Spark Fall 2019

SPARK T H E C A LV I N

UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

FALL 2019

DIFFERENT NARRATIVES, A SINGLE STORY “Taking responsibility of your story actually means allowing space for God’s calling. You prioritize differently when you decide to work under the script that God has for you.”

— Edgar Aguilar ’19 Student senate president Commencement address

FALL 2019 VOL. 65, NO. 2

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Calvin University equips students to think deeply, to act justly, and to live wholeheartedly as Christ’s agents of renewal in the world.

Calvin University 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.

12 Calvin University is a member of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU). For more information, visit cccu.org.

Spark (USPS 509-280) is published three times a year by the Calvin Alumni Association, office of alumni, parent, and community relations, Calvin University, 3201 Burton St. SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546. ©2019 by the Calvin Alumni Association.

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 University, 3201 Burton St. SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546.

CANADIAN POSTMASTER: Publication Mail Agreement No. 40063614. Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: CRCNA-Calvin University, 3475 Mainway, P.O. Box 5070, Burlington, ON L7R 3Y8.

2

COVER: President Michael Le Roy shares his thoughts on the change to Calvin University and the future of higher education.

FEATURES

10

12

20

Professors David Warners and David Heun reflect on their new book that features new approaches to creation care.

A conversation with Michael Le Roy on the university era.

Calvin’s new Spanish immersion program gives high schoolers a head start.

BEYOND STEWARDSHIP

CALVIN SPREADS ITS WINGS

INMERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL EN CALVIN

TABLE OF CONTENTS

THE CALVIN SPARK Editor: Rick Treur ’93 Managing Editor: Lynn Bolt Rosendale ’85 Art Director: Amanda Impens Designers: Emmanuella Crevier ’20 Erin Elders ’16 Emma Tongue ’21 Contributing Writers: Gayle Boss Jeff Febus ’92 Matt Kucinski Contributing Photographers: Andy Calvert Amanda Impens Stephen Norregaard ’15 Rick Treur ’93

CALVIN ALUMNI ASSOCIATION BOARD

46

26 Janet Staal ’98 and Katelyn Egnatuk ’13 are helping children learn to love the earth.

“Life storyteller” Lauren Befus ’03 helps people record their memoirs.

DEPARTMENTS

ONLINE EXTRAS

4

Editor’s Desk

Read Spark online

6

Campus News

calvin.edu/spark

8 Sports 10 Scholarship 22 Alumni Profiles 34 The Cultural Calvin 36 Events 38 Legacy 40 Class Notes 48 In Memoriam

Take a look at sports pics calvinknights.com/galleries

Connect with alumni facebook.com/calvinalumni

Watch the video Becoming Calvin University calvin.edu/go/university

Leave a legacy for future alum legacygift.calvin.edu

President: Twana Graves Davis ’93 (Katy, Texas) Vice President: Gene Miyamoto ’77 (Holland, Mich.)

Secretary: Brianna Sas-Pérez (Milwaukee, Wis.) Treasurer: Barbara Boers ’86 Director: Rick Treur ’93 Members: Sarah Berg ’06 (Washington, D.C.) Jori Brink ’04 (Chicago, Ill.) Jerry Cooper ex’66 (Holland, Mich.)

Carlos Erazo ’14 (Dallas, Texas) James Jenkins ’87 (Everett, Wash.)

Rachel Johnson-Melville ’02 (Muskegon, Mich.)

Jack Kalmink ’69 (Grosse Pointe Park, Mich.)

Casey Kuperus ’97 (Grand Rapids, Mich.)

James Lee ’12 (East Islip, N.Y.) Rosanne Lopers-Sweetman ’77 (Toronto, Ont.) Rebecca Mejia ’05 (Hawthorne, N.J.) Christine Jacobs Mouw ’88 (N. Little Rock, Ark.) Debra Perry ’91 (Grand Rapids, Mich.)

Valerie Stegink Sterk ’83 (Santa Clara, Calif.)

Mark Tigchelaar ’06 (Bellflower, Calif.)

Jim Valk ’87 (Paw Paw, Mich.)

Cathy Van Zeelt Van Donselaar ’88 (Centennial, Colo.)

Gary Van Prooyen ’88 (Wheaton, Ill.)

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 For more than 100 years, alumni have been gathering, and our international alumni population is creating new opportunities for connection all over the globe. In countries such as South Korea, Ghana, and Nigeria, to name a few, alumni are gathering to encourage and learn from one another.

Alumni on a mission July 10 was a turning of the page for Calvin and the start of a new chapter. The change to Calvin University embraces what Calvin has become and where we are going. Our increasing international student body and alumni population are providing new and exciting opportunities for connection.

Since the earliest days of our association, alumni have been gathering. On June 2, 1924, Henry Beets gave an address at the

Calvin Alumni Association banquet, “Why a Strong Alumni Association?” In his talk he outlined several reasons why we need a strong group of alumni supporting Calvin. One of those reasons speaks to the importance of connecting. “We need a stronger alumni association with branches everywhere that we may organize school days in various places. We ought to host meetings for inspirational, educational, and intercessory purposes.”

Alumni board member James Lee ’12 has been connected with the growing alumni group in Korea. Lee recounts that “after graduation from Calvin, MinWoo Heo ’09 went back to South Korea to fulfill his military service. All able-bodied men before the age of 30 are required to serve 21 months. Heo served as a First Lieutenant for the Republic of Korea Air Force.” Heo helped other Korean Calvin alumni secure positions as military officers. “Now, the Republic of Korea Air Force knows what Calvin is!” he said.

PHOTO CREDIT: JOEL NICKERSON

Seven years ago Heo started the Korean Calvin alumni gathering with the hope of mobilizing alumni in South Korea. One of the first events was a summer welcoming party for incoming first-year students.

One of those students was Sungho (Joshua) Ahn ’17. Ahn hasn’t forgotten what that event meant to him, and he is now organizing parties for students headed to Calvin University as well as hosting other alumni events there.

4

Incoming alumni board member and former student body president Jonathan Eigege ’15 is now working for the Albright Stonebridge Group and traveling between Washington, D.C., and his native country of Nigeria, where he has been connected with Calvin alumni. “Africa has undergone significant economic growth over the past 20 years, and as economies across the continent continue to transform, many in the African diaspora have been drawn back to the continent by the potential to be a part of national socio-economic development. This is especially true in Ghana and Nigeria, two West African countries that have historically sent the most African students to Calvin,” he said.

Jonathan Eigege ’15

As West African students graduate from Calvin, they see opportunity in Africa and are returning home. This growth in alumni in Ghana and Nigeria and the desire to be connected was the reason Junior Kanu ’06 formed a WhatsApp group to reconnect with friends who he knew had also returned to West Africa. Word about the “Calvin West Africa” WhatsApp group has been spreading, and the group continues to grow.

Eigege notes, “What has become clear is that these grads are doing a lot of redemptive work. This includes disrupting broken early childhood education models; bringing energy to underserved communities; running democracy promotion programs; increasing access to public health; pushing local film, music, and media to global audiences; democratizing financial access and literacy; and empowering smallholder farmers through agribusiness—among other things. With many Calvin grads looking to return to the region and several Ghanaian and Nigerian students currently enrolled at Calvin University, it feels like this is the beginning of a robust Calvin West Africa network.”

Almost 100 years after Beets presented his case for a strong alumni association, graduates of Calvin are finding new ways and new locations for connecting and carrying out their work to be Christ’s agents of renewal all over the world.

Calvin University vice president for finance position Calvin University is seeking candidates for the position of vice president for finance. This leadership position is critical for strategic financial leadership and advice to the president and will partner with the other divisions of the university to support the Christian academic mission of Calvin University.

Areas of oversight include: finance operations, including budget development, financial analytics, and performance measurement; endowment investment management; financial policy development; risk management; fiscal control; financial services office; and event services.

REFER To review the full position profile, visit calvin.edu/go/vp-finance. 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 this link: calvin.edu/go/finance.

APPLY Formal applications can be submitted through our employment webpage: employment.calvin.edu.

BY RICK TREUR DIRECTOR OF ALUMNI AND COMMUNITY RELATIONS TWITTER: @RICKTREUR INSTAGRAM: RICKTREUR

LETTERS

Send us your letters.

Write us at spark@calvin.edu.

5

CAMPUS NEWS

Peet’s Coffee shop donors Tom and Marcia Nobel enjoy a cup of coffee on Calvin’s campus.

PEET’S OPENS FIRST MICHIGAN COFFEE SHOP In August, Peet’s Coffee opened on Calvin’s campus. The U.S. specialty coffee company— founded by Alfred Peet in 1966 in Berkeley, California—has more than 250 coffee shops across the United States. The location in Calvin’s Hekman Library is its first licensed store in the state of Michigan.

“We are excited to open up this new space at Calvin. While many of us love a good cup of coffee, we also know that physical spaces, like this one, create opportunities for rich discussions and community building to take place,” said Michael Le Roy, president of Calvin University. “We believe that Peet’s Coffee will quickly become a favorite destination on campus.”

Peet grew up in the coffee trade and moved to America from Holland after World War II. His influence on the artisan coffee movement inspired a new generation of coffee entrepreneurs, including the founders of Starbucks.

Peet’s Coffee is the first LEED Gold-certified roastery in the United States.

The opening of Peet’s Coffee at Calvin is made possible through a generous donation by Calvin alumni Tom and Marcia Nobel in honor of Marcia’s father, Peter John “Pete” Drenth.

6

The new Venema Plaza and Gardens, which includes 30,000 native plants, are designed to be educational and inspirational.

ECOSYSTEM PRESERVE INCLUDES NEW EDUCATIONAL GARDENS The Calvin Ecosystem Preserve & Native Gardens is growing by 30,000— plants, that is.

That’s the estimated number of native plants filling the garden portion of the new Venema Plaza and Gardens, opened this spring on campus.

Calvin Ecosystem Preserve & Native Gardens director Randy Van Dragt anticipates that the new gardens will bring more community members to campus. “We expect the gardens to draw increased numbers of visitors and, thus, increase the exposure of the larger public to Calvin and its offerings,” he said.

New demonstration garden beds have been arranged according to learning themes, identifying the native plants of a specific region, the habitat and seasonal adaptations of various plants, the importance of plant-animal interactions (e.g., plant-pollinator relationships), and the values of using native plants in residential and commercial landscaping.

“The gardens are designed to inspire property owners to try native plants in their own landscapes, no matter how large or small,” said Van Dragt.

The new native gardens site also includes additional paths to roam and views of South Pond; a gardener’s cottage in which Calvin student employees, called stewards, and volunteers can work; and a small greenhouse in which to display and sell native plants.

Now in its 10th year, the Plaster Creek Stewards initiative is dedicated to restoring the contaminated waterway.

PLASTER CREEK STEWARDS RECEIVE NATIONAL AWARD

Deanna van Dijk (left) leads students in geography research on the Lake Michigan shoreline.

DUNES RESEARCHER EARNS HIGHEST TEACHING HONOR On any given fall day, you may find geography professor Deanna van Dijk on top of a dune in P.J. Hoffmaster State Park in Muskegon.

Donning an orange vest and surrounded by research equipment, she is not there simply to take in the views of Lake Michigan. She is leading a class of first-year students in geography research.

This spring, this dedicated professor and researcher received the 2019 Presidential Award for Exemplary Teaching, Calvin University’s highest teaching honor.

In 1991, van Dijk graduated from Redeemer College with a BCS in math and a geography minor.

Drawn to geography, she went on to earn her MA and PhD in geography from the University of Waterloo. She took on significant field experiences in Presqu’ile Provincial Park, on the north shore of Lake Ontario. After earning her PhD, she completed her postdoctoral work in a salt marsh on the Bay of Fundy in New Brunswick.

Since 1999, van Dijk has served as a professor in Calvin’s geology, geography, and environmental studies department.

One former student said of van Dijk: “While her teaching style provides a nurturing environment in class and allows every student to feel engaged, it is the learning opportunities she provides outside of the classroom that take her teaching above and beyond the average professor.”

Plaster Creek Stewards (PCS) have yet again received national recognition for their work. This summer, the Urban Waters Learning Network, Groundwork USA, River Network, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded PCS the Learning Network Signature Award. The award honors individuals and organizations that have made significant contributions to the network of urban waters practitioners and to the field of urban waters protection and restoration.

PCS is an initiative of Calvin University that is dedicated to returning health and beauty to one of the most contaminated urban waterways in West Michigan. Now in its 10th year, PCS has involved students, staff, faculty, community members, and partners in education, research, and many different on-the-ground restoration efforts.

A major goal of this work is to reduce the amount of stormwater runoff that enters Plaster Creek. Over the years, the runoff has created all kinds of problems: high levels of bacteria, heavy sediment loads, reduced aquatic life, and flooding. It has taken more than 100 years for the watershed to become so degraded, and PCS leaders know it will take at least 15–20 years of concerted effort to reverse the damage.

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

7

CALVIN SPORTS

WELCOME HOME 8

Alumni return to coach at Alma Mater MEN’S BASKETBALL SCORES BILL SALL, FORMER HOOPS STANDOUT

MARK CHRISTNER RETURNS TO LEAD WOMEN’S HOOPS

Bill Sall (left) is the new men’s basketball coach at Calvin. He is the 12th head coach in the history of a program that will celebrate its 100th year this season.

A native of Big Rapids, Michigan, Mark Christner (right) returns to Calvin after spending the previous nine years as head men’s basketball coach at Waynesburg University (Pennsylvania). Prior to that position, Christner spent eight years as an assistant coach with the Calvin men’s basketball program and three years as an assistant coach with the Calvin women’s basketball program.

Sall comes to Calvin following six years as the head men’s basketball coach at Northern Michigan University in Marquette. His return to west Michigan will be a homecoming for the Jenison native and graduate of both Hudsonville Unity Christian High School and Calvin University—where he was a two-time Division III All-American and a two-time MIAA MVP on the men’s basketball team.

“I am humbled and incredibly excited to be the next Calvin men’s basketball coach,” said Sall. “It is a program that has always been close to my heart. I grew up watching Ralph Honderd and Don Vroon roam the sidelines.

I had the blessing to play and coach under Ed Douma. I have had the pleasure of coaching against Kevin Vande Streek and watching some of his amazing teams. To stand on the shoulders of so many great coaches over nearly 100 years is an awesome feeling.”

PHOTO CREDIT: MATTHEW MITCHELL

Prior to his tenure at Northern Michigan, he served as head coach of the Ferris State men’s basketball program for 11 years; and all told, he has 26 years of collegiate men’s basketball coaching experience, having also served as an assistant men’s coach at Calvin, Ferris State, and Hillsdale College.

Sall was a standout player at Calvin from 1985–1990. He currently ranks third on the Knights’ scoring list with 2,063 points. He graduated from Calvin with a bachelor’s in recreation management.

“It is bittersweet in that I am leaving my Waynesburg family,” said Christner. “What makes this change much easier is that I will be rejoining a family that is also very close to my heart in Calvin University. I am looking forward to joining a program with a strong tradition and a good base of players.”

During his eight years as an assistant men’s basketball coach and head men’s junior varsity coach at Calvin, Christner helped lead the Knights to four berths in the NCAA Division III national tournament. Before working with the men’s team, Christner broke in as a coach at Calvin with the women’s basketball team from 1999 to 2002.

Christner earned his bachelor of arts in 1999 from Calvin, where he majored in history and minored in physical education with an emphasis in coaching. He went on to earn a master of arts in physical education with a pedagogy emphasis in 2005 from Western Michigan University. At Calvin, he played two years on the Calvin junior varsity men’s basketball team and one year on the varsity.

9

CALVIN SCHOLARSHIP

Beyond Stewardship

David Warners (left), Matthew Heun (right)

Spark recently talked with faculty members David Warners (biology) and Matthew Heun (engineering) about their published book Beyond Stewardship: New Approaches to Creation Care. The book is an edited volume from Calvin Press, with a companion website at calvin.edu/press.

10

What can a reader expect to find as they read each chapter?

Why did you write this book?

DW: We and our colleagues have been hard at work on teaching, scholarship, and advocacy in regards to sustainability issues for many years, and we thought it was time to take a step back and reflect on why we think these activities are so important. We wanted to use the insights gained from our varied experiences to inform a rethinking and reimagining of a faith-based way Christians interact with nonhuman creation.

MH: David and I have worked together on several projects in the past. Recently, we worked for three years on a campuswide major project on sustainability [with funding provided by the Calvin Center for Christian Scholarship and the provost’s office]. This major project provided opportunities for faculty development in terms of both teaching and scholarship. Beyond Stewardship is the capstone to the major project.

I thought “stewardship” is the way Christians are supposed to think about the environment. Why do we need to go “beyond stewardship”?

DW: The idea of stewardship has been a helpful correction to earlier notions of human dominion (which in practice often looked like domination) over nonhuman creation.

But stewardship has drawbacks: Biblical support for stewarding creation is limited, it causes artificial separations between God and creation and between humans and the nonhuman creation, and it can lead to an instrumental view of nonhuman creation.

MH: We wanted to explore the space beyond stewardship to see what improvements could be found. We think this might be a time when Christians, and the church, will benefit from reassessing our previous thoughts on the topic.

In a way, we’re trying to live out the motto from the second Dutch Reformation as it relates to sustainability, creation care, and stewardship: “[t]he church is Reformed and always being reformed according to the Word of God.”

DW: We know that good stories can capture the attention of a reader and sometimes even change their mind about something. So we encouraged the chapter writers to make their points with memorable stories that draw readers in. We think the authors did a great job with this.

MH: Right! Each author leads with a story and then makes a “turn”—a rethinking or reimagining of the relationship between humans and the nonhuman creation. Each chapter shows how the “turn” provides benefits for the creation care work that Christians pursue above and beyond what stewardship provides. Naturally, the chapters reflect some of the diversity and tension that always exist at the intersection of belief and action. We don’t know exactly what comes beyond stewardship, but the authors provide compelling insights into what might lie ahead.

What process did you use to write an edited book like this?

DW: We convened two workshops in summer 2018. At the first workshop, we provided space for writers to share their experiences working in sustainability and explore themes and stories for their chapters. Themes and stories were shared amongst writers, editors, and three observers who provided suggestions and feedback to authors in pursuit of thoughtprovoking topics and compelling stories.

MH: We dubbed the second workshop “editfest.” Each author arrived with a first draft of their chapter and departed with comments from at least six readers. After two rounds of editing, the first complete draft of the manuscript was compiled in March 2019. We editors can’t say enough good things about the way these writers and observers engaged with each other, even when disagreements arose. Our intern, Janice Wharton, looked after details and provided first-pass editing on many occasions. It was a great group of people to work with!

This book, by David Warners and Matthew Heun, is available from online retailers or the Calvin Campus Store.

How do you hope the book will be used?

DW: This book is for Christians with a passion for and concerns about God’s creation.

After reading it, we hope Christians will be equipped to live more mindfully about our relationship with the nonhuman creation in which we are necessarily and thoroughly embedded. We think everyone can benefit from rethinking and reimagining this relationship (essentially “refreshing” it): students and teachers, young and old, etc.

MH: The book is written at a 12th-grade level, so it is accessible to older high school students, college students, and adults. We expect it will be read by individuals, by students in high school and college classrooms, and by participants in church study groups, etc. To enable all of these uses, further reading and discussion questions are available in the book itself. We expect that the book will prompt many thought provoking discussions.

11

FEATURE STORY

CALVIN SPREADS

ITS WINGS

12

A CONVERSATION WITH PRESIDENT MICHAEL LE ROY ON THE UNIVERSITY ERA Can you tell us a little bit about the history of thought behind Calvin’s change to Calvin University?

Some people seem to know this, and then a lot of others are really surprised to hear that this conversation started within the Christian Reformed Church back in the 1960s. There were both members of the academic community who had roots in the Reformed Christian faith and those in the denomination who believed that the church really needed a university, that it needed a bold and broad vision for intellectual engagement with culture, society, the challenging issues of the day, and the big scientific questions.

Then, the composition of our student body, the composition of our faculty, the distribution of the programs that we offer has, I’d say over the last 50 years, really moved in the direction of what in higher education would be called a comprehensive university.

Why do you feel like the time is right now if it’s been talked about over the last 50 years?

Looking back, the time’s probably been right for Calvin to do this over the last 25 years.

This moment, though, is important for us for a variety of reasons. One, as we look to the future and we consider the populations of students that we serve, we already know that that’s expanding. And technology is enabling the institution to have a reach with its educational programs that would have been difficult in times past. We’re excited about those possibilities.

The other thing that we heard during the visioning process over the last two years is, “I so value what Calvin has to offer educationally. I just can’t make it work with my full-time job, so I would love it if you could do something that could meet me where I am. I would love to get a Calvin

master’s degree in accountancy, but I live in California. How can you make that possible for me? I’d love to have a faith perspective on the field that I would like to enter into.

How are you making that possible?”

Technology makes that possible. The globalization of higher education makes this more likely. And, as it relates to the international population that we serve now, what we also know is that in most countries around the world “university” is clearly post-secondary school, higher education.

In those countries, “college” usually refers to high school or middle school. So the populations globally are a little confused by that designation. “University” is very clarifying for them.

And finally, the addition of master’s programs— beginning with education but more recently adding speech pathology and audiology and the master’s of accountancy and future plans for the expansion of graduate education—seemed to be pushing in the direction of a university.

13

FEATURE STORY

Since Calvin already has basically been a university—or has had university features— over the last several years, will it be different going forward?

That’s a great question. I think for the traditional undergraduate student, most of their experience will be the same.

When I say most, I’m leaving a little wiggle room for what I can’t imagine yet over the next decade. But traditional undergrads will still participate in a residential, undergraduate program with full-time PhD faculty teaching them, small class sizes where faculty can mentor and spend time with students, and a community built around a strong Christ-centered mission that’s very invested in the spiritual-formation process that students are undergoing in these critical years of their development.

The mission of the institution does not change: to equip students to think deeply, to act justly, and to live wholeheartedly as Christ’s agents of renewal in the world.

That won’t change for the traditional undergraduate.

What will change is who we think of as our students.

This will expand to include graduate students. It’s already expanded to include students who are in the Handlon Correctional Facility down the road. So it will expand

14

to include new degree programs. We’ll have on-ground programs, but we’ll also have online programs.

That’s probably going to be the biggest change for us. And those who are interested in that form of education will be learning something new about Calvin. But for those of us who work in the faculty and administration, it’s going to involve some significant change to think about: “OK, how do we make it easy for someone to get advising when they’re half a world away? How will we make library resources available to students who are learning at a distance?

How will we serve students with their personal and developmental needs when they’re not here with us?”

Overall, in becoming a university, where people will notice a difference is that Calvin is going to be trying a lot of new things. Becoming a university grants us permission to think expansively about what might be possible over the next decade in learning. So it’s the same mission but applied in new ways and seeking to reach new populations.

Calvin has a new vision plan that will provide direction for the next decade. Obviously, becoming Calvin University is a big part of that. Can you highlight a few key points from Vision 2030?

I would say that one of three core areas involves the development of our faculty and staff. In recent years, the people that we are hiring are deeply committed Christians that have never been given the opportunity to think about how their faith cuts across the discipline that they’re going to teach. They’re experts in the discipline and they’re committed Christians, so we need to provide more educationally to our faculty and staff so that when they begin here, they are ready to undertake a Christ-centered approach that is rooted in Reformed theological understanding.

The second thing, I think I’ve already addressed in terms of becoming a university: what that means about who we serve and how we adapt.

But the third element that I would emphasize is we are really challenged and excited about the opportunity to think about how we tell our story to new audiences, how we describe the mission. We’ve got a great mission statement;

it’s succinct and it explains us well. But when I ask our alums, “What did you love about your Calvin education?” the most common answer is really amazing: “Calvin taught me how to think as a Christian about whatever I do, and other people notice that.” So that’s what they love.

Calvin was the guide, the wise adviser to these great alums and will be the wise adviser to the students who come here, to help them develop a way of thinking, a worldview that serves them for a lifetime. For us, it’s always been a nuanced and complex story to tell.

So I’m really excited to continue to tell this story of how the Calvin mission affects the lives of students who go on to make a meaningful difference in every field, every profession, every area of study. We’re going to experiment with new ways of that storytelling and new ways to get that word out.

We’re excited by that challenge.

15

FEATURE STORY

Speaking of challenges, what do you see as the biggest challenges facing higher education and Calvin specifically in the next decade? And what is Calvin doing to prepare itself to meet those challenges?

The biggest challenge is demography. And actually, we’re seeing this now. This is the first time since World War II where the traditional undergraduate population in the United States is getting smaller. And it’s getting smaller in some regions of the country, including the Midwest and Northeast, more so than others. In 2012, there were 120,000 high school graduates in Michigan, and in 2017, there were 100,000. In 2022, 80,000 are projected. So just in Michigan, which is a state that is hit a little bit harder by this than some others, there’s a 33 percent decline in that 10-year period in the traditional college-bound population.

We’ve got to adapt to this new reality really quickly.

That means that either we just get a lot smaller, or we reach outside of the region and reach outside of the country, where education is growing. And the fastest growing segment of the educational sector is the population of students who are post undergrad, usually working full time and trying to complete a degree part time.

16

This is part of our approach to adaptation in seeking to serve students. What we hope is that in 2030 we do have 4,200 students, but what we expect is we might have 3,200 traditional undergrads and 1,000 graduate students. Now, of course, none of us knows for sure, but as we look over the next decade and over the horizon, we think that that’s a fairly likely proposition.

One of the things that makes me really encouraged about our ability to meet that challenge is how highly regarded Calvin is in the wider Christian higher education network and in the wider higher education network. Just one sign of the high regard for the quality that we deliver in our educational programming is the acceptance rate of our undergrads who go on to grad school.

You don’t get accepted at the rates that our students do if other institutions don’t have confidence in the students that we graduate. So that continues to be a sign, and an encouragement for us, that Calvin is a highly regarded institution.

What are some of Calvin’s new initiatives that are attractive to students?

“One of our aspirations is that we would develop the capability to be a resource long-term for Calvin alums… .”

One of our goals from the prior strategic plan was to continue to work to make Calvin affordable and to make sure we’re fundraising to provide other financial aid opportunities for our students. And we’ve had success with that. For our students, the average amount of indebtedness has dropped from $32,000 to $29,000 over the last five years. That’s one example of what we’re doing to try to make this education obtainable and affordable. We also recognize that when students and their parents are paying for an education, they expect quality, and they also want to know that there’s a pathway to meaningful work.

What we developed to respond to this is the Calvin LifeWork Program, a voluntary program for all majors. It offers a series of developmental experiences from the day that students arrive on campus so that they’ve done some faithful reflection from a Christian point of view about what their calling is, that they’re called, not just into work, but they’re called to be good parents; they’re called to be faithful spouses; they’re called to be servants of their communities and schools.

We also want them to develop the practical skills associated with being ready for work.

It’s employment readiness that we’re working towards, but we’re doing it every year so this isn’t a mad rush that students engage in the last month before they graduate.

A third thing that we knew was really important for our community is we wanted our students to have a good grasp of personal financial management. And a fourth area is navigating workplace culture. This program is really about building a bridge from whatever a student decides to study to life and work after college so that we can say with confidence that we’ve done everything we can to help them be ready.

Another initiative related to Calvin LifeWork is the development and deepening of our employer relationships. Thanks to the generosity of a donor, we’ve launched an employer relations program, and we’re going to be working to deepen our partnerships with companies and organizations in the region, but also nationwide, that hire our students.

What can alumni do to help Calvin succeed in the next decade and beyond?

For those who are working in a company or a nonprofit organization, be mindful of how to make connections with our career center.

For instance, this past summer, we had many students in internships all over the country, and they didn’t know anyone in the community that they were going into. Helping these students connect with some alums and build some relationships, either in the workplace or in the community, that’s really beneficial.

One of the other things that we anticipate is once we develop this program, we believe there will be components of it that will be great resources for our alums, too, especially those who are making a transition from one job to another, or changing careers, or who might need some career advice. We want Calvin to be there for our alums throughout their lifespan. One of our aspirations is that we would develop the capability to be a resource long-term for Calvin alums who are out there working and thinking about making a significant change in what they do.

17

FEATURE STORY What have you personally found most challenging in your seven years as president?

For me it has been the dynamics and forces that are really pressuring higher education to change rapidly. And it’s a real leadership challenge for me to remain current, fresh, energized and to move quickly, to live within our means, to think about the future, and to figure out how we invest in the future in smart ways. Those are all part of this dynamic of change in higher education.

What have you found the most rewarding?

The faculty, staff, and students: I would just say each for different reasons. Whenever I get chances to hear faculty speak, when I have time to read their writing, when I hear about how they think and how advanced they are in bringing a Christian worldview to bear on their subject matter, it is so inspiring to me.

I’m so excited by what faculty can do and what they have to offer the world.

I think one of the hidden secrets about our staff is they are so committed to the mission, but they’re such can-do people. They have ideas, and they want to be helpful, and they want to think in new ways about how we solve problems. And I feel like we have a group of staff right now that are very encouraging in terms of their willingness to adapt and their willingness to engage and rise up to meet the challenges of the day.

If I were to say one thing about our students, it’s that they’re passionate. They really care.

It can be challenging to manage a student environment where everybody’s passionate in a lot of different directions, but it’s so much better to have a passionate group of students that disagree with each other than to have a group of students that don’t care. They’re passionate about their faith; they’re passionate about what they study; they’re passionate about making a difference in the world.

It’s tremendously encouraging.

18

In 25 to 30 years, what do you hope people say about this time in Calvin’s history?

It’s amazing to see how the same mission endures in different forms over time at Calvin. What I hope is still true is that we’re equipping students to think deeply and act justly and live wholeheartedly as Christ’s agents of renewal in the world. I hope that every part of that whole sentence is still true.

Then I hope it will be said that this was a turning point where Calvin really began to spread its wings and reach new populations— populations around the world, different age groups. And that it really became an education of heart and hands, with new programs, new approaches.

The third thing is that I hope that we’ll be able to tell our story in such a compelling way that it just continues to invite more people into this way of living out our faith and this way of learning for a lifetime. I do think it’s a gift.

I think it also provides very important tools for living in and understanding this world that is getting ever more complicated and challenging.

What is the one thing you really want people to know?

I want them to be reassured that the Calvin they believe in is going to endure along with the mission they believe in. But I also want them to see that we’re not going to be complacent; we’re not standing still; we’re dynamic; and we’re going to move forward.

“…I hope it will be said that this was a turning point where Calvin really began to spread its wings and reach new populations… .”

19

FEATURE STORY

INMERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL EN CALVIN NEW UNIVERSITY PROGRAM GIVES HIGH SCHOOLERS A HEAD START

20

Although they had been in existence for some time, language immersion programs began to gain popularity in the United States around the turn of the millennium.

A big shift also occurred at that time: from programs focused on English as a Second Language to curriculum that aims to provide enrichment and language opportunity cross-culturally.

These students immersed in second languages beginning in kindergarten or early elementary school are now growing up, presenting a challenge to high schools to provide stimulating curricula to such fluent speakers.

Such was the case for Calvin Christian High School in Grandville, Michigan, which approached Calvin University for help.

AN EMERGING CHALLENGE “They were wondering what to do when their Spanish immersion students become juniors and seniors,” said Dwight TenHuisen, Calvin Spanish department professor and chair.

“They don’t have appropriate coursework for that level of Spanish competency, and they aren’t staffed to develop a program.”

Thus providing impetus for Calvin’s new Spanish Immersion Program, designed specifically for high schoolers who are fluent in Spanish. Beginning in 2020, students will be able to earn a minor in Spanish at Calvin along with a semester’s worth of college credit before they graduate from high school.

Since beginning the partnership with Calvin Christian, Calvin University has reached out to other schools in west Michigan that are approaching the same dilemma with their immersion students.

“What we’re trying to do is reach out and offer a Calvin education to broader and wider audiences.”

A REAL NEED

TRENDING UP

“There is a real need in this area,” said TenHuisen. “West Michigan jumped onto the immersion initiative early on, and now a lot of schools are having to figure this out.

The trend of students coming out of immersion programs is straight upward, TenHuisen said.

“In the next couple of years, we see about 15–18 students per school, but in five to six years the number will be more like 25–35 per school.

“We’ve been reaching out to local schools so that we can provide a solution; we can meet their needs and invite their students into the Calvin community.”

The high school students will take classes at Calvin alongside university students. The program will culminate with a three-week interim in a Spanish-speaking country for the high school students only.

TenHuisen believes the program will also benefit university students. “This allows us to expand our curricular options,” he said.

“With more students taking classes, we are able to offer our students courses like History 151 [“History of the West and the World”] taught in Spanish, for example.”

BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS The program also allows for Calvin to build partnerships with the hosting high schools in places like Mexico, Spain, Peru, and Honduras, where the university already has relationships with colleges and universities.

“The trend is fascinating, and it says really good things about the west Michigan community and what they are trying to do,” said TenHuisen. “And students can profit greatly from what we have to offer by having us step into that need and doing it well. What we’re trying to do is reach out and offer a Calvin education to broader and wider audiences.

“We’re excited about the possibility and opportunity to rethink almost everything from what we teach to what the student body here looks like. If there’s anything that matches Calvin’s goals to offer a global education and expand initiatives to reach more diverse audiences, this is it.”

For more information, see calvin.edu/go/spanish-immersion or contact the Calvin Spanish department, calvin.edu/spanish.

“We’re hoping this will lead to exchange opportunities for their English immersion students to study here at Calvin,” he said.

21

FEATURE STORY

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.

Grand Rapids’ Jaylyn Gough isAperitivo the founder manager of Native Women’s Evan Talen Wilderness, has takenwhich his passion strives to create a whole a platform new levelfor bynative winning women to use the Cheesemonger their voices toInvitational, speak out a against injustices, national competition to bring thatawareness pitted him to indigenous against many people of the top and cheese land rights, conand to serve noisseurs from as adventure-seeking around the country. role models for native girls.

Janet Staal and Katelyn Egnatuk Janet Staal launched one and of Katelyn west Michigan’s Egnatukfirst launched one preschools, nature-based of West Michigan’s a movement first nature-based that is rapidly preschools, gaining momentum a movement that is rapidly across the country. gaining momentum across the country.

Read more profiles online calvin.edu/spark

22

Tim and Grand Rapids’ Andrew Aperitivo Harris are manager the Evan Talen founders of has ColorHub, taken his an passion innovative to a whole digital printing newcompany level by winning specializing thehigh-end in Cheesemonger graphicsInvitational, packaging and a national retail displays. competition that pitted him against many of the top cheese connoisseurs fromisaround the country.

Jaylyn Gough the founder of Native Women’s Wilderness, which strives Tim to create and Andrew a platform Harris for native are the women founders to use their ofvoices ColorHub, to speak an innovative out digital printing against injustices, company to bringspecializing awareness in high-end to indigenous graphics people packaging and land rights, and retailtodisplays. and serve as adventure-seeking role models for native girls.

JanetTalen Lenger Evan ’06Staal ’98

Andrew Harris ’15

Katelyn Ver Woert Egnatuk ’13

Tim Harris ’08

JanetTalen Staal’06 ’98 Evan

Jaylyn Gough ’06

Katelyn Egnatuk ’13

23

ALUMNI PROFILES

EWEPHORIA, A SHEEP’S MILK GOUDA FROM THE NETHERLANDS: “IT’S THE CHEESE THAT CHANGED MY LIFE,” SAID EVAN TALEN ’06. “IT HAS A RICH NUTTINESS AND SALTINESS THAT I REALLY LIKE”—SPOKEN FROM THE MOUTH OF A TRUE CHEESEMONGER.

24

After sampling it, Talen said it changed the way he thought about cheese. “At the time, I thought, ‘I need to explore more about this.’”

A career in cheese, specialty foods, and fine wines was not the vocation Talen envisioned for himself while he was at Calvin. “Sometimes I still think, ‘This is my career?’ But I’m pretty invested in this world now,” he said. “A huge part of my heart is in this.”

Evan Talen ’06 Digital media/Interdisciplinary General manager Aperitivo Grand Rapids, Michigan

A passion for cheese So much so that Talen, who serves as the general manager of Aperitivo, located in Grand Rapids’ burgeoning downtown district, recently won the Cheesemonger Invitational, a national event that pitted him against more than 45 cheese connoisseurs from around the country.

PHOTO CREDIT: DEBORAH HOAG

At the challenging competition, participants were tested by a written exam, which covers everything from the variance in the chemical makeup of different animals’ milk to the federal regulations regarding cheese storage at a grocery store.

Another part of the competition involved a blind tasting in which competitors were asked to identify such things as the cheese’s country of origin, type of milk it’s made from, and whether it’s pasteurized.

The “Olympics” portion of the contest included a timed trial to cut a perfect quarter pound of cheese and wrap it in cheese paper, which Talen described as a form of “origami art.”

There was also a salesmanship portion, preparation and serving of a perfect one-bite cheese snack, and a one-minute speech about your favorite cheese.

At the end of the demanding two days, Talen was surprised and honored to win the competition: “Not being from a big city, a lot of people were asking, ‘Where are you from?’”

But Talen has found a way to combine his creativity, his technical knowledge, and his compassion for people into a career that he is passionate about pursuing.

The award helps to validate Talen’s career journey, which he struggled with initially, he said.

Learning from a master sommelier, Talen says he “fell in love with learning about wine and cheese pairings. It’s not only the scientific portion, but there is also something historical and romantic about it as well.”

“I always thought I would be a famous painter someday,” said Talen. “Once I got to Calvin, I quickly realized I was more technically geared. I switched over to communications and was doing some video editing and broadcasting and was evaluating how all of that played together.”

After creating a digital media major for himself, Talen began working for a Christian camp doing middle and high school programming and then moved to California to continue in this ministry.

“After five years, I was asked by a friend to help run a wine and cheese bar, and I asked myself, ‘How is a wine and cheese bar the next step in my journey?’” he said. “Christian camping is a very intense and very concentrated thing. I wondered, ‘What is my ministry now?’”

And in his role at Aperitivo, he has the opportunity to create an experience for guests.

“We try to provide an atmosphere for people to come and enjoy their time, to linger and maybe meet other people,” he said. “Food is core to who we are as people, and making that an awesome experience is fulfilling for me.”

And the same supportive, relaxed environment is offered to those who work with Talen.

“In the food and beverage world, there are a lot of hurting and broken people, and we try to truly care about them,” he said. “It’s a really cool way to impact an industry that can be not that way most of the time.”

“Food is core to who we are as people, and making that an awesome experience is fulfilling for me.”

25

ALUMNI PROFILES

Janet Lenger Staal ’98 Education Director, outdoor/ nature-based education West Side Christian School Grand Rapids, Michigan

Learning to love the earth Katelyn Ver Woert Egnatuk ’13 Education Preschool teacher West Side Christian School Grand Rapids, Michigan

26

ON A COLD AND RAINY MORNING IN EARLY MAY IN MICHIGAN, KATELYN VER WOERT EGNATUK ’13 PULLS ON HER BOOTS AND RAIN GEAR AND HEADS OUTSIDE. THIRTEEN 4-YEAR-OLDS, ALSO IN FULL OUTDOOR GARB, FOLLOW HER LIKE DUCKLINGS.

For Egnatuk and her little learners, it’s just another day of preschool, during which the class will spend the majority of their day outside.

“Nature-based preschool” is a growing phenomenon across the U.S., but West Side Christian School (WSCS) in Grand Rapids is one of the earliest originators of the model in Michigan.

The vision for the program was inspired

by Brian Dyk ’97, a WSCS middle school science teacher, who saw the promise of such a program years ago but died unexpectedly before it reached fruition.

“God used Brian to prepare us for this,” said Janet Lenger Staal ’98, director of outdoor/ nature-based education at WSCS. “There was so much potential here that was not being utilized.”

PHOTO CREDIT: ANDY CALVERT

The school sits adjacent to a small woodland, which is owned by a neighboring church.

It was a perfect fit for a program that was waiting to flourish, according to Staal.

“I knew how I learned science best, and it was not from taking notes from an overhead,” said Staal. “I learned hands-on. I wanted to foster that same love of learning in children using the tools Calvin gave me through the education department.

“God brought all of the pieces together at the right time for this program to happen,” she said, including a plot study of the woodland completed more than a decade ago by Calvin students for a class project.

Staal came to WSCS following a stint as environmental education consultant at Blandford Nature Center in Grand Rapids.

At WSCS she found a board that was willing to try something new and a dynamic young teacher in Egnatuk.

“I started doing a lot of National Geographictype reading,” Egnatuk said. “And then I just fell in love with it. When you’re walking outside and there’s that little ‘aha’ moment, that little piece of learning, I love that.”

The program also provides some interesting challenges—besides the weather. “You can’t just come in, teach, and leave,” said Egnatuk.

“I have to go outside myself to gather things.

I have to have enough sticks to make letters with, and enough pine cones to count, and enough white pine needles to tally and make white pine tea with.”

Egnatuk also enjoys teaching Bible stories outside. “I don’t think Jesus taught in a building very much,” she said. “He was

always using examples for his teaching based on what he grabbed—like wheat—as he was walking by. It’s so easy to teach Bible when we can say that everything we just learned about, God created that.”

The preschool program, which is in its fourth year and at capacity with a total of 36 students, is beginning to influence education in the school’s upper grades as well.

“We want it to continue,” said Staal. “It is West Side’s mission that every grade is required to go outside for a certain amount of time. You can’t deny the benefits, and with this nature focus, the school has a new identity.”

Another Calvin alum, WSCS’s head of school An Kurosu ’10, is excited about the program’s potential, “We are truly blessed to be able to use and expand our campus to explore God’s classroom, and I am so excited to see the curiosity and continued growth in the students, staff, and community.”

Staal believes that their education at Calvin helped prepare her and Egnatuk for their respective positions. “Calvin empowered us to effectively teach in whatever role God puts us,” she said.

Staal is sharing what she has learned with other schools in the area as a consultant.

“It’s exciting to be a part of this worldwide movement,” she said. “It’s a powerful foundation that they carry with them. Once kids get to experience the world, they’re learning how to love it. And you can’t ask kids to take care of the earth if they haven’t first learned to love it.”

“Calvin empowered us to effectively teach in whatever role God puts us.”

27

ALUMNI PROFILES

Tim Harris ’08 Economics Co-founder/CEO ColorHub Grand Rapids, Michigan

Andrew Harris ’15 Business/Marketing Co-founder ColorHub Grand Rapids, Michigan

An entrepreneurial mindset 28

The advice given to most young, intrepid entrepreneurs is to start small. When your business idea requires a multimillion-dollar piece of equipment that won’t fit in a garage, however, that piece of advice is not easy to follow.

“I’m grateful for the perspective of Calvin’s business department.

They helped me see a way to use business for good.”

Such was the case for brothers Tim ’08 and Andrew Harris ’15, who in 2017 co-founded ColorHub, a digital printing company specializing in high-end graphics packaging and retail displays.

“What made it difficult is it’s not the kind of thing you can start in your basement and casually grow from there,” said Andrew.

The duo grew up thinking about starting a business together some day. “Our grandpa owned a tool distribution and supply company and our parents were missionaries in the Philippines, so I think we grew up with the mindset of starting things from scratch,” said Andrew. “We grew up with an entrepreneurial mindset.”

PHOTO CREDIT: DEBORAH HOAG

Tim stumbled upon the idea for this type of niche printing when he came across a video of an innovative single-pass digital printer made in Spain. At the time, Tim was working for a corrugated box company and realized what this could do for the industry.

He approached Andrew, who was working for a startup as a Venture for America fellow, with the idea. “I could see us building a business around it,” Andrew said.

And while there have been bumps along the way, they are committed to seeing ColorHub thrive financially, but also as a place that values relationships with their employees.

Central to ColorHub is the Barberán Jetmaster 1260, the only press in the world with the print quality and speed capability to make their revolutionary packaging and display production feasible. It was featured in the video Tim had seen a few years before.

“I was once told that a missionary serves God the most, a pastor second, and a teacher third, and everything else comes after that,” said Tim. “I wondered, ‘How do I serve God by doing something else, something that I feel more gifted in?’

Theirs was just the second installed in the U.S. at the time. “It’s cutting-edge for the industry,” Tim said.

“I know that we are called to serve God through our gifts and abilities and to steward those as much as we possibly can,” he said.

“Part of that for us in this business is showing God’s grace and light through how you interact with others. We take that seriously.”

“I was so excited about it,” said Tim. “I couldn’t get it out of my head.”

Since adding a third co-founder, Steve Pastoor, the company has hired an additional 25 employees and added machinery, including cutting and gluing machines as well as additional printing presses.

About a year later, Tim began scratching out numbers and putting financial models together. “I decided to pursue it until I got to a hurdle I couldn’t jump over; I haven’t gotten there yet,” he said.

Since beginning production a little more than two years ago, the company has done retail displays and packaging for national membership-only stores, Fortune 100 and 500 brands, ecommerce, and other startups.

“I’m grateful for the perspective of Calvin’s business department,” added Andrew. “They helped me see a way to use business for good.

I feel like I can pursue a career in business without feeling like I’m walking away from my calling.”

29 29

ALUMNI PROFILES

Finding her place outdoors JAYLYN GOUGH ’06 GREW UP HIKING TRAILS, WATCHING SUNSETS, AND EXPLORING THE OUTDOORS. WITH THE HOGBACK MOUNTAINS FOR A BACKDROP, THE RESERVATION IN GALLUP, NEW MEXICO, WHERE SHE GREW UP, SERVED AS HER HOME AND BACKYARD PLAYGROUND. “I was outside all of the time,” said Gough.

“When I was little all I wanted to do was climb those mountains in Gallup, but the only people I saw doing that were white women.”

A subscription to National Geographic only helped solidify that belief. “I loved National Geographic. I dreamed of being an explorer, but I thought only white people were allowed to go on journeys; I never saw anyone who looked like me.”

For Gough, who was adopted and raised by her mom, Jocelyn Gough ’77, her struggles continued at Calvin, where she grappled with who she was. “Being Navajo, I was in between worlds. I don’t act or think native, but I’ve never been accepted in the white world because I don’t look white.”

She was helped along the way at Calvin by mentors like Jacque Rhodes, Randal Jelks, and Denise Isom. “They believed in me,” she said. “And I learned so much from the religion department. I was provided such a firm foundation in theology and my faith was enriched so much; I am so grateful for that.”

30

Armed with a degree in social work, Gough returned to Gallup to work, first in the public schools and later in a homeless shelter. While there, she once again took up her outdoor adventures and was once again troubled by the lack of diversity she encountered.

Upon moving to Boulder, Colorado, the apex for outdoor lovers, Gough was inundated with advertising and retailers that featured only white women. “Every time I was on the trail in the Rocky Mountains, I never saw a woman of color, and it’s the land our ancestors walked. I kept thinking, ‘There has to be more people like me!’” she said.

So in 2017, Gough launched Native Women’s Wilderness (NWW). Its mission: to create a platform for native women to use their voices and native girls to have someone to look up to.

“It was Standing Rock [a reservation in North and South Dakota, where, in 2016, representatives from more than 300 native tribes came together to protest the building of an oil pipeline] that really gave me the courage and insight to do this,” said Gough.

“I found what it meant to be a Navajo woman, and it showed me there was a need for this kind of social justice movement.”

Bolstered by the addition of 15 ambassadors around the country, who are bringing awareness to indigenous people and land rights, and the support of outdoor brands like REI, Keene, and Deuter, NWW is becoming a movement.

Gough speaks on behalf of Native Americans and has met with politicians, seeking the return of original names to native places and creating awareness on social media platforms with the tag “Whose land are you exploring?”

She is also creating opportunities for more native children to get outdoors to explore their ancestral land by supplying donated gear like backpacks, water bottles, and hiking shoes. “For so many who live in poverty, just having the opportunity to get out and explore with the right gear isn’t possible,” she said.

“And for me,” said Gough, “it always comes back to the love of Christ. Calvin’s icon of the hand holding the heart represents so much of what we should be doing.”

To learn more, visit www.nativewomenswilderness.org or follow @nativewomenswilderness on Instagram.

“It always comes back to the love of Christ. Calvin’s icon of the hand holding the heart represents so much of what we should be doing.”

Jaylyn Gough ’06 Social work Founder/Executive director Native Women’s Wilderness Boulder, Colorado

31

Jaylyn Gough ’06, founder of Native Women’s Wilderness (see p. 30)

32

“We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.”

— Native American proverb

33

THE CULTURAL CALVIN Peter and Andrew are two of the many relatable characters featured in The Chosen.

In the opening episodes of The Chosen,unsurprisingly, viewers of this new series on the life of Christ are introduced to the Messiah. What is unexpected, however, is how they first encounter Jesus: through the eyes of Mary of Magdala.

And that is exactly the point of this innovative new production: to tell the story of the Gospels in a fresh, relatable way. “We made a biblical show that we wanted to see ourselves,” said executive producer Matthew Faraci ’98.

“We wanted to tell the story of the Gospels from a non-stuffy point of view,” said Faraci. “We believed that there’s an audience that wants to see this, and Hollywood is not creating content for them.”

And they have proof that their belief was spot on. The Chosen has become the No. 1 crowdfunded media project of all time, raising $11 million from 16,000 investors for the first season of production.

“When we created the series and said we were going to crowdfund it, people thought we were crazy,” he said. “But there are 52 million people in America who love this stuff. That’s a pretty big niche.”

Encountering Jesus in a new way 34

The opening episodes are character driven. Viewers are introduced to Nicodemus, Matthew, Peter, and, of course, Mary Magdalene, among others.

Matthew is a much-hated young tax collector. Peter, a scrappy businessman, is just trying to make a living with his brother

THE CULTURAL CALVIN

Andrew. Nicodemus, a Pharisee and member of the Sanhedrin, is a wise teacher and upholder of the law.

With much attention to context, Faraci and co-director Dallas Jenkins created a series that is authentic to its Jewish heritage.

“This is a Jewish story that has become so universal that the Jewishness of the story has been lost,” said Faraci. “We worked hard at making the series feel authentic because that is our heart and because young people want authenticity.”

And young people are among those the team is trying to reach. The series is available for purchase on VidAngel, a streaming service that filters out obscene language, nudity, and violence from movies and TV shows but also delivers its own content, such as The Chosen and its hit series Dry Bar Comedy.

Faraci, who graduated from Calvin with majors in history and political science, never went to film school. But he was challenged at Calvin to pursue whatever came before him.

“Calvin is a special place. It’s like Cheers; everybody knows your name,” he said. “It drives you to be excellent. Your professors and peers push you to be open to ideas and to push the envelope. Calvin is what you make of it, so make the most of it.”

Faraci’s goal for the series is to reach all of the 52 million people who already have an interest in this story and then reach beyond to anyone who has never heard this story.

The Chosen will also focus heavily on global distribution.

“We want to give you characters that you want to follow,” said Faraci. “Once that happens, you’ll want to know the whole story.”

To watch The Chosen or support the project, visit thechosen.tv.

NOVEL PROFS

Two Calvin professors have recently released books intended for younger readers.

GARY SCHMIDT

JASON VANHORN

English professor Gary Schmidt has added to his substantial collection with another young adult novel, Pay Attention, Carter Jones.

A newcomer to the young adult novel writing corps is geography professor Jason VanHorn. Alabaster Dangermond and the Serpent’s Blade was published in 2018. The second in the series, Alabaster Dangermond and Astrid’s Jewel was released earlier this year.

“In this book, I wanted to explore a model of a kind of stern, hard goodness—and that’s the Butler. He has a very high sense of what it means to be a mature and wise and responsible human being, and I was imagining what that might look like when it confronts a suburban kid who is sort of snarky and who has every reason to distrust the adults in his life,” said Schmidt. “It’s not a ‘good confronts evil’ book; it’s a ‘good confronts pain’ book, I suppose.”

“Anyone who knows me from the classroom has seen that I can’t help but be passionate and excited about geography,” said VanHorn. “I’ve been described as having an infectious excitement about what I teach. My writing and writing presentations are replete with geography, too. The new love I have for writing, because of the investment of [Calvin English professor] Susan Felch and the Writing Nook (an intensive one-week writing program for Calvin faculty and staff), has given me new spheres of influence I could have never dreamed possible.”

35

EVENTS

CLASS OF 1969 CELEBRATES 50 YEARS The Calvin Class of 1969 gathered on the Knollcrest campus over Commencement weekend for its 50-year reunion. Friday was spent catching up with old friends over coffee and lunch and exploring both the Franklin and Knollcrest campuses. The banquet that night featured greetings and updates from Calvin president Michael Le Roy as well as the director of the alumni association, Rick Treur. On Saturday, the class gathered for a special chapel service and was recognized during Commencement.

LIFELONG LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES

LA ALUMNI GATHER

This fall, Calvin University is offering alumni and friends two unique experiences to grow personally and professionally.

The first is by offering access to online CALL (Calvin Academy for Lifelong Learning) classes. “The Experience of Exile” explores the historical experience of exile through four case studies, and “Understanding Climate, Climate Change, and Global Warming” covers how much heating will occur in the coming decades and how confident the scientific community is in predicting that heating and associated changes in climate. The second lifelong learning experience is to join a free book club with other Calvin alumni. Over the course of the calendar year, we will read six books together, taking two months per book to read, discuss, and grow. The first book is The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg, and participants will get a voice in deciding the books that follow.

This past May, Greater Los Angeles-area alumni met on the roof restaurant of The Perch in downtown LA for a networking reception. Later in the weekend, more alumni gathered to see an LA Galaxy soccer game.

Sign up for an online CALL class for $30 by visiting calvin.edu/academics/call.

Sign up to join the book club by visiting pbc.guru/calvin.

36

ALUMNI BOARD SELECTS LEADERS This past April, the alumni board elected its leadership for 2019–2020.

From left: secretary, Jori Brink ’04; president, Gene Miyamoto ’77; and vice president, Christine Jacobs Mouw ’88.

SAVE THE DATE!

We would love to see you at one of our upcoming alumni events: Maroon & Gold Gala | Oct. 4, 2019 1994 class reunion | Oct. 4–5, 2019 Homecoming | Oct. 4–6, 2019

WE ARE HERE FOR YOU Calvin College. It’s a place many of us have come to love—whether for its academic rigor, unabashed Christian commitment, competitive sport, or creative arts. It has a place in the story of our lives, though our particular narratives are as vast as our fingerprints. To the scientists, authors, engineers, artists, accountants, philosophers, historians, pastors, teachers, and linguists who make Calvin, whose stories have been shaped by Calvin, and who continue to shape Calvin in their square inch—we are here for you. Whether Calvin College or Calvin University, we are committed to telling the stories of the people who call Calvin home–to connecting, strengthening, and inspiring alumni and future alumni. May Calvin, rooted in the One whose story spans far beyond titles and time, and all who call it part of their story be blessed. ~ The Calvin Alumni board

SYMPHONY HOSTS ALUM OPERA SINGER The Grand Rapids Symphony welcomed the grammy-winning mezzo soprano opera singer Michelle DeYoung ’90 to the stage for a performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 3. Before the performance, alumni gathered for dinner and to hear from Grand Rapids Symphony president and CEO Mary Tuuk ’86. After dinner, the group headed to DeVos Performance Hall to see the performance and then celebrate with a champagne toast with the artists after the concert.

2009–19 class reunions | Oct. 5, 2019 Handel’s Messiah | Dec. 6 and 7, 2019 The Rivalry | Feb. 8, 2020 Spring Classic 5K | April 25, 2020 1969 class reunion | May 22–23, 2020 Heritage reunion | June 12, 2020

TRAVEL WITH CALVIN Caribbean Cruise Panama Canal, Bahamas, Aruba, Curaçao, Colombia, Costa Rica Hosts: Ellen and George Monsma Jan. 14–26, 2020 Holy Land Full; wait list only Hosts: Pastor Bill and Lyn Vanden Bosch March 16–28, 2020 Florence through the Eyes of Dante Read from Dante’s Divine Comedy and see the works of Michelangelo, Leonardo, Botticelli Host: Jennifer Holberg May 15–28, 2020 Netherlands: Off the Beaten Path Explore and discover how the Dutch made the Netherlands Hosts: Henk Aay and Bob Hoeksema Sept. 25–Oct. 8, 2020 Hawaii Big Island, Kauai, hiking, volcanoes Host: Gerry Van Kooten November 2020 Vietnam and Cambodia Ancient and modern history and culture Host: Jim Bratt November 2020 See calvin.edu/go/travel for details.

Email alumni@calvin.edu to request tour brochures for specific trips.

More on these events and others calvin.edu/calendar

37

CALVIN LEGACY

A LEGACY OF EDUCATION ARDEN POST 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.

A product of Eastern Christian High School in New Jersey, Arden Post ’65 had several friends who attended Calvin, and that was where she wanted to go. After two years at a Montclair State University in New Jersey, she transferred to Calvin, and she’s glad she did because it was there that she received her bachelor’s degree in education and met her husband, Jack.

After graduation, she and Jack eventually ended up in Cincinnati, where she applied to a PhD program in education at the University of Cincinnati. Jack’s work later transferred their family to Grand Rapids and led Post back to Calvin. Shortly after the move, there was an opening in Calvin’s education department; she applied and was hired.

It was surreal for her to return to Calvin and teach with former professors such as Phil Lucasse, who was chair of the education department but whom Post had known as Jack’s swim coach. After getting past the initial awkwardness of their new relationships, Post was warmly accepted by her new colleagues.

38

When asked her favorite class to teach, she says, “All of them! I learned many things from my students just by observing, interacting, and teaching them. I learned that one can overcome many issues in life. Students that come to Calvin are highly motivated, and I appreciated that.” She loved taking Calvin students to Alexander Elementary School in Grand Rapids, where they read with the students. “We were trying to inspire them to think about college for their future,” she said.

She strived to know her students personally through information they shared in writing, the advising she did with them, or through conversations outside of the classroom. “I’d try to pick up on sadness or changes in attitudes students were having and then reach out to students if I saw concerns,” she said.

She would often connect deeply with students who had been adopted. An adoptee herself as well as the mother of an adopted son, Post was often referred other students by professors who thought she could help based on her experiences.

In all her conversations and all she does, she looks to Jesus for guidance: “My faith is my whole life. My outlook is Jesus is my Savior, what would he have me do on Earth?” Her faith led her through Jack’s terminal cancer journey and continues to lead her in retirement as she felt called to continue working with children alongside a former student,

Rachel DeHaan ’96, in her second-grade class at Bradenton Christian in Florida and also in the first-grade class at Samoset Elementary.

Post made her students feel special. Former alumni board president Twana Davis ’93 recalls discovering how pervasive this feeling was. “I remember several weeks into my reading methods class with Dr. Post. I was in a conversation with some other education students, which went something like this: ‘I’m her favorite,’ ‘No, I’m her favorite.’ It was in that moment that I discovered that I was one of hundreds of ‘special’ Calvin education students who was blessed enough to be taught by this remarkable teacher whose effusive verve breathed life into every literary piece discussed, whose humble, engaging, Christcentered approach to teaching was what each of her students strived to emulate.”

Davis was inspired by Post’s enthusiasm: “Her passion for teaching was contagious.

I wanted to catch her teacher fever. Her door was always open and a ready smile always greeted you after class if you approached with questions or wanted to chat for just a bit longer. We never felt rushed in conversation with her, even as the next group of favored students gathered outside.”

Post notes that “receiving this award was a surprise to me. I think of the giants who have received this, and I am humbled; I’m honored; and I ask God to show me how this award may be used by me or through me as a I consider my future life.”

2019 KNIGHT OF DISTINCTION

DARYL BOUWKAMP Standout catcher nabs alumni athletic group honor Daryl Bouwkamp ’90 is the 2019 recipient of the Calvin Knight of Distinction Award.

Each year C Club, the Calvin University 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 Calvin athletic program.

After graduating with a degree in business administration, Bouwkamp and his wife, LeAnn, moved back to his hometown of Pella, Iowa, where he began his career with the Vermeer Corporation, a manufacturer of industrial and agricultural equipment.

Over the last 28 years, he has held a variety of leadership positions with an emphasis on international development.

Bouwkamp supports international business development for Vermeer and directs its government relations, issue awareness, and advocacy. Previously, he led Vermeer’s sales, marketing, and distribution development in Latin America and Asia Pacific. He also served as chairman of Vermeer China Ltd. while also starting Vermeer government relations efforts.

He began his Calvin baseball career in an unusual way. As a high school standout at Pella Christian, Bouwkamp was a shortstop and pitcher. Upon arriving at Calvin, he

found that the shortstop position was manned by a strong veteran, and his pitching career was curtailed due to a back injury.

One position that was open, however, was catcher—a position he had never played.

“Coach [Jeff] Pettinga asked if I would be willing to try catcher, and I found that I loved it,” said Bouwkamp.

Over the next four years, he was a starter as catcher. As a junior in 1989, he was named to the All-MIAA second team after batting .324 in league play.

Bouwkamp especially recalls the camaraderie on the team trips: “The bus rides, chewing sunflower seeds in the dugouts, and just shooting the breeze with my teammates are wonderful memories that still stand out to me today,” he said. “It was just great to be part of a team and finding ways to work together.”

As he grew into various roles in his professional career, Bouwkamp found lessons learned at Calvin as a student athlete translated to his day-to-day vocation. “As a baseball player I came in at one position but was called to fill another,” he said.

“I’ve found over my career that looking to fill the position that God is calling you to fill is the way to lead your life.”

39

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.

40

CLASS NOTES

01

HERITAGE (graduated more than 50 years ago)

Widely published and well known for his academic writing on the music of the late 17th and 18th centuries, Leon Plantinga ’57 has written a new book on Beethoven for general audiences.

Titled Simply Beethoven, the book will be released this fall. For more than 40 years, Leon was a member of the music faculty at Yale University.

Seek and Explore: Devotions for Kids, a new book by alum and education professor emerita Yvonne Hoekstra Van Ee ’63, walks kids through all the books of the Bible in a year.

Co-authored with Calvin Theological Seminary emeritus Michael Williams, the book offers hands-on activities to keep 6-to-10-year-old kids engaged.

At Calvin, Yvonne helped shape both the early childhood and elementary teacher education programs. She’s written curricula for many organizations, including Christian Schools International and the Van Andel Education Institute. The book is available through the Calvin Campus Store and its publisher, Zondervan.

01 On a mission trip to the Dominican

Republic with a group from Highlands, Texas, Henny Hoogendyk Bulten ’68 noticed that the young woman guiding their work had a Calvin sticker on her water cup. That young woman turned out to be McKinley Lewandowski ’17.

McKinley is a missions team leader for Vision Trust and has worked in several countries. She happened to be in Santo Domingo for nine weeks during the time Henny’s church group came to serve. As Henny said, “What a providential meeting for Calvin grads in an unlikely place!”

02

03

04

05

02 A Love Big Enough to Share is the true story of four women whose lives surprisingly, miraculously intersect through an infant’s adoption.

Each of the four women, including adoptive mother Mary Beth Bouwman Roedema ’67, offers her perspective on what was, in 1972, a closed, confidential adoption and the choice 17 years later to open it. The book is available through Amazon.

The Way of Glory. The book tells the story of Cate, a teenager in 12th century England, who joins her brothers and aunt on a crusade to save Jerusalem that stops in Hispania to battle the Moors. Life on a battlefield strains the family’s closeness as they confront the terror and contradictions of holy war.

Pat works as a lawyer and writes in Phoenix. The book is available through the Calvin Campus Store and online.

1960s

04 Central Michigan University begins this academic year with a new provost and executive vice president: Calvin alum Mary Schutten ’76. She returns to Michigan from California after serving as dean of the College of Health and Human Sciences at San José State. Prior to that, she was an associate dean and professor at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Mich. In her first academic post, Mary taught physical education at Calvin.

Food: An Appetite for Life is the second book published by Adria Vander Griend Libolt ’69. In it, she suggests that eating is complicated, that it’s a language of hunger and longing of many kinds. An avid cook and host, Adria fills the book with stories, surprises, and conversations from her kitchen. The book is available from the Calvin Campus Store and online.

1970s The only player in MIAA league history to receive MVP honors in both basketball and baseball will be inducted into the Grand Rapids Sports Hall of Fame this fall. Mike “Mickey” Phelps ’70 was a standout in basketball and baseball at Calvin. After graduating, Phelps moved into a distinguished teaching and coaching career that spanned 38 years. He adds the Grand Rapids Sports Hall of Fame honor to his induction in the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan Hall of Fame and the Michigan High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

03

In April, the Independent Book Publishers’ Association awarded the Bill Fisher Award for Best First Book in the fiction category to Patricia Boomsma ’74 for her historical novel

05 Most readers know the Faust legend from Goethe’s tragedy. But the story of the scholar who sold his soul to the devil was first put into manuscript form by Christoph Rosshirt 200 years earlier. Rosshirt was also the first to provide illustrations of Faust.

A new book by James M. van der Laan ’76 offers a critical edition of that manuscript, including a facsimile of the manuscript, the first-ever English translation of it, and Rosshirt’s original illustrations. James is a professor emeritus of German at Illinois State University. The book is available online.

Mike “Mickey” Phelps, the only player in MIAA league history to receive MVP honors in both basketball and baseball, will be inducted into the Grand Rapids Sports Hall of Fame this fall.

’70

Johan Van Waveren ’79 is living with his wife and son in Muscat, Oman. It is, he writes, “geographically speaking, one of the hottest places on the planet, a coastal desert with a surreal landscape,” which he finds beautiful! Johan manages a private investment firm in Muscat.

41

CLASS NOTES

06

Rhae-Ann Richardson Booker has been named Metro Health’s first-ever vice president for diversity, equity, and inclusion.

’90

07

In February, Keith Griffioen ’79 was presented with the Phi Beta Kappa Award for Teaching at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va. The award is given annually to a professor who demonstrates excellence in the classroom. Keith has taught physics at the college since 1994.

international business and nonprofit management. In his 20 years of work in international education, Don has developed, managed, and/or led more than 350 student trips off campus.

That work inspired and informed his book, There and Back Again: Living and Learning Abroad.

1980s

08 In May, Mary Tuuk ’86 was appointed to the board of directors of United Bank. For 19 years, Mary held leadership positions with Fifth Third Bank. After leaving that bank, she served as an executive with the Meijer Corp. She is currently the president and CEO of the Grand Rapids Symphony.

Early last February, Calvin English professor and Newbery-finalist author Gary Schmidt visited Boswell Book Company in Milwaukee to discuss his latest young-adult novel, Pay Attention, Carter Jones. Laura DeNooyer-Moore ’80, an author herself, was in the audience. After the talk, she followed up with Gary, asking questions she knew would interest other aspiring writers. Gary graciously replied, and Laura turned those answers into three posts on her “Journey to Imagination” blog. Read it at lauradenooyer.com.

06 On the last day of a hike in the

Great Smoky Mountains, Neil Jasperse ’79 and Dave VanDerWiele ’83 climbed Mt. LeConte. At the top they spotted a Calvin sweatshirt. The young woman wearing it turned out to be Calvin sophomore Carly Harris. She introduced her climbing partner and father, Jim Harris ’81—who was Neil’s varsity tennis doubles partner at Calvin in 1978.

A mountaintop reunion ensued!

07 After serving as Calvin’s director of off-campus programs for 10 years, Don DeGraaf ’82 has recently become the director of the Australia Studies Centre. A program of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, the center welcomes students from Christian colleges around the globe for a semester-long study, in Brisbane, of

42

08

1990s Metro Health in Grand Rapids has named its first-ever vice president for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), and she is Calvin alum Rhae-Ann Richardson Booker ’90. Her career in the field includes 20 years at Calvin, where she led efforts to develop and implement policies to reach underrepresented student populations and to ensure the climate on campus included and supported all students. In 2011, Rhae-Ann left Calvin to become the executive director of diversity, equity, and inclusion at Davenport University in Grand Rapids. There she led the development of its first university-wide DEI strategic plan. She took her new post at Metro Health, a subsidiary of the University of Michigan Health System, in May. In mid-June, Lynn VanPoolen Larsen ’90 captured the gold medal in pole vault for the 50- to 54-year-old age category at the National Senior Games in Albuquerque. Her winning jump of 5 feet, 10.87 inches was a personal

09

record. Lynn only started pole vaulting a year ago as a fun and challenging way to stay fit. Her daughter, Hannah Larsen ’19, competed in pole vault at Calvin, and Hannah’s club coach was willing to train mom as well. Lynn reports being “very proud” to overcome a frozen shoulder, a severe ankle sprain, and a diagnosis of early onset arthritis on her way to the gold.

After 13 years as an editor at The Banner, Kristy Ezinga Quist ’90 is joining her husband, Brian Quist ’91, in a new business. Canopy Resources helps secular nonprofits with fundraising and is a sister company to Money for Ministries, which does the same for Christian nonprofits. That company is also founded and headed by an alum—Mike Buwalda ’92.

In late June, David Nyland ’92 was awarded board certification by the Association of Professional Chaplains.

He works as a staff chaplain at Morton Plant Hospital in Clearwater, Fla. 09 McGill-Queen’s University Press has published a new book by Peter Schuurman ’93. Titled The Subversive Evangelical: The Ironic Charisma of An Irreligious Megachurch, the book is an analysis of evangelicals, megachurches, charisma, and Canadian culture through a case study of Bruxy Cavey and The Meeting House. It’s available from the Calvin Campus Store and online sellers. Peter lives in Guelph, Ontario, and since July 2018 has been the executive director of Global Scholars Canada, an organization that, with its U.S. affiliate, develops and maintains a community of Christian scholars serving in public universities outside North America.

The all-time leading scorer in Calvin men’s basketball history (2,469 points) will be inducted this fall into the Grand Rapids Sports Hall of Fame. Steve Honderd ’93, a two-time Division III All-American, was named the Division III National Player of the Year as a senior in 1993, and in 1992, he led the Knights to a national title—the first team title in Calvin athletics history.

He now lives with his wife and sons in Holland, Mich.

Michael Lubbers ’93 has joined global architecture and engineering firm Ghafari Associates as its director of design in Grand Rapids. He comes to the firm with 23 years of design leadership experience, having worked at Chicago firms OKW Architects and Wight & Company. In that city, Mike led teams through several high-profile projects, including the transformation of The Adler Planetarium Sky Theater.

Stephen Scholler ’94, a senior financial adviser with Wells Fargo Advisors in Grand Rapids, has been recognized as a 2019 Best in State Wealth Advisor

by Forbes. Steve has 24 years of experience in the financial services industry.

In June, Chris Schoon ’95 became the team leader of the Christian Reformed Church in North America’s Faith Formation Ministries, which provides resources and coaching to support CRC churches as they help people grow in faith. Chris comes to the denomination’s Grand Rapids headquarters from Hamilton, Ontario, where he had served as lead pastor of First Christian Reformed Church since 2011.

The University of Michigan has named Niala Boodhoo ’96 a Knight-Wallace Journalism Fellow for the 2019–20 academic year. She’ll join 16 other journalists in Ann Arbor pursuing individual plans of study, engaging in collaborative learning, and traveling internationally. Niala is the startup host and executive producer for the award-winning public radio program The 21st, a statewide news and talk show produced by Illinois Public Media. Her particular focus for the year will be on creating a replicable business plan for local news podcasts.

Kirsten Kelly (center) talks with Matthew Crebbin.

ALUMNI HIGHLIGHT

Film series helps heal the healers On Dec. 14, 2012, Rev. Matthew Crebbin was plunged into crisis. Seven years later he’s still healing from the trauma of that day and, through a new film series produced

by Odyssey Impact and directed by Kirsten Kelly ’95, helping faith leaders with experiences like his to heal.

Crebbin is the senior minister of the Newtown Congregational Church. When a young gunman walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School and killed 20 children and six staff, Crebbin responded with the town’s other clergy, comforting families of the victims, survivors, and community members. Nothing in his education or career had prepared him for the role he took on that day and in the tragedy’s long aftermath.

“In a mass trauma people turn to faith leaders, who then often feel as if they have to do it all,” Kelly said. “As Rev. Crebbin says, ‘You sacrifice yourself on the altar of the good and end up isolated, sometimes with your own secondhand trauma.’”

In the five-episode film series, titled Healing the Healers, Crebbin hosts conversations with faith leaders about what they’ve

learned coping with mass tragedies—whether single events or ongoing community violence.

“We didn’t want to make this series a how-to on healing,” Kelly explained. “Instead, we wanted to provide a sacred space for faith leaders to share intimate conversations about what they’ve been through.”

If there is a main takeaway the faith leaders in the films offer, she said, it’s this: “Strengthen relationships among yourselves before tragedy happens so you can help and support each other when it does.”

Piloting the series, Kelly brought it to Danjuma Gibson’s pastoral care class at Calvin Seminary.

“I heard profound relief from students,” she said.

“They realized that though they could never be prepared for such a tragedy, there were people who’ve lived through it offering them wisdom.”

To learn more about the film series, including how it’s being used in seminaries, denominational headquarters, medical facilities, and congregations around the country, visit healingthehealers.org.

43

CLASS NOTES

10

11

12

Christos (Jonathan) Hayward ’96 has recently released “St. Clive:” An Eastern Orthodox Author Looks Back at C.S. Lewis. The book is unique, he writes, because “most examinations of the spirituality of C.S. Lewis come from Western spiritual perspectives.”

Lewis influenced Christos’ evangelical upbringing and was the starting point for his journey into Eastern Orthodoxy.

The book is available online.

The National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) recently named Justine Kelley the winner of its annual Membership Service Award.

’13

44

2000s Last spring Matt Tjapkes ’00 became the president and CEO of Humanity for Prisoners. A west Michigan nonprofit, Humanity for Prisoners advocates for and helps provide personalized services for inmates when needed, including medical attention, effective legal aid, and opportunities for education and growth.

10 New York Times bestselling author

Ruth Hollander Soukup ’01 has a new book. Do It Scared: Finding the Courage to Face Your Fears, Overcome Adversity, and Create a Life You Love is a book of practical steps for overcoming fear and resistance and for finding the motivation to make big life changes. It’s a book Ruth wrote from her own experience of fear as well as two years of research into how fear blocks change. She also hosts the Do It Scared podcast and writes the Ruth Soukup Weekly newsletter, which reaches more than a million subscribers.

11 In April, the board of the Meadville Lombard Theological School in Chicago unanimously approved the selection of Elías Ortega-Aponte ’02 as the institution’s next president. Since 2011, Elías has been an associate professor of social theory and religious ethics at Drew University Theological School.

He also served in a number of advisory and council posts there. Active in many social justice organizations and circles as well, Elías was presented with the Faculty Civic Engagement Award at Drew in 2017. He assumed his new post at Meadville Lombard in July.

13

Ryan Hanson ’04 completed his master of divinity degree at Indiana Wesleyan University in December 2018. He is a sales and marketing leader at Trane, a Grand Rapids company specializing in HVAC equipment and service.

12 On July 4, Black Rose Writing

released a new book by Erin Ondersma ’06. Warrior Princess is the first-person narrative of Jaelyn, a 4-year-old girl with spina bifida. Jaelyn explains how she is different from—and the same as—other children. Erin wrote the book about a real-life Jaelyn who attends the daycare center she runs in Grand Rapids. This is Erin’s second children’s book. Fiona the Frog and Friends, published in January, helps young children struggling with pronunciation of the “f” sound. Both books are available from the Calvin Campus Store and online.

Having completed a fellowship in cardiac surgery at the University of Michigan, Reilly Hobbs ’06 is now continuing his training in pediatric heart surgery at the university’s C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor.

2010s 13 Singer-songwriter and worship leader John Lyzenga ’12 has released his first album, In Troubled Times: Songs of Lament and Confession. Leading worship for churches in California’s Bay Area, John became aware of the dearth of worship music to address troubling social issues like racism, violence, environmental crisis, and anti-immigrant rhetoric. Wanting to speak to those issues while pointing to God’s realm of justice and peace, he created these songs with a diverse host of collaborators. The album is available on Apple Music, Amazon, Spotify, and Bandcamp.

In May, James Eugene Los ’13 earned a PhD in school psychology from Michigan State University with a dissertation that focused on student engagement in computerized reading tests. He

14

currently serves as the multi-tiered systems of support coordinator for Wyoming (Mich.) Public Schools and is completing a postdoctoral fellowship to become a fully licensed psychologist.

14 The National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) recently named Justine Kelley ’13 the winner of its annual Membership Service Award.

She won the award for her embodiment of the organization’s values in her dayto-day work as a wellness coordinator.

The NFLPA is the union for players in the National Football League, working to assure recognition and representation of players’ rights and interests.

Sarah Stripp ’14 has been selected as a fellow in the W.K. Kellogg Foundation Community Leadership Network.

The 18-month fellowship unites 80 local leaders from Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico, and New Orleans. In training and mentoring sessions, the fellows gain a deeper understanding of racism and other barriers embedded in our systems, then work together on specific projects to heal and unite communities. Sarah works as a senior community specialist with the nonprofit Springboard to Opportunities in Jackson, Miss., and is one of the youngest members of this second class of program fellows. More than 800 people applied for the 80 fellowships.

Kurtis Duemler ’17 has become a full-time employee at Hanson Professional Services’ headquarters in Springfield, Ill. He began work at the engineering consulting firm as an intern in May 2018. Kurtis will work on water resources projects, focusing on hydrologic and hydraulic modeling.

ALUMNI HIGHLIGHT

Opening up the art world In her 23 years as director and curator for a few of Chicago’s top art galleries, Emily Watson-Rice ’96 met a lot of artists and collectors.

She loved meeting them—and often left those meetings concerned.

“I would meet artists and be shocked that they had all kinds of training in how to paint and no training in how to sell those paintings—no communication skills, no business skills,” she said.

Watson-Rice graduated from Calvin with a bachelor’s of fine arts and recognized something of herself in these artists. Before and during her gallery career, she read psychology books and took business classes to learn what she didn’t know.

“Calvin helped me learn how to learn and how to problem-solve,” she said.

On the other side of the transaction, Watson-Rice met art collectors— often corporate CEOs and accomplished professionals—insecure and afraid about their art choices.

“With them, I often felt like a life coach. I’d try to help them trust their own emotional responses—for example, telling men it was OK to like landscapes with lots of flowers.”

She also found herself advising collectors on how to appraise the value of a work in the secretive world of art pricing and to recognize that value is different for each person.

After years of these conversations around the edges of her job, WatsonRice decided to make them her job.

Her art consulting business, Gossamer Arts, offers workshops and one-on-one mentoring sessions. She helps artists learn sales, marketing, and communication skills necessary for selling their art—whether to a gallery or online. Collectors learn how to determine whether the price of an artwork is right for them, how to negotiate price, and how to sell art.

“I want the art business to work for everybody, and the way to do that, I believe, is through transparency, access to information, and education.

Because art is for everyone.”

“I want the art business to work for everybody,” Watson-Rice said, “and the way to do that, I believe, is through transparency, access to information, and education. Because art is for everyone.”

Learn more about Gossamer Arts at gosamerarts.com.

45

CLASS NOTES

Deaths HERITAGE Jack Bajema ’66 May 4, 2019, Gregory, Mich Andrew Bandstra ’50 Feb. 8, 2019, Kent City, Mich.

Johannes Bantjes ’64 Mar. 22, 2019, Byron Center, Mich.

Lauren Befus with Memory Lane Jane client Vernis Vandenbosch Schad ex’47.

ALUMNI HIGHLIGHT

Befus’ Grandma Betty Jane lived a rollercoaster life. After she died, her inquisitive granddaughter had questions the rest of the family couldn’t answer. No one had asked, and Betty Jane hadn’t told her stories and secrets.

Working at a daily newspaper, Befus met WWII vets who hadn’t shared their life-shaking experiences either. Later, as a lay pastor officiating at funerals, she heard families tell her over and over, “We wish we knew more about him.”

Then Befus’ father-in-law asked her to write his life story as a Christmas gift for his children. The book she made of his memories “brought the house down,” Befus said. “Right then I knew I’d found my dream work.”

Befus calls herself a “life storyteller” and her business Memory Lane Jane, a nod to the enigmatic Betty Jane. Her deep conviction: Everybody’s story is worth telling. “I’m just there to sit with someone as they tell the story

46

Judith Plekker Bielema ’59 June 10, 2019, Holland, Mich.

Barry Blankers ’58 April 2, 2019, Lyden, Wash.

Call her ‘memory lane Jane’ Lauren Rutherford Befus ’03 has holes in her story. Helping others close the holes in theirs is her dream job.

Carol Bardolph ex’68 Aug. 14, 2018, Cicero, Ill.

they want to tell,” she said. She does encourage people to “tell the hard parts, too. The successes are great, but what really helps younger generations is knowing how their loved one survived failures, tragedies, and mistakes.”

Though families can record their stories themselves, Befus noted they usually don’t.

“Our lives are busy. We typically don’t make time to interview our loved ones—and then suddenly it’s too late.”

Adding photos, newspaper clippings, recipes, report cards, and other memorabilia, Befus turns each story into a book uniquely designed to reflect the storyteller. When her clients hold the finished book, “their first response is usually surprise and awe,” she said. “They can’t believe their lives are so beautiful.”

Befus added that while at Calvin she heard the same message repeatedly: Every life has value, every life matters. “The kindness and respect shown to every person at Calvin fostered kindness and respect in me and led me to this ministry.”

Edgar Boevé ’53 Mar. 6, 2019, Grand Rapids, Mich.

James Bos ex’59 Mar. 11, 2019, Hawi, Hawaii Theodore Brouwer ’53 May 12, 2019, Byron Center, Mich.

Allen Bultman ’56 Mar. 8, 2019, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Charles Bylsma ex ’69 April 20, 2018, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Andrew Cammenga ’67 Jan. 16, 2019, Lynden, Wash.

Sydney Cammenga ’58 Feb. 4, 2019, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Dale Claerbaut ’67 Feb. 15, 2019, Pittsburgh, Pa. Daniel De Lange ’61 Mar. 21, 2018, Miami, Fla. Bert Den Herder ’52 June 30, 2018, Edgerton, Minn.

Rosemary Franken De Vos ’51 Feb. 27, 2019, Zeeland, Mich.

Sheryl Ebels Durkee ’65 April 25, 2019, Oklahoma City, Okla.

Earl Dykema ’51 Mar. 1, 2019, Marion, Iowa Evelyn Van Liere Edwards ex’54 Jan. 24, 2019, Madison, S.D.

J. Ellens ’53 April 13, 2018, Novi, Mich.

Martin Lettinga ex’66 April 19, 2019, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Glenn Van Dommelen ’52 April 9, 2019, Rockford, Mich.

Richard Evenhouse ex’57 Feb. 27, 2019, Glendale, Ariz.

Roger Moll ex’50 Mar. 25, 2019, Willard, Ohio

Robert Van Dyke ex’57 Mar. 25, 2019, Chandler, Ariz.

Harold Feringa ’48 Feb. 19, 2019, Jenison, Mich.

Senetta Moll ex’41 Mar. 28, 2019, Willard, Ohio

Roger Van Harn ’54 Feb. 9, 2019, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Gerald Frens ’65 Feb. 15, 2019, Elk Grove Village, Ill.

Dorothy Molnar ‘69 Feb. 28, 2018, Chicopee, Mass.

James Van Kuiken ’56 May 7, 2019, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Gordon Geldof ex’58 April 27, 2019, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Hester Monsma ’47 May 25, 2019, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Barbara Hoeksema Van Laar ’65 May 27, 2019, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Joyce Green ex’54 April 14, 2019, Lowell, Mich.

Lucarol Timmerman Mulder ex’64 Jan. 23, 2019, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Wilma Groeneveld Gunnink ex’53 Mar. 16, 2019, Ada, Mich.

Alice Heins Meyers ex’51 May 5, 2019, Meridian, Idaho

Janet Vanderzwaag VanStaalduinen ’58 Feb. 25, 2019, Holland, Mich.

Johanna Keuning Graves ex’50 Dec. 2, 2018, Holland, Mich.

Linda Haveman Nagel ’69 Jan. 26, 2019, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Martheen Geelhoed Griffioen ’54 May 20, 2019, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Stanley Noteboom ’62 Feb. 8, 2019, Ada, Mich.

Christoffer Hamming ’64 May 23, 2019, Coquitlam. B.C.

Frederick Oppewal ex’54 Mar. 30, 2019, Allendale, Mich.

Sidney Holwerda ex’68 Feb. 27, 2019, Hudsonville, Mich.

Marjorie Heuvelman Palmbos ex’59 May 18, 2019, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Marvin Honderd ex’47 Feb. 16, 2019, Byron Center, Mich.

Frank Pettinga ’47 Mar. 13, 2019, Holland, Mich.

Harvey Huiner ’59 Nov. 5, 2018, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Starling Post ex’50 Dec. 8, 2018, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Pat Vree Huisjen ex’43 Jan. 8, 2019, South Holland, Ill.

Richard Quick ex’57 July 20, 2018, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Melle (Melvin) Huizinga ’64 Jan. 15, 2019, Edmonton, Alta.

Dorothy Hoving Ribbens ex’49 Oct. 27, 2018, Holland, Mich.

William Ipema ’65 April 14, 2019, Oak Park, Ill.

Bernice Vander Weide Ritzema ex’44 April 5, 2019, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Lloyd Jasper ex’58 Nov. 25, 2018, Thousand Oaks, Calif.

Evelyn Van Til Jenson ‘46 Sept. 22, 2018, Kingsville, Texas Jerry Jonker ex’39 Feb. 25, 2019, Holland, Mich.

Irene Van Egmond Kimm ex’42 April 3, 2019, Manhattan, Mont.

Matthew Koning ex’63 Feb. 17, 2019, Wyoming, Mich.

Clarence Kooi ’47 May 9, 2019, Scottsdale, Ariz.

Stanley Koster ’60 Feb. 22, 2019, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Carol Yskamp Kuiken ’62 Mar. 21, 2019, Hawthorne, N.J. Herman Leestma ’48 Jan. 17, 2019, Spokane, Wash.

Constance VanZytveld Wiersma ex’49 May 4, 2019, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Gladys VanderWall VanSwol ’57 June 27, 2019, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Barbara Dekker Van Wylen ex’49 Jan. 20, 2019, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Audrey Baker Veldhof ’66 June 3, 2019, Zeeland, Mich.

Helen Vander Mey Veldkamp ex’57 Jan. 9, 2019, Escondido, Calif.

Carl Verbrugge ’59 Mar. 10, 2019, Racine, Wis. John Verwolf ’58 Mar. 24, 2019, Grand Rapids, Mich. John served as Calvin’s first placement (now Career Center) director from 1978 to 1993.

William Verwolf ’66 Mar. 2, 2019, Hot Springs National Park, Ark. Judy Van Huis Vroon ex’57 Feb. 27, 2019, Grand Rapids, Mich.

James Wagner ’66 April 7, 2019, Grandville, Mich.

Helen Brink Walter ex’52 Feb. 23, 2019, Grand Rapids, Mich.

1970s Ronda Boss ’79 June 4, 019, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Ruth Hesselink Brower ’72 May 7, 2019, Montague, Mich.

Julie Brubaker ex’78 Aug. 1, 2018, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Dale Dieleman ’70 May 6, 2019, Grand Rapids, Mich.

John Dyer III ’70 Feb. 28, 2019, Palm Coast, Fla. Robert Ellard ex’78 Feb. 6, 2018, Walpole, Mass.

Kenneth Grissen ’70 Aug. 14, 2018, Terre Haute, Ind. Carla Van Slot Herweyer ex’76 April 1, 2019, Holland, Mich.

Otis Howard ex’72 Jan. 23, 2019, Springfield, Ill. Mark Koetje ex’77 Mar. 2, 2019, Belding, Mich.

Robert Rosendahl ’77 April 5, 2019, Holland, Mich.

Clarence Reyneveld ’76 April 3, 2018, Jenison, Mich.

James Vanden Berg ex’71 April 21, 2019, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Steven Van Heest ’74 Mar. 10, 2019, Battle Creek, Mich.

1980s Robert Ebels ex’87 May 19, 2019, Hersey, Mich.

Dawn DeKoster Evink ’86 April 20, 2019, Zeeland, Mich.

Jean Star Ryskamp ’46 April 4, 2019, Grand Rapids, Mich.

David Westmaas ’67 Nov. 14, 2018, Marion, Mich.

Harold Seerveld ’55 Feb. 9, 2019, Daytona Beach, Fla.

Nellie Scheurwater Wiersema ex’41 June 4, 2019, Kalamazoo, Mich.

Kathleen Van Dyk Sikkema ex’45 April 2, 2018, Seymour, Mo.

Henry Wind ex’45 Feb. 17, 2019, Mountlake Terrace, Wash.

1990s

Marcella Witvoet Winter ’61 Jan. 21, 2019, Rossmoor, Calif.

Pieter Lion ’96 June 3, 2019, Douglas, Mich.

Frances Lautenbach Wobbema ’45 April 12, 2019, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Emily Vander Lugt ’93 May 18, 2019, San Antonio, Texas

James Wyngaarden ex’43 June 14, 2019, Durham, N.C.

2010s

Hazel Smits Taatjes ’66 Sept. 1, 2019, Grandville, Mich.

Kenneth Tanis ’60 July 23, 2018, Newton Square, Pa. Burton Tjapkes ex’48 Mar. 17, 2019, Gainesville, Fla. Louise Heersink Tolsma ex’51 Aug. 14, 2018, Alamosa, Colo.

Marcia Newhouse Tuinstra ex’69 April 13, 2019, Hastings, Mich.

Benjamin Ypma ’49 Mar. 7, 2019, Grandville, Mich.

Constance Bartleson Johnson ’81 Feb. 14, 2019, Homewood, Ill. Douglas Rosema ex’82 Feb. 14, 2019, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Austin Huisingh ’17 Mar. 16, 2019, Hudsonville, Mich.

47

DANIEL BAYS, 1942–2019 As an undergraduate student at Stanford University, Daniel Bays became captivated by Asia— and one country in particular.

After earning his BA in history from Stanford, Bays would go on to earn an MA in Far Eastern studies (China) and a PhD in the history of modern China from the University of Michigan.

China would become an “intellectual fascination” (as Bays would say), a research focus, a place to explore the intersection of faith and culture, and a popular travel destination for Bays.

Bays, a voracious learner, dedicated scholar, and professor emeritus of history at Calvin, died May 19 at age 77, following his battle with Parkinson’s disease.

In 1984, while teaching at the University of Kansas, John Fairbank of Harvard University tasked Bays with a major research project on Christianity in China. Fairbank is considered the father of China studies in the U.S. Bays directed the project, which supported top scholars in their research on aspects of Chinese Christianity. The

48

resulting 1996 volume, edited

by Bays, opened up a new field in modern China studies.

Bays came to Calvin in 2000 to serve as the prestigious Spoelhof Teacher-Scholar in Residence chair. In 2002 he joined the faculty of the history department and led Calvin’s efforts to create an Asian studies program.

“I was truly privileged to have partnered with Dan Bays for 12 years in growing the Asian studies program at Calvin,” said Larry Herzberg, Calvin Chinese professor. “For his many years as director of Asian studies, Dan gave generous grants to many of our faculty for travel to Asia to help them create new courses related to that part of the world or to do research related to Asia. He brought in many notable guest speakers to help inform the Calvin community about matters related to China and Japan.”

Bays is survived by his wife, Janice, and children, Kristen (Chris) Hite and Justin (Sarah) Bays, as well as two granddaughters.

EDGAR BOEVÉ ’53, 1929–2019 When Edgar Boevé first came to teach at Calvin in 1958, he was on a mission: to build an art program second to none among Christian liberal arts colleges. His mission would not be an easy one.

“It was a completely foreign idea to anyone,” Boevé said in a 1995 interview with Spark.

“How does one in a Christian context be an artist?”

Boevé focused daily on that question in his 33 years as a professor and long after as a Christian artist. Known as the founder of the Calvin art department, Boevé died March 6 at the age of 89.

“Edgar provided new thinking with a visual-awareness awakening to multicultural, interdisciplinary education.” said Helen Bonzelaar, a longtime colleague of Boevé’s.

Boevé studied art at the J. Franklin School of Professional Art in New York City; he graduated from Calvin in 1953 and then earned a master of arts from the University of Michigan.

During his tenure at Calvin, Boevé served as the first chair of the art department, a

IN MEMORIAM

position he held for 14 years.

He also became president of Christians in Visual Arts, a group that regularly expressed what it meant for them to be in this profession.

The Calvin Alumni Association awarded him the Faith and Learning Award in 1995, which recognizes faculty members who have successfully integrated faith and learning.

Boevé and his late wife, Ervina, who served for 37 years as a Calvin theater professor, will also be remembered by the legions of theater students to whom the Boevés opened their home for dinner and festivities around theater productions.

His artwork, commissioned by many Christian high schools and churches, depicts many of Jesus’ miracles, teachings, and prophecies. His inspiration continues to lead Christians to worship through the aesthetics of visual symbolism, a form nearly lost in the evangelical tradition after the Reformation.

COMI

N

D

IL

N

H

M

ME

G

FA

LET’S CELEBRATE

O

Y WEEK

E

Oct. 4–6

YOU’RE INVITED! On October 4–6, Calvin alumni, students, families, and friends will gather on campus for an exciting lineup of events. Start Homecoming & Family Weekend off in style at the MAROON & GOLD GALA at the Grand Rapids Art Museum, catch an IMPROV SHOW, run in the

DONUT DASH, come to a special WORSHIP SERVICE, watch a FIREWORKS DISPLAY, or check out one of the other fun options for the weekend.

CALVIN.EDU/HOMECOMING 25-YEAR REUNION

YOUNG ALUMNI REUNION

We have a special 25-year reunion

If you graduated between 2009 and 2019,

planned for the Class of 1994!

join us for a reunion designed just for you!

CALVIN.EDU/GO/1994

CALVIN.EDU/GO/YOUNGALUMNI

Your gift to the Calvin Annual Fund becomes art shows and basketball games and summer research. It provides smart classrooms and service-learning opportunities. It helps create a vibrant environment on campus where students can ask hard questions as they discover more about who God created them to be.

The Annual Fund fills the gap where tuition dollars stop, and your support opens the doors to a Christ-centered education even wider for our students.

calvin.edu/go/annualfund