on campus.
HISTORIC SEASON
For the first time in program history, the men’s cross country team was selected to compete in the NCAA D-III championships. That capped an unmatched season in which the Firebirds also earned their first top-30 national ranking.
Story | Athletics website
December
150 YEARS OF CHRISTMAS FESTIVAL
The 150th annual Carthage Christmas Festival captivated audiences with a series of three anniversary performances. Commissioned to create a fitting musical work, composer Katherine Webb and lyricist Charles Anthony Silvestri wrote the beautiful “Shining Star Carol,” which premiered at the festival.
Photos | Video: New carol
With gratitude to everyone who contributed to a memorable year, we turn our attention to an equally (if not more) promising 2025. Happy New Year to Carthaginians everywhere!