Campus News

Longtime philosophy professor returns to Calvin as senior research fellow.

RICHARD MOUW RETURNS TO CALVIN

Richard Mouw, a widely respected theologian and philosopher, has joined the Paul B. Henry Institute for the Study of Christianity and Politics at Calvin University as a senior research fellow. Mouw has served the past 35 years at Fuller Theological Seminary, for two of those decades as its president. This September, his work takes him back to where his career in academia began: Calvin, where he taught philosophy from 1968 to 1985. Mouw has been long established as a leading thinker of how Christians can engage in politics with civility.

“For his entire career Dr. Mouw has been thinking about what it means to be faithful to Christianity while also giving politics its due,” said Micah Watson, director of the Henry Institute. “Our students want to do this well, and it’s hard to find a better guide for them than Dr. Mouw. I am excited for the opportunities that having him here will afford our faculty and students. We will have a resource that no other school will have.”

His research includes a book project on a Christian consideration of patriotism as well as several research projects within the context of Calvinist political thought.

Students, faculty, and staff have returned to campus after working groups prepared for a safe return throughout the summer.

A SUMMER PREPARING FOR A SAFE RETURN

A cross-divisional team of faculty, staff, and administrators spent the past few months working diligently to put Calvin in the best position possible to bring students, faculty, and staff safely back to campus this fall. Four working groups of the Safe Return Team (Instruction and the Classroom, Lab, and Studio; Health Maintenance; The Employee Experience; Campus Experience, Alumni, and External Communities) spent the summer digging into details and planning for multiple scenarios for the fall semester.

Each group brought forth recommendations to the Safe Return Team for how to operate the many facets of a residential living and learning environment in the context of the current and changing landscape. The teams’ recommendations adhere to guidance outlined by local and state health officials and are being updated (as needed) to remain compliant with the latest health advice.

The Safe Return Team also developed a Safe Return playbook, which outlines guidance for faculty, staff, students, and guests. To stay updated on the status of traditional fall events, how Calvin is adapting throughout the fall semester, and how the Safe Return Team is preparing for interim and spring semester, visit calvin.edu/safe-return.

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Find more campus news daily at calvin.edu/news.

Education professor Robert Keeley is the recipient of the 2020 Presidential Award for Exemplary Teaching.

A TEACHER FOR TEACHERS

For nearly 23 years, Robert Keeley has taught in Calvin University’s education department. In recognition for his decades of excellence at the university, Keeley has received the school’s highest teaching honor: the 2020 Presidential Award for Exemplary Teaching. Through his scholarship, service, and teaching, Keeley has been “an outstanding university citizen,” said Arlene Hoogewerf, academic dean. Keeley has served Calvin in many leadership roles, supported his colleagues, and helped to design the Certificate in Bible Instruction, a Calvin Theological Seminary program in partnership with Calvin University. Among the many categories in which he excels, students consistently give Keeley high marks for his enthusiasm in teaching. A former student noted, “Keeley was one of my most favorite professors of my career at Calvin. He is a very forgiving professor and really loves getting to know you as a student.”

Keeley is able to excel in teaching in part because of his own tenacious scholarship of pursuing truth in education and ministry, including authoring Helping Our Children Grow in Faith: How the Church Can Nurture the Spiritual Development of Kids (Baker Books, 2008) and co-authoring three additional books.

Eight hundred tons of sand composes Calvin’s newest research site.

BRINGING THE BEACH TO CAMPUS

This summer a dune appeared on Calvin’s campus.

For nearly two decades, Deanna van Dijk, professor of geology, geography, and environmental studies and head of the FirstYear Research in Earth Sciences program, has been taking students to the Lake Michigan dunes for valuable hands-on research experience. But this year, she had a problem to solve: how to get her class to the dunes frequently throughout the semester given the risks associated with travel and COVID-19. She started thinking about ways to reduce risks when a bold idea crossed her mind.

“Some ideas you don’t know where they come from; my mind went, ‘Well, we are trying to bring students to the dunes, but could we bring dunes to students?’ It seemed like a really crazy idea, and I knew that to make that work it would be an awful lot of sand to place somewhere on campus,” she said.

A lot of sand? Try 300 cubic yards or 800 tons.

The sand was delivered by a local landscaping company to the east side of campus and spread over existing topography just northeast of the Prince Conference Center and given an artificial dune shape until the wind began pushing the sand into more natural shapes for research purposes.