Gummere Fellows

Admissions Impact

The Gummere Fellows program played an essential role in supporting another successful enrollment year for Lake Forest College. In an increasingly competitive enrollment landscape, it is imperative that the College always puts its best foot forward in any setting. Over the course of the past year, prospective students and families consistently approached admissions staff to remark on how well Gummere Fellows represented themselves, giving nuanced and thoughtful perspectives on their experiences as students. Below is a summary of admissions activities that the program supported: 

• 3 Fall Open House Programs 
• 7 Admitted Student Programs 
• Individual email and phone call outreach to select admitted students 
• Virtual meetings through admissions digital platform partner ZeeMee 
• 1 fly-in program for 30 high school counselors from across the country

At in-person events, the Gummere Fellows are trusted in a variety of high-impact events, notably: 

• Participating in student panels
• Providing campus tours
• Hosting admitted students in their residence hall rooms
• Serving as content experts in many facets of the student experience (leadership opportunities, internships, off-campus study, athletics, etc.) 

The College was thrilled to announce another successful enrollment campaign for the current academic year, projecting an incoming first-year class of 420 students from 35 states and 40 countries. There is no doubt that the Gummere Fellows play an outsized role as student ambassadors in supporting the College’s ambitious enrollment goals. 

Professional Development and Campus Leadership

A central component of the Gummere Fellows program has always been to offer meaningful professional development support as Fellows prepare to transition into life beyond the College as emerging professionals. Now that the program has had several rounds of graduating classes, we were thrilled to welcome back several alumni in different sections of the labor market to share their insights of professional life. The following alumni were generous with their time to return to campus:

• Aaron O’Neil ’21: Third-year student at Loyola University Chicago School of Law
• Sara Martinez ’23: Marketing Coordinator for Bluestone Staffing

 In addition to the professional development opportunities afforded to all Fellows, seniors in the program are also awarded a $500 professional development grant to be used at their discretion to support launching their careers. This year, graduates used those funds both for professional wardrobes and fees for graduate school applications.

Lastly, it is notable that the 2023-24 Student Government President and Secretary were Gummere Fellows Jake Sharifi ’24 and Kate Kiameh ’25, respectively. Both represented themselves and the program at the highest levels of leadership in the College in ways that garnered respect across campus.

Selection Process and New Additions

The Gummere Fellows program continues to occupy a highly regarded status among current students at the College, so the selection process has grown more competitive each year. The program received 48 applications for just a handful of openings, and we are pleased to welcome the following new Fellows for the 2024-25 academic year: 

• Megan Dodrill ’26 (Windsor, CO)
• Aidan Linsdey ’27 (Strafford, NH)
• Petra Urgacova ’25 (Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic)
• Anika Kinnear ’27 (Lake Mary, FL)
• Diale Awa Shirri ’25 (Douala, Cameroon)