SPARK T H E
C A LV I N
C O L L E G E
M A G A Z I N E
Caring for Place p. 16
Sport. Faith. Life p. 10 Advancing Career Opportunities p. 12
FALL 2018
I LOVED AUTUMN... ...the season of year that God seemed to have put there just for the beauty of it. –Lee Maynard
FALL 2018 VOL. 64, NO. 2
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PHOTO CREDIT: MICHAEL SANTIAGO, PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE
Calvin College equips students to think deeply, to act justly, and to live wholeheartedly as Christ’s agents of renewal in the world.
Calvin College is an educational institution of the Christian Reformed Church of North America (CRCNA). To learn more about the CRC’s work in North America and around the world, visit crcna.org.
30 Calvin College is a member of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU). For more information, visit cccu.org.
Alumnus Tony Norman, an award-winning columnist for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, has been a journalist for more than 30 years.
Spark (USPS 509-280) is published three times a year by the Calvin Alumni Association, Office of Alumni, Parent, and Community Relations, Calvin College, 3201 Burton St. SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546. ©2018 by the Calvin Alumni Association.
FEATURES
Periodical postage paid at Grand Rapids, Mich., and additional mailing offices. Telephone: 616-526-6142. Fax: 616-526-7069. Email: spark@calvin.edu. Spark on the web: calvin.edu/spark. POSTMASTER: Send address corrections to Spark, Office of Alumni, Parent and Community Relations, Calvin College, 3201 Burton St. SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546. CANADIAN POSTMASTER: Publication Mail Agreement No. 40063614. Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: CRCNA-Calvin College, 3475 Mainway, P.O. Box 5070, Burlington, ON L7R 3Y8.
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SPORT. FAITH. LIFE. Kineseology professor Brian Bolt uses stories and examples to describe what sport is and how the Christian church has dealt with it in history.
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ADVANCING CAREER OPPORTUNITIES Calvin’s vision includes having the best employer engagement program in higher education. Six partnerships that include young alumni are highlighted.
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CARING FOR PLACE Calvin professors, students, and alumni are making an investment in their local communities.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
THE CALVIN SPARK Editor: Rick Treur ’93 Managing Editor: Lynn Bolt Rosendale ’85 Art and Design: Amanda Impens Contributing Writers: Connor Bechler ’20 Gayle Boss Paul Bylsma ’09 Hannah Ebeling ’19 Jeff Febus ’92 Matt Kucinski Contributing Photographers: Amanda Montgomery Stephen Norregaard ’15 Cody Shanley
CALVIN ALUMNI ASSOCIATION BOARD President: Sierra Yazzie ’06 (Saint Paul, Minn.) President-Elect: Twana Graves Davis ’93 (Katy, Texas) Secretary: Nathan Plantinga ’94 (Grand Rapids, Mich.) Treasurer: Nathaniel Nielsen Director: Rick Treur ’93
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Professor Brian Bolt sheds light on the ongoing debate about the ethics of sport and the moral implications of its centrality in culture.
Quentin Schultze, CAS professor emeritus, is the recipient of the 2018 Faith and Learning Award.
DEPARTMENTS
ONLINE EXTRAS
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Editor’s Desk
Read Spark online
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Campus News
calvin.edu/spark
8 Sports 10 Scholarship 24 Alumni Profiles 34 Events 36 Class Notes
Take a look at sports pics calvinknights.com/galleries
Connect with alumni facebook.com/calvinalumni
46 In Memoriam
Watch our new faculty video
48 Legacy
calvin.edu/go/CalvinFaculty
Leave a legacy for future alum legacygift.calvin.edu
Members: Sarah Berg ’06 (Washington, D.C.) Jori Brink ’04 (Chicago, Ill.) James Jenkins ’87 (Everett, Wash.) Jack Kalmink ’69 (Grosse Pointe Park, Mich.) Casey Kuperus ’97 (Grand Rapids, Mich.) James Lee ’12 (Grand Rapids, Mich.) Rosanne Lopers-Sweetman ’77 (Toronto, Ont.) Rebecca Mejia ’05 (Hawthorne, N.J.) Gene Miyamoto ’77 (Holland, Mich.) Christine Jacobs Mouw ’88 (N. Little Rock, Ark.) Debra Perry ’91 (Grand Rapids, Mich.) Brianna Sas-Pérez (Milwaukee, Wis.) Valerie Stegink Sterk ’83 (Santa Clara, Calif.) David Tannor ’06 (Grand Rapids, Mich.) Jim Valk ’87 (Paw Paw, Mich.) Cathy Van Zeelt Van Donselaar ’88 (Centennial, Colo.) Gary Van Prooyen ’88 (Wheaton, Ill.) David Vellenga ’60 (Oro Valley, Ariz.)
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Letters regarding the contents of the magazine will be considered for publication in Spark unless specifically marked “not for publication.” Correspondence should be no more than 350 words and may be shortened to meet editorial requirements. We will not publish anonymous letters; however, we may withhold names upon request. Send your correspondence to: Spark, 3201 Burton St. SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546, or email spark@calvin.edu.
View the Calvin calendar calvin.edu/calendar 3
EDITOR’S DESK
This past May, after the Calvin College Board of Trustees approved of Calvin becoming a university by 2020, we started getting a lot of questions. Why a university? What will it look like? Will Calvin lose its liberal arts focus? Lots of great questions, and while we are still determining exactly what Calvin University will look like, there are many reasons why this makes sense for Calvin at this time. Calvin has evolved in many ways over time from a training ground for seminarians to an academy, then from a junior college to a residential liberal arts college. In 1970, Calvin College and Theological Seminary were encouraged by the Christian Reformed Church Synod to become a university. Between then and now, we’ve added several masters programs, increased our offerings of professional programs, and created several centers and institutes. Already, Calvin has many of the hallmarks of a university. At the same time, our student population has become more diverse and international. To students in countries outside of the U.S., college means high school or junior college. University is where you study for a four-year degree or graduate degree. The change to university puts Calvin on the radar of potential international students. The university structure also allows departments to be nimbler, allowing for more flexibility and innovation when it comes to majors. While there will still be a university-wide liberal arts core,
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departments, or perhaps colleges, will be able to expand and experiment with new ideas and areas of pursuit. This summer there are two task forces of faculty and staff who are meeting to determine what the university structure will look like and what programs we will offer. Many alumni identify the formative mentor-type relationships they had with professors as being integral to their Calvin education. We don’t want to lose that in our move to a university, and that is why residential on-campus learning will still be the core of what Calvin does. Becoming a university will allow us to broaden the scope of what a student will look like. It could include awarding associate degrees, expanding learning opportunities to the high school level, adding satellite campuses, or increasing our life-long and distance-learning opportunities. Perhaps Calvin University will create more opportunities for you to think deeply, act justly, and live wholeheartedly as Christ’s agents of renewal in the world.
BY RICK TREUR DIRECTOR OF ALUMNI AND COMMUNITY RELATIONS TWITTER: @RICKTREUR INSTAGRAM: RICKTREUR
Amazing story I want to thank you for the well-written article about Kati Pohler (“The Steps, the Paper, and a Bridge,” spring 2018). Because I commuted to Calvin for my four years, I didn’t get to know very many “new” people on campus. I do remember Kati’s father, Ken Pohler, and was amazed at this story and what he and his wife have gone through. God uses many ways to remind us that he is in control of all things. With this remarkable reunion, we are again reminded of his great love for us. May we always know that in events great or small, our Savior guides our steps. May we always put our trust in him! – Gail Hinken Wories ’73 Lansing, Illinois Captivating issue I enjoyed the spring issue of Spark. In particular, I found the article on Debra Freeburg’s production of “The Amish Project” compelling. I know the show and reading the article about the production (“Project: Forgiveness”) made it come alive for me. The design of the piece was also sensitive and effective. When I turned to the last page of Spark, I got a surge of emotion. There was my dear father (John VandenBerg)—a much younger man than I had said good-bye to over the last year, but utterly familiar and endearing. My family history is thoroughly bound up in Calvin and its traditions and the institution means a great deal to me. – Patricia VandenBerg ’73 Sarasota, Florida
Calvin College vice president of enrollment management position This fall, Calvin will formally begin a national search for a new vice president of enrollment management. This leadership position is critical for shaping the future of how we promote, recruit, cultivate, motivate, and support each step of the process for prospective students. In addition to overseeing the enrollment management division, the vice president will work collaboratively with a highly engaged cabinet team, providing senior-level leadership and insight to the president. The vice president will also carry forward and communicate a strong tradition of Reformed Christian engagement and practice within a rapidly changing national and international educational and cultural landscape, amidst a student body of increasing diversity.
REFER To review the full position profile, visit calvin.edu/go/vp-enrollment. Please refer this position to a person or persons whom you believe could be a possible candidate or could help connect to a possible candidate.
NOMINATE Candidates can be nominated directly to the search committee using the link found here: calvin.edu/go/vp-enrollment.
APPLY Formal applications can be submitted through our employment webpage: employment.calvin.edu.
LETTERS
Send us your letters. Write us at spark@calvin.edu 5
CAMPUS NEWS
PLANS UNDERWAY FOR LIBRARY COFFEE SHOP A new fragrance will waft over Calvin’s Commons Lawn next spring: the rich scent of freshly brewed coffee. With work beginning interim 2019, Calvin—partnering with Peet’s Coffee—plans to open a campus coffee shop located on the north-facing side of the Hekman library. Stemming from a student senate push to improve on-campus coffee, issues with the location of Calvin’s current coffee shop, and from a need to update the aging library, the planned renovations will, according to physical plant director Russell Bray, both satisfy current student needs and set a blueprint for the further evolution of the library. Libraries, Bray said, are shifting away from “place[s] to show up, get your book, go to your carrel, put your head down, and be quiet,” instead becoming “places to gather, to collaborate, to share ideas, and to creatively use space and technology.” John Witte, dean of students, is excited to partner with Peet’s due to their uniqueness in Michigan, commitment to environmental responsibility, and high quality: “I think students appreciate well-crafted coffee drinks. There’s an art to coffee production, and Peet’s gets that.”
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PHOTO CREDIT: PICTURE BOY CREATIVE
New location, partner planned for campus coffee shop.
Lew Klatt received the 2018 Presidential Award for Exemplary Teaching.
ENGLISH PROFESSOR RECEIVES TOP TEACHING AWARD Calvin College English professor and poet Lew Klatt’s love for language was brought to life in a college classroom by a writing professor. “I became an English major after that first creative writing course I took,” said Klatt. On May 4, 2018, Klatt received Calvin College’s highest faculty honor, the Presidential Award for Exemplary Teaching. The award is presented annually as testimony to the fact that the heart of a Christian liberal arts college is the teaching of its faculty, who embody the goals of forming the Christian mind and shaping students’ lives. “This is absolutely humbling, because there are a lot of unsung faithful teachers in this college, in this department,” said Klatt.
“I also am gratified because, when like so many of your colleagues you do much of your work in the dark, early in the morning or late at night when nobody’s paying attention, it’s rewarding to learn that your efforts have yielded something positive.” This is testified to by his former students, who see him as an effective teacher, thoughtful mentor, compassionate voice, and as an engaged, talented, and prolific poet. “[Klatt] revolutionized how I write and think about poetry,” wrote one student. “Every class session brought a new approach to learning, and I feel that my creative capacity grew,” wrote another.
PHOTO CREDIT: LYNN PARK
PHOTO CREDIT: DEBORAH HOAG
CALVIN LAUNCHES KUYPER INSTITUTE
Fifteen members of the first Calvin Prison Initiative class received their associate’s degree this spring.
CALVIN PRISON INITIATIVE GRADUATES FIRST CLASS On May 21, 2018, 15 inmates from Richard A. Handlon Correctional Facility in Ionia, Michigan, received an associate’s degree from Calvin College. The students are the first in the Calvin Prison Initiative (CPI) program to earn a degree. The program, launched in 2015, provides up to 20 inmates each year an opportunity to pursue a bachelor’s degree in ministry leadership, seeking to improve prison culture and curb recidivism rates through equipping prisoners with an education. The partnership between Calvin College, Calvin Theological Seminary, and the Michigan Department of Corrections provides inmates with the only option in the state to earn a bachelor’s degree while incarcerated.
Students in the 2018 class took hold of this opportunity: they had a cumulative GPA above 3.6, created an award-winning prison reform conference (with another in the works), and started a community garden— their efforts resulting in a $2,500 donation to Safe Haven Ministries. “Calvin College coming into the Handlon campus, bringing in the CPI program, has been such a tremendous blessing in my life, one that I will be forever grateful for, one that I will be paying forward for the rest of my life,” said Dustin, one of the 2018 CPI graduates.
Calvin College and Calvin Theological Seminary leaders announced the establishment of the Kuyper Institute for Global Faculty Development, named in honor of 19th-century Dutch theologian Abraham Kuyper. The institute, established by a generous gift from Rimmer and Ruth de Vries, will enable Christian leaders and faculty to deepen their understanding of the Reformed tradition broadly, and Kuyperian thinking particularly. Princeton Theological Seminary founded The Abraham Kuyper Center for Public Theology in 1998. Now, Calvin is reimagining the center, building on Princeton’s work and adding new initiatives to further advance a Kuyperian world-and-life view in the academy. The institute will continue to award a Kuyper Prize and host an annual Kuyper lecture and conference. The 2019 conference will be April 23–25, 2019, on Calvin’s campus. An additional gift from the de Vries family provides seed money for a program that will further equip faculty with a Christian world-and-life view, grounded in a Reformed understanding of faith and cultural engagement. The institute will also engage global faculty and leaders in this vision through seminars, conferences, independent projects, and by sharing access to digital teaching and scholarly resources.
STAY CONNECTED Find more campus news daily at calvin.edu/news
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CALVIN SPORTS
KNIGHTS WIN FOURTH STRAIGHT COMMISSIONER’S CUP With nine Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association championships to its credit for this season, Calvin has won the 2017–18 MIAA Commissioner’s Cup all-sports award. This is the first time that a Calvin senior class has won all four years. “This is an amazing accomplishment,” said director of athletics Jim Timmer. “All of our teams fought hard for every point this year. This is a great honor for the seniors to be the first class at Calvin to win the cup all four years. I am proud of what all of our teams have accomplished this year.”
CALVIN ADDS WOMEN’S TRIATHLON AS VARSITY SPORT Calvin College has announced the addition of women’s triathlon as an NCAA varsity sport beginning in the 2019–20 season, becoming the first school in the state of Michigan to offer the sport at the varsity level. The addition of women’s triathlon as Calvin’s 22nd varsity sport was made possible through a grant from the USA Triathlon Foundation, which will fund the operating expenses of the program for its first three years. This grant is distributed to select NCAA membership institutions to develop, implement, grow, and sustain women’s triathlon programs at the NCAA varsity level.
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Calvin senior associate director of athletics Nancy Meyer is thrilled with the addition of women’s triathlon to Calvin’s varsity athletics offerings. “It’s a wonderful new opportunity for women, and one that I fully embrace,” said Meyer. “We have excellent training facilities for triathletes and a college that offers a worldclass Christian education. That makes for a strong combination in adding a new varsity sport. I look forward to seeing what triathletes can accomplish representing our institution as this sport continues to grow.” Meyer added, “We are also highly appreciative of the support USA Triathlon has provided to make this opportunity a reality.”
KELLI SCHUTTE NAMED 2018 KNIGHT OF DISTINCTION
Kelli Lautenbach Schutte ’91 is the 2018 recipient of the Calvin Knight of Distinction Award.
In 1991, she again earned All-American accolades with a seventh-place finish in the 400 meters at the national meet.
Each year C Club, the Calvin College alumni athletic organization, recognizes a former Knight who has served God, church, and community with the Christian character that was shaped in part by participation in the athletic program at Calvin College.
Schutte received her master’s degree in finance from Western Michigan University and a PhD in labor relations from Michigan State University.
As an athlete, Schutte was a four-time All-MIAA selection in women’s track and field. She was named the MIAA’s co-MVP in 1990 and the MIAA’s MVP in 1991. A sprinter, she captured four consecutive MIAA individual titles in the 400-meter dash, three MIAA titles in the 100-meter dash, and one league crown in the 200-meter dash. She established school records in all three events during her time at Calvin while also running on record-setting 4x100- and 4x400-meter relay teams. During her final two years, she led the Calvin women’s track and field team to MIAA co-championships, which ignited a string of 28 consecutive league titles by the Calvin women’s track and field program. She was also a three-time NCAA Division III All-American. At the 1990 NCAA III Outdoor Track and Field Championships she placed fourth in the 400-meter dash and was part of a 4x400-meter relay team that finished eighth.
calvinknights.com View more stories and photos about our teams, athletes, and scores.
After graduating from Calvin with a degree in economics, she served as a commercial lending officer. She later returned to Calvin to serve as a professor in the school’s business department. Schutte later relocated to Kansas City, Missouri, with her husband, Kevin, who is a pastor at Pathway Community Church and a church plant director with Resonate Global—a new church ministry of the Christian Reformed Church. After moving to Kansas City, Schutte joined the faculty at William Jewell College as business professor. In 2009, she was appointed chair of the William Jewell Department of Business and Leadership and continues in that role today. The Schuttes are actively engaged foster parents and have led foster care and youth outreach programs at Pathway Community Church.
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CALVIN SCHOLARSHIP
SPORT. FAITH. LIFE.
BY BRIAN BOLT ’90
My love of sport always seemed built in. As a kid, most of my free time was consumed with playing just about everything in driveways, vacant lots, backyards, and on organized teams—a practice that persisted through my high school and college years. My parents were keen enough to recognize my interest in sport early. They nurtured it with rides to ball games, needed equipment, and being sure not to miss the sign-up dates for sport seasons. I am grateful for this, but more so for the way they framed sport within a Christian home. They followed, supported, and encouraged while never making too much or too little of my sport interests, achievements, or failures. With no formal expertise, they seemed to have an easy sense of how sport can either enhance or consume life. And because of their grounding in an authentic Christian faith, they navigated my sport experiences like seasoned veterans.
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But just as sport cannot ultimately drown out the concerns of the day, so supposed real life cannot deny the important place of sport in our humanity, our culture, and God’s world. Now a professor of kinesiology and men’s golf coach at Calvin, I have a platform to coach, teach, research, and share how sport intersects with Christian faith in our everyday lives. Don’t think this topic is for you? Wait! You may be more connected then you think. Sport is everywhere. Let’s follow some numbers. The current estimated global market for the sports industry is $1.3 trillion, mostly connected to the 4 billion people who participate in and follow soccer. In North America, the sports market in 2014 was $60.5 billion and is expected to eclipse $73 billion by 2019. This money is not all reserved for big time corporate sport and player salaries. The youth market in the U.S. alone, which includes things like merchandising, equipment, private coaching, travel, and tournament organization, is now a $15.3 billion market, a 55% increase from 2010. With all of its dollars and attention, it is no wonder sport has drawn the eye of the church, perpetuating a familiar pattern. Repeatedly in history, the church has been suspicious of sport, prompting prohibitions and bans over concerns about culture, youth formation, and Sabbath keeping. Yet the power and popularity of sport has always won out, compelling the church to assimilate, accommodate, and leverage sport for its own purposes.
Today, Christian intellectuals continue to debate the ethics of sport and the moral implications of its centrality in culture, while most pastors and other church leaders focus on meeting people where they are and highlighting the positive and useful aspects of the sport. This Calvin Short, Sport. Faith. Life., uses stories and examples to describe what sport is and how the Christian church has dealt with it in history. It goes on to analyze the challenges of competition and presents ways to navigate through both exciting and difficult times of sport within a Christian life. Sports are always situated in a larger culture with serious and important things happening every day. But just as sport cannot ultimately drown out the concerns of the day, so supposed real life cannot deny the important place of sport in our humanity, our culture, and God’s world. Sport is a part of ordinary life that does not seem so ordinary. The experience draws us in and brings us back, day after day, season after season. We love to play—and yes, to win, or at least to invest enough of ourselves to have a chance. This volume, by Brian R. Bolt, is part of the Calvin Shorts Series, which is available from online retailers or the Calvin College Campus Store.
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FEATURE STORY
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“Calvin’s aspiration is to have the best employer engagement program in Christian higher education.” —MICHAEL LE ROY
From Bangkok to Berlin, Seattle to Sarasota, Chicago to Cairo; in multinational corporations and in family-owned businesses, Fortune 500 companies and hundreds of nonprofits; in the music industry and medical communities, environmental organizations and software developing companies, more than 65,000 Calvin College alums are pursuing their God-inspired passions and engaging the world. “What we observe at Calvin is that employers are seeking graduates who see an unsolved problem as a catalyst to a game-changing solution, who look at the world in new ways, and who, in the words of our mission statement, think deeply, act justly, and live wholeheartedly,” said Michael Le Roy, president of Calvin College. Le Roy says the feedback he hears from employers is that Calvin College graduates are well prepared and positioned for the ever-changing job market, having both the technical and soft skills to engage their work thoughtfully and creatively.
He says now the institution’s focus is on deepening the connection between the entire college and the employer community. The college’s primary vision is to advance career opportunities for Calvin students by ensuring that career development is positioned as a core component of the institution’s educational strategy. “Calvin’s aspiration is to have the best employer engagement program in Christian higher education,” said Le Roy. A recent $3 million gift to the college will allow for further investment of resources towards advancing that vision. The college already has established some great partnerships with local and national employers (a half dozen examples are highlighted on the next page), and Le Roy sees this added investment of creating reciprocal relationships with employers locally and nationally as a significant opportunity for students and alumni.
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FEATURE STORY
Colin Gesink ’16 majored in computer science and digital media at Calvin. Upon graduation, he was hired by Steelcase, a Grand Rapids-based office furniture manufacturer. As an applications engineer, Colin manages and develops IT projects and supports software initiatives for the company’s distribution centers. His work focuses on architecting solutions, merging projects, and thinking long term. “My computer science degree gave me the technical background that
Traci Montgomery ’12 graduated from Calvin with a double major in mathematics and geography. Upon graduating from Calvin, she gained valuable research skills and software experience working for Calvin’s Center for Social Research. I need,” said Colin, “but at a deeper level, Calvin provided me with the ability to step back and look at the whole picture. I learned problem solving and how to think creatively to attack problems.” Combining computer science and digital media gives him the capacity to “think visually and see things in a different way.” Colin is one of many Calvin alumni working for this global leader, which employs more than 11,000 people worldwide.
Jeremy Kamp ’15 began working at Prein & Newhof, a Grand Rapids-based engineering firm, immediately following graduation. Jeremy is one of 37 Calvin alumni working for the statewide firm, which was founded by Tom Newhof ’58. “Calvin’s engineering program is not easy,” he said, “but getting through Calvin’s program helped me to be really prepared for what I do now.” Jeremy, who is pursuing his professional engineering license, has worked on multiple municipal engineering projects in the greater Grand Rapids area.
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Her education and experience provided her with the skills for her current position as a consumer insights specialist for Meijer, a regional supercenter chain headquartered in Walker, Michigan. Using online communities, focus groups, surveys, and data analysis, Traci brings the voice of Meijer customers into all business decisions.
“From both of my majors I was able to develop critical thinking and logic skills that I use daily in my position,” said Traci. “In a tangible sense, I use statistics, spatial analysis and cartography, research skills and synthesis in my day-to-day.” Also applicable from her geography background is the ability “to think about how people interact with physical spaces and their communities and what impact that has on a store that is part of that community.” “I love that I get to represent the needs of current and future customers in our company,” she said. Traci is one of more than 65,000 employees at Meijer, which has locations in six states across the Midwest.
Ana Barahona ’17 is a staff auditor at EY, one of the largest professional services firms in the world. She came to Calvin from the largest city in Honduras (Tegucigalpa), and within weeks of graduating with a degree in public accounting, she had landed a job at one of the “Big Four” accounting firms in the largest city in Texas. In her role in Houston, she audits energy companies in the oil and gas sector. Ana says she works with a lot of dynamic and smart people and is challenged on a daily basis. She said it’s something she came to expect from her time at Calvin.
“Calvin is very challenging and very good about challenging you intellectually and exposing you to different sorts of thinking, and the people I work with are very diverse,” she said. “I think the cultural awareness and soft skills were very important, and technically I found that I was well prepared.” Ana is one of many Calvin grads who are working for EY around the world.
Steven Chevalia ’12 is a digital content formatter for HarperCollins Christian Publishing, whose parent company, HarperCollins Publishing, is the secondlargest consumer book publisher in the world. His connection with HarperCollins started in 2011 during an internship experience through Calvin’s English department. In Steven’s current role with the company, he takes files from different publishers and creates computer scripts that then take those files—whether InDesign, XML, or HTML files—and convert those into XHTML files that are used by Olive Tree, an app owned by HarperCollins Christian Publishing.
Steven was an English major at Calvin College with aspirations of being a best-selling novelist or editor, but through working in the Digital Studio under Dan Christian, he discovered a way to combine his passion for writing and editing with computers. “Over the years as I saw what publishing was like, I found out more about myself … so I kind of organically found that niche in the publishing world,” he said. “It’s actually the mixture of working with God’s word, working with the English language, and working with technology; it’s all jumbled together in a fun, unique way. I never thought a job like this would exist.”
Goldman Sachs David Kuenzi ’14 is a senior investment banking analyst at Goldman Sachs, an American multinational finance company. Kuenzi, who has an economics degree from Calvin, was informed of and guided through the interview process by Calvin economics professor Dirk Pruis, a former executive at the company.
David started in Goldman Sachs’ Salt Lake City office in 2015 in the operations division. A year later, he transitioned to his current role as a sector analyst with the natural resources department within the investment banking division. Essentially, David performs research and prepares presentation materials for clients, which allows GS to advise them on mergers and acquisitions, debt
and equity financing, and various other corporate strategies. David says he enjoys the fast-paced and dynamic nature of his work. GS, he adds, hires sharp and hard-working people, which, in the collaborative and team-oriented environment, results in an exciting and formative experience.
“In a world where economic events around the world dictate much of our dayto-day lives, I believe being an agent of renewal for me means striving to be an active participant in these events. Goldman Sachs provides a superb opportunity to engage the world at this level.”
And his formative experience at Calvin still shapes his work today. 15
FEATURE STORY
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Noah Schumerth (left) spent this summer researching public spaces alongside Mark Bjelland, professor of geography and urban studies.
FOR BY NATALIA CONNELLY
MEMBERS OF THE CALVIN COMMUNITY PURSUE THE WELFARE OF THE CITY Noah Schumerth ’19 wasn’t planning on being a geography major. But he took one class with philosophy Professor Lee Hardy his freshman year, and it changed everything.
PHOTO CREDIT: TED BINGHAM
In that course, Schumerth was introduced to the complexities and history of urban planning. Despite not being professor Hardy’s main research area, the subjects of urban planning, design, and development had been longtime interests. Because, it turned out, he had experienced firsthand the radical changes to urban planning in the United States in the 20th century.
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FEATURE STORY
Noah Schumerth (right) is a Project Neighborhood resident in Grand Rapids’ Creston neighborhood and an intern at the Creston Neighborhood Association.
A FRONT ROW SEAT When Hardy was growing up in Fullerton, California, in the 1960s, the area was characterized by “distinct towns separated by orange groves and bean fields.” Hardy spent time at his father’s drugstore on the town’s main thoroughfare, where the lives of neighbors intersected both socially and economically. But only a few years later, those orange groves and bean fields were replaced by the hallmarks of suburban sprawl: subdivisions, gas stations, shopping malls, parking lots. The community became less walkable as cars and highways multiplied.
“It (suburban sprawl) seemed like a bad thing to me, and it was destroying many things that I thought were valuable: both agricultural land, open land, and existing towns and town centers. — LEE HARDY PROFESSOR OF PHILOSOPHY AT CALVIN COLLEGE
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Hardy’s small, local community, which had allowed for the intersection of neighbors’ lives, had changed. “I felt somewhat traumatized by that, although I was very young,” said Hardy. “It seemed like a bad thing to me, and it was destroying many things that I thought were valuable: both agricultural land, open land, and the existing towns and town centers. There was an increasing sense of placelessness that I found disturbing, but for many years I never heard anyone worry about that.” Nearly 30 years later, in the 1990s, a movement emerged on the urban planning scene that shared many of Hardy’s concerns about urban development and care for place. The changes he experienced in Fullerton had been felt on a national scale, and the New Urbanism movement, as it was called, was channeling energy toward restoring the urban centers and communities that had been waylaid by suburban development. The movement’s goal was to put a focus back on public spaces— parks, streets, city centers—to improve the social and economic wellbeing of a community. Therein Hardy found his place.
PHOTO CREDIT: TED BINGHAM
A NEW WORLD Fast forward another 30 years, and Hardy can be found sharing that experience—and the research into new urbanism, urban planning, and public spaces that it inspired—with Calvin students like Schumerth. “That [course with Professor Hardy] completely changed the way in which I saw my time at Calvin,” said Schumerth. “It led me down a completely different path. I started taking courses in human geography, in political science, in all these different fields that really came together and showed how complex of a field urban planning [is].” Those courses have built off of the interest Professor Hardy sparked in Schumerth; outside of the classroom, new opportunities arose for Schumerth to put urban planning theory into practice. The summer between his freshman and sophomore years at Calvin, Schumerth returned to his hometown to work on a project for the city.
Appleton, Wisconsin was undergoing its master planning process, and Schumerth was tasked with screening the city’s zoning code for impediments to the new master plan. He later worked as an intern in the Neighborhood Development Office in the city of Green Bay, observing the day-to-day work of city government; at the same time, he worked with the Christian Community Development Association, a nonprofit dedicated to engaging Christians in the process of redemptive city restoration. More recently, Schumerth spent the summer conducting research alongside geography and urban studies professor Mark Bjelland, who started his career designing the physical systems of a city as a professional civil engineer. Now, as a human geographer, he studies how cities work to support shared life. Together Bjelland and Schumerth are analyzing neighborhoods that have been modeled off of new urbanist philosophies and the public spaces within them.
“We’re looking at those neighborhoods to find positive elements to draw out of them, but also the shortcomings that they may have, especially regarding public space,” said Schumerth. “We also look at other examples from areas [developed] before World War II and the 1800s, other suburban movements that worked really well, to say, ‘Can we take some of these elements of these places, and can they be something to use as a defense against toxic privatism?’” “People are trying to create more public spaces, more shared spaces to get to know your neighbors,” said Bjelland. “In New Urbanism projects, they’re walkable; people often have front porches on their houses; the houses are closer together. There’s more of a mixture of uses and there are more public spaces for people to gather. We’re looking at those public spaces and we’re comparing them with conventional master-planned, suburban neighborhoods to try to see, is there a difference? Is it more walkable or are there more public spaces? How are people using those public spaces?” 19
FEATURE STORY
DIGGING DEEP Bjelland and Schumerth’s research is part of Calvin’s cross-disciplinary endeavors in urban planning. In addition to their human geography approach and Professor Hardy’s research, sociology professor Mark Mulder has explored sociological trends in the urban context.
Alumna Megan Kruis (left) is executive director of the Creston Neighborhood Association, where Schumerth is an intern. The association strives to educate neighbors as housing costs increase in the community.
“When I first started teaching here at Calvin 16 years ago, [there was a lot of] hand-wringing about sprawl, that we were decentralizing and moving out and wasting resources by living in bigger and bigger houses with bigger and bigger yards,” said Mulder. “It necessarily cost a lot more to deliver the infrastructure to those places. ... What we found out was that if everyone lives that way, then it doesn’t really work. And so that was the big topic.” As new forms of urban planning have found their way into the mainstream—putting the focus back on the city—concerns have shifted from the social and economic cost of suburban sprawl to the risk of displacement in the urban centers or gentrification.
PHOTO CREDIT: TED BINGHAM
“Now, I think more and more people are interested in reinvestment in the city,” said Mulder. “And one of the issues that comes along with that then is gentrification. I have a lot of students who are interested in living in the city and working in the city and worshipping in the city, but also wondering about what that means in terms of gentrification.”
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“I have a lot of students who are interested in living in the city and working in the city and worshipping in the city, but also wondering about what that means in terms of gentrification.” — MARK MULDER PROFESSOR OF SOCIOLOGY AT CALVIN COLLEGE
LOCAL IMPACT For Schumerth, too, the issue of urban planning has morphed and grown more complex. He, Hardy, and Bjelland each cited the same tension as Mulder: making cities equitable while also making them more accessible and attractive. And Schumerth is seeing those dynamics play out in real time. Both as a Project Neighborhood resident in Grand Rapids’ Creston neighborhood and an intern at the Creston Neighborhood Association, he’s witnessed Grand Rapids’ growing population and rising housing costs taking a toll on the neighborhood. “Wealthier people move in, bring amenities that they want to see there, the prices of the surrounding homes and rents go up, and then eventually people can’t afford it and are pushed out,” said Schumerth. “We have seen some of that displacement, especially in the southern part of the neighborhood, closer to downtown, because there’s a much higher percentage of rental units there. Just this year, four houses have gone up for rent again on our street, and it’s been because of rent increases. People can’t afford it and have to move somewhere else. That’s something we need to talk about as urban planners.”
Megan Kruis ’03, executive director of the Creston Neighborhood Association (CNA) where Schumerth is an intern, echoes that experience. She began working at CNA with Americorps after graduating from Calvin, later going on to receive her master’s in public administration from Grand Valley State University. After living in Chicago for a short time, she returned to CNA as executive director in 2017. And just in the last year, she’s witnessed shifts in the Creston neighborhood. “There’s a woman who lives nearby, who’s been in the same house for years, paying $700 a month,” said Kruis. “Next month’s lease is going to be $1500 a month. It’s not a fancier house next month, it’s not a bigger house, it doesn’t have any more amenities. But that’s what the landlord can price it at. And it is absolutely impossible to bear that kind of increase.” The association has been making efforts to educate community members on how to turn their concern into civic action. And for Schumerth, that collective civic action is exactly what promotes the common good in urban planning.
“That’s the beautiful part of urban planning work, that it’s collective action,” he said. “Collective action takes time, it takes energy, and it requires you to give yourself up as a sacrifice to a larger cause. But there has to be a sense that each of us is, to some degree, responsible for our neighbor. We carry each other in that [process of] community building, whether that’s at the neighborhood scale, at the scale of the individual house, or at the scale of the larger urban whole.” Schumerth argues that larger and denser cities with stronger nets of relationships have been shown to be more economically and culturally productive. “They bring more people into the same space, which naturally creates more relationships, less disenfranchisement, more people contributing,” he said. “And I think that’s the most important part. That’s what citizenship looks like.”
WELFARE OF THE CITY Working at the Creston Neighborhood Association, living in Project Neighborhood, taking courses with Professor Hardy and researching human geography with Professor Bjelland—for Schumerth, the city is a place to which he’s devoted much of his time, talents, and energy while at Calvin. And it goes deeper than just preparation for a future profession; it’s about his faith, too. “We look through the Bible and we see constant examples of God caring for cities,” said Schumerth. “Nehemiah having this grand vision from God to rebuild Jerusalem, and then Ezra coming behind him once that city-building work has been done to turn the city back to God. You see it in the way in which Jesus did his ministry. So cities have some sort of role that reflects the creativity that God has given us, the ability to bring people together in community, which God has designed us to be in. And I think we can’t ignore that.”
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WELL, AGENTS OF RENEWAL, NOW WHAT? “Allow your dissatisfaction with the world to drive your stories, to help you develop solutions to the numerous problems we face as a society.”
— Andrew Oppong ’18 Student senate president Commencement address
View the photo album gallery.calvin.edu
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Alumni Profiles Calvin seeks to equip students to think deeply, act justly, and live wholeheartedly as Christ’s agents of renewal in the world. These stories demonstrate how our alumni are living out that mission. Jim Olthoff and his team at the Physical Measurement Laboratory are responsible for maintaining all physical measurement standards for the United States, with the most significant change in more than 50 years set to occur this fall.
Read more profiles online calvin.edu/spark
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As a supervising attorney for the Bronx Defenders, Anne Venhuizen has spent her entire career fighting for the rights of parents accused by the state of neglect and abuse. Erin Connelly is part of a team working to find answers in medical history to combat the growing threat of antibiotic-resistant infections. Tony Norman uses his column at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette to speak constructively and comprehensively about serious issues and to challenge political assumptions.
Anne Venhuizen ’05
Jim Olthoff ’80
Tony Norman ’84
Erin Connelly ’04
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ALUMNI PROFILES
Defending “the least of these” Due to recent events at America’s border, many more people are becoming aware of the toxic effects of stress on children when they are separated from their parents. “To remove children from their parents is brutal and tragic and traumatizing,” said Anne Venhuizen ’05, “and it makes me very sad.” And while the public’s attention has been primarily focused on what is taking place at the U.S. border, it is something that Venhuizen faces every day in the Bronx, New York. “The current situation exposes people to the fact that our nation does do this [separate children from parents],” she said. “Throughout our history this has happened in different forms.” As a supervising attorney at The Bronx Defenders, Venhuizen fights for the rights of parents accused by the state of neglect or abuse.
According to the Center for the Study of Social Policy, poverty is still the greatest threat to child well-being and the best predictor of abuse and neglect. And according to the 2010 U.S. Census, the South Bronx is the poorest district in America, with more than 50 percent of the population experiencing high or extreme poverty. “I represent indigent clients, and things are often not as they appear on paper,” she said. “Poverty can often be confused as neglect.” This is where the Bronx Defenders, a public defense non-profit that provides holistic services to low-income people, comes in. “I try to remind people that my clients are human beings,” Venhuizen said. “They struggle with things that a lot of us haven’t had to struggle with, so behind situations that might sound terrible are actually some incredible people who really love their children.”
“I represent indigent clients, and things are often not as they appear on paper. Poverty can often be confused as neglect.” 26
Growing up in Manhattan, Montana, Venhuizen was not exposed to urban issues occurring in big cities like New York. As a student at Calvin, she said she was challenged to think through things in a Christian way. “Calvin prepared me well,” she said. “It gave me exposure to different possibilities and pushed me to look outside of myself.” Venhuizen volunteered at Big Brothers Big Sisters of America in Grand Rapids and spent a semester in Washington D.C. working for Amnesty International. Those experiences prompted her to spend a year doing volunteer work at an orphanage in Palestine before pursuing law school at New York University. A six-month volunteer term at The Bronx Defenders following her graduation from NYU has turned into nearly a decade of serving the underserved in New York. “My work has forced me to rethink assumptions that I myself had about child welfare, abuse, poverty, neglect, racism,” Venhuizen said. “My clients remind me of ‘the least of these.’ They’re the people society tends to reject: poor, immigrants, minorities; they suffer from addictions, mental illness. They don’t have anyone to fight for them or listen to their voices.
Anne Venhuizen ’05 Political science Team leader/supervising attorney The Bronx Defenders Bronx, New York
“For many people, the loss of their children exceeds even the loss of their liberty,” she said. “The interference of the state in the intimacy of a family is the largest interference that the state can do.” Venhuizen fights a system that is four times more likely to put a black child in foster care than a white child. She fights systemic biases. She fights against the path of least resistance: foster care leading to termination of parental rights.
“I FEEL LIKE I HAVE A VOCATION, NOT JUST A JOB. CALVIN TAUGHT ME THAT WAS SOMETHING I WANTED TO LOOK FOR,” SHE SAID. “IT’S NOT EASY. IT REQUIRES A LOT OF EMPATHY, PATIENCE, PERSISTENCE, DILIGENCE, LISTENING, AND WALKING THROUGH THINGS WITH A CLIENT, BUT IT’S IMPORTANT, AND GOD WOULD WANT PEOPLE DOING IT.”
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ALUMNI PROFILES
JIM OLTHOFF ’80 GRADUATED WITH A DEGREE IN PHYSICS, BUT NEVER IMAGINED IT LEADING HIM TO THE WORLD OF METROLOGY. TODAY, AS A LEADER IN THE FIELD, THE STUDY OF MEASUREMENTS PLAYS A SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN OLTHOFF’S LIFE.
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PHOTO CREDIT: NIST
Jim Olthoff ’80 Physics Director, Physical Measurement Laboratory National Institute of Standards and Technology Gaithersburg, Maryland
Olthoff is director of the Physical Measurement Laboratory at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), located just north of Washington, D.C., and represents the U.S. on several international science committees. His laboratory of more than 500 federal employees is responsible for maintaining all physical measurement standards for the United States. “In some way or another—in
Measuring a career some ways more directly than others—we are responsible for the underpinning accuracy of all the measurements in the U.S.,” said Olthoff. “Pretty much anything you can think of—be that the electric power meter on the side of your house, or the fact that your cell phone always has the correct time—is traced back to the work we do at NIST.” Contrary to popular belief, all measurements in the United States are based upon the International System of Units or the metric system. “We have actually been a ‘metric country’ since a bit after the Civil War,” said Olthoff. While this may not be evident to the average citizen, it is an essential reality for scientists and engineers. But perhaps more important is to understand how the metric system is changing and evolving with technology. In fact, unbeknownst to many, the metric system is poised for the most significant change in more than 50 years. There are seven base units of measurement, and over the course of time, all of them except one have been tied to some constant of nature. For example, length—once defined by a physical meter stick—is now defined in terms of the speed of light. However, mass is the last unit to be based upon an artifact.
“There is a piece of metal—Le Grand K—that sits in a vault outside of Paris, manufactured back in the 1870s. Every measurement of mass in the world is traceable back to that kilogram artifact,” explained Olthoff. However, with mass being tied to a physical artifact, there is always the risk of it becoming damaged, lost, or just changing with time. “The big change coming in November is that mass will now be defined as a physical constant of nature, Planck’s constant (h). An easier way to think about this change is, instead of comparing masses to a piece of metal, we will now be able to compare forces. We will be able to realize a kilogram everywhere.” According to Olthoff, this change will also help in improving the accuracy of very small mass measurements, which is important for things like the medical field. Olthoff and the director of NIST will be travelling to Versailles in November along with representatives from the 53 countries
who are signatories of the Treaty of the Meter to vote on this change. “The worldview that I received at Calvin has been something that I have been consistently dedicated to. It’s interesting to me that I never planned to do what I do now—be in management, be responsible for something big—I just tried to do a good job and put my family and God first, and I’ve been blessed for that in terms of being professionally successful,” said Olthoff. He believes Calvin’s mission rings true to the work he does today. “There’s a lot of justice involved in making sure that measurements are correct and accurate and fair across the world. The origins of the metric system come out of the French Revolution, which was all about equality and individual rights, but really fairness of measurements is a biblical principle. There is something to be said about the good of having standards and making sure our answers are right.”
“There’s a lot of justice involved in making sure that measurements are correct and accurate and fair across the world.” 29
ALUMNI PROFILES
Upending cultural assumptions Tony Norman ’84 Political Science Columnist Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
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WHEN TONY NORMAN ’84 ARRIVED AT CALVIN IN THE EARLY 1980S, HE ENCOUNTERED A WORLD FRAUGHT WITH INJUSTICE YET RIPE WITH OPPORTUNITY. CALVIN BECAME THE PLACE WHERE NORMAN, THEN KNOWN BY HIS GIVEN NAME “MARVIN,” BEGAN TO LOOK CRITICALLY AT HIS WORLD. Norman described his time at Calvin as “playful exploration and some indifference to academics.” He enjoyed spending time in the coffee shop, writing and co-publishing a satirical cartoon strip in Chimes, and making full-length movies with friends, while also sharpening his critical wit and ability to contribute humor alongside substance in serious discussions. Norman also studied political science, but was dissuaded from applying to law school by philosophy professor Richard Mouw in favor of pursuing a vocation that would leave him more fulfilled.
PHOTO CREDIT: MICHAEL SANTIAGO, PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE
Norman and fellow Calvin alum Ann McBurney Norman ’84 married in Pittsburgh in late 1987, having moved from New York so Ann could start graduate school. After a stint as “the lousiest telemarketer in America,” Norman found a job in 1988 at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, where he is still employed. After starting as an entry-level employee at the Post-Gazette, answering phones and entering data, he was promoted to the paper’s pop music and culture beat nearly a year after he was hired. In 1996—by then an awardwinning cultural reporter in Pittsburgh— Norman took on the role of a general interest columnist before joining the Post-Gazette’s editorial board in 1999.
While he sees his column as a space where he can be innovative in creating conversations, his vocation as a columnist is more than merely promoting one perspective or opinion. As an opinion-journalist, Norman is held accountable to the same standards of truth telling as his colleagues; however, in his opinion column, Norman responds to a responsibility to take in raw material and hold those in power accountable. He attempts to do so without regard to party politics. “It takes a willingness to go out on a limb … sometimes telling the truth requires upending uncomfortable cultural and political assumptions and looking under rocks. As long as you can do that without fear or favor, you are fulfilling your responsibilities,” he said. “A Christian faith,” Norman insists, “could be vital to the formation of a substantive critique of culture. You could be a Christian and a fiery critic of the status quo at the same time. … They aren’t in contradiction; they are in fact a vital part of the Christian witness and experience.”
Norman’s personal political leanings haven’t blinded him to the reality of a political system that is fallen and in need of a redemptive critique. This notion first occurred to him at Calvin. Calvin was “the absolute best school for me,” Norman claims. It was here that he learned to write with integrity and still have fun, and to deal with the insecurities that were holding him back. The time he spent on campus reading and engaging in meaningful dialogue with top-notch professors prepared him to compete with anyone in the field. It is his Reformed faith, which was modeled and nurtured at Calvin, that is the religious foundation for faithful critique. Norman sees his work as an expression of worship and uses his platform as an opportunity to speak constructively and comprehensively about serious issues while still writing with playful irreverence. Having worked for more than 30 years in journalism, Norman isn’t quite ready to retire. Rather, he sees himself as facing the second half of a life of much fuller expression. He’s interested in transitioning out of the daily routine of a newspaper and is experimenting with other media forms, such as podcasts, fiction, and long-form journalism. He’s now a non-denominational Christian, vegan, and relates closer to Anabaptist and Episcopalian theology. As unlikely as it all sounds, Marvin Tony Norman says he has Calvin College to thank for it.
“Sometimes telling the truth requires upending uncomfortable cultural and political assumptions and looking under rocks. ” 31
ALUMNI PROFILES
Medieval medicine lessons
A concoction of wine, garlic, an Allium species (such as leek or onion), and oxgall (cow bile) sounds like something that could be thrown into a large black kettle and stirred to the words: “Double, double, toil and trouble. Fire burn and cauldron bubble … .” This mixture, however, when allowed to stand in a brass vessel for nine nights, was actually prescribed for the treatment of styes, an infection of the eyelash follicle, 1,000 years ago. The recipe is one of many found in medieval medicine books that had, until recently, been dismissed, along with much that came out of what is popularly known as the “Dark Ages,” as unenlightened by science or reason.
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Erin Connelly ’04 Biology CLIR-Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow for Data Curation in Medieval Studies University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
But opinion on that is changing, especially after a 2015 study showed that the afore described remedy—known as Bald’s eyesalve— was a successful antimicrobial agent.
“We believe that novel routes to drug discovery in the past could inform the future.”
With the advancement of modern medicine a millennium later, though, why are researchers still interested in these formulas? “There is an urgent need to find novel drugs to fight antibiotic-resistant infections,” said Erin Connelly ’04, who is part of an ancientbiotics team, a group of medievalists, microbiologists, medicinal chemists, parasitologists, pharmacists, and data scientists from multiple universities and countries, working to find answers in medical history to this pressing global threat. An estimated 700,000 people die annually from drug-resistant infections. It is estimated that that number could rise to ten million by 2050 if new drugs are not developed. Connelly, who graduated with a degree in biology, also had a side interest in Medieval Studies, which she pursued at Calvin by taking an Old English interim class as well as the History of the English Language with professor Jim Vanden Bosch. “While the two (biology and Medieval Studies) seem incongruous on the surface, these two streams of knowledge work quite well together when pursuing our research in natural medicines,” Connelly said. As a student at Calvin, she researched molecular oncology at the Van Andel Institute in downtown Grand Rapids. She went on to earn a
PhD in Medieval English from the University of Nottingham, with a special interest in medieval medical texts and the relevance of medieval medicine for modern infections. While in graduate school, Connelly got involved in the Bald’s eyesalve study, and its success helped launch her doctoral project: preparing the first-ever edition of the Lylye of Medicynes, a 15th Century Middle English translation of the major work of a significant medieval physician, Bernard of Gordon. She transcribed and edited the text for the modern reader, which involved more than just word-for-word translation. “There’s often a way of interpreting something that is completely different than how it appears in the text,” she said. “For instance, a Middle English text might read, ‘apply to the patient and say the pater noster twice,’” she said. “While that sounds religious—like they were hoping that prayer would work—it’s actually a way of keeping time through the use of a well-known text for the application of the treatment.
“So it appears superstitious or religious—not scientifically based—and medievalists are essential for textual interpretation,” she said. “It’s important to put the language in societal and cultural context to understand it.” Connelly’s current work as a CLIR-Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow for Data Curation in Medieval Studies at the University of Pennsylvania involves creating a database of ingredients used in the 360 recipes found in the Lylye of Medicines. It is an arduous process, but the hope is to find significant ingredient co-occurrences, especially in combinations that were used to treat infections. “We are finding combinations that could be useful,” she said. Plantago, for example, is a common plant that is often used with vinegar, wine, and pomegranate, according to Connelly. “Interest in medicinal plants is only increasing,” said Connelly. “There are a lot of things on the horizon. We believe that novel routes to drug discovery in the past could inform the future.”
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EVENTS
CLASS OF 1968 CELEBRATES 50 YEARS The Smithsonian calls it “The Year That Shattered America.” 1968 was a tumultuous year, characterized by events like the Martin Luther King, Jr. and Bobby Kennedy assassinations, the Tet offensive and deepening concerns about the Vietnam War, and student protests all over the U.S., including on Calvin’s campus. With that as their history, the Calvin College Class of 1968 came together to remember their shared past. At the dinner on Friday night, Bob Meyering served as emcee, Esther Yff-Prins offered devotions, and Boyd Mackus was vocalist. After dinner, Ken Bratt gave a talk, “Living in the Shadow of 1968,” that walked through the events of that year and how they affected life on campus. Class members Edie Tameling Rooks, Boyd Mackus, and Don Batts all shared personal reflections about their time at Calvin. At the Saturday chapel service, Stan Mast gave welcoming greetings and served as liturgist. Marge Van Reketi Bogdalek was the response leader and Henry Admiraal gave a meditation based on Acts 2, “Pentecost People.” There was wonderful congregational singing led by Ellen Warners Klompien on the piano. The classmates went through a roll call and received their 50-year medallion. After a lunch together, the class headed to the 2018 commencement ceremony as reminders to the graduates of those who have gone before.
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ALUMNI GATHER AT CARNEGIE HALL TO HEAR THE GRAND RAPIDS SYMPHONY On April 20, alumni from New York, New Jersey, and Grand Rapids all gathered at Carnegie Hall to hear the Grand Rapids Symphony perform there for its second time. Brazilian-born music director Marcelo Lehninger led the symphony through a selection of Spanish- and Brazilian-themed music. Calvin music professor Pearl Shangkuan conducted the Grand Rapids Symphony Chorus. After the concert, the group headed to the Essex House for conversation and a reception with symphony guests, including Grand Rapids Mayor Rosalynn Bliss and other community leaders.
EVENTS
CALVIN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS KOREAN ASSOCIATION (CIRKA) This alumni group was founded in 2013 with Calvin’s Korean international relations students. There are 41 members in the group composed of both current international relations students and alumni who are currently working in the international relations field or attending graduate school. Members live in many different countries but stay connected and help each other by giving advice on job interviews, grad school applications, providing connections (bridging careers), and sharing information about international relations-related events. The group gathers two times per semester in Grand Rapids and one time in Seoul, Korea, in the summer. Last year there were several additional meetings, not just in Michigan but also in London, Geneva, Seoul, and Washington D.C. The group is growing quickly by tracking Calvin’s Korean alums and welcoming new students every semester.
CALVIN ALUMNI ASSOCIATION BOARD SELECTS OFFICERS Pictured (from l.): secretary Brianna Sas-Pérez ’11, executive director at Layton Boulevard West Neighbors, from Milwaukee, Wisconsin; president Twana Graves Davis ’93, a speech pathologist from Katy, Texas; vice president Gene Miyamoto ’77, a retired health care and furniture executive from Holland, Michigan. The officers gathered in June to make plans for the 2018–19 year.
HOMECOMING Class of 1993 and 2008 to celebrate reunions 1993 and 2008 grads, make sure you plan on being on campus for Homecoming this September. We’ll celebrate your 25- and 10-year reunions, and you’ll have a chance to participate in the other homecoming activities happening on campus. See below for save-the-date information. Save the date! We would love to see you at one of our upcoming alumni events: Homecoming | Sept. 27–30 Maroon & Gold Gala | Sept. 27 Class of 2008 Reunion | Sept. 28 Class of 1993 Reunion | Sept. 29 The Rivalry | Feb. 2, 2019 Spring Classic 5k | April 27, 2019 Class of 1969 Reunion | May 17–18, 2019 Heritage Reunion | June 14, 2019
TRAVEL WITH CALVIN Don’t miss the chance to join one of our alumni travel experiences. Southern Spain with Cynthia Slagter March 14–24, 2019 Cultural Jewels of the United Kingdom with Debra Freeberg July 25–Aug. 8, 2019 Pacific Northwest with John Apol September 2019 Southwest Mission History with Gary Nederveld Oct. 4–17, 2019 China with Don DeGraaf Fall 2019 See calvin.edu/go/travel for details. Email alumni@calvin.edu to join the interest list.
More on these events and others calvin.edu/calendar
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CLASS NOTES Spark readers: This section emphasizes Calvin graduates’ service, vocational, and reunion stories, along with “In Memoriam” notices. Send us news of your promotions, achievements, recognitions, and other announcements at spark@calvin.edu. Photos must be 300 dpi or approximately 1MB or greater in size. The alumni association is also interested in knowing about important family milestones such as marriages and newcomers. Please send that news to alumni@calvin.edu, and in return, we’ll send you a Calvin gift.
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CLASS NOTES
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HERITAGE (graduated more than 50 years ago) 01 Lugene “Archie” Bazuin ’47 and Ellie Jansma Bazuin ’48 met at Calvin, and on June 9, they celebrated 70 years of marriage. They’re retired now after serving churches in Iowa, Illinois, Colorado, and in Munster, Indiana, where they ministered at Second Christian Reformed Church for 27 years. After retiring from that church, Archie became a chaplain at Village Woods retirement center in Crete, Illinois, until he retired a second time at the age of 88. For many years he also spoke at Bible conferences from coast to coast. The Bazuins’ anniversary celebration took place at Hartsfield Village in Munster, where they now live.
Jack Van Der Slik ’58 has authored a timely new book, The Korean Crisis: One People, Two Nations, A World on the Brink. Published by WildBlue Press, the book examines the 70-year separation and rivalry of the two Koreas and asks, “Can a viable condition for reconciliation be obtained?” Professor emeritus of political studies and public affairs at the University of Illinois Springfield, Jack has written several books on international and domestic politics. (Available at the Calvin Campus Store.)
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02 Dennis Tolsma ’61 has retired from Kaiser Permanente—again. He retired the first time in 2012 as founding director emeritus of Kaiser Permanente’s research center. When his successor left unexpectedly in 2015, he was asked to come out of retirement and serve as interim director. In the past three years he has rebranded it as the Center for Clinical and Outcomes Research and helped put a new director in place. He believes this will be a true retirement! Before Kaiser, Dennis spent 30 years at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, where he still lives. 03 These 2nd VanderWerp dormmates have stayed connected since their graduation in 1968. Their friendship began in the fall of 1964 when all participated in “Project V.” The “V” stood for “Values,” and it was an experiment the college tried to see if 76 first-year students, chosen at random, housed together, and placed in the same sections of the same core classes would show more interest in and a better grasp of class content than students not in the project. There’s no report on the success of the project other than the lasting friendship of these classmates, shown reconnecting at their 50th reunion in May. Left to right: Eric Evenhuis, Ken Klassen, Ron Bode, Don Batts, Jim Kos, George Heerema, Ray Slager, Ron Polinder, and Ken Van Iddekinge.
1960s
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months at Rehoboth Christian Hospital during their senior year in medical training. Besides seminars by several of the attendees, the event featured tours of the Rehoboth Christian School campus—site of the original hospital— and the current healthcare facilities. Pictured, seated, from left: Rich Miyamoto, Cynthia Miyamoto, Beth Dykstra, Louise Vander Lugt. Standing, row 1, from left: Marcia Battjes Bos ’69, Betty Houtman Kamps ’64, Cobie Muller, Ellen Batts, Jim Knoll ’70, Karen Bouman, Bill Bouman ’59, Lee Vander Lugt ’68, Joyce Dykstra. Row 2, from left: Lois Bangma Meyer ’69, Don Batts ’68, Ron Mulder ’68, Jack Kamps ’57, Phil Kamps ’61, Jay Dykstra ’61, Marilyn Cok Gjeltema ’57. Row 3, from left: Gary Bos ’69, Bruce Muller ’64, Alden Dykstra ’88, Ken Gjeltema ’79. Row 4, from left: Eugene Corbett, Jim Meyer ’69, Jan Mulder, Bryan Kamps ’82, Russell Kamps ’14, Kristy Zietse Kamps ’14, Kyse Faber Kamps ’59, Gerald Robertson.
1970s At the 2018 Tony Awards in June, Rich Hopper ’70 was one of the winners in the category “Best Revival of a Musical” for Once on This Island. Rich is one of the play’s producers. He was a 2016 Tony nominee in the same category for his production of Spring Awakening. On August 13, an original musical he helped produce, Gettin’ The Band Back Together, opened on Broadway.
Rich Hopper was one of the Tony Award winners in the category “Best Revival of a Musical” for Once on This Island.
’70
04 Rehoboth McKinley Christian Healthcare Services and Cibola Medical Foundation hosted a continuing medical education event and reunion of physicians who served several
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CLASS NOTES
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05 Pepperdine University presented Carolyn Vos Strache ’71 its 2017–18 Women in Leadership Award at a banquet in March. She’s been at the school for 38 years, beginning as a professor of physical education. For the past 33 years she’s been an administrator—Pepperdine’s longestserving female administrator. Carolyn’s robust mentoring of students was especially commended in the award presentation. 06 Last October, Elizabeth A. Carlson ex’72 was awarded the Lucie S. Kelly Mentor Award at Sigma Theta Tau International’s 44th Biennial Convention. Currently professor and chair of the department of adult health and gerontological nursing at Rush College of Nursing, she has held a variety of clinical and academic positions at Rush University Medical Center since 1976. She’s also received a number awards for her leadership and was instrumental in the development of the Doctor of Nursing Practice program at Rush. 07 In February, David Timmer ’73 was installed as the Jacob and Gela Schnucker Sessler Chair in Philosophy and Religion at Central College in Pella, Iowa. David has taught in the
’77
“The understanding of cultural history I learned from professors like Ron Wells is still paying off.” —BEN BEVERSLUIS
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religion department at the college since 1980 and has published works on medieval Jewish-Christian relations, Franciscan missionaries in colonial Mexico, Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s life and thought, and more. Ben Beversluis ’77 wrote the screenplay for the feature-length documentary From Wilderness to World Class: The Story of Holland, Michigan. The film premiered to full houses in December at Holland’s Knickerbocker Theatre. Produced by the nonprofit Holland Film Group, the documentary traces core themes in Holland’s history as reflected in the people of Holland today. “The understanding of cultural history I learned from professors like Ron Wells is still paying off,” said Ben. After 30 years as a newspaper writer and editor in Grand Rapids and Holland, Ben is now a freelance writer and communications consultant. 08 Earl DeVries ’78 was recently elected chairman of the San Bernardino (California) County Fish and Game Commission. An avid hunter and fisherman, Earl was first appointed to the commission in 2014 and counts it “an honor to serve our community in this way.”
Last November, Minnetonka, Minnesota elected a new mayor— Brad Wiersum ’75. Brad is no stranger to the city’s operations, having served on the city council since 2003 and on several municipal boards. Minnetonka is a suburban city of 52,000 residents, located about 10 miles west of downtown Minneapolis.
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1980s 09 Barbara Rottman Hoogenboom ’83 was recently presented with the Distinguished Graduate Mentoring Award at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan. The award honors a faculty member who has shown outstanding service in mentoring graduate students in the research process, including their publications and presentations. A professor in the department of physical therapy, Barb has mentored more than 90 graduate students in their research as they completed the clinical doctorate in physical therapy at GVSU.
In a meeting of the Senate Judiciary Committee on April 26, Senator Orrin Hatch paid tribute to Tom Jipping ’83, who served Hatch as a staff member on that committee for 15 years. “Tom is one of the true experts on judicial nominations,” the senator said. “He’s also handled a number of important bills, on topics ranging from disability law to religious freedom to art exhibitions.” In May, Tom became deputy director of the Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at The Heritage Foundation in Washington D.C. In April, Ken Koornneef ex’85 became the CEO of Nobis Engineering, headquartered in Concord, New Hampshire. Ken has been with the company for 29 of its 30 years in business, serving most recently as its president. Nobis Engineering is a multidisciplinary engineering consulting firm with other offices in Lowell, Massachusetts, and Naugatuck, Connecticut.
CLASS NOTES
“More than 600,000 refugees are living in shelters made of bamboo poles and plastic sheeting ... . I think it’s hugely important that we think about this really horrific situation.”
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In April, Mike Bos ’85 became the new director of ticket operations for The College Football Playoff, the organization overseeing the postseason play that determines a national champion for NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, the top level of college football in the United States. Before taking this position, Mike was senior associate athletics director at the University of Texas Austin. 10 Syllabic Press recently published That Said, a volume of new and selected poems by Robert Schreur ’85. The book collects poems from ten of his previously published volumes along with new poems. A 1993 PhD in English from Johns Hopkins University, Robert is a licensed clinical supervisor at the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center; he also maintains a private psychotherapy practice.
Scott Brill ’89 is the new chief financial officer for Young Life, a global Christian outreach mission to middle school, high school, and college students. He comes to the organization from Target Corporation, where he held several senior-level positions. Of his new post, Scott said, “I can’t imagine a better organization where my financial skill set can put service first and help build God’s Kingdom!”
ALUMNI HIGHLIGHT
Reporter wins human rights award In September 2017, in a muddy makeshift village in Bangladesh just across the border from Myanmar, Rohingya refugees showed Nathan VanderKlippe ’01 videos on their smartphones. “They had videos of men fishing the bodies of children out of rivers, of people lying on the ground with their heads cracked open and brains spilling out, of girls being carried away with flaps of flesh hanging from their knees because they’d stepped on land mines,” VanderKlippe said. “It was the single hardest story I’ve ever covered.” For that story, which documented not only the horrors of Rohingya fleeing the Myanmar military but also the historical and political roots of the crisis, human rights organization Amnesty International Canada presented VanderKlippe with its 2017 media award for national print journalism. He’s Asia correspondent for Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail. Shortly after receiving the award in April, VanderKlippe was back in Bangladesh to update the Rohingya exodus story. It hasn’t gotten any easier, he said.
“More than 600,000 refugees are living in shelters made of bamboo poles and plastic sheeting set on deforested, terraced hillsides of silt, sand, and clay. Monsoon season will bring 2.5 meters of rain in three months. There’s a lot of fear about landslides and what that will mean. “I think it’s hugely important that we think about this really horrific situation.” The Rohingya’s is not the only story of ethnic persecution that VanderKlippe has covered—and been recognized for. He won his first media award from Amnesty International Canada in 2014 for outstanding reporting on China’s treatment of its Uyghur minority. Chinese officials also recognized him for that story. While in the Uyghur’s home region, Xinjiang, last December, he was detained for three hours and had his computer confiscated. VanderKlippe said he doesn’t dwell on either the danger or the horror he experiences. “There’s no time. You go, you write the story, then you move on to the next one.”
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CLASS NOTES
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1990s 11 The law firm Foster Swift Collins & Smith recently elected attorney Jennifer Siebers Van Regenmorter ’90 in its Holland (Michigan) office to lead the firm’s health care practice group. She has also been recognized for her contributions to health care law in Best Lawyers in America 2018.
’99 Brad Mockabee was recently named principal of Grand Rapids (Michigan) Christian High School.
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12 In March, Christy Anderson ’92 celebrated her 50th birthday with a trip to the United Kingdom. The day she arrived in London, a young woman saw her Calvin-branded backpack and asked if she was an alum. Eleosa Chong ’18 was in London on spring break and, like Christy, was looking for the entrance to Westminster Abbey’s evensong. The two eventually found it, enjoyed the service together, and discovered further connections: Eleosa is from Seattle, where Christy lived until 2014, and Eleosa spent the summer of 2014 in Christy’s new hometown of Austin, Texas. “What a ridiculous set of coincidences,” said Christy. Or, in Brit-speak, “Mad!” 13 Dan Hoang ’92 has produced Jésus, le Don d’une Vie (Jesus, the Gift of a Life) in partnership with the French branch of Compassion International. Directed by his wife, Myriam, the musical theater piece features 36 cast members, including the couple’s nine-year-old son. It premiered at Théâtre André Malraux near Paris, where the 850 seats sold out a week before the performance. Dan had the opportunity to tell French president Emmanuel Macron about the show, which is now touring France through December 2019.
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Stephen Scholler ’94, a senior vice president at Wells Fargo Financial Advisors in Grand Rapids, Michigan, has been recognized as a Best-in-State Wealth Advisor by Forbes for 2018. Steve has 24 years of experience in the financial services industry. The University of Michigan Medical School has honored Scott Owens ’94 with the 2018 Kaiser Permanente Award for Excellence in Pre-Clinical Teaching. Two Kaiser awards are given each year to faculty members nominated by students and other faculty for outstanding teaching. Scott is an associate professor of gastrointestinal and hepatobiliary pathology at the school and is the director of the Division of Quality and Health Improvement. The Michigan High School Athletic Association has announced that Mark Uyl ’96 will become its next executive director in August. Mark has been assistant director since 2004, coordinating the MHSAA’s officials, running the statewide baseball program, and leading the organization’s catastrophic and concussion care insurance plans. He’s perhaps best known as one of the top baseball officials in the country, working the College World Series in 2014 and 2017 as well as officiating college football for 12 seasons. 14 For 11 years, Jonathan DeVries ’97 has taught music at St. Hilda’s & St. Hugh’s School in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of New York City, where he now chairs the department. On November 18, 2017, Jonathan made his Carnegie Hall conducting debut as the artistic director of the Canterbury Choral Society. In a
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performance of Mahler’s Eighth Symphony, he led the combined ensembles, including two adult choirs, full symphonic orchestra, eight soloists, and 350 student singers from nine of New York City’s best schools and churches. Also on the program was a world premiere by Rollo Dilworth, who was commissioned to write a concert-length work for the occasion specifically celebrating youth choirs. On Valentine’s Day, Callie Lewis Feyen ’98 celebrated the publication of her first book, The Teacher Diaries: Romeo and Juliet. The memoir traces the trials and triumphs of teaching Romeo and Juliet to eighth graders, interlacing that experience with Callie’s memories of her own growing up and how they influenced her teaching. A main theme of the book, Callie writes, is that shared stories “can mend what’s broken and forge new paths—a timely theme for our society in general.” (Available in the Calvin Campus Store.) Newly released, The Routledge Handbook of Literary Translation was co-edited by Ben VanWyke ’99. Ben, who passed away in September 2017, helped launch the first PhD program in translation studies in the U.S. at Binghamton University. He was a professor in the department of world languages and culture at Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis. Brad Mockabee ’99 was recently named principal of Grand Rapids (Michigan) Christian High School. Since starting at the school following his Calvin graduation, Brad has worked in a variety of roles. He’s served as a Spanish teacher, varsity football coach, Winterim coordinator, and dean of curriculum prior to this appointment.
ALUMNI HIGHLIGHT
College project to visit all USA counties pivots into a career A pastor’s kid, Tom Byker ’05 had lived in six states by the time he arrived at Calvin. “I loved the travel,” he said, “and tracking where I’d been.” Not surprisingly, the travel enthusiast made his way to the geography department. He also began teaching himself GIS—geographic information science—to make digital maps of the places he’d visited. “I decided to start from scratch and visit every county,” Byker said. “Learning the mapping software was an excuse to see the whole country.” Each May, on the way to his summer job on a fishing boat in the Bering Sea, he drove a different route. When he came to the boundary of a new county, he snapped a picture of the countyidentifying sign. By graduation he’d visited 60 percent of the nation’s 3,142
counties and plotted them on his map with 17 categories of data, like “places of interest,” for each. That map became part of the resumé Byker submitted to TomTom, then a primary manufacturer of personal navigation devices (PNDs). “They thought it was a little quirky, but it definitely helped me get the job.” In his first year at the company, Byker drove a vehicle with mounted cameras recording data—like intersection configurations, business locations, traffic flow—that TomTom needed for its navigational maps. When smartphone technology made PNDs far less relevant, TomTom shifted its business. Byker now works from his home computer in Cincinnati collecting geographic data, refining it, and transferring it to existing maps to accurately reflect changes in the landscape.
“I decided to start from scratch and visit every county. Learning the mapping software was an excuse to see the whole country.”
For example, for the new I-69 freeway being built from Indianapolis to Texas, he gathered detailed construction plans from Indiana’s Department of Transportation and overlaid them onto TomTom’s existing map of the state so the new map accurately reflects reality when the highway opens. Full-time work and marriage slowed Byker’s work on his all-county map. But in January 2017, he flew to Kalawao County on the Hawaiian island of Moloka’i, then to Kalaupapa, remote site of a former leper colony. “That was the most meaningful visit for me,” he said, “not just because it was the last county in a 15-year project, but because of its story. Father Damien, a Catholic priest, gave his life to the lepers forced to live there. His selfless example was inspiring.”
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CLASS NOTES
David Auperlee with his wife, Helen, and children, Eliza and William
ALUMNI HIGHLIGHT
Finding life together “We’ve seen that people pushed to their limits often have an understanding of God that is both liberating and deeply hopeful.”
In the south of England, eight miles from the West Dorset coast, in a tiny hamlet, David Aupperlee ’03 milks cows in the barn adjoining a 17th-century manor house. His wife, Helen, weeds the vegetable garden while their two children play nearby. A bell rings, and they join a handful of others in a tiny, 14th-century stone church for midday prayer. Lunch in the manor house follows— homegrown, homemade food shared among 25 or so people at long tables. The conversation is lively. This is Pilsdon Community, and though it sounds too good to be true, it is both true and good. But not idyllic. “Pilsdon was formed to be a welcoming refuge to people who have experienced some form of exclusion,” Aupperlee said. “Most people who are guests at Pilsdon are working through a major
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life crisis—addiction, for example, or bereavement, or homelessness. Time here can help folks regain strength to reengage with life on the outside.” Pilsdon also welcomes “wayfarers,” people traveling England’s network of footpaths. They arrive at all hours and are allowed to stay a night or a weekend. Anchoring the community for all these guests are core members like the Aupperlees. They and three other members take responsibility for the community’s organization. But the labor itself—preparing meals, cleaning, caring for the animals, the gardens, and the grounds—is shared among all. “We’re not therapeutic in any clinical way,” Aupperlee said. “But working with animals and plants, preparing
meals, eating healthy food, being sought out in conversation—people have purposeful work and meaningful relationships here. That’s what we all need, and it’s healing.” Founded by an Anglican clergyman after WWII, Pilsdon Community welcomes people of any faith or none. Everyone, of any description, is welcomed. “Our family has been here almost four years,” Aupperlee said. “We’ve seen that people pushed to their limits often have an understanding of God that is both liberating and deeply hopeful. It’s been eye-opening and humbling. We learn from one another every day.” To learn more about the Pilsdon Community, visit pilsdon.org.uk.
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2000s 15 In January, Jonna Van Schepen Fey ’00 (third from left), who lives with her husband and children in South Africa, traveled to Kenya to visit 2016 Distinguished Alumni Award honoree Margaret Njuguna ’94 (seated, far right) at En-Gedi Children’s Home. Margaret opened En-Gedi in 2013 as a place of safety for children with severe developmental and physical disabilities. Seeing Margaret’s work confirmed for Jonna the need to bring a similar kind of program to her home, north of Pretoria. To find out more about En-Gedi, visit en-gedichildrenwithhope.org.
In April, Matt Hoekzema ’01 was named vice president of property management for First Companies, a Grand Rapidsbased real estate, construction, and property management firm. Matt and his team ensure that all First Companies properties are functional, well-maintained, and professional looking for building owners and their tenants. Prior to this position, Matt worked for 10 years as the assistant director of Calvin’s physical plant. Joseph Stubenrauch ’01 has won an American Society of Church History book prize for The Evangelical Age of Ingenuity in Industrial Britain, published by Oxford University Press. He was awarded the 2017 Frank S. and Elizabeth D. Brewer Prize for outstanding scholarship in church history by a first-time author. In the book he maintains that British evangelicals in the late 18th and early 19th centuries created novel approaches to evangelism, even using hot air balloons and the telegraph. Joseph is an associate professor of history at Baylor University.
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Nathan T. Zwagerman ’06 has been appointed director of pituitary and skullbase surgery at the Medical College in Wisconsin, the nation’s fourth largest private medical school and Wisconsin’s largest private research institution. Lakewood Construction in Holland, Michigan, has named Kyle Engbers ’09 its new vice president. He previously served as a project manager and director of safety at the firm, which he joined in 2015. After finishing his residency in internal medicine and pediatrics at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago in June, Jared Rispens ’09 joined the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) in Atlanta. EIS officers are dispatched to the front lines of disease outbreaks of all kinds, from Ebola in West Africa to bedbugs in Tennessee. As a “disease detective,” Jared will join the vessel sanitation team, which prevents and responds to gastrointestinal outbreaks on cruise ships. He hopes to spend a lot of time at sea! 16 Despite the civil unrest there, Calvin alums living in Managua, Nicaragua, got together for a potluck reunion in May. Pictured left to right, they are: Kim Karsten Holtrop ’97, Steve Holtrop ’97, Jessica Jonker Starkenburg ’01, Liam Starkenburg, April Hoekstra Homkes ’02, Mark Homkes ’02, Katey Westergren Park ’14, Kyu Park ’13, Ruth Arrowsmith Ippel ’04, Andrew Ippel ’04, Dan Van Zoest ’93, Lisa Riebkes Van Zoest ’91, Jared Benthem ’02, Susan Potter Benthem ’04, and 19 future Knights!
2010s After she lost her husband, Danny VanderSpek ’10, to cancer in 2014, Corrine Junga VanderSpek ’10 wanted to find a public way to continue his legacy. Because they met and grew in their faith at Calvin, she and Danny’s loved ones decided to endow a scholarship in his name that will be awarded each year to a student who is pursuing electrical engineering, Danny’s vocation, and who prioritizes faith “by living it and sharing it with others.” Besides the money that Danny’s family is raising for the scholarship, Richard Vander Vaart ’85 is donating proceeds from the sale of Still Can’t Help Myself, his second book of short stories and daily devotions. When Danny was in high school, Richard was the pastor for his profession of faith; he also spoke at Danny and Corrine’s wedding and Danny’s funeral. (Available in the Calvin Campus Store.) Amanda Roels DeLong ’13, realtor and associate broker with Patriot Realty in Grand Rapids, has been named to Realtor Magazine’s 2018 Class of 30 Under 30—young stars rising in the real estate industry. She was chosen from more than 300 applicants for the award. A feature of Amanda’s practice that stood out to judges was her ability to help clients of diverse backgrounds, including those that speak little to no English, purchase their first home in a very competitive market.
Danny VanderSpek’s loved ones decided to endow a scholarship in his name that will be awarded each year to a student who is pursuing electrical engineering.
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Deaths HERITAGE John Adair ’61 Jan. 11, 2018, Vineland, N.J. 17
’16 As a Fulbright Scholar in Vienna, Janaya Crevier worked with four teammates to create an interactive map telling the stories of four people with refugee backgrounds.
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Kendra Pennings Kamp ’14 graduated last spring with her PhD in nursing research from Michigan State University. Her dissertation examined social support and self-management behaviors among emerging adults with inflammatory bowel disease. Kendra and husband Scott Kamp ’13 have moved to Seattle, Washington, where she will be a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Washington School of Nursing. 17 Among the 17,000 attendees at the
American Physical Therapy Association’s Combined Section Meeting in New Orleans in April were these five young Calvin alums. They found each other and held a mini-reunion. All are studying to become physical therapists, and four of the five presented research at the conference. From left, they are: Lexi Scott ’15, studying at the University of Dayton; Amy Sybesma ’15, California State University Sacramento; Autumn Oostindie ’15, Elon University; Cole Evans ’16, University of Illinois; Cassie Van Dyke ’15, University of Michigan. 18 Allison Bosch Rowe ’16 remembers
well the first time she stuck an IV needle into a patient’s arm. Besides her sweaty palms, she remembers how encouraging her clinical instructor, Joel Vedders ’94, was in that nerve-wracking moment. Now both Allison and Joel work on the outpatient surgical services unit at Blodgett Hospital in Grand Rapids, and in April the hospital presented both with the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nursing. The international award recognizes nurses not only for their clinical skill but also for their compassion. Allison calls nursing “a privilege, providing shade in some of the largest deserts people walk through.”
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The American Association of Geographers presented Janaya Crevier ’16 and her collaborators the 2018 Alternative Mode of Scholarship Award for their project Ways Home: The Story Map. As a Fulbright Scholar in Vienna, Janaya worked with four teammates to create an interactive map telling the stories of four people with refugee backgrounds who are making new homes in Austria. She now works with MAPSCorps in Chicago, creating maps that connect people with local resources and community assets. Of the award-winning project, she says, “Working on The Story Map was the beginning of what I hope will be a lifetime of learning to listen, to narrate stories with data and maps, and to use my skills to build change with my community from the ground up.” To see The Story Map, visit bit.ly/2GOzofF. 19 The independent, nonprofit, Charles Stark Draper Laboratory in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has named Jonathan Manni ’17 a Draper Fellow. The award provides financial, technical, and mentoring support to Jonathan throughout the course of his PhD studies in engineering at the University of Colorado. He received the fellowship for his project to improve the way cameras are used to guide robots through new environments, both in the air and in space.
John Herbert Baker ’50 April 21, 2018, Salisbury, Md. Louis Baker ’50 May 4, 2018, Holland, Mich. Thomas Bakker ’57 Dec. 18, 2017, Santa Barbara, Calif. Marjorie De Koning Bantjes ’64 May 27, 2018, Byron Center, Mich. Wayne Bekkering ex’68 April 1, 2018, Pella, Iowa Janis Baker Berkhof ’68 April 21, 2018, Byron Center, Mich. Henry Boersma ’51 Jan. 25, 2018, Marne, Mich. Donald Boes ex’58 Feb. 17, 2018, Cadillac, Mich. Hazel Van Til Boldenow ex’43 March 25, 2018, Grand Rapids, Mich. Marilyn Booden ex’61 Jan. 11, 2018, Ballston Lake, N.Y. Majorie Kok Boot ex’50 May 25, 2018, Grand Rapids, Mich. Ellen Branderhorst Boss ex’53 Feb. 19, 2018, Mary Bos Brill ’63 March 25, 2018, River Ranch, Fla. Lloyd Broersma ex’48 April 17, 2018, Lynden, Wash. Robert Broersma ’58 April 14, 2018, Kentwood, Mich. Marilyn Trapp Brumels ex’48 April 16, 2018, Kentwood, Mich. Robert Brummel ’58 May 9, 2018, Ada, Mich. Dirk Bruyn ’54 March 4, 2018, Grand Rapids, Mich. Joseph Cramer ’58 April 21, 2018, Jenison, Mich.
1970s
Marilyn Swets De Graaf ’51 June 9, 2018, Grand Rapids, Mich.
Philip Lucasse ’49 May 5, 2018, Kentwood, Mich.
Sydney Vander Galien ex’49 Jan. 2, 2018, Dallas, Texas
Patricia Brander De Haan ex’52 April 1, 2018, Grand Rapids, Mich.
Dean Manni ’54 April 5, 2018, Kalamazoo, Mich.
John Vander Heide ’53 June 24, 2018, Grand Haven, Mich.
Helene Danhof De Hoek ’54 May 13, 2018, Caledonia, Mich.
William Masselink ’53 Feb. 6, 2018, Green Acres, Fla.
Steve Van Der Weele ’49 Feb. 20, 2018, Grand Rapids, Mich.
Marcia Frieswyk De Mey ex’55 Jan. 12, 2018, Grand Rapids, Mich.
Ellen Bast Mast ex’52 May 3, 2018, Hobe Sound, Fla.
Howard Vanderwell ’59 March 23, 2018, Hudsonville, Mich.
Evelyn Christler De Neff ex’46 March 10, 2018, Brooksville, Fla.
Joan De Vries Mc Donald ’52 April 14, 2018, Newaygo, Mich.
Stewart Vander Woude ’51 Dec. 19, 2017, Palos Park, Ill.
Shirley Van Rhee De Vries ’66 April 18, 2018, Grand Rapids, Mich.
Paul Moerdyk ’67 March 16, 2018, Lansing, Mich.
Mary Steenwyck Van Diepenbos ’60 May 13, 2018, Jenison, Mich.
John Dykstra ’50 May 19, 2018, La Quinta, Calif.
Bernice Schipper Nagelkirk ’63 March 30, 2018, Kalamazoo, Mich.
Gordon Van Harn ’57 April 3, 2018, Grand Rapids, Mich.
Janet Battjes Ebbers ex’52 April 15, 2018, Grand Rapids, Mich.
Donald Oppewal ’50 May 19, 2018, Lowell, Mich.
Lillian Wyngarden Van Slot ’45 May 13, 2018, Holland, Mich.
Christine Oosthoek Ekdom ’52 March 15, 2018, Grand Rapids, Mich.
Mary Ferwerda Oppewall ’45 March 21, 2018, Grand Rapids, Mich.
Ruth Cooper Van Stelle ’63 Feb. 23, 2018, Tucson, Ariz.
Jack Faber ex’53 Feb. 22, 2018, Holland, Mich.
B. Joyce Pleune ’45 Jan. 29, 2018, Grand Rapids, Mich.
Jerome Veldheer ex’59 April 21, 2018, Grand Rapids, Mich.
Jan Friend ’59 Dec. 13, 2017, Centennial, Colo.
Adele Hartgerink Postma ’47 June 1, 2018, Rockford, Mich.
Helen Roelofs Verbrugge ex’39 Jan. 11, 2018, Basking Ridge, N.J.
Roger Gemmen ex’57 May 14, 2018, Holland, Mich.
Doris Rey ex’58 Feb. 11, 2018, Kalamazoo, Mich.
Ellen Newhof Verwys ex’41 Jan. 18, 2018, Grand Rapids, Mich.
Hannah Lenters Gosaynie ’54 May 1, 2018, Holland, Mich.
Clarice Vandekieft Ribbens ’44 May 16, 2018, Blacksburg, Va.
Dale Volkers ex’56 June 17, 2018, Ravenna, Mich.
Morris Greidanus ’60 June 14, 2018, Grand Rapids, Mich.
Catherine Rodenhouse ’43 Jan. 22, 2018, Holland, Mich.
Jochem Vugteveen ’45 Feb. 1, 2018, Grand Rapids, Mich.
Barbara Dommisse Grit ex’55 Feb. 14, 2018, Byron Center, Mich.
Donna De Wall Rosema ’62 Feb. 5, 2018, Fremont, Mich.
Mark Wagenveld ’67 Jan. 27, 2018, Philadelphia, Pa.
1980s
Fred Groot ex’58 May 1, 2018, Lowell, Mich.
John Rupke ’53 March 14, 2018, Grand Rapids, Mich.
William Weidenaar ’60 Feb. 16, 2018, Jenison, Mich.
David Duyst ’81 April 16, 2018, Grand Rapids, Mich.
Maxine Selles Haak ex’49 Dec. 17, 2017, Kalamazoo, Mich.
Ralph Slager ex’49 May 6, 2018, Grand Rapids, Mich.
Jerome Westra ex’54 June 13, 2018, Bradenton, Mich.
David Quist ’84 April 20, 2018, Grand Rapids, Mich.
Harvey Haverdink ’69 May 20, 2018, Wayland, Mich.
John Smeda ’67 Feb. 9, 2018, Kalamazoo, Mich.
Charles Witteveen ex’55 April 9, 2018, Grand Rapids, Mich.
Mary Schaafsma ’80 March 11, 2018, Chicago, Ill.
Jacoba Jorritsma Hofman ex’50 May 31, 2018, Grand Rapids, Mich.
Edward Solle ’50 Feb. 17, 2018, Grand Rapids, Mich.
Paul Wolters ’58 Jan. 25, 2018, Holland, Mich.
Janet Kuiper Holman ’40 Feb. 7, 2018, Crete, Ill.
Nadine DeBruin Stek ex’47 May 11, 2018, Grand Rapids, Mich.
Esther Gilder Wood ex’54 Dec. 9, 2017, Grand Rapids, Mich.
H. Wayne Huizenga ex’58 March 22, 2018, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Esther Daverman Struck ’42 Feb. 22, 2018, Grand Haven, Mich.
William Wybenga ’60 Feb. 19, 2018, Carmel, Ind.
Peter Huizenga ex’57 May 2, 2018, Oak Brook, Ill.
William Sytsema Jr. ex’49 May 28, 2018, Jenison, Mich.
Marilyn Smith Zondervan ’66 Mar. 29, 2018, Byron Center, Mich.
Kenneth Kornelis ex’47 May 28, 2018, Lynden, Wash.
Ruth Vanden Berge Thomas ex’36 Dec. 15, 2017, Grand Rapids, Mich.
Roger Kraker ex’67 April 9, 2018, Spring Hill, Tenn.
John Timmer ’54 March 24, 2018, Grand Rapids, Mich.
Calvin Lane ex’50 April 11, 2018, Sun City, Ariz.
Grieta Van Coevering ’57 May 14, 2018, Albuquerque, N. M.
Don Le Febre ex’54 Feb. 13, 2018, Zeeland, Mich.
Helen Van Halsema Vande Polder ’54 Feb. 13, 2018, Bradenton, Fla.
Jane Alkema Anema ex’76 March 27, 2018, Holland, Mich. James De Bruyn ’74 June 24, 2018, Byron Center, Mich. Glenn Deckinga ex’74 Feb. 9, 2018, Grand Rapids, Mich. James Guikema ’73 April 18, 2018, Manhattan, Kan. Peter Harkema ’71 Feb. 3, 2018, Rockford, Mich. Phillip Joseph ex’76 March 25, 2018, Grand Rapids, Mich. Mark Kolk ’76 March 5, 2018, Alto, Mich. Kenneth Ozinga ’73 Feb. 8, 2018, Seattle, Wash. Jane Klein Prins ex’74 Feb. 4, 2018, Byron Center, Mich. Andy Schickel ’70 March 24, 2018, Grand Rapids, Mich. Robert Voogt ’72 Feb. 13, 2018, Virginia Beach, Va. Sandra Van Kooten Walters ’71 Jan. 24, 2018, Orlando, Fla. Kenneth Witt ’71 Jan. 25, 2018, Muskegon, Mich.
1990s Frank Fyffe ’95 Feb. 19, 2018, Franklin Lakes, N.J.
1960s Peter Borgdorf ex’69 May 21, 2018, Grand Rapids, Mich. Fred Postema ex’69 April 15, 2018, Grandville, Mich.
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Donald Oppewal, 1926–2018 Education was always integral to who Don Oppewal was. From teaching high school to writing numerous articles, books, and texts on education, particularly Christian education, Oppewal was always seeking or sharing knowledge. For 30 years he imparted that wisdom to countless Calvin students studying to be teachers. Oppewal died on May 19; he was 91. “Don was deeply committed to Christian education at all levels,” said former Calvin colleague Yvonne Van Ee. “He wrote about it, spoke about it, and challenged all of us to think about it. He taught philosophy of education and asked students to consider various philosophers and philosophies through the Reformed worldview lens.” Oppewal’s teaching reached far beyond the Calvin campus. He helped establish the Christian Educators Journal and served as managing
editor for more than a decade. He also published articles on topics such as the integration of faith and learning, teaching tenure and turnover, and the need for Christian textbooks in the Reformed Journal, Educational Forum, Christian Legal Society Quarterly, and Christian Scholar’s Review. Upon his retirement in 1991, Oppewal volunteered as both a construction worker and educational consultant for schools in Belize, Dominican Republic, and Honduras. He also continued writing, publishing Voices from the Past: Reformed Educators, a book dedicated to the voices of numerous spokespersons devoted to Christian education. Oppewal is survived by his wife, Jessica; children Gwen Beversluis, Jo Boersma, Dan (Mary) Oppewal, Jim Oppewal, Donna Oppewal, Paul (Tammy) Oppewal; 15 grandchildren; 35 great-grandchildren; and two great-great-grandchildren.
Gordon Van Harn, 1935–2018 “To be faithful to my God and Creator in all that I do,” said Gordon Van Harn in 2004 upon receiving the Faith and Learning Award from Calvin College to articulate his mission in life. Van Harn faithfully served Calvin College for nearly 40 years as a professor of biology (1961–1982), academic dean (1982–1985), provost (1985–1996), and professor of interdisciplinary studies (1996–1999). He died on April 3, at the age of 82. “He was the embodiment of the values and personal qualities of the Calvin community,” said former Calvin president Tony Diekema. “He modeled for all of the faculty the essence of a pursuit of excellence within a Christian academic community. In short, Gord was the solid and sound academic voice of the college both within and beyond the campus.”
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Van Harn had many accomplishments during his tenure as provost, which centered around his commitment to the integration of faith and learning, his development of faculty and students, and his interest in and support of interdisciplinary collaboration. Following his tenure at Calvin, Van Harn joined the science education initiative at the Van Andel Institute, where his vision to establish a graduate school came to fruition. He also served multiple terms on the boards of Grand Rapids Christian Schools, Grand Rapids Public Schools, Calvin Academy for Lifelong Learning (CALL), and Lighthouse Academy. Van Harn is survived by his wife, Mary; his children, Pam (Harry) Plantinga, Mark (Kim) Van Harn, and Barbara (Joel) Adams; and nine grandchildren.
Phil Lucasse, 1927–2018 Phil Lucasse was a teacher of teachers, spending the vast majority of his career inspiring young people with his energy and creative enthusiasm. “Phil’s approach was always to be ‘all-in,’” said former colleague Steve Timmermans. “Exhibiting a love for the Creator and the Creation, Phil sought to instill in those he led a sense of wonder and appreciation, critical driving forces for both aspiring teachers and budding students.” Lucasse died on May 5, at the age of 90. He first came to Calvin as a student after serving in the U.S. Navy. He earned a degree in engineering, but turned to teaching in the early 1950s, earning a bachelor’s and master’s degree from the University of Michigan. His tenure of employment at Calvin began in 1956, when he served for 13 years as dean of
Steve Van Der Weele, 1920–2018
men. After completing a PhD in education, Lucasse returned to Calvin, this time to the education department, where he served until his “official” retirement in 1991. Always the teacher, however, Lucasse stayed on at Calvin, working part-time in the education curriculum center for 20 more years.
“Steve was a consummate man of letters, reading widely and engaging in conversations about ideas whenever possible,” said Don Hettinga, professor of English at Calvin College.
He served on the task force that lead to the establishment of the Calvin Academy for Lifelong Learning (CALL) for senior learners in 1996. He served as the first president and was later given a Distinguished Service Award. He continued his own education by taking numerous CALL classes.
“When we teach literature, we enlarge the world that we can bring into captivity to Jesus Christ … . The right literature gives students more to be Christian with,” said Van Der Weele, upon receiving the college’s 2007 Faith and Learning Award.
Lucasse is survived by his wife, Carolyn; children Anne Lucasse (Mark Wiersma), Mary Lucasse (David Baker), and Susan Lucasse; four grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.
Van Der Weele, 97, who died on Feb. 20, spent his life digging deep into every square inch of literature.
After serving in the U.S. Air Force for more than three years during World War II, Van Der Weele was honorably discharged. Through the GI Bill, he graduated from Calvin in 1949. He went on to receive his master’s degree and PhD from the University of Wisconsin.
He then taught literature at Calvin for 34 years—the second-longest tenure for a Calvin English professor. He taught 11 different courses in literature and writing, and, with communications professor emeritus Tom Ozinga, laid the initial groundwork for what would become Calvin’s interdisciplinary journalism minor. His love for literature and writing didn’t end with his retirement in 1986, and his contribution to his craft continued for decades; according to Hettinga, Van Der Weele wrote book reviews, published a collection of his essays, and gave lectures for church and civic groups. Van Der Weele was preceded in death by his wife of 57 years, Viola. He is survived by his children Deborah Kula (Robert, deceased) and Philip Van Der Weele (Joan Snyder), and two grandchildren.
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A LEGACY OF MENTORING QUENTIN SCHULTZE RECOGNIZED WITH FAITH AND LEARNING AWARD Each year the Calvin Alumni Association honors a former Calvin faculty member with the Faith and Learning Award. The criteria for selection includes excellence in teaching, spiritual inspiration, concern for students, and lasting influence. Quentin Schultze doesn’t think of himself as retired; he says he’s “rewired.” After growing up in Chicago in a difficult family situation that included an alcoholic father and a mother with paranoid schizophrenia, Schultze received his PhD in communication from the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign. He was a new Christian and wanted to find a way to connect his faith to his teaching, and someone suggested that he look at Reformed writers. He soon discovered that Calvin’s Reformed worldview and integration of faith and learning were a great fit for him. “For me, the best part of Calvin always was the students. ... They are phenomenal. Not just smart, but terrific persons. A joy to serve,” he said. Before he even started classes, a Calvin student stopped by his house to welcome him to Calvin. The student quickly kicked off Schultze’s ever-surprising career of student mentoring. Mentoring will be the lasting legacy he hopes he leaves at Calvin. While he is the author of many books and has been quoted in The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, and USA Today, those are not the accomplishments he finds the most rewarding. “If I have any real legacy at Calvin ... it will be 48
the one-on-one mentoring I did and continue with former students. I still hear from former students almost daily; it has been a tremendous blessing.” One of those students was current alumni board member Gary Van Prooyen ’88. In introducing Schultze at the award presentation this past May, Van Prooyen said, “This man captivated us in the classroom and opened our eyes to a Reformed Christian perspective on communications and the media world. He listened to us, his students, as much as he taught us. And he demonstrated every day that we were important, that we were unique, and that God was waiting to use us in his Kingdom.” Schultze believes as a Christian that the purpose of communication is to love your audience as your neighbor. When he anchored his teaching in this belief, which he largely borrowed from Augustine, he found great joy. Now in his “rewirement,” he is finding new ways to reach audiences including via his YouTube channel. Schultze is also doing master-teaching workshops. When reflecting on his time at Calvin and receiving the Faith and Learning Award, he feels this award fits with what God has done in his life: “I’m going to put this award up on the wall, and every time I see it, I’m going to say ‘God, you are good.’”
Quentin Schultze loved teaching specialtopic interim classes, including one on leadership communication that showed him how his mentoring was helping to produce outstanding Christian leaders in many professions. The course and his mentoring eventually led to his most recent book, Communicate Like a True Leader: 30 Days of Life-Changing Wisdom. The 30 “meditations” in the book are daily readings to help leaders develop virtues as well as communication skills. In writing this book, Schultze evaluated a lifetime’s worth of communication knowledge, focused on the 30 most important pieces of communication advice, and applied it to being a leader. He sees “leadership primarily as healthy, responsible communication in one’s life— not as a lofty position only for unusually gifted or privileged persons.” Since finishing his classroom teaching, Schultze “decided it was time to put into writing many of the major points that I used in mentoring students and former students over the years. And I wanted to do it in a way that was implicitly Christian, and even Reformed, without using any of the obvious lingo.” Whatever your stage of life—a recent college graduate or entering retirement— Schultze hopes these reflections offer new inspiration and encouragement. To download a free excerpt of the book and find links to other communication materials, visit Schultze’s website at quentinschultze.com.
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