Leading Off with the PresiDent
sitting on the eDge of my seAt I’m excited to serve as the fourth president of Dordt College. As the summer moved toward mid-August and it was time to welcome students back, I was like a little boy on the edge of my seat with anticipation. “Wholeheartedly willing and ready to live for him”—that’s where my excitement comes from. I’ve always been energized by this last phrase of the answer to the Heidelberg Catechism’s Question 1, and I’ve always been comforted by the first phrase of the answer: “That I am not my own, but belong body and soul, in life and in death, to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ.” In those phrases stands the heart of the Gospel: Christ paid it all and therefore we’re free through his precious blood to live for him—in anticipation of his promised return. As I take up this new role as president of Dordt College, I don’t think I can sum it up any better than that. I lead in the comfort that God’s redemptive plan for the creation includes Dordt College and that God has it all, providentially, well in hand. I go forward knowing that he’s called me (and all of us together) to stand wholeheartedly willing and ready to serve here for him—equipping students with the biblical insight that will help them serve Christ’s kingdom purposes in all areas of life.
Voice the
of DorDt college
FALL 2012 VOLuMe 58 | Issue 1 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 College. www.dordt.edu (712) 722-6000 Send address corrections and correspondence to voice@dordt.edu or VOICE, Dordt College, 498 Fourth Ave. nE, Sioux Center, IA 51250-1606 Contributors Sally Jongsma, editor sally.jongsma@ dordt.edu Elizabeth Riley (’15), student writer Sarah Vander Plaats (’05), staff writer sarah.vanderplaats@dordt.edu Sarah Groneck (’10), freelance writer Michael Byker (’92), sports writer mike.byker@dordt.edu Jamin Ver Velde (’99), art director/ designer jamin.vervelde@dordt.edu Sonya Jongsma knauss (’97), director of marketing and public relations sonya.knauss@dordt.edu
As you read this issue of the Voice, I hope you gather excitement and energy from the stories of what God is doing in the lives of students, faculty, staff, alumni, and Dordt’s supporting community.
John Baas, vice president for college advancement john.baas@dordt.edu
As we begin this journey together, we need to stand back, giving thanks to God for the blessings we’ve been given, and then eagerly jump into the work of being “redemptively busy” in our daily work as an offering of thanks for those blessings.
As an institution of higher education committed to a Reformed Christian perspective, the mission of Dordt College is to equip students, alumni, and the broader community to work effectively toward Christcentered renewal in all aspects of contemporary life. On the Cover Left to right: Board of Trustees Chair Dr. Lloyd Vanderkwaak, former president MAKING Dr. Carl E. CONNECTIONS zylstra, Dr. Erik Hoekstra, and former president Dr. John B. Hulst at the inauguration of Dr. Hoekstra on October 19, 2012. Photo by Jamin Ver Velde (’99) |
OF DORDT COLLEGE
ISSUE 1 OF 3
THE
NEWS FALL 2012
VOLUME 58
DR. ERIk HOEkSTRA
Our Mission
Newly inaugurated president Dr. Erik Hoekstra is connecting Dordt’s past to its future. Students and faculty are are connecting what they learn to the world in which they live. And the library is connecting students to cutting-edge technology in a new Teaching Resource Center.
MEET THE PRESIDENT 16
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THE WATER PROJECT 20 NOW & THEN 26
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