VOLUME 64
NEWS WINTER/SPRING 2019
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ISSUE 2 OF 3
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OF DORDT COLLEGE
BLACK, GOLD, AND WHITE Through shifts in seasons, Dordt remains committed to its mission to “work effectively toward Christcentered renewal in all aspects of contemporary life.”
ROASTING COFFEE TO CONNECT 14
NEW WORLD FAREWELL 18
CACE 27
Leading Off WITH THE PRESIDENT
PECULIAR PEOPLE I grew up on the King James Version of Scripture. There’s something about the formality of approaching God that still makes me love that translation. I’ve certainly done my historical research on the benefits and shortcomings of the KJV, and for my daily devotional life I often find myself drawn to other translations and paraphrases to enrich my study. Yet, there is nothing like the KJV to give me a sense of “God being God”— his omnipotence, his majesty, and his power. Through the KJV I get a sense of what Moses must have felt when he was favored to hide in the cleft of the rock as God passed by him in Exodus 33. Simply put, some KJV passages have a unique meaning that can’t be captured as well by any other Bible translation or paraphrase. As Dordt began the second semester with our first chapel, I used the KJV version of a text to challenge and remind the campus of God’s call to us as his people in culture today: But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. (1 Peter 2: 9-10, KJV) Taking that notion of being peculiar people, I asked our students and faculty to live this out in two distinct ways. First, to live with joy in the knowledge and confidence that our peculiarity is due to God having chosen us as his people. Yes, this is one of those wonderful Reformed concepts of election—but it wasn’t the main point of my message.
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It’s that second definition of peculiar that I believe Dordt people have been known for and which I challenged the campus to live out: being unusual by not going along with what’s happening in the mainstream of culture. Perhaps another way of saying it is that God calls us to be “In the world, but not of the world.” It’s this second type of peculiarity we’re called to be as Christians in this modern, postChristian age. I ended the chapel talk encouraging our campus community on why God calls us to be peculiar people—a few verses later, the Message puts it this way: Friends, this world is not your home, so don’t make yourselves cozy in it. Don’t indulge your ego at the expense of your soul. Live an exemplary life among the natives so that your actions will refute their prejudices. Then they’ll be won over to God’s side and be there to join in the celebration when he arrives. (1 Peter 2: 11-12, The Message) It seems to me that the point of our peculiarity isn’t simply to make ourselves feel holier than the sinful culture around us; it’s to be joyfully evangelical—to have people see the love of Christ in us and through us, and in doing so perhaps they will want to get to know the Jesus we serve and to live in ways that honor God and his creation. And if that happens through our lives in the communities in which God places Dordt alumni—then truly, we will be living out our motto: Soli Deo Gloria—“To God Alone Be All the Glory”!
DR. ERIK HOEKSTRA, PRESIDENT
Voice THE
OF DORDT COLLEGE
WINTER/SPRING 2019 VOLUME 64 | ISSUE 2
The Voice, an outreach of Dordt College, is sent to you as alumni and friends of Christian higher education. The Voice is published three times each year to share information about the programs, activities, and people at Dordt. www.dordt.edu (712) 722-6000 Send address corrections and correspondence to voice@dordt. edu or VOICE, Dordt College, 700 7th Street NE, Sioux Center, IA 512501606 Contributors Sarah Moss ('10), editor sarah.moss@dordt.edu Jamin Ver Velde ('99), designer Sally Jongsma, contributing editor Kate Henreckson, contributing writer Lydia Marcus ('17), contributing writer James Calvin Schaap ('70), contributing writer Erika Buiter ('20), student writer Olivia Helmus ('21), photographer Bethany Van Voorst, photographer Jenna Stephens ('19), artist Justin Banks ('19), student writer Anneke Wind ('19), student writer Brandon Huisman ('10), vice president for enrollment and marketing brandon.huisman@dordt.edu Our Mission As an institution of higher education committed to a Reformed Christian perspective, Dordt College equips students, alumni, and the broader community to work effectively toward Christ-centered renewal in all aspects of contemporary life. On the Cover Outside the Commons, a Dordt College-branded bike is blanketed with snow in early March. The Dordt community experienced many snowstorms this winter.
Inside
Editor’s Notes
THIS ISSUE
JAMIN VER VELDE (99)
BLACK, GOLD, AND WHITE
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hat’s black and gold and white all over? Matt Benardis’s bike in an early March snowstorm. Northwest Iowa can be cold, but we don’t always get as much snow as we’ve had this year. Those snow storms have not deterred Benardis, a junior engineering major from Casper, Wyoming, from taking his Dordtbranded bike for a spin every now and then. This winter it feels like a spark of optimism in the longer-thanexpected winter cold.
MACHINE LEARNING Not only does Tim Floen teach manufacturing technology at Dordt, but he also built by hand automation and instrumentation trainers as well as PLC relay logic trainers for the new automation lab. The lab will be an asset for Pro-Tech students.
NEWS
FEATURES
Two students bring a winning streak of Spikeball to campus.
Winter weather causes campus to close for first time in decades.
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The Blades hockey team raises funds for local sled hockey group.
Campus bids adieu to the New World Theatre.
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The education program shifts student teaching to set education majors up for post-Dordt success.
The Science and Faith Club seeks to foster civil discourse through oncampus discussions.
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ALUMNI
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Jim Schaap reminisces with alumni about what it was like to live in an off-campus basement apartment.
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Since graduating, Adam Vander Stoep ('15) has gone from Lyon County resident to Bronx district attorney.
As temperatures climb and the snow melts away, more students will join Benardis, pulling out their bikes, skateboards, and scooters to take in the sunshine. Some will set blankets on the grass; others will take long walks in the Dordt prairie. And, with the change of weather will come commencement and the transition to Dordt University. Seniors will pack up their vehicles and head home, diploma in hand. Dordt College signs will come down, and Dordt University signs will take their places. Through the shifts in seasons and years, Dordt remains committed to its mission to “work effectively toward Christ-centered renewal in all aspects of contemporary life.” Just like Benardis’s bike, we’re black and gold and white—whether it is storming or the sun is shining.
SARAH MOSS (ʼ10), EDITOR
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NEWS
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wo of Dordt’s music ensembles are renaming and, in one case, reinventing themselves. The vocal ensemble Kantorei will be called “Fourth Avenue Singers,” while Jazz Band will become “Fourth Avenue Band.” When performing together, they will be known as “Fourth Avenue Jazz.” The new names are a nod to Dordt’s long-time address on Fourth Avenue and better represent the new focus coming to the Kantorei choir, says Ryan Smit, director of choral activities. “We now sing exclusively vocal jazz music, we perform with microphones for each Ryan Smit singer, and we will be limiting the group to sixteen singers,” says Smit. Previously, Kantorei consisted of 16 to 24 singers who performed classical music suitable for a smaller ensemble. Smit is excited about the learning opportunities the new focus will offer students.
The Dordt Media Network truck is equipped with a NewTek TC 1 Tricaster, a state-of-the-art video production system that is used by many in the broadcast industry.
MEDIA NETWORK TRUCK ENHANCES BROADCASTS W
ith six cameras, an instant replay system, and a graphics computer, the new Dordt Media Network remote truck represents a major upgrade in broadcasting Dordt athletics events.
“The smaller size of the ensemble and the use of microphones makes each singer accountable for every aspect of their contribution,” Smit says.
The media truck is a TV R. Lodewyk control room on wheels that allows students in the Dordt Media Network to record or livestream events, create athletic highlight videos, and promote everything Dordt.
The Fourth Avenue Singers will collaborate more frequently with the Jazz Band, whose focus will not change. Smit hopes this new direction will attract new participants and audiences.
Rich Lodewyk, Dordt Media Network director and the general manager of KDCR radio, says the media truck will give opportunities to learn about all aspects of remote broadcast production right on campus.
Nicholas Schnell, a sophomore digital media and graphic design major, shares Smit’s excitement for the upcoming changes.
“Students will learn about broadcasting in a classroom and then use the truck to take the concepts and put them into live action,” he says.
“I hope we can make jazz important to more students on campus, opening their minds to a world of music they hadn’t necessarily known before,” he says.
There are currently eight students working for Dordt Media Network, and they have gone through
ANNEKE WIND (’19)
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A ARON LENZ (’21)
NEW NAME, NEW GENRE
a month of training to properly use the equipment. The truck has only been used for a handful of athletic events so far, but students are already gaining experience. “It’s been great to To view the students’ learn about latest and ongoing efforts, replay go to livestream.com/ dordtcollegewebcast. and how beneficial it can be for viewers as they’re watching the game,” says Aaron Lenz, a sophomore and a Dordt Media Network team member. And viewers are appreciating the results, says Annie Rhinesmith, a junior who plays for the women’s basketball team. “Family members comment about the different camera angles,” she says. “It makes them feel part of the game.” Lodewyk is excited about the advances the media truck has brought to campus, and he looks forward to other opportunities it will give students on the team in the coming months. He envisions broadcasting concerts, chapel events, and more. JUSTIN BANKS (’19)
Nathan Detrich (’21) and Trevor deJong (’19) have brought their love for Spikeball to Dordt. The pair hail from Escondido, California, where Detrich’s family introduced them to the backyard lawn game. The two men have become increasingly serious about their game over the past couple of years. They played their first tournament in Santa Monica. “It was a pretty big tournament, especially for two years ago,” says Detrich. “I was playing with his older brother, and we got to the second or third round of the knockout tournament. We played the team who was, at the time, the best team in the country,” says deJong, a senior accounting major.
JAMIN VER VELDE ('99)
“That was definitely a wake-up call,” adds Detrich. “We realized that super competitive Spikeball can be a lot of fun, so we got way more into it.”
NEWS
SPIKE(BALL)ING THEIR WAY TO VICTORY DeJong and Detrich began competing together, learning better serving strategies together, and attending more tournaments together. They even chose to attend the same college. “I was interested in the Pro-Tech program, so I came to Dordt,” Detrich says. “It was a good fit for what I had in mind. I really like it here, so I’m actually staying for a business degree after Pro-Tech.” In addition to their studies, Detrich and deJong have become involved in the collegiate Spikeball scene. Detrich started a Spikeball club on campus and more than 50 students attended the first club meeting on Southview’s lawn. Spikeball is best played on sand, grass, or turf, but despite the terrain challenges of Dordt’s campus, Detrich and deJong pushed themselves to compete at the college level. They signed up for the Great Lakes Region Sectionals where they won the tournament against teams like Marquette University and Iowa State University, earning the right to have their own jerseys created. “Many teams already had their own jerseys,” says deJong. “It’s a cool symbol that says, ‘I take it pretty seriously.’”
ORIGINS Spikeball gained attention in 2008 when it appeared on the TV show Shark Tank. The sport is best described as a cross between volleyball and foursquare. Spikeball is played two-ontwo. Partners stand next to each other around the circular net, one person serves the ball onto the net, and the other team has three passes between them to get the ball back onto the net. Once the ball is served, it can be played anywhere around the net with no boundaries—just don’t let it touch the ground!
After graduation, Detrich hopes to continue to play at a professional level. Most professional players have fulltime jobs and compete on weekends.
“It’s a hard-core hobby taken to the professional level,” says Detrich. “I definitely would like to get there someday.” ERIKA BUITER (’20)
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NEWS
PHOTOS BY KATE HENRECKSON
NIHONGA PAINTING WITH MAKOTO FUJIMARA P
ainting is very healing for me,” said artist Makoto Fujimura in his October First Mondays talk titled “Cultural Stewardship.” “It is a sacred space. I get to have quiet time in my studio, making. Because when you make, God shows up; the spirit hovers. Even if you aren’t an artist, you are indeed a maker of some kind.” Fujimura’s work has been exhibited in galleries around the world in New York, Tokyo, and Washington, D.C. One painting style he specializes in is called Nihonga, a Japanese style of painting that dates back to the 17th century. Nihonga is traditionally done on Japanese paper and uses pigments created from natural materials such as minerals and stones. Fujimara also serves as These materials director of Fuller Seminary’s are ground Brehm Center for Worship, Theology, and the Arts. into grain and bound together with a glue solution and water. During his visit to campus, Fujimara also hosted a Nihonga painting workshop attended by a mix of Dordt students, faculty, and community members. Fujimura demonstrated how to adapt the traditional styles to more contemporary
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Twenty people attended the Nihonga workshop. In addition to experimenting with Nihonga, participants learned about the history of Japanese-style painting from the 17th century to today.
methods of painting, using whatever materials are available. Participants experimented with mixing and grinding a variety of materials, ranging from silver and ocher to more common materials like coffee and herbs. “The goal of this workshop was to make Nihonga accessible,” says Eric Tai, a Fujimura fellow who helped lead the workshop. “I was glad that everyone really jumped in, experimenting with found materials.”
these materials have a resonance with history and are rooted in a particular place.” “I try to be faithful in this slice of expression God has given me,” Fujimura says. “I know something is emanating from my work, and I want to give that glory to God. Culture is not just something that burns up in the judgment;
“Culture is not just something that burns up in the judgment; something will survive. Our efforts here are multiplied— they carry through to the other side of eternity.”
Christina Chahyadinata, a senior graphic design major at Dordt, was one of the workshop participants. She created an abstract painting on hosho paper, using dill, ground silver, green and blue ochre, and cardboard —Makoto Fujimara, artist broken up for texture. “We use Fujimara’s book Culture Care for classes. Fujimara something will survive. Our efforts here emphasizes that artists are not only are multiplied—they carry through to the people who have painting as their job; other side of eternity.” artists are everyone. He is very inspiring.” “To learn from a world-renowned artist— Art Professor Matthew Drissell was what a privilege,” says Lori DeJong, particularly excited about Fujimura’s visit. another workshop participant. “It really “Nihonga is an approach I have always is an honor to just sit here and listen and admired but had no clue how it worked. think along with Fujimara.” Hearing Fujimara talk in person gave me a greater sense of the connection with KATE HENRECKSON the materials of paint—the idea that
Driving down any Midwestern highway, you’ll likely spot clusters of milkweed planted in the ditches for the benefit of monarch butterflies. If you drove down a Northwest Iowa highway last fall, you may also have spotted Joscelyn Wind, a senior biology major, along the roadside, inspecting the milkweed for monarch larvae and tachinid flies. “Monarch butterfly populations have significantly declined in numbers, especially R. DeHaan within the past two decades,” says Wind. “They are currently being evaluated for placement on the endangered species list. Tachinid flies play a role in monarch mortality.”
informing future research.
Wind didn’t always find what she expected in her research. For example, though both Lespesia and Carcelia fly populations were present in monarch larvae she collected, her sticky traps only produced one fly identified as Lespesia. Still, Wind’s work contributed to the field of entomology and to conservation work by verifying previous studies and
Wind found the monarch butterfly research fascinating.
B. De Ruyter
“Monarch research requires large-scale studies that address the complexity of their annual cycle and model future scenarios, but such studies rely on local research and empirical evidence,” explains DeRuyter. Wind’s work provides such evidence.
“I hope my local research will spark an interest in monarchs and factors that affect their populations, as well as provide more information on the populations of both tachinid flies and monarchs in certain habitats.” LYDIA MARCUS (‘17)
JAMIN VER VELDE ('99)
For her student-directed research project, Wind decided to examine the correlation between parasitism in monarchs and local tachinid fly populations. Tachinid flies, which are larger than houseflies, lay eggs in monarch caterpillars. The caterpillar builds and houses itself in a chrysalis; but the tachinid eggs prevent a butterfly from forming and instead the chrysalis produces flies. Dr. Robb DeHaan, an environmental science professor, says this phenomenon seems to be affecting 10 to 20 percent of monarch butterflies.
prevalence, and the impact of mowing and other management practices are all poorly understood. By examining local roadside sites and two parks for signs of monarch development, tachinid flies, and tachinid parasitism of monarchs, Wind helped fill a gap in scientific understanding.”
NEWS
WIND FOCUSES ON DECLINING BUTTERFLY POPULATION
Wind first became interested in studying monarch butterflies after talking with Dordt Biology and Chemistry Lab Instructor Brittany De Ruyter (’10) about her master’s degree research on how the timing of mowing Iowa roadsides affects monarch butterfly reproduction. “I did further research into factors that affect monarch populations and became interested in tachinid flies,” says Wind. “I had taken entomology and really enjoyed it, so I decided to pursue a project incorporating both of these insects.” “Very little is known about the impact of tachinid flies on monarch larvae in the Midwest,” says DeHaan. “The specific tachinid species responsible, its
“At Dordt, I’ve appreciated the focus on incorporating faith and science into my education, career, and life as well as exploring challenging questions in the field of biology,” says Wind.
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KATE HENRECKSON
Engineering Professor Dr. Manuela Ayee received a travel grant from the Biophysical Society’s committees for inclusion and diversity, professional opportunities for women, education, and membership. She was honored at an awardee reception in March. Mathematics Professor Dr. Tom Clark gave a presentation at the Joint Mathematics Meetings in Baltimore titled “The Number Machine.” Clark also chaired the business meeting of the special interest group of the Mathematics Association of America on math circles, completing his year of leadership of that group. Language Studies Professor Dr. Leendert van Beek recently completed a Dutch translation of a collection of sermons by the Rev. Charles H. Spurgeon. The volume, titled Kerst (Christmas), was published by Boekhout Publishers. In December, Health and Human Performance Professor Dr. Craig Stiemsma co-authored an article “Internships in Kinesiology: Reconsidering Best Practices” in Kinesiology Review. Political Science Professor Dr. Jeff Taylor authored a chapter titled “Agrarian Politics and the American Tradition” in the book Localism in the Mass Age: A Front Porch Republic Manifesto. His article “Old Hickory, a Populist President” was published in the journal The American Conservative in the January / February 2019 issue. Nursing Professor Dr. Deb Bomgaars worked as a special contactor for the American Nurses Association (ANA) in the summer of 2018. She developed teaching materials for nursing schools related to three ANA documents: the Code of Ethics for Nurses, the Nursing Social Policy Statement, and the ANA Standards of Practice for Nursing.
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“We plan to purchase three new sleds with the money donated,” says Cheryl (Oostra, '92) Horstman, a Siouxland Adaptive Sports volunteer. “We are so grateful for the support from the Blades.”
BLADES FUNDRAISING BENEFITS SLED HOCKEY E
ach September, the Dordt Blades hockey team holds a youth hockey camp as a fundraiser for the team. In years past, the money earned has been used for anything from operational expenses to new equipment. This year, Hockey Coach Nate van Niejenhuis was pondering what to do with van Niejenhuis the proceeds from the camp, when he heard that Siouxland Adaptive Sports (SAS) was raising funds for a sled hockey team. Now a popular winter Paralympic sport, sled hockey has allowed participants with a physical disability to play ice hockey since the 1960s. Players sit on a metal frame atop two skate blades and use double-sided sticks to both propel the sleds forward and hit the puck. In November, SAS held a sled hockey game at Vernon Arena in Sioux Center. “My 12-year-old son was at the rink,” van Niejenhuis recalls. “He’s skated since he was three or four, but he’s never played with his friend Eli Horstman, because Eli can’t skate. They’ve been in church nursery together since they were little. My son got to play hockey with Eli that weekend. You always want your kids to be inclusive of others, and to see my son do that with someone who wouldn’t have had that opportunity before was kind of a big deal.” Van Niejenhuis told his team what he wanted to do with the fundraising money. “They were a bit startled at first,” he recalls with a laugh. “But there was a really positive response.”
On December 12, the Blades brought Kevin McGee, a two-time gold medalist Paralympian, to play sled hockey with the kids at Siouxland Adaptive Sports. It was a night to remember for everyone. “The sled hockey experience was one of the best of my entire hockey career,” says Blades Player Pieter Gesink. “Having the opportunity to give back to the game was something truly special. Hopefully this partnership with the Blades will continue for years to come.” “Hockey is so much fun,” says Eli Horstman, one of the children who benefited from the hockey sleds. “I like being out on the ice, and I like that other kids can try out the sleds and get some games going.”
PHOTO SUBMITTED
NEWS
Faculty Notes
Paralympian Kevin McGee
“Every year spent ice time with Eli and Mark ('92) Horstman. families have given to us in a meaningful way by showing up to our games, and now we have the opportunity to give back,” says van Niejenhuis. “That’s hockey, that’s community, and that’s kingdom citizenship. That’s what we’re doing at Dordt.” KATE HENRECKSON
AG STEWARDSHIP CENTER GETS NEW DIGS ordt’s new Agriculture Stewardship Center (ASC), a 25,000 squarefoot facility located three miles north of Sioux Center, opened this fall. It offers more space for the 160 students in Dordt’s agriculture and Pro-Tech programs to learn and grow. “Agriculture is one of our largest programs, and it desperately needed new facilities,” says Howard Wilson, vice president and chief administrative officer. “We also needed to accommodate students in our farm operations and manufacturing technology programs.” The new building has room to accommodate both agriculture and Pro-Tech students; it features a meeting area, a high-bay area for storing and fixing agriculture equipment, and a manufacturing and welding lab. “I’m most excited by what students will do and who they will impact using the tools and equipment in this space,” says Dr. Joel Sikkema, director of the Pro-Tech program. As part of their coursework, agriculture students will use the high-bay area to maintain and repair equipment for local farmers. All Pro-Tech students will use the welding room for building and repairing parts, and the manufacturing students will learn to use computer numerical control (CNC) machines to create parts. “I was excited when I first saw the welding lab out at the Ag Stewardship Center,” says Bryce Hiemstra, a second-
At the new facility, Pro-Tech and agriculture majors get to work on a variety of machines to practice what they learn in the classroom.
year Pro-Tech student. “We now have the tools to learn everything we need to know about welding before we go out into the industry.” The new building, which also includes three classrooms, a conference room, locker rooms, and a kitchen, is only the first phase planned for the building. In the future, college officials expect to add a beef mono-slope facility, an animal processing lab, and an animal science building. “Dordt students get a great foundation in all areas of agriculture,” says Gary De Vries, an agriculture professor. “The opportunities the Ag Stewardship Center offers will help our students build the skills they need to honor God through lives of service and leadership in agriculture and manufacturing.” BETHANY VAN VOORST
At the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) VI conference in Denver, Dordt won more awards than any other college or university in Iowa, including Iowa State University and University of Iowa.
NEWS
OLIVIA HELMUS (’21)
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Campus Kudos
Communication Professor Dr. Tom Prinsen led a team of student researchers in determining the average value of a toy donated to the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation this Christmas season. This is Dr. Prinsen’s third year hiring Dordt students to work on the project. Katie Kooiman, a senior education major, presented at the Frankenstein Bicentennial Undergraduate Conference at University of South Dakota in October. Her presentation was titled “From Prometheus to Zombies: The Cultural Phenomenon of the Living Dead.” A 1647 Statenbijbel has been added to the Hulst Library’s collection. The Dutch Bible was gifted to Dordt at the opening celebrations for the 400th anniversary of the Synod of Dort. In November, Rachel Jensen, a senior Spanish and social work major, gave a presentation at the Midwest Undergraduate Conference in the Humanities at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa. Titled “The Time Aberration of Languages: Divergent Thoughts on Everyday Life,” her presentation compared linguistic and cultural references to time in American English, Ugandan Swahili, and Hopi Indian languages.
OLIVIA HELMUS (’21)
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NEWS
Campus Kudos In 2018, Professor of Statistics Dr. Nathan Tintle received the Daniel Solow Author’s Award from the Mathematical Association of America. The award honors the impact Tintle's Introduction to Statistical Investigations textbook has had on undergraduate education in mathematics and statistics. Tintle was also named a fellow of the American Statistical Association for his outstanding contributions to statistics education and statistical genetics. Sarah Moss, director of marketing and communication, and Brandon Huisman, vice president for enrollment and marketing, presented “Dordt: From College to University” at the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) VI conference in Denver. Women’s and Men’s Volleyball Coach Chad Hanson presented at the 2018 American Volleyball Coaches Association Convention in Minneapolis. He spoke about how drills can improve player anticipation skills and game IQ. At the Iowa Collegiate Honor Band Festival, three students placed as first chair in their respective sections: Senior Karissa Van Surksum for trumpets, Junior Ashley Lamfers for oboes, and Senior Daniel Seaman for tubas. Parts are assigned based on director’s written recommendations. An additional six students were placed at the top of their assigned sections. Seniors Alexa Meyer and Brendan Miedema took first and second chair of second clarinet. Freshmen Janna Vanden Brink and Brianna Miedema took first and second chair of second flute. Junior Mariah Nielsen took first chair of the second saxophones. Freshman Lindsey Zuidema took first chair of the second oboes.
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DORDT TO HOST ANNUAL ENGINEERING CONFERENCE I
n July Dordt will host the 2019 “As far as we know, this is the only Christian Engineering Conference. conference in the world that is Nearly 25 years ago, Charles Adams, specifically established to engage the founder of Dordt’s engineering program, topic of engineering work as Christhelped plan the first conference followers,” Brue says. because he and others wanted to create a place where Christian engineering educators might learn from one another. Now, the conference has grown into an —Dr. Justin Vander Werff, engineering professor annual event where engineering educators, industry leaders, and practicing engineers gather And, 25 years after Charles Adams to consider what it means to view helped found the conference, his son, engineering and technology from a Mike Adams, will serve as keynote biblical perspective. speaker. Adams is CEO of Adams Thermal “We continue to look at what it means System in Canton, South Dakota. to do engineering Christianly, to develop Organizers hope that a conference technology biblically, and to use God’s like this can be an inspiring space for Word as our guide as engineers,” says engineers and other industry leaders Dr. Justin Vander Werff, an engineering to think about how their daily work is professor in charge of this year’s making a difference for God’s kingdom. conference. “We won’t find final answers this side of eternity, but it’s important “This conference helps us recognize that we keep wrestling with them.” that the keyboard-pounding we do
“We won’t find final answers this side of eternity, but it’s important that we keep wrestling with them.”
Vander Werff says that this year’s conference, which will draw more than 50 attendees, will focus primarily on what it means to be a Christian engineer in industry. “How do you walk as a disciple of Christ in day-to-day work as an engineer? How can an engineering company be a Christian company—and is that even a good question to ask?” says Vander Werff. Dr. Ethan Brue, professor of engineering, is looking forward to renewing ties with other engineers in teaching and industry at the conference.
in the office cubicle, the products we create on the manufacturing floor, and the To register for the conference, go to www. structures we christianengineering.org/ build on the conferences-events construction site can be integrally Christian enterprises,” says Vander Werff. “In fact, it helps us take joy in this recognition and to be more discerning in how God is using us each and every day.” ERIKA BUITER (‘20) AND SARAH MOSS (’10)
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tudents, faculty, and community members packed the science building lecture hall as they waited for “An Origins Conversation with Darrel Falk and Todd Wood.” The event was organized by the Science and Faith Club, a student-driven group.
Falk and Wood have recently coauthored a book, titled The Fool and the Heretic: How Two Scientists Moved Beyond Labels to a Christian Dialogue about Creation and Evolution. The book—like the panel discussion—explores how two
how ought a Christian to act? Can we reach into the other’s world to repair some of the damage done? If we can, Barrett argued, distrust and defenses become weaker. This is a miracle of the Holy Spirit.
NEWS
FOSTERING CIVIL DISCOURSE ON SCIENCE AND FAITH
KATE HENRECKSON
“Often we ask ourselves how to quickly solve a problem and get on with things. Instead, we should ask, ‘How can we be faithful while this disagreement remains?’”
“The goal of the Science and Faith Club is to encourage difficult conversations about science and faith in a safe environment,” says Brooke Altena, co-leader of the club. —Rob Barrett, director of forums and scholarship at the Colossian Forum “Dordt graduates will interact with people with different values—we should learn in college how To know whether we are addressing scientists can hold opposing views, to address them in a Christ-like manner.” these issues well, Barrett asked, “Do while maintaining Christian love and we see the fruit of the spirit in our fellowship. The two panelists presented opposing discussions? Count others as more Christian viewpoints on the question important in Christ? Or do we see a After each panelist presented his view, of human origins. Todd Wood is the hardening, a pushing away from one Barrett pointed to the venom sometimes founder of the Core Academy of Science, another?” spewed between groups who disagree. an organization devoted to helping Christians understand science from a Barrett reminded everyone that the “We have to ask if Christians have young-earth perspective. Darrel Falk discussion was happening in the another way forward,” Barrett said. is a senior adviser at BioLogos, an presence of God and asked the group to “Often we ask ourselves how to quickly organization that sees the harmony pray together prayers of praise, lament, solve a problem and get on with things. between science and biblical faith and hope. It brought six-day creationists Instead, we should ask, ‘How can we through an evolutionary understanding and Christian evolutionists together at be faithful while this disagreement of God’s creation. Mediating the panel the feet of God, in humility, realizing remains?’ While we’re in this stuck place, was Rob Barrett, director of forums and that in this life, we do not have all the are we living out Christ-like faithfulness scholarship at the Colossian Forum, an answers. to God and neighbor? Christ-like organization committed to “equipping faithfulness is not soft and cushy. It has The Science and Faith Club hopes that leaders to transform cultural conflicts hard edges. It took Jesus to a cross.” Dordt can continue to be a place where into opportunities for spiritual growth students can wrestle with how to handle When faced with deep disagreement, and witness.” sensitive or divisive topics like this with grace.
“Learning to address controversial topics in a grace-filled way is essential for us as students to become effective kingdom citizens,” says Chloe Hansum, club coleader. “It is a key way to represent Christ to others. In Ephesians, Paul calls us to be humble and patient, and to bear with one another in love. Although our differences are important, we cannot let these differences break our unity in Christ.” Sponsored by the Andreas Center and Colossian Forum, the event was also funded by a grant given to Dr. Channon Visscher, chemistry professor, by the Science and Christianity in Oxford program.
KATE HENRECKSON
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BRINGING LANDLORDS AND TENANTS TOGETHER
As public health professionals, Stephanie Van Ruler (’08) and Angela Kroeze Visser (’01) must think about social factors that have an impact on people’s health. Many of these factors relate to where people live, learn, work, and play. “Stable, safe housing is a critical underlying factor that influences health,” says Kroeze Visser, who works as a community health planner and grants manager at Sioux County Community Health Partners. She notes that between the 2000 census and 2010 census, the percentage of Sioux County residents who identify as Hispanic or Latino has grown from 2.6 percent to 8.9 percent. As the population has grown in Sioux County, so has the area’s need for stable, safe housing. Kroeze Visser, Van Ruler, and other community public health professionals have been trying to address some of the problems related to lack of housing. “In my job, I’ve encountered people who have experienced communication difficulties between tenants and landlords,” says Van Ruler, who works at Promise Community Health in Sioux Center. “Sometimes this is due to language barriers, cultural differences, or to uncommunicated expectations.” After local health care organizations and public health professionals conducted a community health needs assessment, a housing group was formed to tackle the communication problem between landlords and tenants. The solution? To create a video that explained to landlords and tenants the expectations involved with renting, how to care for properties, and how to communicate successfully with one another. After securing funding through local grants from CASA (Center for Assistance, Service, and Advocacy), the Sioux County Decategorization Planning Council, and the Sioux County Foundation, the public health professionals turned to Professor Mark Volkers and Dordt’s digital
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View the rental housing video at https://youtu.be/FnnolbWRBFE.
media program to create the video. Sally Jongsma, a CASA volunteer and retired editor of the Voice, helped draft the initial script, highlighting topics such as how to inspect a house before entering into a rental agreement, how to care for the property, and when to contact a landlord. Once the script was finalized, Volkers and two digital media majors, Jake Brouwer and Adam DeKleine, captured the footage by spending an afternoon at a local rental with a landlord and a tenant family.
my eyes,” says Van Ruler. “It was exactly what we hoped it would be.” Kroeze Visser, Van Ruler, and others have been sharing the video with local communities, including people in Sioux Center, Hawarden, and Storm Lake. They also hope to partner with churches and other non-profit organizations to spread the word about the video’s availability. Brouwer is grateful to have been part of the production process.
“We had two cameras rolling, and I directed Adam and Jake through the shot list,” says Volkers.
“This video can serve as a bridge to help people feel welcome and to help them feel a little less anxiety about where they are living,” he says.
They edited the footage and, with help from a local translator, created a Spanish voiceover that included English subtitles so landlords and tenants can watch the video side by side.
Kroeze Visser, who hopes that this video will be a practical tool for landlords and tenants, says, “If we can understand each other more clearly and be upfront about expectations, we can build relationships."
“When I saw the video, it brought tears to
SARAH MOSS (’10)
The Toughest Question about Christian Ed IN ALL THINGS E X PLORE S T HE CONCRE T E IMPLIC ATIONS OF CHRIS T’S PRE SENCE IN A L L FACE T S OF LIFE
his year I celebrated my 40th first day of school. I’ve experienced four as a public high school teacher, nine as a state university graduate student, six as a public university adjunct instructor, 13 as a student at K-12 Christian schools, one as a community college enrollee, four as a student at Christian colleges, five as a Christian college professor, and seven as a Christian college academic administrator. If you added and got more than 40, you were right; some years I was both student and educator. I’ve done school many ways and in many places, but one constant has been a question I’ve encountered repeatedly. Sometimes it has been asked with a rough edge, other times with kindness or curiosity: “Why do you want to be involved in Christian schools?”
for saving grace. We want to learn about God, his Word, and his world so we can serve him better. We want to learn to love our neighbors. These lessons are difficult to take to heart; they call for daily formation and transformation. When Christ-centered schools are at their best, they challenge us and hold us accountable for serving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. “Do you think Christian schools are safer for your children or for you as an employee?” No. Christ-centered schools equip students to be the kind of people who run toward trouble—to see the hurts of the world and try to heal, to see chaos and try to bring order, to see violence and try to bring peace. This kind of learning is vital, but I wouldn’t call it “safe.”
Why do you want to be involved in Christian schools?
My answer has developed as I’ve taught with joy in public schools, been educated by outstanding state university professors, and led a national association on behalf of K-16 educators. My answer has matured as I’ve experienced school as a parent, and it has become more nuanced through two years as a host mom for international exchange students. My answer has gained depth and grounding, too, because my daily work as an administrator in Christ-centered higher education often gives me the chance to say aloud why Christian education is so important. Here’s how the conversation typically goes these days. “Do staff and families in Christian schools think they are better than other people?” No. Christ-centered schools exist because a community of people admits that we are a mess. We need the kind of help that only God can give, and we look to Jesus Christ
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“So what are Christian schools for, then?”
a theme from the Bible. In Proverbs 11:1011, we read about a city that benefits from upstanding citizens and leaders: “When the righteous prosper, the city rejoices; when the wicked perish, there are shouts of joy. Through the blessing of the upright a city is exalted, but by the mouth of the wicked it is destroyed.” No one wants a corrupt government! In Jeremiah 29, the prophet tells the followers of God to “seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”
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For Christ-centered schools, promoting the common good is more than making life better for everyone. It is also a way to share good news. In the Old Testament, we read about the Israelites setting up stones to tell of God’s faithfulness “so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful and so that you might always fear the Lord your God” (Joshua 4). It’s a theme echoed many times in Scripture, including in Solomon’s prayer as he dedicated the temple (I Kings 8), in the Psalms (67, 145), and in the great commission that Jesus gave to his disciples and all who follow him (Matthew 28:16-20).
Christ-centered schools depend on a community of believers who deliberately educate students to learn and grow in the Lord so that they can serve the common good. Caring about the common good isn’t just a trendy saying. In “The Case for Christian Higher Education,” the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU) estimates that its institutions contribute $60 billion in economic output annually through institutional expenditures, wages, taxes, and alumni employment. Students at CCCU colleges and universities are more likely than those from other private institutions to be first-generation students and from lower-income families, and as graduates they are more likely to be employed in socially oriented fields such as human services, education, and business.
I hope that every Christ-centered school does a great job of educating students as Christ followers who live passionately, effectively, and visibly for the common good. I hope, too, that what I’ve shared rings true with what you see from our students, faculty, and communities. But I’m sure there are ways that we could do better. I hope you’ll share what you notice so that we can try to increase the impact that we have. Most importantly, I hope you know that you are welcome to join us in the mission through your participation and prayers.
The desire to advance the common good is
DR. LEAH ZUIDEMA
In All Things is a journal for critical reflection on faith, culture, art, and every ordinary-yet-graced square inch of God’s creation. We want to expand our imagination for what the Christian life— and life of the mind—can accomplish. In pursuit of this end, we will engage in conversation with diverse voices across a wide range of traditions, places, and times.
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USING COFFEE TO CONNECT Christa (Geels, ’10) and Danny Longkumer run Pilgrim’s Kitchen and Inn in Savannakhet, Laos, where Pilgrim’s Coffee is produced.
JAMIN VER VELDE (99)
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Looking for the best cup of coffee on Dordt’s campus? Stop by 55th Avenue Café in Kuyper Apartments, where you can purchase a pour-over or a pound of Laotian coffee beans, roasted and sourced by Dordt alumna-owned Pilgrim’s Coffee.
“We have a little bit of everything,” says Danny—a bed and breakfast for travelers, a café where local young people hang out and sing karaoke at night. They also own a roaster, where in 2018 they roasted three tons of coffee beans. The Longkumers’s interest in roasting coffee began after they married in 2014. “We love traveling, and purchasing coffee takes us to different parts of Laos,” says Danny. “We also found that our kitchen went through a lot of coffee, and we wanted to make sure we were serving fresh-roasted coffee beans.”
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Fortunately for the Longkumers, Laos is known for its great coffee. The country was once one of the largest opiumproducing countries in the world, but as opium has been eradicated, Laotian farmers have started growing coffee. Danny says that, although Laos does not produce as much coffee as neighboring Vietnam or India, the coffee beans they grow taste great. He often has to travel
“55th Avenue Cafe also sells Pilgrim’s Coffee by the pound for students to make in their rooms,” says Tim Klein, a business professor who directs the Business Club. “It’s a great tasting coffee.”
NON-NATIVES Christa and Danny met through mutual friends in Laos, although neither are from Laos originally. Danny grew up in Nagaland, a region of India bordering Myanmar. Christa, originally from Northwest Iowa, majored in social work at Dordt; after studying abroad in Honduras and going on an AMOR trip to Nicaragua, she developed a desire to live overseas. She moved to Laos right after graduation.
200 miles away, driving for six hours on rough roads to reach coffee farmers. Some farmers Christa and Danny work with have never tasted their own coffee. The Longkumers sell coffee at their inn, to local businesses, and to friends.
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“One of our first growers got to taste his own coffee for the first time after we roasted it and brought a cup back for
him,” says Danny. Some farmers switched from growing opium to growing coffee beans without any training. “Many didn’t know how to grow coffee properly,” says Danny. “So they would just let the coffee plants grow until the plants died.” Over the years, the farmers have learned the proper way to harvest beans, stripping the beans from the tree and then sorting them. This has resulted in a higher yield in beans and more profit for the farmers. “My social work professors taught me how to care for people, to love and help them spiritually,” says Christa. She carried that passion for helping others to Laos and into the work that she and Danny do at Pilgrim’s Kitchen and Inn.
Christa and Danny sell most of the three tons of coffee they roast in Laos, but about 100 pounds ends up at Dordt every year. Art Attema, a professor emeritus of business, started this connection; he had heard about the Longkumers and Pilgrim’s Coffee in Laos, so he contacted them and mentioned that Dordt had two coffee shops on campus that might be interested in selling Pilgrim’s Coffee. That was three years ago. Since coming to campus, Pilgrim’s Coffee has been a hit with coffee lovers.
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WHEN WEATHER WARRANTS A CAMPUS CLOSURE On January 29, Registrar Jim Bos (’85) was sitting in his office on the third floor of the Campus Center when he saw an email from Chief Administrative Officer Howard Wilson hit his inbox.
“We have gotten good feedback about our pour-over coffee options—many students appreciate the more flavorful brew they get from freshly ground beans,” says Bethany Van Eps, copresident of the Dordt Business Club, which runs the 55th Avenue Café.
“Within seconds, I heard students cheering in the Jim Bos Defender Grille,” says Bos. “I didn’t need to read the email to know what the cheering was about.”
“We are proud to be connected with Dordt,” says Danny. “Through Pilgrim’s Coffee, we are able to employ eight people and give them economic stability. We help farmers grow better coffee. And Dordt’s partnership helps us to make a big impact in people’s lives.”
Wilson’s email to campus stated that, based on the forecast of severe winter weather with a risk of frostbite, Dordt would be closed all day on Wednesday, January 30. Wind chills were supposed to drop as low as -40 degree Fahrenheit.
SARAH MOSS ('10)
BETHANY VAN VOORST
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Approximately 95 percent of Laotian coffee is grown in the Bolaven Plateau, which is 800 to 1,300 meters above sea level.
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One memorable storm occurred on April 11, 2013, when heavy snow caused many tree branches to break. Despite the bad weather, classes went on.
“Record cold was predicted, when you take into account the air temperature and wind chill,” says Bos. “When Fahrenheit and Celsius equal each other, you know it’s cold.” To say that closing Dordt’s campus on January 30 was unusual would be an understatement. Over the years there have been a few late starts and early outs, but not a hard close. January 30 was the first time since the Rec Center opened in 1997 that its doors were locked during regular hours. January 30 was also the first time in many years that faculty and staff were essentially told to stay home on what should have been a normal day at the office. The last recorded closure Dordt’s archivist could find was in 1983, when classes were canceled the Monday after Thanksgiving break because a blizzard kept students
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from returning on time. In fact, Dordt has a reputation among alumni, students, and the community for never closing. Until January 30. In his six years at Dordt, Wilson has become known for his weather advisory emails, which he typically H. Wilson sends out 24 hours before a storm is expected to hit. “Students have told me, ‘Mr. Wilson, I don’t bother to read your emails. I know you’re just going to tell me we’re having school anyway,’” quips Wilson. But Wilson’s emails are helpful alerts signaling that the administrative cabinet is seriously considering pending weather conditions. The day before a predicted storm, cabinet members, maintenance
staff, and the registrar’s staff look at the weather forecasts and consider what the public safety agencies are recommending. Then they make the final call. “Our primary concern is for student and faculty safety,” says Wilson. One reason Dordt rarely closes is because Dordt is a highly residential campus. “Most of our students are within walking distance of the classrooms,” says Wilson. “The challenge for us is getting faculty and staff to work.” In the past, most faculty and staff lived within walking distance of campus; now, more live in Rock Valley, Sanborn, and beyond, which can make winter travel more dangerous. Current and past students went to great lengths to try to get class canceled. In an
attempt to cancel classes on January 30, Northwestern College and Dordt students banded together to start Change.org petitions for their respective institutions.
Efforts to get class cancelled have happened before.
Another prank lives on in campus lore: Did a student actually impersonate President B.J. Haan to call a local radio station to cancel class? “My recollection is pretty clear that it actually happened,” says Al Kosters (’65).
When classes were canceled on January 30, students found creative ways to spend their time. “In the evening, a group of friends organized a potluck in Kuyper Loft,” says Jonathan Fictorie, a senior. “We enjoyed fellowship over homemade soup, macaroni and cheese, and tacos. Then we played games into the night.” Junior Emily Wicker says she worked on homework and went to a Bible study. Erika Buiter, a junior who commutes to Dordt from Ireton, says she put laundry away and read for her English classes. Junior Kaysha Steiger tried to get ahead on homework, relaxed, and just hung out with friends.
OLIVIA HELMUS (’21)
“Back in 1974 or 1975 when I was working the evening shift at KDCR, someone claiming to be Dean Ribbens called in and asked me to announce over the air that Dordt’s classes would be cancelled the next day,” says Stan Pilon (’75). “I fell for it until the real Dean Ribbens called and told me I’d been pranked. I’ve never figured out who did it, but I’d like to.”
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“We helped you, now you should help us,” said one Dordt student on the Northwestern petition. Wilson says that the petition did not have an impact on the final decision to close, particularly since a number of the signatories were not Dordt students.
Jason Van Zee (’05) remembers seeing a -55 degree Fahrenheit wind chill during his senior year. “And, on a different occasion, we had terrible ice, and maintenance set up a rope handrail from East Hall to the classroom building,” he says.
The last recorded closure Dordt’s archivist could find was over 35 years ago.
One snowy Sunday evening in 1962, a group of guys were hanging out in a basement apartment at a professor’s house. Someone mentioned that it would be nice if class would be canceled the next day because of the weather. Someone decided to call the local radio station. Kosters can’t remember who, exactly.
“What I do remember is class was canceled, the storm blew over, and it turned out to be a pretty nice day,” recalls Kosters. Other alumni remember times when they had to persevere despite bad weather. Gregg Zonnefeld (’92) remembers how, on the last day of exams in December 1989, it was so cold that almost no cars started. “Maintenance spent their day dragging cars to the maintenance building to jump them so all of us could get home,” says Zonnefeld.
“I stopped by Dordt that afternoon, and I counted seven students—one in basketball shorts—who were studying in the Campus Center,” says Wilson. “We do believe there were some Buffalo Wild Wings trips that were scheduled, too.” Despite what happened on January 30, Wilson and Bos say that students shouldn’t expect canceling classes to become a common practice. “Closing campus is complex, and we don’t make that decision lightly,” says Bos. “I wouldn’t expect a replay. But when it’s so cold that being outside for a matter of minutes runs the risk of frostbite, we need to be careful.” SARAH MOSS (’10)
It can take Covenant Hall residents up to 10 minutes to walk to the other side of campus.
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KATE HENRECKSON
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FAREWELL TO THE NEW WORLD
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“How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world that has such people in’t!”
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-William Shakespeare, The Tempest
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Dordt students, faculty, and alumni remember the New World Theatre
A BLACK BOX A large square room with black concrete block walls and no decorations or adornment held memories for hundreds of students and their theatre professors for the past 60 years. This year, it housed its last production; it will soon transition into a nursing department facility. “The New World Theatre, often referred to as a ‘black box,’ gave students the opportunity to decide what type of playing space they would want,” says Dr. Verne Meyer, one of Dordt’s first theatre professors. “That’s why the walls and ceilings were black.” Within a black box, students can create a proscenium (the traditional stage, separate from the audience), a thrust stage (where the stage comes forward into the audience), galley staging (where the audience is on either side of the stage), or an arena stage—also called theatre in the round (where the audience is wrapped around). Plugs cover the ceiling so that lighting can be adapted to use with any of these staging formats. “On its own it’s just a black box, but when you put a group of 15 people in the space, their creativity can turn it into a meadow with a running stream,” says Teresa Ter Haar, theatre professor at Dordt. “It’s like this clean palette.” The first time senior theatre arts major Jalyn Vander Wal stepped into the New World Theatre she thought it was a boring black room. But as she attended shows and saw a variety of stage setups within the black box, she began to realize that you could do whatever you wanted with it. “The possibilities are endless,” says Vander Wal. This versatility made New World Theatre a great learning space. During four years on campus, students often work in two to three different configurations—whether acting, designing sets or lighting, or just viewing theatre.
The 1979 production of Purpaleanie followed poet Sietze Bruning’s life from Sioux County to Grand Rapids. According to a 1979 Diamond review, “Verne Meyer accomplishes a presentation touching the life of any human who has wrestled with maturing in a tradition-oriented environment.”
Jeri (Brower, ’67) Schelhaas, an instructor emerita of theatre, says, “To create an imaginative world in a neutral space like a black box is a lovely challenge.”
and generating patrons of theatre. But Koldenhoven’s greatest contribution came in 1977. The college was adding academic departments, but theatre was
“On its own it’s just a black box, but when you put a group of 15 people in the space, their creativity can turn it into a meadow with a running stream.” —Dr. Teresa Ter Haar, theatre professor
THE NEW WORLD IS BORN The New World Theatre began its life as a gymnasium and lecture hall. Plays were put on there as a co-curricular activity and were directed by Deborah Haan, wife of Dordt’s first president, B.J. Haan. In 1963, James Koldenhoven was hired to teach English and direct plays. Koldenhoven helped the theatre program flourish, bringing in visiting companies
still a co-curricular activity. He recalls going into President Haan’s office, holding his contract, and with a daring glint in his eyes, saying, “Look, I want theatre to be a major, or I’m leaving.” Haan agreed but wanted to make sure the program would be consistent with the college’s vision. “So, we met every week for three months,” Koldenhoven says. “It was all
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the brains at the college and me, a farm boy with a Ph.D. in theatre. We talked and talked. When I finally put together the results and presented a proposal to Haan, he made it happen.” Koldenhoven immediately hired Meyer and Technical Director Mike Stair. A year later, Shirley Mathies was hired as costumer. With the new program came the need for new space. The gymnasium was transformed. Meyer, who had experience with black box theatres, led the design process. A wall cut the space in half, creating a scene shop on one side and a black box on the other. A light grid on the ceiling and a bridge that rolled along it with the push of a button made New World Theatre complete. Now it needed a name. “I named that theatre,” Koldenhoven says with a smile. “It’s a quotation from Shakespeare’s The Tempest: ‘Oh brave new world!’ After 10 years in that small gymnasium, it was a brave new world to have our own theatre. But more importantly, with New World, we were able to do some experimental theatre and try out new scripts.”
In 2009, The Caucasian Chalk Circle premiered on the New World Theatre stage. The play follows a peasant girl who rescues a baby and becomes a better parent than the child’s biological parents.
Theatre has been a hub for student work. While many Christian colleges have a mainstage theatre for faculty-directed shows, it’s rare to have a facility where undergraduates can propose and direct a full production.
“We wanted a place that was totally versatile, that would help us think of the dramatic space as an aesthetic world— hence, ‘new world,’” says Meyer. “You take a piece of literature and then design a playing space that supports and explores the ideas within that story. That decision could be made with every production that was staged in the New World.”
“I’ve appreciated the opportunity to do design work,” says senior Aidan Bender. “I love that Dordt is just the right size to offer such hands-on experiences to students.”
A SPACE FOR STUDENT WORK Since it opened in 1977, the New World DORDT ARCHIVES
“We say to our students, ‘Here’s the space, here’s the budget, here’s a support team of faculty who will listen to you and offer suggestions, but we won’t tell you what to do or how to do it,’” says Ter Haar. “Almost every student who has proposed a project has been able to do it.” One of Technical Director Laura (Berkompas, ’06) Andersen’s favorite parts of teaching is facilitating student work in the New World. “There’s something rewarding about seeing a student show go from a concept in a meeting to a fully-fledged production,” she says. “Seeing them have those ‘aha’ moments in the process, seeing their interest bloom and grow, and giving them a chance to do it is fantastic.”
A Prison Called Freedom debuted in 2017. Written by Kyle Fosse (’17), the satirical musical follows Mortimer and Liesel, who seek to understand what freedom means. Along the way, they meet characters who randomly break into song and dance.
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“My favorite times were the studentdirected plays,” recalls Meyer. “The theatre was designed to facilitate dialogue between audience and actors. Often after our plays we’d serve coffee, and people could sit and talk about the theatre and the design.”
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“We sometimes would invite an audience so we could allow students to do edgier work, stuff that challenged them as artists,” says Schelhaas. “We were training professionals; we wanted them to learn how to draw lines for themselves, to ask, ‘How does this show help this community to deal with this issue?’” During his senior year, for example, Ethan Koerner (’05) wrote and directed a puppet play called Death Song. The central theme was dealing with cancer. A fellow student who was part of the theatre program had recently died after a fight with cancer. The play, in some ways, was a means for the community to process that grief together.
A SPACE FOR PERSONAL GROWTH But it wasn’t only academic work that happened in the New World; students grew personally. “It’s not just about the plays or the stories you tell in that space,” says Ter Haar. “It’s about the relationships that are forged between casts and crews, between audience and story, between cast members and audience. That’s what makes live theatre so powerful. And in a space like the New World, it’s even more powerful because it’s intimate.”
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“The New World was pretty much the
In 2012, theatre students were challenged to write, rehearse, and make a performance-ready play for the Dordt community in 128 hours. As Brittany Arkema (’12) stated in a Diamond article, “The goal was to stretch participants and reveal what great things they could accomplished in a week.”
central hub of theatre for us,” recalls Nathan Sparks (’14). “We did everything in there—auditions, rehearsals, meetings, set building and designing, studentdirected one-acts, senior shows. A sense of family and community developed while being in theatre. Everyone was involved, from the newest freshman to the most experienced senior.” When alumni share what they most appreciated about their theatre education at Dordt, they often mention the influence of their professors.
The 1987 production of Before Breakfast made full use of the New World Theatre stage.
talents to glorify God.” “Acting with Jeri Schelhaas changed my life,” says Laurel (Alons, ’06) Koerner. “Jeri was so conscious of the atmosphere in the room and of sustaining an atmosphere that included everybody
“There's something rewarding about seeing a student show go from a concept in a meeting to a fully-fledged production.” —Laura Andersen, technical director
“Jim and Verne were wonderful professors who were transformational,” says Kathy (Powell, ’89) Fictorie. “I probably learned the most from Verne about what it means to be Reformed, to know that being a Christian encompasses every square inch. You don’t have to do Christian plays, you have to do plays Christianly, in a way that uses your
equally, encouraging bravery and thoughtful reflection, and nurturing us into freedom. I wasn’t just learning about acting, I was learning about myself. As a professor now, there are many days when I think to myself, ‘What would Jeri do?’”
MOVING FORWARD, REMEMBERING THE PAST Today, in a field beyond the Science
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JAMIN VER VELDE (’99)
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and Technology Center, a new theatre building is under construction. It, too, will include a black box like the New World Theatre, one that will be bigger and will include new technology. The lighting and soundboards will be reused, but there will be a fixed control booth, making backstage work easier. Eventually, the campus plan puts the theatre department adjacent to the music building, allowing for more collaboration between music and theatre. For Laurel Koerner, who will start teaching in the theatre department in the fall, the change in space is both exciting and sad. “I don’t know what Dordt theatre is without the New World,” she says. “It’s exciting to have new things on the horizon for the program, and I think it will yield great things. But it’s sad to say goodbye.”
The old stage, which is where many of Dordt’s earliest productions took place, was still visible backstage at the New World Theatre. Old play decorations and props lined the walls.
“When you are in the New World Theatre, you can feel how old the space is,” says Bender. “The electronics room used to be a locker room; there’s still a drain in the floor under the carpet and the floor slopes to one —Jeri Schelhaas, instructor emerita of theatre arts and English side. In the cabinets are items from 30 years ago. no space on campus that has been Notes from past generations describe designated for one thing longer than how things run. It’s cool knowing that the New World Theatre has for theatre. some college student from years ago, There’s something about the spirit of a now likely a parent or grandparent, left place—standing in this spot where people me a note telling me how this light for 60 years have been doing theatre and works.” thinking about who came before and what was said and acted here.” When asked what will be missed about the New World, Schelhaas’ voice shows She smiles. “I still remember my first emotion. “Space is memory. It’s lifeline, when I walked out on that stage. changing moments. I think there’s
“Space is memory. It’s life-changing moments. I think there’s
JAMIN VER VELDE (’99)
no space on campus that has been designated for one thing longer than the New World Theatre has for theatre.” ‘Oh Earnest! It’s only you. I thought there was someone here.’ And I remember my last line, from The Crucible. “‘He has his goodness now, God forbid I take it from him.’” “I’m devoted to the mission of Dordt, and the theatre department has maintained that mission well,” Schelhaas adds. “Verne would grill the kids about a Reformed view of theatre, and a kingdom vision. When I would teach other classes, I found that the theatre students could articulate the vision of the college better than anybody.” Fictorie hopes this vision will continue to hold strong as the theatre department moves into a new phase of existence. “The vision that has always been at Dordt—about how we are called to transform the world that we live in, to bring about the in-breaking of the kingdom—I hope that vision never gets diluted. That is what Dordt is all about.”
In early February, the theatre department invited the Dordt community to say goodbye to the New World Theatre. The new building is slated to open in summer of 2019.
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KATE HENRECKSON
From yearlong student teaching opportunities to a cohort model for seniors, the education program finds ways to set education majors up for post-Dordt success.
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RISE AND SHINE
Anna Christians has had a busy senior year. During the fall semester, she co-taught first grade at Sioux Center Christian School in the morning and took Dordt classes in the afternoon. She spent most evenings creating lesson plans, doing homework, and trying to keep some semblance of a social life. As she started the spring semester and began working full days in her student teaching internship, she was thankful for that fall busyness. “When I showed up at Sioux Center Christian after Christmas break, I knew my teacher and my class,” she says. “Because I was already teaching last semester, I felt like I could hit the ground running.” Christians is participating in the professional development school (PDS) program, a year-long student teaching opportunity. From teaching her first lesson plan to experiencing how rambunctious students can be between Thanksgiving and Christmas break, the extra semester’s worth of teaching has given her valuable experience.
JAMIN VER VELDE (’99)
“I’ve been applying for jobs, and administrators have asked me questions about what I would do if a student behaved in a certain way,” says Christians. “I’ve been able to look at what I’ve encountered with PDS and have an example to pull from.” PDS is just one of the ways Dordt education faculty set education majors up for post-Dordt success. Rather than taking a traditional approach to student teaching, education faculty have structured PDS and other student teaching opportunities in a way that makes student interns feel better supported by faculty. And the schools where students do their teaching
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FROM SINK OR SWIM TO RISE AND SHINE
JAMIN VER VELDE (’99)
feel that they’re benefiting from the collaboration.
The traditional student teaching model was akin to being thrown into the deep end of a swimming pool, says Director of Student Teaching Dr. Ed Starkenburg. “It’s what we used to call ‘sink or swim,’” he says. “You’re thrown into teaching and hope it works.” In the past, a senior education major student teaching in a fifth-grade classroom would show up to class the first week and observe as the lead teacher went through lesson plans, answered questions, and kept the class on track. During the second week, the teacher would step back, and the student E. Starkenburg teacher would take charge of the classroom. Sometimes they would take on one subject at a time, adding social studies, then mathematics, then science. “It is the opposite of slowly working with the student teacher to get them to the point of confidence,” says Dr. Barb Hoekstra, an education professor and PDS co-director.
“PDS has helped me to build relationships with the students in my class,” says Anna Christians. “Once you have relationships with the kids, your teaching is going to go so much farther.”
extended experience where they can see how the school year begins and ends— better prepares them for the profession and increases the likelihood they will stay.”
So, Dordt’s education faculty have shifted This approach can have long-term to a co-teaching model, both in the PDS consequences if students have limited chances to put the skills they’ve learned in their first three years into practice in a classroom. Starkenburg says that, depending on who you listen to, the likelihood that a teacher — Dr. Ed Starkenburg, education professor will leave the profession within their first five years program and in the more traditional oneis between 30 and 50 percent. semester student teaching experience. “Some of the reasons people give are Through co-teaching, the student teacher they weren’t prepared well, and they works with a mentor teacher to plan, didn’t realize how much work teaching assess, and teach courses together, might be,” says Starkenburg. “We believe sometimes breaking the class into that more experience—particularly an groups, sometimes working one-on-one
“What the research shows—what
really convinced us to follow this model—is that co-teaching not only helps college students, it helps the K-12 students’ achievement.”
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with students, sometimes individually teaching the whole class. “What the research shows—what really convinced us to follow this model—is that co-teaching not only helps college See page 29 for a students, it helps graphic on how the the K-12 students’ education department achievement,” has broadened its sphere of influence says Starkenburg. over the years. “And the mentor teachers—the experienced teachers that students are paired with—say they learn through the process as well.”
ED DEPT.
For Anna Christians and her mentor teacher, Reba Marra, the co-teaching model within PDS has worked well. Christians follows the school's firstgrade curriculum to plan lessons and then goes through what she’s planned with Marra. This semester, as a full-time student teacher, Christians splits some of the afternoon activities with Marra and teaches courses she wasn’t around for
feel support from,” he says.
“So today, my mentor teacher showed me what she would usually do with the students and then tasked me with planning the lessons. I’ll review my lessons with her and talk with her about questions I have.”
So, the faculty decided to limit the nonlocal placements and, when students went to far-flung schools, they instituted a cohort model so that student teachers would have at least one fellow student teacher nearby. Currently there are cohorts in Chicago, Southern California, and a few international locations, with possibilities of growth in other places.
From there, Christians and Marra will collaborate to teach the class. Although Christians relies heavily on her mentor teacher, she feels she has the right amount of independence to be able to grow as an educator.
“In Southern California, we are working
“Our students continue to
say, ‘Can we please have more experience?’ PDS gives them a full-year experience.”
better prepared for the classroom, and principals who interview them say these students show more experience and have deeper insights.”
SUPPORTED FROM AFAR
“On the first day of student teaching, Dr. Kornelis emailed all of her non-local student teachers to let us know that she was there for us and was willing to answer any questions we have,” says Kooiman. “I know I can email any of my education professors and that they’ll give me support.” Kooiman lives with Rachel Roerig, a senior elementary education major who is teaching at Arrowhead Christian Academy Lower School. “I can’t imagine student teaching without her,” says Kooiman. “She has been able to relate to the joys and struggles of fulltime teaching. Rachel is a great listener— she’s always willing to hear about my day and offer advice.” From building relationships with students to being relaxed in the classroom, student teaching has been a growing experience for Kooiman.
JAMIN VER VELDE (’99)
The PDS program Christians is part of is fairly unique; in the state of Iowa, only one other college offers a similar experience. PDS is one of the reasons why students like —Dr. Ed Starkenburg, education professor Christians choose to attend Dordt. Starkenburg says PDS with two schools, with two studentstudents are more likely to understand teachers in each school,” explains the profession and more likely to be Starkenburg. “Dr. Pat Kornelis, our nonsuccessful first-year teachers. local supervisor, will make two or three “Our students continue to say, ‘Can we trips to spend time with them.” please have more experience?’ PDS Katie Kooiman, a secondary education gives them a full-year experience,” major studying English and Teaching says Starkenburg. “They report feeling
English as a Second Language, is participating in the Southern California cohort. She is currently in Redlands, California, at Arrowhead Christian Academy Upper School, teaching ESL from January until March and teaching American literature, language, and psychology classes from March until May.
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last semester, including Bible.
Not all education majors are able to participate in the PDS program, however. For those whose schedules only allow them to student teach for one semester, the education department has incorporated some of the features of PDS into the semester program. When he first began working at Dordt 14 years ago, Starkenburg says many students taught across the country and around the world. A Dordt supervisor visited once or twice a semester to check on their progress. “Students told us they missed having the support of a Dordt professor and not having peers to commiserate with and Christians works alongside her mentor teacher to meet the diverse needs of her students. They find ways to celebrate, too—such as the 100th day of class.
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JAMIN VER VELDE (’99)
“I feel that I understand the amount of love teachers must have for their students,” says Kooiman. “Most importantly, I’ve realized the amount of grace teachers must have with their students, colleagues, and themselves.”
EXPERIENCE, EXPERIENCE, EXPERIENCE It’s the experience, of course, whether in a full year of PDS or one semester, that makes student teaching so valuable. In their education classes, majors learn how to craft lesson plans, glean content knowledge, and manage a classroom, but these concepts often don’t make complete sense until students take on the role of teacher. “In the classroom they get to plan the lesson, teach, and then reflect on what went well and what didn’t,” Starkenburg says. “They start to think like a teacher.” But even as education majors are teaching real students with needs, gifts, and challenges, they are still real students with real needs. Christians recalls how she felt when her elementary students were discouraged when something did not go as planned; she found this disheartening and wanted to help them. “I thought, ‘We need to work on developing a growth mindset—if we make mistakes, we can learn from them and grow,’” recalls Christians. So, she turned to her Dordt supervisor, Dr. Gwen Marra, for help. Marra suggested a book to read and talked Christians through some themes she might use to stimulate a growth mindset conversation. “I did what she suggested, and it worked super well,” says Christians.
classroom,” Hoekstra says. Being on-call, creating community from afar, and providing students with as much experience as they can are all ways Dordt’s education faculty are helping students feel set up for success once they graduate and start working in a classroom of their own.
“I thought, ‘We need to work on developing a growth mindset— if we make mistakes, we can learn from them and grow.’” — Anna Christians, education major
Nurturing such relationships between Dordt supervisors and student teachers is intentional. “There’s a sense that the supervisors are on call—whenever students need us. They have our cell phone numbers and can reach us if there’s a problem in the
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“I really appreciate my professors. They are so willing to invest in the education majors and make sure that, when we’re in class, we’re engaged and learning,” says Christians.
she was asked questions such as how would she deal with a misbehaving child or what she’d do if students weren’t completing their classwork on time. Thanks to PDS, Christians was able to provide examples from her experience. The stories she told brought her responses to life and gave the administrators a sense of who she would be as a teacher. Before the interview was over, Christians had been offered a teaching position. “I know the PDS program was a huge reason they were confident to offer me a job,” she says. Christians is grateful for the experiences she’s had at Dordt.
“We hear from principals all the time that they want good teachers. We’re committed to doing what we can to help our education majors be those good teachers,” says Starkenburg.
“The education department took me from a college freshman with dreams of becoming a teacher to a student teacher with a job secured for next year. I feel incredibly supported by the Dordt community.”
For Christians, the added experience has paid off. In a recent job interview,
SARAH MOSS (’10)
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“Through Christian education, people can be equipped to walk into the world with confidence and to engage with thoughtfulness, humility, grace, and mercy with an eye toward justice,” says Steve Blom, who works with these Deer Creek Christian School students.
CACE
CHRISTIAN EDUCATION REIMAGINED CACE, Dordt’s Center for the Advancement of Christian Education, began with a question: How can we make Christian schools better—how can they be places of real transformation? In 2013, Dr. Timothy Van Soelen, an education professor, and nearly 45 other school leaders gathered in Provo, Utah, for two days to talk about that question. Six months later, when the group gathered again in Washington, D.C., T. Van Soelen Van Soelen proposed setting up a consulting group that would work alongside Christian schools who are committed to teaching from a biblical perspective. Van Soelen felt that Dordt, known for its excellent
undergraduate education program and reputable master of education program, was well-equipped to take on such an effort. With help from the Sid and Carol Verdoorn Foundation, Van Soelen helped start CACE as a way to provide opportunities to Christian schools in need. “I’m an education junkie, and there’s no better opportunity to walk alongside schools to help them become sustainable and flourish than with CACE,” says Van Soelen, who now serves as director of CACE.
CACE works through cohorts—groups of eight schools that collaborate with each other for two years. The cohorts focus on five areas: marketing and enrollment management, teaching and learning, board governance and team leadership, culture and climate, and strategic financial planning. To work with these cohorts, CACE employs fellows— education professionals who have expertise in at least one of the five areas of focus—to consult with the schools. “We look at their website, their curriculum, their schedules, the
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BETHANY VAN VOORST
FEATURES
leadership roles. We visit classrooms and talk with parents, administrators, board members,” says Dr. Barb Hoekstra, a CACE fellow and Dordt education professor. “It’s an interesting process; you know very little about the school at the start, and then after three days, you have a sense of their strengths and weaknesses, what’s going on with enrollment, what physical changes need to happen on their campus.” The CACE fellows then present their findings to the school board. “We are honest about what we see so that the board can determine how CACE might help the school,” says Hoekstra. CACE offers resources in areas such as hiring administrators and changing advertising tactics. As members of a cohort, the leaders of the eight schools also gather at in-person conferences or through video conference calls to network, problem-solve, share ideas, and grow in their understanding of educational practices. “The schools we work with have strong leaders, and we know that investing in them will ultimately be a good return on our investment,” says Van Soelen.
PUTTING CACE INTO PRACTICE One of the schools in CACE’s initial cohort was Deer Creek Christian School in Chicago Heights, Illinois. Then-Interim Principal Steve Blom (’01) heard about CACE while visiting Sioux Center in 2014. Blom says that, at the time, Deer Creek was isolated as a school. Steve Blom “It had been a wellfunctioning school run by a church, but then the church left,” explains Blom. “There was significant turnover in leadership, and enrollment was declining. There were shifts in population as white families moved out of the area and black families moved in. It was all happening very rapidly.”
Blom called Van Soelen to talk with him about Deer Creek. Van Soelen invited Deer Creek to be part of the first cohort.
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“Christian education can prepare students for a life of service, and it should prepare them to be wise and tender toward the world,” says Barb Hoekstra.
“The value of CACE was having a group of experts who were committed to Christian education who were willing to come in and learn with us,” says Blom. “They didn’t come in with a rubric of what needed to be done. They asked all the right questions that we needed to ask ourselves.” For Blom and Deer Creek’s school board, one of those questions related to board structure. By working with CACE, Deer Creek rethought the role of the board. “Because of the challenges we were facing, the board was heavily involved in daily activities such as approving when concerts or field trips took place,” says Blom. Typically, the school board’s primary role is to look to the future of the institution, and a principal or head of school focuses on the day-to-day activities. CACE also helped Deer Creek conduct a board evaluation to come to an understanding of what a healthy board might look like. “We reviewed our policies and governance structures so that the board could become more policy-driven,” says Blom. “Then we were able to hire the right people to lead the daily work of the
school.” Deer Creek hired Brian Verwolf (’11) as head of school, and the restructured board began to focus on long-term efforts. Over time, the school’s retention rate increased, and they became more financially stable. As head of school, Verwolf spent his time connecting with parents, students, and teachers; Blom transitioned to director of development, talking with donors, supporters, and friends about Deer Creek’s mission and vision. “I will always speak highly of CACE and the approach they take to helping schools,” says Blom. “They want schools to think about what it means to do Christian education well. It was a remarkable experience for us at Deer Creek.”
CACE 2.0 After four years of collaborating with schools across the country, Van Soelen says CACE has moved into CACE 2.0, using the cohort model even more intentionally. CACE is currently conducting a legal audit with nine schools in California and partnering
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EDUCATION
UNDERGRADUATE DEPARTMENT
GRADUATE STUDIES
COTEACHING MODEL PDS
STUDENT TEACHING
CACE
CENTER FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF CHRISTIAN EDUCATION
TFT
TEACHING FOR TRANSFORMATION • Storylines • Throughlines • FLEx
Dordt is known for its expertise in education. The education office’s sphere of influence has steadily grown over the years, from a fully online M.Ed. program to the Teaching of Transformation framework.
with a school lawyer to address hiring procedures, student and board handbooks, school policies, and more. The organization wants to equip schools for challenges that might lie ahead for faith-based institutions. They expect to offer the legal audit to other schools in the future. Van Soelen says CACE is also increasing the time it spends on research and advocacy. They help schools apply research, alerting them to current data and new educational trends that can help them make informed decisions. And Van Soelen regularly attends conferences and presentations so that he can interact with school administrators and leaders. This summer, CACE is hosting a conference in Washington, D.C., where researchers, policy experts, and thought leaders will discuss what it means to be engaged in advocacy and policy for faith-based schools. Another new focus for CACE has been Teaching for Transformation (TfT), a
biblical framework for teaching and learning built on three core practices for the classroom. First, the school adopts a storyline to invite students into God’s story of creation, fall, redemption, and restoration. For example, at Sioux Center Christian School, first graders focus on the storyline of “seeing God in big and little things.” When studying insects, they pay attention to the parts of an insect— the “little things”—and then consider the purpose of insects, how sin has affected insects, and what restoration might look like—the “big things.”
The third core practice within TfT is called FLEx, a formative learning experience where students engage in something outside the classroom walls. “Our saying is, ‘real work with real people that meets a real need,’” says Van Soelen. “It’s doing something that contributes to an audience beyond their teacher or parent, an audience capable of critiquing their work.” For example, a student, having learned about gardening in science class, asks if she can start a garden at school. FLEx enables students to live what they learned in the classroom.
Second, they identify biblical “throughlines” that weave through the Bible and the school’s curriculum.
TAKING TFT TO THE CLASSROOM
“Throughlines identify who we want students to be—things like, ‘God worshipper, beauty creator, justice seeker, community builder,’” says Van Soelen. If schools truly want students to embody these characteristics, he says, students need to be able to practice them already in school.
Schools interested in adopting TfT spend three years working with CACE. During the first year, a school designer takes the school through training modules and also has teachers spend time with other TfT schools. During the second year, one third of the staff begin to incorporate TfT in their teaching, supported by visits
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from the school designer throughout the school year. Finally, in the third year, the early adopters each work with two or three teachers in their school to help them use the TfT framework. “It’s a slow change because we want it to be a lasting change,” says Van Soelen. Although CACE has only been working with TfT for a few years, schools are already seeing its benefits. Sioux Center Christian School’s Head of School Josh Bowar says Teaching for Transformation gave the school the framework and training they needed to take Christian education to the next level. “Teaching is hard work and teaching from a Christian perspective is even harder work. It needs to come from who you are as a person, from deep reflection, from application of God’s word, from making connections with students,” says Bowar. “TfT has given our teachers tools to be able to do that well.” Bowar says that, for many years, Christian schools like Sioux Center Christian have assumed that their teachers were teaching Christianly because they were Christians. “Students saw varying levels of worldview integration from classroom to classroom. We were not as intentional as we could have been about what happens in each classroom,” says Bowar. “Among other things, TfT has provided a shared framework and vocabulary that allows us to better fulfill our mission and the promises we make to parents when they enroll children at our schools.”
CACE’s commitment to “walk alongside Christian schools committed to teaching from a biblical perspective” has become even more timely today. As views on education have shifted and education costs have increased, some wonder about the value of a Christian education, given today’s cultural climate and changing perspectives. Blom wondered these same things when he first moved to the southside of Chicago. Although he had attended Christian schools from elementary school through college, he says he felt ambivalent about Christian education when he looked at his new community.
Tricia Van Regenmorter (’15) teaches kindergarten at Deer Creek Christian School.
describes how Sioux Center Christian first graders talked about “seeing God in big and little things” through social studies. They looked at the concept of relationships and how humans are created to interact with one another. The teacher examines this from a first-grade perspective. When disagreements happen on the playground or when someone is mean, how is this an example of the fall? How do we restore broken relationships?
“What fills me up every day are parents who experience Christcentered education done well for the first time, and they turn around and say, ‘This is so good. We want to be part of this.’”
If we believe that teaching from a — Steve Blom, Deer Creek Christian School development director Christian perspective is important, Bowar says, then school Every week, the first graders visit Franken administrators, parents, and other Manor, a senior living and hospice supporters need to do everything facility, to serve others through what possible to help our teachers do that they are learning about relationships. The effectively. first graders have learned how to carry on conversations with the residents, As an example of how TfT helps students enriching their lives through these to feel part of God’s story, Bowar conversations.
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CHRISTIAN EDUCATION FOR ALL
“Only certain people could afford Christian education, or you had to go to the right church to be part of it,” says Blom. “We must commit to making Christian education available to everyone who desires it; I believe that’s the best reflection of the gospel, particularly in communities that are going through transition.” When he and his wife chose to enroll their daughter in Deer Creek Christian School, he made a commitment to “Christian education for all” as a school board member, as interim principal, and later as director of development. “I see Christian education as an opportunity to show that Christ is in all things,” says Blom. “Students are created in a unique way and their gifts and talents should be shared with one another, impacting the kingdom here and now.” Blom is grateful for the ways CACE helped him and the Deer Creek Christian School educators recalibrate their board structure and refocus their efforts so that they can thrive and, in doing so, reach more people who want a Christian education. “What fills me up every day are parents who experience Christ-centered education done well for the first time, and they turn around and say, ‘This is so good. We want to be part of this,’” says Blom. “It’s also a huge responsibility, and CACE has helped us to do it well.” SARAH MOSS (’10)
HOPING FOR SPRING inter in the Midwest is an investment—a long-term commitment that often requires more than most of us care to admit. On the best days, it simply requires patience. And on the worst, it requires all of the strength we have. We put our hope in spring. We dream of warmer temperatures, longer days, green grass, and brightly colored Easter dresses even as the thermometer plunges once again into temperatures that should really only be read about. Spring demands that we believe in the promise of what the calendar says is now but what the
ALUMNI NOTES Please send news of your alumni gatherings, professional accomplishments, civic participation, and volunteer activities. We'd love to include them on our pages. In the late 1960s, a group of Dordt students began a tradition of making a yearly fishing trip to Dead Lake, Minnesota, during their four years at Dordt. These students included Jim Den Ouden, Gaylen VanderLugt, Cal Groen, Howard Walhof, Don Dykstra, Dennis Baas, and Jim Martinus, all 1968 graduates. Forty-nine years later in 2017, these eight friends spent a week at Morning Star Resort on Lake Andrusia in Minnesota, sharing a lifetime of stories and memories. Scott Pryor (’76) is spending the spring 2019 semester in India on his second Fulbright grant. Pryor is posted to National Law University-Delhi and will conduct research into the implementation of India’s new insolvency and bankruptcy code. Pryor teaches U.S. bankruptcy law and other subjects at the Campbell University School of Law in Raleigh, North Carolina. In June, Dr. Lloyd VanderKwaak (’78) retired as president and CEO of ChildServe, an organization helping children with healthcare needs. He will serve a one-year term as executive adviser to the new CEO as part of the ChildServe executive succession plan.
temperature outside clearly indicates is not yet. Giving is a bit like that. Over and over, we are reminded in Scripture that giving is hard. Often, it demands self-sacrifice and taking risks. It requires us to invest ourselves (our time, our talents, and our finances) in something or someone— believing that something new and something greater is possible and is coming. Dordt students live this out daily as they engage in the pursuit of God’s call, looking ahead with anticipation and excitement at what is to come. Every gift we invest in the life of a student feeds their hopes and dreams in the midst of this season of change.
Sometimes, the return on our investment is nearly instantaneous—like those random 45-degree days in the middle of February in Iowa. At other times, we find ourselves wondering if this will be the year the daffodils don’t come back. Still, we hope—and we invest.
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Whether big or small, short or long term, all of our gifts are used by the Lord for a special purpose. And so we wait, hoping and investing in what is now and what is coming.
KAREN VAN SCHOUWEN (’01)
After graduating from Calvin Seminary in 2001 and serving as a senior pastor in several congregations, Joan (Vander Beek, ’81) DeVries completed her Ph.D. from McMaster University in 2016. In August 2018, she began work as an assistant professor of worship arts at Trinity Western University in Langley, British Columbia. Bradley Weidenaar (’94) received the 2018 Iowa Council of Teachers of English Distinguished Service Award. He currently serves as an instructional coach at Marshalltown High School. He has taught a variety of English classes, from at-risk to advancement placement. After enduring several personal tragedies including involuntary childlessness, breast cancer, and a knee injury, Kristin (Johnson, ’97) Miller completed the Point to La Pointe 2.1-mile open water swim from Bayfield, Wisconsin, to Madeline Island on August 4, 2018. “I did it by putting one fin in front of the other,” says Miller. Andrew J. Deaver (’05) was recently promoted to partner at Abrahams Kaslow & Cassman LLP, a law firm in Omaha. Deaver focuses his practice on estate planning, probate and trust administration, guardianships and conservatorships, and business organizational and contractual matters. He earned his J.D., cum laude, from Creighton University School of Law in 2010. He is admitted to practice in Nebraska and Iowa.
John Ledeboer (’07) was awarded the Minnesota State High School Baseball Coach of the Year Award. He currently serves as baseball coach at Heritage Christian Academy in Maple Grove, Minnesota.
Kate Du Mez (’10), a commissioning project manager at Group14 Engineering in Denver, will be part of the team that helps with designing a new research base in Antarctica. Allison (Wesselius, ’10) Bossenbroek recently celebrated five years of working as a registered nurse in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital in Grand Rapids.
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The
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ALUMNI
KIBBUTZ As stated in the 1977-78 edition of the Signet, "the fellowship of the Kibbutz, located at the bottom of the Van Groningen house across from A&W." Left to right: Stan Sturing, Dan Van Heyst, Clarence Witten, Jack Oudman, David Groenenboom, Stan Kruis, Ed Kruis, Clarence Joldersma, and Steve Frieswick.
“The scariest part was cooking,” or so Clarence Witten (’78) remembers. “I’d never cooked a meal in my life, probably didn’t even boil an egg, and suddenly there were nine hungry guys coming to the table expecting to be wellfed.” In housing almost unknown to Dordt College students today, for years scores of their predecessors lived off-campus, many in sometimes dreary basement apartments in ordinary houses in town. Most upperclassmen left dorms as soon as they could because what off-campus housing lacked in convenience—cold, windowless apartments sometimes a mile away from classrooms—they made up for in freedom and real-money savings.
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And, if you were really blessed, you got a palace, where you ate more sumptuously than anyone on campus. Down in the spacious basement at the Van Groningen house on South Main, Paul Van Dyken (‘77) baked 15-17 loaves of bread every week for his eight voracious roommates, not to mention a pan full of cinnamon rolls for Sunday morning brunch. That’s the kind of chef-manship that scared Witten when he moved in. The Van Groningen basement offered some regal living, right across the street from the A & W (yes, there was one out there long ago), and spittin’ distance from Wal-Mart (which wasn’t on anyone’s radar, of course). On the menu, real meat too—steaks, chops, ribs—and lots of it.
And vegetables. Some guys had never heard of kale before it snuck into their salads after Charlie Claus (’78) planted it in a garden in the backyard. Jack Oudman (’79) remembers juicy hams festooned in pineapple and cloves. Daryl Sas (’77) claims he probably relied on ease when it came his turn to cook: tatertot hot dish, rice-tuna casserole, and some casserole with hamburger and rice. Daniel Van Heyst (’78) spent an entire Saturday picking apples from a backyard tree, then cooking applesauce that became a year-long staple of the Kibbutz diet. More with Less, an evangelical bestseller cookbook, the guys claim, was their food bible.
And studious. Very much so. With nine guys in a basement apartment, physical space was at a premium. Each little bedroom (there were five) had a desk or two. Some guys stayed home to study; others regularly visited the library, hung out there, even though it took a half hour to walk back to the apartment—often in January cold.
exercises on the way, often I would pray or review for tests.”
wife just had a baby!) got him chewed out good by a handful of roomies.
Hard as it is to believe, those walks to campus could be insanely early. “I particularly recall marching to campus up Main Street for a 7:30 a.m. Philosophy 201 final just before the Christmas break,” he says. Students today might consider mid-winter 7:30 a.m. exams a form of abuse.
By the way, did I mention there was only one bathroom?
Basically, Kibbutzers were good guys and terrifi c students. Take my word for it; I should know. My wife and I and our new baby lived just upstairs.
And, because they had to, they improvised. Craig Stockmeier (’77) used to crack his textbooks in a little projection room opposite the stage in what was—long, long ago—the Dordt gym. Groenenboom, who lugged hogs three nights a week at Sioux-Preme Pack, often studied, when he could, in the downstairs publication room of the SUB, a campus hangout that’s also long gone. Most guys had bikes, although Kibbutzers caught rides to and from campus from a couple of guys with cars. Witten had a ’64 Chevelle wagon (see photo), a beast, he says, that became a Kibbutz taxi long before anyone ever heard of Uber. Groenenboom had a sweet old ’64 Rambler that got more than its share of use. Sas (’77) had a flame-orange ’74 Chevy Malibu, a cherry gas hog with a vinyl top. He says he kept it parked most of the time (“I’m Dutch. Cheap,” he says).
Sas claims living in the Kibbutz prompted an invention he modestly says was his own. “I don’t want to claim that I invented the now ubiquitous book bag, but I was one of the first to buy a camping-style back pack and use it to transport books to and from campus as well as the occasional laundry run. I still have it!” Just as he still has the red, winter “snorkel” coat that, way back when, kept him warm on those long trips. And the receipt from his second semester tuition? $1,250, he says. Still has that, too, if you don’t believe him. Dust-ups between nine roomies? Very few. Once, Kruis remembers catching some ire from his cousin Stan Kruis (’78) for not shaking up the milk before he poured it on his Raisin Bran—the milk was raw and from some local dairy. And Stockmeier claims smoke from the only cigar he ever lit up in his life (a friend’s
But most guys biked most of the time and walked when they just plain felt like it. Ed Kruis (’78) remembers those long walks, alone, almost rhapsodically. “Some of the best memories I have are of the times I walked alone the two miles to and from campus in midwinter with frost encrusting my beard and mustache by the time I arrived at my destination,” he says. “Sometimes I would practice vocal
Aside from spending time at home, Schaap spent many hours grading papers on campus.
Nine guys might well suggest an occasional crowd of young women. Generally, the dean forbade women in off-campus housing, but being a mile away from administrative power makes some romantic benefits possible. Some Kibbutzers remember female guests for formal Sunday dinner (once Bill Van Groningen grilled great steaks; remember—they bought their meat a half a steer at a time). At Sunday dinner it was easy to entertain women, of course— everything on the up-and-up; but if you wanted some snuggling, you had to go elsewhere—or else cut a deal with a roommate.
ALUMNI NEWS
They called themselves—and the place they occupied—the Kibbutz, even though no one spoke Yiddish or blew a shofar. Dave “Bunny” Groenenboom (’78) pulled some tunes out of his harmonica and rather liked playing Larry Norman on the stereo set up just outside his room. Basically, Kibbutzers were good guys and terrific students. Take my word for it; I should know. My wife and I and our new baby lived just upstairs.
And don’t think all meals were gourmet. Kruis will never forget some bombs: “Chicken livers (not fully cooked) with rice, and ‘fruchtreis’ (fruitrice) made with Kool-Aid.” He also mentions sweet-andsour soy beans, which, not surprisingly, failed to become a classic Sioux County recipe. Steve Frieswyk (’78) remembers the time Kruis created a feast for about $1.50 tops, Frieswyk claims—rice and a bag full of chicken necks from the Auto Dine. That's right—necks. There was more (funny how food memories stick): Sas will never forget an ill-fated clam chowder somebody made by dumping a few cans of clams into gallon of milk, for which, by the way, he does take some blame. “I believe we had just dissected clams in an invertebrate anatomy lab.” He says he doesn’t recall hospitalizations. You might wonder whether moving all students to an enclosed campus, as Dordt eventually did, was as beneficial for students as it was for institutional finance. Living off-campus required students to be vastly more responsible with their time and for their health. What’s more, life in the Kibbutz demanded a division of labor that doled out strict requirements for each of the roomies. Van Heyst remembers how the work was meted out, the system for “managing meal prep and cleanup.” Two guys were designated shoppers, a couple
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“All the cooks had one or two specialty meals each, so that simplified shopping and helped us get the quantities right. I seem to remember preparing a lot of spaghetti sauce for my turns.”
ARTWORK BY JENNA STEPHENS ('19)
ALUMNI
of older roommates the others knew to be experienced at managing money. That left seven others. Each of them was assigned one day of the week for general clean-up, AND one day for preparing the evening meal. Eventually, he says, some menu patterns emerged.
Strangely enough, no one remembers being cramped for space (it was a big basement!). If there were big fights, no one’s breaking the silence. Everyone remembers meals, both for the fare (good stuff and not so good) and the conversation and community. The Schaaps (’70) lived just upstairs, but we were in our own little world, a young couple with a new baby, Andrea Jane (’98), and me with a brand new job—a college prof. When these guys remember those days the way they do, I sure wish that once-in-awhile I could have been a fly on the wall, because I’m sure those meal-time discussions would have been worth the price of admission. Several of them mentioned not remembering any tough times really, no nasty entanglements or sparring matches. They all remember a score of blessings. Dr. Bill Van Groningen was not only a campus cop Dan Van Heyst was active in in 1978, he was also the theatre, and he served as editor of point man for the whole the 1977-78 Signet. Kibbutz. After all, they were all boarding in his parents’ house. Today, he’s a dean of students at Trinity Christian College. After reminiscing about life in the basement of that big house on South Main, he couldn’t help summarizing: “I, for one, was taking five philosophy courses and one upper level math course in the fall and practice teaching in the spring. And the girl I’ve still never been To read where the Kibbutzers able to get over agreed have gone since 1978, go to to marry me that www.dordt.edu/kibbutz October. Maybe we were too focused on matters beyond the basement to get too fussed by each other down there. Still, I now look back on that gift of kibbutz comradery as an all too rare gift of congenial community.” JAMES CALVIN SCHAAP ('70)
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FROM THE BREADBASKET TO THE BRONX Adam Vander Stoep’s home community in Lyon County, Iowa, is different from New York City in most every regard, but Vander Stoep (’15) feels prepared for his new job as an assistant district attorney in the Bronx. Like many born-and-bred residents of Northwest Iowa, Vander Stoep graduated from Western Christian High School in Hull, Iowa, in 2011 before enrolling at Dordt College. He chose to double major in criminal justice and political science to prepare himself for law school. “I knew I wanted to become a lawyer already when I was in high school,” says Vander Stoep. His father, who has worked in law enforcement for decades and who currently serves as the Lyon County sheriff, played an influential role in this decision. “As a young kid, I talked a lot with my dad about what he did at work; I went along on rides in his patrol car; I talked with his coworkers; and I saw the role that lawyers played in the criminal justice system,” he says. Those experiences instilled
TIM SCHOON, UNIVERSITY OF IOWA
in him a strong interest in the law and a dream of becoming a criminal prosecutor. “As a freshman in college, I reached out to Criminal Justice Professor Donald Roth because he was a lawyer,” says Vander Stoep. Roth met with him regularly to talk about law school and offered tutoring sessions as he prepared for law school entrance exams. “Adam and I regularly worked through LSAT problems together,” says Roth. “Adam also applied himself as a founding member of the debate team at Dordt, developing oral advocacy skills to go along with the critical thinking skills that he was sharpening.” Vander Stoep got his first taste of what working in law might be like when he interned for a year with a Lyon County attorney. He helped conduct research and began to understand the criminal justice process from a practical perspective. He also worked as a summer research student under Roth. “That work really helped me transition into law school,” says Vander Stoep.
“When I told my law school professors that I graduated from Dordt, they responded that Dordt puts out hardworking students who are committed to the things they do," says Adam Vander Stoep.
working in September of 2018,” Vander Stoep says. “I have learned so much about the procedural aspects of criminal law here in New York—more than I could have imagined when I first began a few months ago.”
Vander Stoep also appreciated the supportive community he became a part of at Dordt. “My professors at Dordt pushed me academically, and the culture at Dordt was one where you were — Adam Vander Stoep, district attorney not on your own,” says Vander Stoep. Only 12 percent of New York City’s Following Dordt, Vander Stoep enrolled population resides in the Bronx, but at the University of Iowa College of Law. 36 percent of the city’s violent crimes happen there. And even though crime “I chose to study law at the University rates are currently lower than they have of Iowa because it was close to home been in previous years, the Bronx is no and because it has a reputation for being Lyon County. well-respected in the legal field,” he says. “The law classes at Dordt were a very “I felt prepared legally to work in New good primer for law school." York, but the magnitude does take some getting used to,” says Vander Stoep. For The Bronx is a long way from Iowa, but example, when he interned at the Lyon marrying a law school classmate from County attorney’s office, there was one the East Coast brought it closer. county attorney and three other staff “My wife Cecilia was offered a job at a members. In his current office, there big law firm in New York City, so I started are more than 500 assistant district looking for jobs out there too. Eventually attorneys, not counting support staff. I was offered a job as an assistant district So far, Vander Stoep enjoys his new work attorney in the Bronx, where I started
“I felt prepared legally to work in New York, but the magnitude does take some getting used to.”
environment very much. “I greatly appreciate the fact that there are so many different levels of experience and different perspectives amongst my co-workers,” says Vander Stoep. “There are people from the West Coast, and people from the East Coast, and they have different views on criminal justice and being a prosecutor than I do, as a Northwest Iowan.” Though he isn’t certain where his job will take him in the future, Vander Stoep is pretty sure he wants to be a career criminal prosecutor. “Becoming a lawyer takes a lot of school and a lot of studying—four years of college, three years of law school, studying for the law school admission test and the bar exam—but it is so rewarding. All of the time and effort does pay off.” “The Bronx is one of the most challenging jurisdictions in the United States in terms of the load that the criminal justice system faces there,” says Roth. “Adam’s passion and drive in pursuing his legal aspirations are a critical part of what got him to the Bronx, and they will be vital in helping him thrive in this challenging calling.” LYDIA MARCUS ('17)
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700 7th Street NE Sioux Center, Iowa 51250
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