Lake Forest College welcomed more than 50 new and transfer students to campus this semester, joining the student body of 1,500 students. The College also welcomed home nearly 100 students who spent the fall semester studying in cities around the world.

At the same time, 75 students have left to spend the spring semester studying in Beijing, Greece, Botswana, Florence, London, Washington DC, Costa Rica, New Zealand, Ireland, Germany, and Brazil. Thirty of them will spend the semester studying and conducting internships in downtown Chicago, as part of the Lake Forest In The Loop program. 

The Office of Intercultural Relations kicked off the spring semester of activities with a standing room only Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Program, where students, faculty, staff, and community members packed the Lily Reid Holt Memorial Chapel to listen to poet and rapper M.K. Asante speak about how to turn observations into obligations. 

Upcoming events include:

The Sleds Are Coming, an annual sled hockey game organized by the Department of Athletics in conjunction with the Great Lakes Adaptive Sports Association (GLASA), will be on February 12. Former Chicago Blackhawk and 1980 Olympic gold medalist Jack O’Callahan and WGN morning anchorman Larry Potash will be honorary officials.

The month of February has lots of engaging events in store for students including photographer ML Frank’s “Portraits 4 People,” a week-long series of exhibits, discussions, and workshops taking place February 1-10 where students and the community will learn how to use photography as a conversation, not simply a means to produce an image. 

February also comes with lots of career-prep events. The Career Advancement Center has planned their first Forester Internship Week for February 13-17, where students can connect with alumni and employers through workshops, information sessions and on-campus interviews. 

The Artist in Residence Committee has selected the internationally acclaimed Iraqi-American artist, Wafaa Bilal, to come to campus February 15-16 and give a lecture while debuting two new video installations. His artwork has been called “controversial and unusual” by CNN and praised as “one of the sharpest works of political art” by the Chicago Tribune, reinvigorating debate on the Iraq war.

Spring semester promises to provide Lake Forest College students with plenty of educational opportunities outside of the classroom.