Spark Fall 2022 - Calvin University

SPARK T H E C A LV I N U N I V E R S I T Y M A G A Z I N E

Meet President Boer p. 14

FALL 2022

YOU’RE INVITED! Save the date for the dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony of the new Calvin University School of Business on Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2022, from 5–7:30 p.m.

Contact business@calvin.edu for more information.

FALL 2022 VOL. 68, 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 in North America (CRCNA).

To learn more about the CRC’s work in North America and around the world, visit crcna.org.

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

Spark is published three times a year by the Calvin Alumni Association, office of alumni relations, Calvin University, 3201 Burton St. SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546. ©2022 by the Calvin Alumni Association.

Telephone: 616-526-6142.

Email: spark@calvin.edu.

Spark on the web: calvin.edu/spark.

POSTMASTER: Send address corrections to Spark, Office of Alumni, Calvin University, 3201 Burton St. SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546.

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

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Calvin University awarded degrees to 76 inmates at Handlon Correctional Facility, the first time in the state of Michigan that bachelor’s degrees were awarded behind bars.

FEATURES

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FIRMLY ROOTED, GLOBALLY CONNECTED

SHAPING HEARTS & MINDS, REFORMING PRISONS

Calvin welcomes alumnus Wiebe Boer as 12th president.

Calvin Prison Initiative celebrates Commencement in a ceremony described as “the first of its kind in modern history.”

COMMENCEMENT HONORS CLASS OF 2022

The annual celebration returns to Calvin’s campus.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

THE CALVIN SPARK Editor: Jeff Haverdink ’97 Managing Editor: Lynn Bolt Rosendale ’85 Art Director: Amanda Impens Designers: Vicki Dolsen Olivia Stallmer ’22 Contributing Writers: Jeff Febus ’92 Matt Kucinski HON Amy White ’06 Contributing Photographers: Ryan Humm Amanda Impens Adrian Van Stee ’23

CALVIN ALUMNI ASSOCIATION BOARD President: Jori Brink Hannah ’04 (Chicago, Ill.) Vice President: Tyler Amidon ’93 (Centennial, Colo.)

Secretary: Karen Zwart Hielema ’94 (Toronto, Ont.) Treasurer: Jim Valk ’87 (Paw Paw, Mich.)

Executive Director: Jeff Haverdink ’97

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Long-time cross country coach Brian Diemer retires after 36 years.

Alumna Ashley Luse ’10 is passionate about using business as a tool for social good.

DEPARTMENTS

ONLINE EXTRAS

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Editor’s Desk

Read Spark online

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Campus News

calvin.edu/spark

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Sports

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Alumni Profiles

36

Events

40 Legacy 42

Class Notes

48 In Memoriam

Follow us on Instagram @calvinuniversityalumni

Connect with alumni facebook.com/calvinalumni

Leave a legacy for future alum legacygift.calvin.edu

View the Calvin calendar calvin.edu/calendar

Members: Jerry Cooper ex’66 (Holland, Mich.)

Minwoo Heo ’09 (Chicago, Ill.) Carla de Jong Hiemstra ’94 (Visalia, Calif.)

Dale Kaemingk ’77 (Brier, Wash.)

Adam Kinder ’06 (Ada, Mich.)

Kathleen Smit Klaasen ’70 (Caledonia, Mich.)

Maxine Asante Mosley-Totoe ’06 (Minneapolis, Minn.)

Debra Perry ’91 (Grand Rapids, Mich.)

Janorisè Evans Robinson ’92 (Oak Park, Ill.) Levi Stoep ’13 (New York, N.Y.) Stephanie Vogelzang ’07 (Alexandria, Va.) Eliezer Yeong ‘18 (Grand Rapids, Mich.)

Johanna Chambery Zandstra ’91 (Schererville, Ind.)

ONLINE SUBSCRIPTION Are you interested in receiving Spark via email instead of print? If so, please email alumni@calvin.edu to let us know. Include your email address and let us know if this selection is for you only, or if it includes your spouse/household. Remember to include any additional email addresses if applicable.

CORRECTIONS Regarding “In Memoriams” (spring 2022), Roger Stouwie was born in 1933. Doug Nagel was born in 1932 and was a member of the Class of 1954. Our apologies for the errors.

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EDITOR’S DESK

New Calvin memories Do you remember your first few days on Calvin’s campus? I trust this question stirs up vivid memories of the beginning of the “Calvin chapter” of your life. For me, I picture moving into 220 Beets Hall in sweltering heat, introducing myself to floormates who would become lifelong friends, and sitting in my very first Calvin class—Latin 201 in the basement of the library with Professor Ken Bratt.

We all have “first” Calvin memories, but not all of our experiences were the same. Growing up in west Michigan, I was familiar with Calvin. My wife, Erin Barnaby Haverdink ’97, came to Calvin with one friend from a Lutheran high school on the east side of Michigan. Her memories of her early days at Calvin are a bit more daunting: realizing that many people at Calvin already knew each other and wondering, “what was a ‘CRC?’” For both of us, though, wonderful friendships quickly formed within residence hall life, and our student years at Calvin are cherished memories.

There is something invigorating, exciting, and memorable about starting anew.

Whether it be a new career, a move to a new community, or even new responsibilities within our daily lives, the start of 4

something offers hope and optimism for the intriguing possibilities ahead. Yet, if you’re like me, the start of something new may also come with a twinge of angst. There are likely unknowns ahead, accompanied by uncertainties about how it will go. They say with age comes wisdom—or at least knowledge from a few life lessons—so now when I step into something new, I’ve learned to lean more heavily on “being still,” knowing God is the one authoring the new chapters in my life.

about the unknowns. Yet I trust we all share the quiet peace and faith in a God whose plans far exceed our own.

Although technically not Wiebe and Joanna’s very first day at Calvin, as they are both Calvin alumni, it certainly is a monumental new Calvin chapter in their lives and ours. I pray God’s richest blessings upon the entire Boer family and Wiebe’s service as Calvin’s 12th president.

Calvin, too, is on the cusp of a milestone “first” this fall. In just a few weeks, in addition to welcoming hundreds of new students moving onto campus, Calvin is embracing a new president and his family to serve this community. It is a significant “first day” for the Boer family and the entire community as we seek to work together to further Calvin’s mission.

In this issue of Spark you’ll have the opportunity to get to know President Boer and his family a little better. Although they’ve been on campus for just a few short weeks, there is already excitement for this next chapter in Calvin’s story. To be sure, there are challenges and uncertainties ahead, and there is likely a tinge of angst

BY JEFF HAVERDINK ’97 DIRECTOR OF ALUMNI AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

VISIT CALVIN AND GET MORE THAN JUST A TOUR.

A COLLEGE VISIT. BUT BETTER. A personalized experience.

Lots of options. A visit that will make you fall in love with what Calvin has to offer.

INVITE A HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT TO VISIT CAMPUS calvin.edu/visit

“

Calvin has given me life, peace, joy, and friendship, and I am grateful to God that he placed this community in my life.

LYDIA, CLASS OF 2021

”

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CAMPUS NEWS

Michelle Merritt ’22 and Sarah Gibes ’22 earn top awards.

TWO 2022 GRADS EARN FULBRIGHT AWARDS Michelle Merritt and Sarah Gibes are recipients of 2022 Fulbright awards. The Fulbright Program is the flagship international education exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government. Recipients of Fulbright grants are selected on the basis of academic or personal achievement, as well as demonstrated leadership potential in their fields.

Merritt ’22, who majored in linguistics and Chinese, received a highly competitive Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship grant. She will teach English to university students in Ulaanbataar, Mongolia, in 2023.

“Teaching ESL/EFL at the university level is one of my key interests, so having the chance to develop that skill right out of university is a rare, perfectly suited opportunity. At the same time, I will be broadening my own language skills through immersion,” said Merritt.

Gibes ’22, who majored in biochemistry, English, and German, received a United States Teaching Assistantship of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Science, and Research. This year, she will serve as an English class teaching assistant for two high schools in Salzburg, Austria.

“I believe that public service is important, and that investing in young people is a particularly important form of public service.

This grant allows me to pursue both of those things,” said Gibes.

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President Michael Le Roy is honored by state leaders, including Senator Mark Huizenga ’90.

STATE LEADERS HONOR PRESIDENT LE ROY On April 22, outgoing president Michael Le Roy was meeting with the Calvin University board of trustees when two surprise guests walked in the room: Mark Huizenga ’90, a state senator and Calvin alum, and Emerson Silvernail ’20, a former student body president at Calvin who now works with Huizenga.

The two delivered a special tribute to Le Roy, honoring his steadfast commitment to the Calvin University community.

Signers of the tribute included state senators Winnie DeVries Brinks ’90, Aric Nesbitt, and Mark Huizenga, along with Lieutenant Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

“I’m overwhelmed, humbled, and grateful,” said Le Roy. “First of all, I didn’t know this

was possible. Second of all, it’s bipartisan, so I like that a lot.”

The tribute begins, “LET IT BE KNOWN, That it is with a deep appreciation that we honor Dr. Michael Le Roy upon the occasion of his retirement after a decade of serving as President of Calvin University.

As Dr. Le Roy transitions into this next phase of his life, we add our voice of thanks to those of the professors, administrators, students, parents, and alumni throughout the Calvin community for a job well done.”

The tribute applauds Le Roy’s leadership during a changing higher education landscape and his tireless pursuit of the institution’s long-term health.

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

Jillian Herlinger ’22 is the first geology student to win a Goldwater Scholarship.

GEOLOGY MAJOR STRIKES GOLD

Ruth Padilla DeBorst has been involved in leadership development in Latin America for decades.

RUTH PADILLA DEBORST AWARDED KUYPER PRIZE On April 6, Ruth Padilla DeBorst accepted the 2022 Abraham Kuyper Prize for Excellence in Reformed Theology and Public Life. Padilla DeBorst, a theologian, missiologist, educator, and storyteller, has been involved in leadership development in her native Latin America for several decades.

The Kuyper Prize was established in 1996

by Rimmer and Ruth de Vries and is named after Dutch theologian Abraham Kuyper.

The prize is awarded annually by Calvin’s de Vries Institute for Global Faculty Development to a scholar or community leader whose outstanding contribution to their chosen sphere reflects the ideas and values characteristic of the Neo-Calvinist vision of religious engagement in matters

of social, political, and cultural significance in one or more of the “spheres” of society.

Padilla DeBorst currently serves with Resonate Global Mission, leading in the Comunidad de Estudios Teológicos Interdisciplinarios, a learning community with students across Latin America. She also coordinates the Networking Team of International Fellowship for Mission as Transformation and is actively furthering missional leadership formation processes with the Christian Reformed Church of North America. Beginning in fall 2022, she will join the faculty of Western Theological Seminary serving as the Richard C. Oudersluys Associate Professor of World Christianity.

Calvin senior geology major Jillian Herlinger ’22 is the recipient of a prestigious 2022 Goldwater Scholarship. The Goldwater Scholarship is known to be highly competitive and rigorous; those awarded with the scholarship demonstrate a strong dedication to their field in STEM, including their influence in research and involvement.

Herlinger is the first geology student at Calvin to earn the prestigious honor of being named a Goldwater Scholar, as well as one of only 408 students nationwide to be so honored this year.

Throughout the scholarship selection process, students must prove themselves by writing a long paper within a short deadline, performing field research, and balancing their class responsibilities.

“The award isn’t about the highest GPA,” clarified engineering professor Chris Hartemink. “It’s about [a student’s] dedication to research and their desire to change the world.”

For Herlinger, this passion surfaces as she studies paleoclimatology. “I study [paleoclimatology] through geology by sediment coring or glacier coring, which can key us into the environmental conditions in the past. And we study those to understand the conditions of the past, but also to inform us about the future and what the climactic response will be.”

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CAMPUS NEWS

Adejoke Bolanle Ayoola is a globally recognized practitioner and educator.

CALVIN SELECTS SCHOOL OF HEALTH’S INAUGURAL DEAN Calvin University has appointed Adejoke Bolanle Ayoola as the founding dean of its School of Health.

A member of Calvin’s faculty since 2007, she is nationally and globally recognized as an experienced practitioner, educator, researcher, and administrator.

She has received several awards and distinctions recognizing her accomplishments in the health field. She served as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Nurse Faculty Scholar and was inducted into the 2020 Class of Fellows of the American Academy of Nursing. She is a member of the American Association of Nurses, the Honors Society of Nursing, Sigma International, and the Midwest Nursing Research Society; and she currently serves as a reviewer, associate editor or on the editorial board of 12 scholarly publications.

“My vision is for one’s experience in the School of Health to be transformative and for our future health professionals to be well-prepared in their calling to serve as great advocates for their patients,” she said.

Ayoola is supported by a growing list of accomplished health-related professionals from around the world who are serving on the school’s advisory council. The School of Health currently serves approximately 600 undergraduate and more than 75 graduate students in health-related programs, and dozens of other students in other pre-professional tracks.

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Joel Adams will serve in the new Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy.

ADVISING THE U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE For 30-plus years, Joel Adams has been equipping and advising his students at Calvin University to be agents of renewal in their fields. Now, the professor of computer science is being asked to advise the Secretary of State.

“This is an opportunity to have input into U.S. policy,” said Adams, “and if we take seriously this business of every square inch [matters to God], even the U.S. State Department ought to be included in that area. It’s all under Christ’s reign.”

Adams has been selected to be part of the 2022–23 class of Jefferson Science Fellows (JSF), an initiative of the Office of the Science and Technology Adviser to the

U.S. Secretary of State. While this is JSF’s 19th class of Fellows, Adams is among the first experts to be selected since the new Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy was established in fall 2021.

According to the Department of State, this new bureau will address “the national security challenges, economic opportunities, and implications for U.S. values associated with cyberspace, digital technologies, and digital policy.”

Adams will serve in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Department of Cyber and Emerging Technologies. He will be an analyst, reading broadly and advising on emerging technologies.

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

Kate van Liere awarded top teaching honor.

A ‘HISTORY’ OF TOP TEACHERS

Emmalon Davis ’10 will explore abolitionist Maria Stewart’s political thought.

ALUMNA SELECTED FOR PRESTIGIOUS FELLOWSHIP Emmalon Davis ’10 is the only philosophy professor nationwide to be selected for a fellowship from the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS), one of the preeminent representatives of American scholarship in the humanities and related social sciences.

Davis teaches at the University of Michigan. Through the ACLS fellowship and a faculty fellowship from the Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Study, she will explore Maria Stewart’s political thought as it developed during her short career as a public lecturer. Stewart was an abolitionist, feminist activist, and political thinker who worked in the public sphere beginning in the 1830s. “She was the first Black woman to give public lectures to an audience of men and women within the context of civil rights,” said Davis.

Through her research, Davis is looking at Stewart’s political thought from a philosophical perspective. She said Stewart’s work has been difficult to characterize in terms of its methodology, in part because she draws from so many different styles and approaches.

“Part of what I’m interested in thinking about is how to make sense of and appreciate her political thought in a way that doesn’t try to explain away or flatten these contradictions but allows us to see these contradictions as actually illuminating some of the paradoxes that confront political activities in the public sphere.”

Kate van Liere, professor of history, is the recipient of the 2022 Presidential Award for Exemplary Teaching, the highest honor the university awards for teaching. The award includes a special medallion designed

by Carl Huisman, Calvin professor of art emeritus, and a cash award funded from an endowment established in memory of George B. and Margaret K. Tinholt.

Van Liere is the 30th winner in the history of the award and the third history professor to be so honored, following Bert de Vries in 1998 and Jim Bratt in 2013. “I’m not as gifted as some of my colleagues are as a scholar,” she said. “I realized years ago that my time was better spent trying to be a good teacher. And this (history) department has long valued good teaching. So, yes, this award is a wonderful validation.”

The award criteria notes that “award recipients not only have exceptional teaching skills, they also consistently influence the lives and careers of Calvin University students in lifelong Christian ways.”

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CALVIN SPORTS

STORIED CROSS COUNTRY COACH RETIRES AFTER MORE THAN THREE DECADES

BY JEFF FEBUS ’92

Brian Diemer has been at the helm of Calvin’s cross country program for 36 years.

For 34 of those years, he’s also been atop the MIAA. Diemer has been the Calvin head men’s cross country coach since 1986 and a distance coach with the Calvin men’s and women’s track and field team since the spring of 1987.

In 2006, he added head women’s cross country coaching duties at Calvin to his responsibilities.

His list of accolades is long. He led the Calvin cross country program to 43 titles— more than any coach in MIAA history— 34 with the men’s program and nine with the women’s program. Last fall he led the Calvin men’s team to its 34th consecutive MIAA title, the longest active championship streak in the MIAA.

Diemer also guided the Knights to national prominence. In men’s cross country, he led Calvin to four national titles, winning crowns in 2000, 2003, 2004, and 2006.

He also led the men’s team to national runners-up finishes in 1998, 2001, 2002, and 2012. In addition, he helped the Calvin men win 28 Great Lakes Regional titles.

On the women’s side, he was at the helm for eight Great Lakes Regional titles and four top-four national finishes, including a second-place finish in 2008.

He coached countless All-Americans in both cross country and track and field.

On the track, he coached five individual national champions, including three in his own specialty race: the 3,000-meter steeplechase.

Diemer was named Great Lakes Regional Cross Country Coach of the Year 23 times—19 times in men’s cross country and four times in women’s cross country.

In 2000, 2003, 2004, and 2006, he was named the NCAA Division III National Coach of the Year.

Diemer arrived at Calvin in the midst of a decorated international track and field career.

He ran collegiately at the University of Michigan, where he ran cross country and track and field. As a senior, he captured Big Ten and later NCAA Division I national championships in the steeplechase, the event that propelled him to the Olympic level.

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In 1984, he qualified for the Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles, winning a bronze medal in the steeplechase. He also qualified for the 1988 and 1992 Summer Games. In 1989 he won the Glen Cunningham Award, presented annually to the top distance runner in the U.S. In 1992 he served as captain of the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Team.

Diemer was the gold medalist in the steeplechase at the 1990 Goodwill Games and silver medalist in the 1995 Pan American games in Argentina. Diemer also won the silver medal at the U.S. Olympic Festival in 1995 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. In 2000, he was named to the Grand Rapids Sports Hall of Fame.

When reflecting on his acceptance of the Calvin men’s cross country position in 1986, Diemer recalled his own recruitment by then Calvin director of athletics David Tuuk, who was retiring as Calvin’s acting head cross country coach.

“It seems like a short time ago that Coach David Tuuk asked if I would do the ‘hands on’ coaching his final two years until his retirement. My stint was to be a twoyear term, with no chance of continuing because I was not faculty or staff at Calvin College. Apparently, some concessions were made, because I will be finishing 36 years of coaching at Calvin next month.”

In the fall of 1986, the Calvin men’s cross country team took a narrow second behind rival Hope for the MIAA title. The following fall, Calvin captured the title and ignited a

ALUM RUNNER RETURNS TO COACH KNIGHTS

Calvin University has named Nicole Farr Kramer ’10 as head men’s and women’s cross country coach.

“I am extremely excited for this opportunity,” said Kramer. “It’s tough to put into words what it means to come back to Calvin and follow in the footsteps of a legend in Coach [Brian] Diemer. I think about my own college experience and how special it was to be a Calvin Knight every day that I coach. To come back to the school where I had a transforming student-athlete experience is incredible.”

historic streak. The only interruption was the canceled 2020 MIAA fall cross country season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I will miss the kids and challenging them to ‘strive for excellence’” reflected Diemer.

“They always gave me so much of their heart and effort. They would do the work I asked for, and they would start believing in themselves. To see that was and is a beautiful thing.

“I will miss working with the coaches who bought into this whole program. They have given so much of themselves for the kids and Calvin. To share the special moments together as coaches and athletes when goals and dreams were realized is one of the greatest feelings of all time.”

Calvin director of athletics Jim Timmer offered words of appreciation for Diemer’s work: “I can’t thank Brian enough for his tremendous work and leadership. I was a freshman student at Calvin the year he took over the men’s cross country program,

and it has been amazing to see his work through the years. We wish him all the best in his retirement and salute Brian and his family for the tireless sacrifices that they have made for Calvin.”

Diemer will now turn his attention to his wife, Kerri; his four children, Kelsey, Kaitlin, McKenzie, and Matthew; as well as his growing number of grandchildren. He continues to co-own Everett’s Landscape, a west Michigan company that was started by his father, Everett Diemer, in 1956.

“I am really looking forward to a slower pace of responsibility in this next phase of life,” said Diemer. “My wife, Kerri, and I want to be readily available for each other and to see our kids and grandkids. It’s a phase of life we have always looked forward to, but it has indeed come faster than I can believe. Where did these 36 years go?

It’s been great. Thanks for the opportunity to work at Calvin University and with the best group of kids in the world!”

“We are thrilled to have Nicole back on campus as our head cross country coach,” said Calvin director of athletics Jim Timmer. “She was an outstanding student-athlete at Calvin and I am confident she will bring those same qualities back to campus as a coach.”

Kramer graduated from Calvin with a degree in sports management and business communications. At Calvin, she was a member of four MIAA championship teams in women’s cross country and four in women’s outdoor track and field.

She later ran one year of indoor track and field at Bowling Green State University, where she earned a master’s in sports administration.

She has spent the past two years at Concordia University Wisconsin, most recently as the associate head track and field/cross country coach.

“My coaching philosophy is built around faith, family, academics and athletics— in that order,” Kramer said. “It’s vital to make sure our priorities are straight and to keep everything in perspective with the gifts God has given us. That being said, we will continue to strive for championships, a strong culture, and a memorable student-athlete experience.”

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CALVIN SPORTS

CALVIN HONORS TOP STUDENT-ATHLETES WITH ANNUAL AWARDS

BY JEFF FEBUS ’92

Since 1951, Calvin has annually presented the Beré Memorial Award.

The Beré honors the top senior male student-athlete, based on athletic ability, scholastic rank, character, and leadership. It is given in memory of Joe Beré, a Calvin student who was killed in a 1949 auto accident on his way to watch a Calvin basketball game. This year the award was given to two outstanding student-athletes.

This is the 49th year that Calvin has given the Tiemersma award— presented annually to the top senior female student-athlete.

The award honors Kay Tiemersma, the first woman physical education teacher in the member schools of the Christian Schools International organization, and a pioneer in women’s sports. Its presentation is based on athletic ability, scholastic standing, character, and leadership.

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Valuable Swimmer four times. He won 14 MIAA individual titles during his career, including five titles in the 500 freestyle and four in the 200 freestyle. He is the MIAA record holder in the 100 freestyle, 200 freestyle, 500 freestyle, and 200 IM and was also a part of MIAA record-setting teams in the 200, 400, and 800 freestyle relay as well as the 200 medley relay.

JULIAN ITURBE ’22 MEN’S SWIMMING & DIVING A graduate of Colegio Emil Friedman School (Caracas, Venezuela), Iturbe is the most decorated individual in Calvin men’s swimming and diving history. He was a four-time MIAA Most Valuable Swimmer and a 20-time NCAA III All-American at Calvin over the last five years.

Due to an extra year of eligibility because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Iturbe was a five-time All-MIAA selection, the only individual in MIAA history to achieve that feat. He is also just the third individual in MIAA men’s swimming and diving history to be named the MIAA Men’s Most

In addition, he is the Calvin record holder in the 100, 200, and 500 freestyle, 200 and 400 IM, and has been a part of all five of Calvin’s current standing school-record (200, 400, and 800 freestyle and 200 and 400 medley) relay teams.

He helped Calvin win MIAA (team) championships in 2018 and 2021, with his anchor leg of the 400 freestyle relay as a freshman in 2018 cementing the league title for the Knights over Albion by a six-point margin as he edged an Albion swimmer for the win by five-tenths of a second.

Of his 20 All-American finishes, eight were in individual events. This past March he posted the best individual finish of his Calvin career at the national meet, placing

fifth in the 50 freestyle and sixth in the 100 freestyle. He helped the Calvin men’s swimming and diving team place 12th as a team at both the 2019 and 2022 NCAA III Championships.

Iturbe graduated with a degree in engineering with concentrations in both electrical and chemical engineering along with a minor in biochemistry.

Van Andel became a member of five MIAA regular season championship teams. He is the only player in MIAA history to do so.

He helped the Calvin men’s soccer program produce an overall win-loss record of 90-11-4 that included five MIAA regular season titles, three MIAA tournament crowns, four trips to the NCAA III Tournament, three trips to the Sweet 16, two trips to the national semifinals, and one trip to the national championship final.

In the classroom, Van Andel earned his undergraduate degree in environmental science and conservation last spring where he was a Dean’s List student and a four-time member of the MIAA Academic Honor Roll.

He is currently a graduate student at Calvin.

DREW VAN ANDEL ’22 MEN’S SOCCER A graduate of Grand Haven (Michigan) High School, Van Andel was a five-year member of the Calvin men’s soccer program.

Van Andel was named the Division III Scholar All-American of the Year by the United Soccer Coaches. In addition, he was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District Team. He has been a four-time member of the MIAA Academic Honor Roll.

Due to an additional year of eligibility because of the COVID-19 pandemic,

In cross country, she was named to the AllMIAA first team in 2021 and to the All-MIAA second team in 2019. She was a Great Lakes All-Region selection in both 2019 and 2021.

She placed third at the NCAA III Great Lakes Regional Championships this past November and helped Calvin finish 17th as a team at the national meet.

She has been a two-time qualifier for the NCAA III Indoor Track and Field Championships, earning All-American honors in the mile run as a sophomore.

She is a three-time Great Lakes All-Region selection for indoor track and field and a two-time Great Lakes All-Region selection for outdoor track and field.

This past winter she set Calvin indoor track and field records in the mile run, 3,000 meter run, and as a member of Calvin’s distance medley relay team. She helped Calvin place 25th as a team at the NCAA III Indoor Track and Field Championships this March.

On the pitch, Van Andel was a four-year starter at centerback. He was named a Division III All-American this fall by both the United Soccer Coaches (first team) and D3soccer.com (third team).

He was named the MIAA’s Most Valuable Player this past November and landed a spot on the All-MIAA first team for a fourth consecutive season. Van Andel helped Calvin capture the 2021 MIAA regular season title last fall while also earning a bid to the NCAA III Tournament with the Knights finishing 17-4-2 overall and reaching the Round of 16 of the NCAA III Tourney.

This past fall, she garnered All-American honors in cross country by placing 17th at the NCAA III Championships. She continued her All-American campaign last winter, placing fifth in the 3,000 meter run and running the anchor leg on Calvin’s fifth place distance medley relay team at the NCAA III Indoor Track and Field Championships.

SADIE HEERINGA ’22 WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY A graduate of Grand Rapids (Michigan) Christian High School, Heeringa was a four-year member of the Calvin women’s cross country team, Calvin women’s indoor track and field team, and Calvin women’s outdoor track and field team.

She graduated with a chemistry major and a psychology minor. She was a threetime member of the MIAA Academic Honor Roll and a regular member of the Calvin Dean’s List. She was named to the Division III All-Academic Team twice in cross country and three times in track and field.

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FEATURE STORY

FIRMLY ROOTED, GLOBALLY CONNECTED PHOTO CREDIT: MATT MITCHELL

BY LYNN BOLT ROSENDALE ’85

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SAVE THE DATE for the president’s inauguration on Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2022, at Calvin University.

CALVIN UNIVERSITY WELCOMES ALUMNUS WIEBE BOER FROM NIGERIA AS NEXT LEADER Firmly rooted within the Calvinist tradition and Reformed heritage of Calvin University and globally connected, coming from one of the most populous and diverse cities in the world, Wiebe Boer ’97 believes he is uniquely positioned to lead Calvin University as its 12th president.

Boer’s experience working across the private and social sectors in four countries over the past two decades has provided him with a distinctive perspective—one that Calvin’s board of trustees trusts will help guide the nearly 150-year-old institution into innovative territory.

Boer most recently served as CEO of Shell–All On, a renewable energy investment company in Lagos, Nigeria. He has spent his career promoting economic development in Africa.

The son of Christian Reformed missionary parents, Boer was born and raised in Jos, Nigeria. He graduated from Calvin in 1997, with a history degree, and earned a PhD and two master’s degrees from Yale University, also in history. He has spent the last 12 years in Lagos.

His wife, Joanna Bachew ’03, has a master’s in human resource management from the University of London and most recently served as the CEO of Empire Jane, a Nigerian soft home furnishings company. The couple has four sons.

Following Boer’s appointment, Spark spoke with the new president about his past experience, his connection to the university, his leadership style, and his hopes for the future of Calvin University. Some of the following responses were also taken from an interview with Calvin faculty and staff.

How did the position of president of Calvin University first come across your radar and what made you think that it sounded like something you could do?

I think it was in November that I read Michael Le Roy’s newsletter from Calvin that said Michael was not continuing and there was going to be a search. I started reading the profile, and I was thinking, “Wait, this actually looks like me.” So I started asking a few questions even though I was an unusual candidate without any university administration experience. I was told that because of all the changes in American higher education, there was an interest in a candidate that is from outside the space. So I put my hat in, and then to be honest, I didn’t think I would actually ever hear anything back.

As it kept going forward, Joanna was asking, “Are you sure you want to do this?”

After I had interviewed, I honestly thought I was going to hear, “Hey, thanks for all the effort. You came all this way. You’re not the person, but we’d actually maybe like you to be on the board at some point, and maybe you can contribute that way.” So when I heard, “You are the one that we selected,” it was incredibly emotional because it did feel like it was a call to me.

My parents both went to Calvin 60 years ago, Joanna and I are both alumni, and the first president of Calvin, Geert Boer, is actually my great-great grandfather’s cousin. There is family tradition going way back. I grew up in the Christian Reformed church on the mission field. Calvin is this institution that’s been such a part of my life, and here it was calling me to play this role.

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FEATURE STORY

How do you think the skill set you’ve developed over the last several years has prepared you for this next chapter in Calvin’s history?

I haven’t had the academic administration experience, but I am aware that there are a lot of changes happening in American higher education. I see all of these dynamics that are altering the landscape, many of them are demographic; there are forces that are beyond any of our control. There is a need for someone who is able to look from the outside in, learn a new sector, and then think of ways to innovate. Several times in my career I’ve moved to completely new sectors, and basically built them in whatever country or business to which I was called. I think that experience, as well as an innovative approach to problem solving and resilience developed from running companies in Nigeria have prepared me for this role.

I also believe we need to discern what the future of Calvin and higher education can be, and then we need someone who can drive that movement and be an evangelist for that movement. This is something I’ve done with impact investing, with African philanthropy, with renewable energy in Nigeria. And, I really look forward to doing it now with Calvin University.

What was it like for you as a student at Calvin, and how does this shape how you want to interact with students now?

When I came to Calvin, it was really the first time in my life that I was in a community where everybody looked like me.

We think that’s what third-culture kids, or missionary kids, yearn for, right? But I’m on the other side. I didn’t want anybody to mistake me for not being from Africa, from

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President Boer talks with Student Senate president Nain Miranda on a site visit with Sun FundED leaders during the evaluation phase of a new partnership to bring solar energy to Calvin.

Nigeria, so it was actually a pretty difficult transition at first. I got very involved: I was on the cross country team, the track team, Student Senate. I pursued a history major, and it was in the classroom where the issues of faith and learning, the significance of faith for any subject, any topic, was just something that delighted me.

I was in Grand Rapids reasonably often as a child, but it’s very different when you are actually moving here. What it made me realize, when I’m coming back now, is that we need to ensure that the campus is a place where everybody feels welcome, and where diversity is appreciated. I think there is some work that needs to be done in that direction. But I’m looking forward to making that happen and to building a global campus where everyone feels welcome from the minute they express an interest in Calvin.

Would you have been surprised as a student if someone had told you that in 25 years you would be Calvin’s president?

Yes and no. As a student, the college president is not really at your level. I imagine I would have thought there’s no way that is possible. I don’t fit in enough here, and that’s not really my personality.

But on the flip side, my childhood ambition was to be the UN Secretary General.

How do you think Calvin’s liberal arts education prepared you for life?

It’s one of the things I talked to students about in Nigeria because the Nigerian system is modeled after the British system, in which you are assigned what you are going to study. You arrive believing you want to study law or medicine and you are assigned zoology, and then you have to spend four years studying something you have no interest in, and you aren’t allowed to study anything else.

So, particularly in that context, the liberal arts education is amazing. When you arrive on day one, you don’t have to know what you want to study. Even many of the students who come in thinking they know exactly what they’re going to study, by the end of the first semester have been exposed to so many other things, they’ve completely pivoted.

For me, as a historian, I still studied science, and math, and economics, so that by the time I graduated, I had a much broader base. And even for engineers or nurses or other professionals, graduating with that grounding expands who you are and what you know; it makes your life more rich.

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FEATURE STORY

Top, from left to right: President Boer, his wife, Joanna, Andrea Le Roy and former President Le Roy. Bottom left: President Boer greets staff and faculty during a welcome reception his first week at Calvin.

Bottom right: President Boer with Adejoke Ayoola, newly appointed dean of the School of Health.

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How has your faith impacted your life?

And, particularly, how does it impact you now in this season of transition?

I grew up on the mission field; my dad was a pastor. He was a Calvinist theologian.

He’s a Kuyperian to the core. For those of us who are CRC missionary kids, who were raised in that Reformed tradition, we understood that whether your father or mother was a pastor or a missionary, or an engineer, or they’re in the government, or whatever, it’s all valid as part of the renewal of the world. And it really empowered me to know that my father is a pastor, but I am not called to be a pastor. I have been able to work at the highest levels in many great organizations around the world as an agent of renewal.

I’ve always considered, “Will this job, or this opportunity, provide a way to create impact?” What’s exciting is that this is an opportunity to directly influence, in a very positive way, the lives of thousands of young people going through the most important formative period of their life and at the same time position Calvin as a global institution, which has influence far beyond the students on campus.

What did you do in your previous role before joining Calvin?

The role I had at Shell was to establish a company that invests in renewable energy companies in Nigeria. Considering that Nigeria’s close to the equator, with almost endless sunlight, you would think that

solar and renewable energy would be quite popular and prevalent. Strangely, it’s not.

Nigeria has the largest energy access gap in the world. There are 100 million people who are not on the electricity grid, which is one-third of the population of the United States. The remaining one hundred million are basically sharing 4,000 megawatts, which is probably the amount of power that half of Grand Rapids uses.

What has happened is Nigerians are now the world’s largest users of diesel generators, so they’re burning immense amounts of carbon to power the nation, generator by generator. Our mission was basically to invest in companies that will bring renewable energy products to the market, particularly to low-income communities and small businesses. Without power, education is poor, health care is poor, economic activity is limited, even security is poor. Once electricity is available, it changes everything. Every investment we made was usually fulfilling or empowering the dream of a young Nigerian entrepreneur. It was incredibly impactful and inspiring.

You’ve pivoted in your career a few times in the last 20 years. What have you learned from that?

While I have pivoted between sectors, the commonality has always been about seeking opportunities to create impact and innovation. Whether that was in economic development or philanthropy or renewable energy, I’ve had the same approach throughout.

I’ve learned there is a cycle, and you need different leaders for different parts of the cycle. There are times when you need people to start something; there are other times when you need people to turn things upside down and around. Every institution is at a different point and needs a different skill set at a different time.

For Calvin, we’re at this moment where American higher education is transitioning and being disrupted. We need to not only keep up with the impact of that, but get ahead of it. We almost have to reposition Calvin as a 150-year-old startup, and to me that is exciting.

What are your hopes as you make this transition?

My desire is to connect well with everybody here. The last time I came to campus as a new student, there was an adjustment; there’s going to be an adjustment now. We lived in a city with 25 million people. That is two and a half times the population of all of Michigan. So, moving to a smaller town, and moving into this new environment, is a big cultural adjustment, but my family is looking forward to that. I’d like to ask everyone in this community, “Let’s be part of this journey together.” I think we’ll learn a bit from you, and you’ll learn a bit from us.”

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FEATURE STORY

On Monday, May 9, 2022, 45 men received their bachelor’s degrees, while another 31 men were awarded associate degrees during an event dubbed by the Detroit Free Press as “a first of its kind in modern history.”

Family and friends joined together with Calvin University and Calvin Theological Seminary faculty, staff, and administrators, state legislators, and staff of the Michigan Department of Corrections to witness the first time that bachelor’s degrees were awarded behind bars in the state of Michigan. It was a grand celebration at the Handlon Correctional Facility in Ionia, Michigan, that was spared none of the pomp and circumstance of a traditional graduation ceremony.

PHOTO CREDIT: STEVEN HERPPICH

For many of the graduates, the last time their family members heard their names read was at their sentencing. The emotions in that moment were likely disappointment, anger, sadness, shame, guilt, and regret.

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The reading of their names was symbolic. It reminded the graduates that they are more than a number. It symbolized a restored dignity.

The beautiful white tent with coverage on all sides shielded the view of 15-foot barbed-wire fencing just steps outside. The black gowns concealed the numbers that span the upper backs of the men’s blue uniforms.

These coverups were temporary, but the transformation of these 76 men is not. Their education through the Calvin Prison Initiative (CPI) program has been formative.

It all began with a single step of obedience. It has developed over the past seven years with a community committed to doing the work. It will continue to bring about reform and renewal in the hearts of these men and in the communities they serve because, in the words of John Rottman, who taught the first course at Handlon, “CPI, in my view, has always been God’s idea and God’s work.”

But on this day, the men dressed in black caps and gowns walked one-by-one past faculty decorated in full academic regalia and received their diploma and a handshake from Calvin University president Michael Le Roy.

Shaping He

SHAWN ENGLAND

Calvin Prison Initiative graduate Class of 2020 “Prison isn’t a place where dreams grow. Your dream is to get out, [but] people in this program learn there are other dreams as well.

Ultimately, you have to dream outside of yourself. I spent most of my life making the world a worse place; I now get to make it a better place.”

WATCH THE HIGHLIGHT VIDEO FOR THE CALVIN PRISON INITIATIVE COMMENCEMENT

earts+Minds

BY MATT KUCINSKI

RE FORMIN G P RISO NS 21

FEATURE STORY

ONE STEP OF OBEDIENCE AT A TIME

2010 Calvin Theological Seminary faculty and students visit Louisiana State Penitentiary (also known as Angola), the largest maximumsecurity prison in the United States.

For years, Angola was known as one of the bloodiest prisons in America until a local seminary was granted permission to teach classes within the prison walls. This is where seeds for CPI were planted.

2011 John Rottman, professor of preaching at Calvin Theological Seminary, teaches the first non-accredited class at Handlon Correctional Facility.

“Calvin has helped me find purpose in my life, and this purpose, or hope, allows me to not worry about the future, or despair, but live well in the present, finding ways to help others and advance the kingdom of God.” —ERIC BOLDISZAR ’20

READ MORE STORIES ABOUT THE CALVIN PRISON INITIATIVE

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2015 The Calvin Prison Initiative program, a partnership between Calvin University, Calvin Theological Seminary, and the Michigan Department of Corrections, is formed and the first cohort of 20 men begin to pursue a bachelor’s degree at Handlon Correctional Facility.

2018 Students from the CPI program start to be paroled. To date, 14 students have been paroled and all 14 are gainfully employed.

This leads CPI to establish a Calvin-owned house near campus for paroled CPI students who are finishing their degree on the main campus. (Note: National statistics show that education reduces recidivism by 43%.)

2017 Eric Boldiszar, a student in the first cohort, creates and facilitates a restorative justice conference from behind bars that receives national recognition from the National Association of Community and Restorative Justice. The conference inspires faculty from Hope College and Western Theological Seminary to also start a program, launched in 2021.

2018 CPI partners with the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) to build a new school building that houses a food-tech program, classrooms, and an office for CPI. The building, a first for MDOC, has state-of-the-art features and is designed to look like an old red schoolhouse with a 100-year-old bell.

2020 2021 CPI organizes the first consortium of colleges and universities in Michigan that either have a program in a prison, just started a program, or are planning to start a program. CPI provides resources and best practices for these schools.

The first cohort in the CPI program completes the requirements for their bachelor’s degrees. An in-person ceremony celebrating the class of 2020 happens in 2022 (due to COVID).

2021 CPI is awarded a $1 million grant to continue to provide and develop best practices for Michigan colleges and universities to develop or start higher education programs in prisons.

2022

“ From the moment you are arrested and throughout your time in prison, you are treated as a number and not a name. A thing and not a person.

A crime and not a human being. This program came into prison and reminded me I am not ‘something else,’ I am a child of God. In prison, life can get dark. Calvin helped to bring the light back into this dark place. They have helped to give meaning to time spent wasting away.”

—RYAN COLTER ’20

The classes of 2020, 2021, and 2022 receive associate and bachelor’s degrees in a grand celebration held on the property of Handlon Correctional Facility.

This summer, CPI is preparing teams of five to 10 graduates to transfer to other prisons and provide leadership for academic, peer mentoring, and ministry programs. The original vision of the program is now a reality.

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CALVIN CELEBRATES CLASS OF 2022 COMMENCEMENT

WATCH THE VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS FROM COMMENCEMENT 2022

EMMANUEL ESSIEN

student body president Class of 2022 “As Calvin students we have been equipped to fix what’s broken and redeem whatever that is fallen, with God’s help.

And always remember, you deserve a beautiful world.”

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PHOTO CREDIT: STEVEN HERPPICH

Alumni Profiles Read more profiles online calvin.edu/spark

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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.

As an assistant United States attorney for the Justice Department, Austin Hakes has dealt with terrible human drama, but he is motivated by trying to make this world a better place.

The integration of faith and learning is what excited Christine Metzger about Calvin. That foundation is also what has kept her in the education field for more than three decades, most recently as head of school at Lexington Christian Academy in Massachusetts.

Ashley Luse is passionate about using business as a tool for social good. As president of Luse Contracting Group, she feels responsible for her family’s legacy, the health of the business, and the well-being of her “work family.”

Peter Kiemel has spent his career analyzing the former Soviet Union and Eurasia. In a variety of roles with the CIA, he has briefed U.S. leaders on some of the nation’s most pressing national security concerns.

Janet Lenger Staal’89 ’98 Christine Metzger

Austin Hakes ’08

Katelyn Ver Woert Egnatuk ’13

PeterTalen Kiemel Evan ’06’83

Ashley Luse ’10

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ALUMNI PROFILES

Faithfully seeking shalom “Shalom is my word,” said Christine Metzger ’89. “I have a deep, deep passion for things to be the way they are supposed to be, the way God intended.”

As the child of German immigrants in New York, Metzger was guided to Calvin by her father, through the Christian Reformed church plant in her neighborhood.

It is this deep passion that has guided Metzger throughout her decades-long career in education.

“My parents bought a house from a Dutch couple in Wappingers Falls, who told them about the little church down the road, Immanuel Christian Reformed Church,” she said. “As it turned out, the church was started by several Calvin alumni.

Currently serving as head of school at Lexington Christian Academy in Lexington, Massachusetts, she admits the journey has been challenging, particularly over the last few years.

“It’s difficult to lead a community in which not all serious Christians agree on important topics,” she said. “In my role, I’ve been trying to hold space for conversations, knowing that not everyone holds the same convictions, but also keeping central our unity in Christ. This has been really challenging.”

Metzger stepped into her role at Lexington Christian Academy in 2017, after almost 30 years in Christian education.

INTEGRATING FAITH

“I knew from a very early age that I wanted to be a teacher,” she said. “Calvin was the first place where I was introduced to Christian education. I was delighted to be at Calvin where people cared about integrating faith. I was amazed at the difference when you are able to integrate faith and learning.

It sparked a lifelong interest in me.”

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“My parents, who owned a local meat market, hired people from church who went to Calvin,” she said. “My dad was impressed by them: They were smart, they had integrity, they worked hard. That’s what my dad wanted for his kids.”

“It’s funny how my dad became one of the best promoters and recruiters for Calvin, even though he never visited campus until my graduation,” she said. “Those alums from the church spoke volumes about a Calvin education.”

COMMITTED TO EDUCATION Upon graduating, Metzger began her career as a fourth-grade teacher at Eastern Christian School in northern New Jersey.

“During my early days of teaching, the principal tapped me on the shoulder and said that I was going to be an administrator and should go to grad school,” she said. “My thought was you had to be at least 40 to be a principal; I was a 23-year-old elementary school teacher.”

Nevertheless, Metzger pursued a master’s in education, and thought, “‘I’ll become an administrator once I’m old enough,’” she said.

But God had other plans, she said. After six years in the classroom, she became a principal. Her career has included principal and head of school roles around the country, including an 11-year tenure at Mustard Seed School in Hoboken, New Jersey. She has stepped away from education for a few stints—including managing a theater company on Broadway—only to be called back to education.

As a member of the Calvin board of trustees from 2008–2017, Metzger was part of the team that worked on adopting the wording of Calvin’s mission statement.

“We were tweaking the last line, and I remember the deep satisfaction I had when it came together,” she said. “That word wholeheartedly speaks deeply to my soul.

To live, love, and be agents of renewal, that’s the big picture.

“Over the last few years of the pandemic and political divisiveness, I have been lamenting shalom. It has been a struggle; it is a real crisis for kids, and that should concern everyone,” she said. “We should all be asking what we can do to take one step closer to what the kingdom of God is going to look like. That’s something I have been trying to do faithfully every day.”

Christine Metzger ’89 Education Head of School Lexington Christian Academy Lexington, Massachusetts

“We should all be asking what we can do to take one step closer to what the kingdom of God is going to look like.”

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‘Secret’ agent of renewal 30

PHOTO CREDIT: JOE SHYMANSKI

ALUMNI PROFILES

Peter Kiemel ’83 History Director The Intelligence Language Institute of the CIA Washington, D.C.

Before applying for a job with the CIA, Peter Kiemel’s knowledge of the organization was mostly what he had garnered from spy novels.

“I knew nothing about analyses at the CIA,” he said. “It wasn’t even on my radar screen.”

Following an interview with a recruiter for the agency in 1988 on the University of Illinois campus, where Kiemel was in graduate school, his career goals quickly materialized: “I knew it was exactly what I wanted to do,” he said.

“It was fortuitous that I had the right skill set and language skills for the job,” said Kiemel, who had recently spent a year studying Russian.

STRATEGIC ANALYSIS For more than three decades, Kiemel has worked in strategic analysis, serving as a bridge between the intelligence and policy communities. He has briefed presidents, vice presidents, leaders of Congress, and Senate and House committees on some of the nation’s most pressing national security concerns.

It was in Professor Dirk Jellema’s Russian history class—a long way from the floor of Congress—that Kiemel’s interest in studying the Soviet Union was piqued.

“It was during this time that Brezhnev died, and there were all these questions about the succession process and the implications of that,” said Kiemel. “I was fascinated by all of the Soviet news.”

“Thinking deeply is essential in intelligence analysis; you need to go beyond the obvious and think about all of the potential outcomes.”

An interim trip to the United Nations with political science professor Robert DeVries solidified Kiemel’s interest in international affairs.

Kiemel has spent the majority of his career analyzing the former Soviet Union and Eurasia and eventually the Middle East and Europe, based on intelligence gathered by the agency.

“I have seen firsthand how policy is made and how things that the CIA produces impacts policy decision making,” he said.

“The role of the CIA is to speak truth to power. We have no stake in the policy fights.

Our role is to give realistic assessments of what is going on in the world and how decisions regarding policies would affect U.S. interests.”

Kiemel said his Calvin education definitely impacted his work. “Calvin taught me how to think about the world—that as a Christian, there isn’t just one way to think about things,” he said.

THINKING DEEPLY “Thinking deeply is essential in intelligence analysis; you need to go beyond the obvious and think about all of the potential outcomes.

That kind of thinking is exactly what is needed to succeed in intelligence analysis.”

In addition, Kiemel’s faith has challenged him to delve even deeper, he said. “To love God, we need to love our neighbor, and in order to do that we need to understand our neighbor. We need to understand our neighbor’s history and culture and politics.

“It’s not just studying about Russia or the Middle East,” he said. “It’s studying with purpose to help your neighbor. It’s about advancing U.S. interests but also about how to make the world a better place.”

Following his first job as a Soviet analyst, Kiemel has held numerous leadership roles within the agency throughout his tenure. His most recent is as director of the Intelligence Language Institute, the CIA’s premier language school for training its global workforce.

Whether analyzing data on climate change, militarism abroad, autocracies, even the pandemic, Kiemel has found his work revolves around justice.

“Gathering the data and analyzing it in order to warn people about these threats and help to deter them is about advancing justice and contributing to renewal,” he said.

He added with a laugh: “I do see myself as an agent of renewal, or maybe a ‘secret agent’ of renewal in my case.”

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ALUMNI PROFILES

A tool for social good Ashley Luse ’10 has become accustomed to exchanging her heels for steel-toe boots throughout the work week as she shifts from the boardroom to the job site.

Luse is the president of Luse Contracting Group, where she is working to structure financing in order to become the fifthgeneration owner of the 99-year-old specialty contractor, a role she never envisioned for herself as a business major at Calvin.

“I came to Calvin planning on majoring in math,” she said. “I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with my math major, but I was strong in math.”

When an interim class with then-business professor Margaret Edgell piqued Luse’s interest, she shifted her focus. “I started in business immediately after that,” she said.

‘SEARCH FOR DEEPER MEANING’ “My major was something that Calvin uniquely led me to,” she said. “I was attracted to Calvin’s emphasis on using business as a tool for social good. I became interested in economic development, social enterprise, and impact investing.”

The concept drove Luse to start a new club at Calvin, Global Business Brigades, through which she and fellow club members went to

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Panama to consult with microbusiness owners.

It also led her to Uganda to conduct research for her honors thesis. “I loved my time at Calvin, and I was nurtured and encouraged by several professors there,” she said.

After Calvin, Luse went to work in the financial industry and earned an MBA in finance at Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. “It just didn’t satisfy my search for deeper meaning,” she said. “I was intent on having a career that matters, that makes a difference.”

It was during her time in graduate school that an assignment changed Luse’s career journey.

“I worked with a Kellogg professor to publish a case study inspired by my family’s business, which influenced my later discernment into the company,” she said.

Begun by her great-great-great uncle in 1923 as a small roofing contractor on Chicago’s Michigan Avenue, Luse Contracting Group is the oldest mechanical insulation contractor in the Midwest.

In her role as president, Luse is responsible for the growth strategy and profitability of the business, which runs more than 100 union field employees on commercial and industrial construction projects across Chicagoland and southeast Wisconsin.

‘CULTURAL CORNERSTONES’ Central to her work has been understanding how to operationalize the company’s “Cultural Cornerstones” into the business, how to take values that are intangible and make them tangible. She explained: “Our company’s mission statement and core values—family, trust, humility, and generosity—are inspired by our faith.”

Every so often, Luse looks back on her “Worldview Paper” capstone assignment from Professor (Peter) Snyder’s “Strategic Management” course. She says that the assignment is an example of the way Calvin helped her examine the purpose of business through a Christian lens.

“The call to stewardship as a Christian has really come alive for me as the leader of this business,” she said. Luse feels a responsibility as a caretaker of her family’s legacy, the health of the business, as well as the well-being of her “work family.”

“If you had told me 10 years ago that I would be here, I admittedly might have been a little disappointed,” she said. “I thought that to use business for the greatest good, I had to go to extremes. But all along Calvin was preparing me for this very role. I’m certain that if I tried searching the world for satisfying work, I would probably never find anything as satisfying as what I am doing right here.”

Ashley Luse ’10 Business and mathematics President Luse Contracting Group Aurora, Illinois

“The call to stewardship as a Christian has really come alive for me as the leader of this business.”

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ALUMNI PROFILES

Austin Hakes ’08 Philosophy, history, classical studies Assistant U.S. attorney U.S. Department of Justice Grand Rapids, Michigan

Perspective to do hard things 34

Growing up as the child of missionary parents in Kenya, attending boarding school, and returning to the U.S. to attend high school, Austin Hakes was ready to find a place to call home.

He found it just down the road from his high school in west Michigan: Calvin University.

“A lot of kids felt like they wanted to go somewhere after high school, do something adventurous,” said Hakes. “I was the opposite. I wanted to find a place that I could say I was from.”

Calvin fit the bill in more ways than one for Hakes: “It was the tradition I was raised in, which is an excellent reason in itself, but I also wanted a school that felt academically rigorous.”

DEEP ROOTS After a year of putting down deeper roots in west Michigan, Hakes joined the U.S. Army reserves, mostly for practical reasons, he explained.

“I was the son of missionary parents, and they weren’t able to help me much financially, so I needed to figure out a way to pay for my education,” he said. “I also really wanted to marry my high school girlfriend, and I needed to become financially independent.”

(It worked! They’re still together.)

Hakes said it was amazing the way his academic education and military education coincided. “I took my books to study on the weekends and would read when I had down time at the firing range. There is nothing like reading philosophy when you’re in the mud,” he said. “It makes you really question the wisdom of what you are reading.”

After graduation, he was called into active duty during the Iraq War. While stationed in Kuwait, Hakes applied to law school and was accepted at the University of Michigan.

Upon graduating cum laude, he felt as though he still owed a debt to the military.

GIVING BACK MORE “I made it back from my deployment with no injuries, psychologically or otherwise, and for a lot of others this simply wasn’t true,” he said. “I felt like I needed to give back more.”

Hakes joined the Marines, following in the footsteps of his grandfather. “I knew I wanted to be a criminal trial litigator, and this offered some great experience along with the ability to pay the debt of service I still owed.”

Hakes served for four years in Hawaii as a judge advocate officer before returning to Grand Rapids, where he currently serves as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Justice Department.

“I do not think I could have had a better education for the way my life unfolded,” said Hakes. “Calvin prepared me practically to succeed in law school; I was taught to read and understand hard things.

“But that was the least important thing Calvin gave me,” he said. “Augustine and Aquinas got it right when they said education is about nurturing appetites. My Calvin education strengthened my love for the things moth and rust can’t destroy. It helped me trust that a love of virtue is one of the best defenses against despair and one of the best allies when facing hardship.

“Calvin gave me a worldview that has been such an encouragement to me when I’ve had to do hard things,” he said.

As a criminal litigator, Hakes has seen a lot of sad stories. “Narcotics, firearms, child exploitation—these are hard things,” he said, “and you need some perspective on the world that helps you endure and not be overwhelmed.

“At Calvin I learned about total depravity, but I also learned about common grace,” he said. “I look at situations and figure that there’s got to be a way to find good in this.

A lot of people don’t work from the same perspective. Sometimes, I’m involved in some awful human drama, but I’m motivated by trying to make this world a better place.”

“At Calvin I learned about total depravity, but I also learned about common grace.”

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EVENTS

VIEW MORE PHOTOS IN THE FACEBOOK GALLERY

CHEERS TO 50 (PLUS) YEARS! Over Commencement weekend, graduates from 1970, 1971, and 1972 all came home to Calvin to celebrate their 50-year class reunions. Because the pandemic changed the composition of Calvin’s previous two graduation ceremonies, the alumni association had the unique opportunity to honor three classes at once. Guests of honor participated in a campuswide chapel, class dinners, a class picture, and special recognition at Commencement. Many took in the changes on campus with tours of the Bruce Dice Mineralogical Museum, the Center Art Gallery, and the Bunker Interpretive Center. Alumni board members gifted class members with medallions during a special ceremony commemorating their Commencement 50 years ago. By all accounts the 50-year reunions were a huge success, and the classes enjoyed the opportunity to reconnect and reminisce.

CONNECTING IN FLORIDA

ALUMNI AWARD WINNERS HONORED

Matt Lundberg, director of the de Vries Institute for Global Faculty Development and professor of religion at Calvin University, met with alumni and friends in Bradenton, Florida, this past spring. Attendees learned about the institute’s desire to strengthen the connection between faith and learning through wide-ranging resources for Christian educators and leaders around the globe and across the range of academic disciplines. Lundberg also spoke at chapel at Bradenton Christian School the following morning.

In May, alumni from the Washington, D.C., area gathered at the National Press Club to honor two of the 2021 alumni award winners. Each year, the alumni association recognizes outstanding alumni and friends for their commitment, faith, and service, and since both Rod Ludema ’83 (Distinguished Alumni Award) and Ryan Struyk ’14 (Young Alumni Award) live in the area, it was the perfect venue for acknowledging their accomplishments.

Both recipients had a chance to share their reflections with the crowd, as did President Michael Le Roy as he wrapped up his tenure at Calvin.

WATCH THE ALUMNI AWARD WINNER VIDEOS

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The alumni travel program, in partnership with the Calvin Academy for Lifelong Learning, provided seven tours this spring and summer.

Pictured: Touring Prague before boarding a Danube River cruise (left), exploring Montreal with Karin Maag (top right), and studying volcanoes in Hawaii with Professor Gerry Van Kooten (bottom right).

WELCOMING NEW ALUMNI The Class of 2022 had a chance to celebrate its entrance into the Calvin Alumni Association during a welcome party before Commencement. There were snacks, a DJ, and plenty of photo opportunities. The new grads got the latest Calvin boldSOCKS and other small gifts to commemorate their transition to being alumni.

TRAVEL WITH CALVIN New Hawaii Tour!

Join Gerry Van Kooten, geology professor emeritus, as you hike on volcanoes, explore waterfalls, and learn the local culture and stories of the Big Island and Kauai in February 2023.

Explore Greece Visit cities associated with Paul’s missionary journeys and take an Aegean cruise with classics professor emeritus Ken Bratt from April 29–May 13, 2023.

More information and additional tours at calvin.edu/go/travel

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EVENTS

LEARNING FOR A LIFETIME CALL celebrates 25 years

Calvin Academy for Lifelong Learning (CALL) offers a wide variety of intellectually stimulating, non-credit courses and learning opportunities designed for adults of all ages.

Since there are no exams or homework, CALL members participate in courses solely for the joy of learning.

SCAN TO VIEW COURSE OFFERINGS AND SIGN UP TODAY

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An imaginary bell rings, doors open, hallways fill, and Calvin Academy for Lifelong Learning (CALL) students mingle with Calvin students as they walk purposefully to class. A new semester of courses is underway, a semester filled with opportunity to learn more about subjects of great interest or delve into a topic completely unknown.

energy into this program and from members with wonderful experiences of learning throughout the years. Nine original members from 1996 attended, and the guests varied in age from 53 to two members who were 94 years young. Bruce Klanderman ’59 was presented with a gift for taking the most courses in CALL: exactly 200.

Many decades have passed since most CALL students studied for degrees at a university. During that period of life, CALL students had to focus on courses within their majors. Fast forward to semi- or full retirement and these students are at the university again, eagerly studying subjects that are of particular interest today.

Courses like “Jane Eyre,” “Medical Ethics,” “Pandemics in History,” “Frisians,” “White House Wives,” “Black Wall Street,” and “When Did Sin Begin?” are the offerings. With each semester comes a plethora of courses to choose from with no homework and no tests—in other words: the perfect class.

One of the touching stories of the evening shared by emcee Jolene DeHeer was the ability of three sisters in multiple states able to take the same courses. The effects of COVID forced courses to pivot online. As a result, persons outside of west Michigan were now able to participate.

AN EVENING OF CELEBRATION CALL celebrated a milestone of 25 years on April 19 in the Prince Conference Center.

The evening was filled with memories and stories of those who poured their time and

DeHeer quoted these words from Audrey Wiebenga ’63 of Carmel, Indiana: “I am sending this note to let you know how much I learned, appreciated, and enjoyed these two classes I was able to enroll in this term.

I appreciate all your technical ability that makes it possible for us outliers to share in these courses. We have had some fun sisterly discussions along the way concerning the topics at hand. So, I want to pass along my thanks to you.” (Sisters Fern Emma Pruiksma ’61 joined from Spring Lake, Michigan, and Cornelia Ruff from Oakland, California.)

DeHeer also shared the impact the program had on many lifelong learners when she spoke of Jane Kamminga. It was Kamminga’s daughter, Jana, who wrote the CALL office a few years ago with this story of her mother: Jane had always wanted to attend Calvin, but her father thought it best that she get a job. Decades later and in her 80s, Jane joined the CALL program and sat in the same classrooms as undergraduates. She was finally able to fulfill her dream of being a student and keeping her mind active, for which her daughter was very thankful.

THE JOY OF TEACHING At the anniversary event Jennifer Holberg, chair of the English department, who has instructed 26 CALL courses over the years, shared her joy of teaching for CALL and noted the program’s motto should be, “We shall not cease from exploration,” words by T.S. Eliot.

And Ken Bratt ’68, classical studies professor emeritus and a CALL instructor, who has taught 881 students and led multiple extended trips for CALL and alumni, expressed his appreciation for the opportunity to teach for CALL, the efficiency and technical innovation of the program, and the hundreds of creative volunteers giving the program energy and variety. He noted that CALL’s current membership of 1,250 students represents an immense treasury of knowledge, providing life experiences that all can learn from—just as the creators dreamed 25 years ago.

FRIENDSHIP AND ENRICHMENT Sonja DeJong ’88, CALL program manager, shared some of the history of the program.

Enjoying many years of growth, CALL is currently the largest lifelong learning program in Michigan. One of the most significant statistics is that this program has filled 52,997 seats in classrooms over the last 25 years. DeJong emphasized that CALL is not just a program of learning, but also of friendship and enrichment.

CALL member Fred Grasman ’66 summed it up: “For me it was another great season of learning—from “Ancient Rome” to “Ancient Athens” and from “Nederlandish Art” to the “Music of Mozart.” Professors Bratt, Luttikuizen, Steele, and Whitekettle, each in their own way, are excellent. They dig into what usually can be overly complex and make the material understandable by an amateur like me and never talk down to their audiences.

Through their teaching I have been able to capture some of the areas of study I did not have time for in my undergraduate days and now have come to appreciate. This, again, has been an extraordinary joy, and I thank you for your hard work.”

WITH GRATITUDE TO CALVIN UNIVERSITY FOR ITS SUPPORT, CALL LOOKS FORWARD TO MANY MORE YEARS OF LEARNING.

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CALVIN LEGACY

LEAVING A LEGACY

Joel Adams 33 years | Computer Science

Carolyn Anderson 16 years | Chemistry & Biochemistry

Pat Bailey 18 years | Computer Science

Dave Cook 37 years | Business

Anna Greidanus 34 years | Art

Stan Haan 39 years | Physics & Astronomy

2022 RETIREES THE 15 RETIRING FACULTY MEMBERS SPENT THEIR CAREERS EQUIPPING STUDENTS TO

THINK DEEPLY, ACT JUSTLY, & LIVE WHOLEHEARTEDLY

SCAN TO WATCH RETIRING FACULTY TRIBUTE VIDEO

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PHOTO CREDIT: RUTH VANDEN BOS

AS CHRIST’S AGENTS OF RENEWAL IN THE WORLD.

Clarence Joldersma 27 years | Education

Robert Keeley 25 years | Education

Doug Koopman 27 years | Political Science

Mary Molewyk Doornbos 39 years | Nursing

Carl Plantinga 22 years | Communication

T. R. Thompson 30 years | Religion

Elizabeth Vander Lei 25 years | English

Kevin Vande Streek 26 years | Kinesiology

William Van Vugt 36 years | History

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CLASS NOTES Spark readers: This section emphasizes Calvin graduates’ service, vocational, and reunion stories, along with “In Memoriam” notices. Send us news of your promotions, achievements, recognitions, and other announcements at spark@calvin.edu. Photos must be 300 dpi or approximately 1MB or greater in size.

The alumni association is also interested in knowing about important family milestones such as marriages and newcomers. Please send that news to alumni@calvin.edu.

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CLASS NOTES

02

03

HERITAGE (graduated more than 50 years ago)

Paul Schrader ’68 has been awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement by the Venice International Film Festival. Paul has written or directed more than 30 films, including Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, and The Last Temptation of Christ.

Tom Eggebeen ’66 is serving as interim minister at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Pasadena, California.

Education professor emerita Arden Post ’65 is back in the classroom. She is sharing her love of reading with young students at Bradenton Christian School and Samoset Elementary School in Florida. Arden spends one day a week reading with first and second graders. The youngsters’ chief interest is books about snow, she says.

At Bradenton Christian, Arden also gets to spend time with one of her former students Rachel Schepel De Haan ’96. “I’m thankful to be a part of this small part of God’s kingdom on earth,” she writes.

Emily was also elected to the county board in 2014; she works for her family’s small business FastoolNow. com, selling construction and industrial tools and supplies.

Scholar, a program started by George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. “We had a delightful time exchanging stories and getting to know each other as much as time would allow,” wrote Christine.

1980s

After 30 years of distinguished service, Col. James R. Poel ’85 retired from the United States Air Force. Jim joined the Air Force in 1992 after graduating from the University of Michigan with a master’s in public health. Most recently, he developed and directed Air Force Public Health/Preventive Medicine programs and policy for 76 bases.

Simon Feddema ’84 took an early retirement after almost 30 years at Grundfos Canada. Upon retirement he has been active with his church in Acton, Ontario, and Water Mission in Charleston, S.C. He also recently started a consulting partnership, wanting to use his experience to help others: boardroomconsultants.ca.

1990s 02 Debra Perry ’91 and family members, including Marvis James ’71, have released a new album, Legacy.

The album, which features the James Family Singers, is currently available on all digital outlets.

01

1970s The Kent County (Michigan) Board of Commissioners has elected Stan Stek ’74 as its new chair. An attorney with Miller Canfield, Stan was elected to the board in 2014. Also elected as vice chair was Emily Post Brieve ’05.

01 Christine Jacobs Mouw ’88, deputy director of the William J. Clinton Presidential Library, recently had the opportunity to meet Pellagia Muliba Gambiza ’05, who was visiting the library as a Presidential Leadership

03 Seven Class of ’98 friends who lived together on first floor Veenstra Hall traveled from four states to Las Vegas for reunion weekend. Pictured back row, from left: Diane Falk Duimstra, Kristen Adama Slagter, Anne Stevens Croel, Kristen Mol Eller, Becky Schmidt Crane. Front row, from left: Susan Buist, Lisa Eriks Dekker.

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CLASS NOTES

04

Scott Hauman ’95 has been named Firebolt Group’s chief growth officer.

Scott will be responsible for customer experience, marketing, and innovation across the enterprise.

Katelyn Beaty ’06 has been named editorial director at Brazos Press for the Baker Publishing Group (BPG) imprint. She has been with BPG since 2018.

2000s

2010s

Kaylin Bolt ’07 received a Fulbright Scholar award to conduct public health research within the European Union. As a recipient of the FulbrightSchuman Innovation award, she will spend 2023 in Alicante, Spain, and Turin, Italy, at the Institute for Humanitycentric Artificial Intelligence (University of Alicante) and Institute for Scientific Interchange Foundation conducting research on innovative ways data was translated to policy throughout the EU during the COVID-19 pandemic. Her research will examine how mobile device data informed public health decisions, as well as implications for public privacy and equitable health outcomes.

Kaylin is a social research scientist at Public Health Seattle King County. She holds master’s degrees in public health and social work from the University of Washington–St. Louis.

Kate Nieuwsma ’14 is serving for the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) through its Serving and Learning Together (SALT) program as a monitoring and evaluation project assistant in Nairobi, Kenya. As a partner with the Center for Peace and Nationhood, the committee is implementing a child and maternal health care project in Mathare, a large informal urban settlement near Nairobi. Its goal is to educate mothers and create opportunities for them to learn, teach others, and support themselves.

Melissa Simon Elliot ’08, who earned a PhD in German studies from Michigan State University, was recently awarded the Women in German Dissertation Prize for her dissertation: Forgotten Notes: Narrative Film Music in DEFA Cinema. Melissa is currently an assistant professor of German and German studies at Wheaton College.

Kyle and Alicia De Jong Bradshaw have become co-owners of Civic Roasters Coffee in Tacoma, Wash.

’17 44

04 Todd Sytsma ’02 has been named the director of the OEM department at Kawasaki Engines in Grand Rapids.

In his new role, Todd will provide strategic leadership to customers in commercial and residential landscape equipment, light industrial, and other markets within the U.S.

Nathan Zwagerman ’06 has been promoted to associate professor of neurosurgery in otolaryngology, director of pituitary and skull base surgery, director of the cranial base fellowship, and associate neurosurgery residency program director at the Medical College of Wisconsin.

David Robb ’11 has become co-owner and managing partner for Express Employment Professionals, a recruiting and consulting firm, in Grand Rapids.

His previous roles at the company include director of marketing and director of operations.

Kyle ’17 and Alicia De Jong Bradshaw ’17 have become co-owners of Civic Roasters Coffee in Tacoma, Wash. They are a third-wave coffee roaster that seeks to provide ethically and sustainably sourced coffee while inspiring greater connections across the city by providing training and employment to formerly incarcerated women. Their coffee is available online, in grocery stores, and at a few cafes in the Puget Sound region. They plan to open their flagship roastery in Tacoma later this year.

Ben Shoemaker ’11 has joined HSBC Bank PLC in its London headquarters to serve as special counsel and senior adviser to the chief legal officer. He was previously a senior associate attorney in litigation and dispute resolution in the Washington, D.C., office of Mayer Brown LLP.

2020s James Zandstra ’20 is a legislative aide for U.S. Rep. Peter Meijer (R-Michigan).

James began his work in Meijer’s campaign office.

BOOKS BY CALVIN ALUMNI AND PROFESSORS

Refugia (reh-FU-jee-ah) is a biological term describing places of shelter where life endures in times of crisis, such as a volcanic eruption, fire, or stressed climate.

Ideally, these refugia endure, expand, and connect so that new life emerges.

01

03

02

Debra Rienstra applies this concept to human culture and faith, asking, In this era of ecological devastation, how can Christians become people of refugia? How can we find and nurture these refugia, not only in the biomes of the earth, but in our human cultural systems and in our spiritual lives?

How can we apply all our love and creativity to this task as never before?

06

05

01 All I Said Was #*%$: Stories

04 Navigating the Minefield:

02 Article by Article: The Universal

05 How to Be Normal

from a Lifetime of Youth Ministry Stan Kiste ’83 Wipf and Stock Publishers

Declaration of Human Rights for a New Generation Johannes Morsink ’63 University of Pennsylvania Press

03 Refugia Faith: Seeking Hidden

Shelters, Ordinary Wonders, and the Healing of the Earth Deb Shreve Rienstra ex’85 Fortress Press

A Map for Effective Parenting Mike Weiford ’81 Redemption Press

Phil Christman ’01 Belt Publishing

06 Women in the Bible:

Fascinating Stories for Children Mary Terpstra Cagle ’76 (author), Ruth Terpstra Posthumus ’72 (illustrator), Sara Terpstra Buchholz ’79 (contributor) KDP Print US

ILLUSTRATION BY: GABRIELLE EISMA ’22

04

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Deaths HERITAGE

Charlotte Ribbens Kaashoek ’54 July 20, 2020, Grandville, Mich.

Winifred Westendorp De Vries ex’57 Feb. 14, 2022, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Alice Bos Kingma ex’47 June 25, 2021, Grangeville, Idaho

Mark Dirkse ex’66 March 29, 2017, Oostburg, Wis. G. Bernard Dokter ’50 Feb. 27, 2022, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Gladys Van Noord Dornbos ex’49 March 30, 2022, Ypsilanti, Mich.

Henrietta Meekhof Baas ’57 Nov. 16, 2021, Jenison, Mich.

Thomas Dykstra ’57 Feb. 10, 2022, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Sherrill Lindeman Ball ’70 March 2, 2022, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Alvin Elders ’64 Jan. 23, 2022, Holland, Mich.

George Berkompas ’61 Jan. 16, 2022, Ferndale, Wash.

Jacob Faber ’58 Dec. 3, 2021, Kampen, the Netherlands

Frances Wieland Boerema ex’51 Feb. 22, 2022, Greensboro, N.C. Jack Boerman ex’59 March 27, 2022, Fruitland Park, Fla. Trina Vander Eems Bolt ’54 April 25, 2022, Holland, Mich.

Armin Franke ’45 Dec. 23, 2021, Fort Gratiot, Mich.

Idelle Ruiter Gabrielse ex’51 March 9, 2022, Grandville, Mich.

Charles Gardner Jr. ’52 Feb. 19, 2022, Allendale, Mich.

A. Natalie Van Vliet Boonstra-Bosscher ’53 April 19, 2022, Sugar Land, Texas

Carroll Groenenboom ’53 Feb. 2, 2022, Wyoming, Mich.

Carol Van Eeuwen Breederland ’60 Jan. 27, 2022, Zeeland, Mich.

Sylvia Kramer Hannink ex’48 Oct. 26, 2021, Ripon, Calif.

Joseph Brinks ’71 March 8, 2022, Menno, S.D.

Paul Hofiman ’57 May 2, 2022, Coopersville, Mich.

Stanley Bultman ’61 Jan. 8, 2022, Grand Rapids, Mich.

David Holwerda ’53 March 10, 2022, Hudsonville, Mich.

James Cooper ex’52 Oct. 8, 2021, San Diego, Calif.

Jacob De Boer ’63 Dec. 14, 2021, Burr Ridge, Ill. Norman De Jong ’57 Feb. 22, 2022, Crete, Ill. Roger Dekker ’56 Jan. 20, 2022, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Glenn De Mots ’67 May 5, 2022, Grand Rapids, Mich.

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John de Vries Jr. ’66 April 11, 2022, London, Ontario

Ralph Honderd ’62 April 3, 2022, Grand Rapids, Mich.

David Kingma ex’57 Aug. 13, 2021, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Jack Klapmust ex’72 April 30, 2022, Caledonia, Mich.

Gretta Wind Knudson ’65 Feb. 19, 2022, Seattle, Wash.

Herman Kolk ex’57 April 16, 2022, Zeeland, Mich.

Clarence Kuiper ex’55 March 25, 2022, Racine, Wis. Robert Kuiper ’70 Dec. 30, 2021, Crestwood, Ill. Le Roy Lewis ’59 Jan. 1, 2021, Hazel Green, Ala. Howard Lubbers ’68 April 25, 2022, Holland, Mich.

Frederick Lummen ’68 Feb. 14, 2022, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Martha Smith Mabey ’59 Oct. 1, 2019, Richmond, Va. Marilyn Meyer ’57 April 20, 2022, New York, N.Y. Melvin J. Miedema ex’54 April 19, 2022, Cutlerville, Mich.

James Molenbeek ’71 April 20, 2022, Grandville, Mich.

Lois Van Eenenaam Monsma ex’54 May 4, 2022, Hudsonville, Mich.

Roger Nyenhuis ’55 Aug. 15, 2017, Wichita, Kan. Hermina Nyhof ex’66 Dec. 21, 2021, Holland, Mich.

Angie Hoolsema ’57 Nov. 29, 2021, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Norman Poel ’50 Jan. 22, 2022, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Michael Huissen ’72 April 20, 2022, Shizuoka, Japan

Dennis Ribbens ’57 March 1, 2022, Watersmeet, Mich.

Judith Jonker-Bredeweg ex’67 June 21, 2018, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Gary Roskam ’71 April 29, 2022, Jenison, Mich.

Miriam Cooke Schaafsma ’48 Feb. 3, 2022, Grand Rapids, Mich.

David Van Duyn ’58 Feb. 18, 2022, Zeeland, Mich.

David Meulink ex’76 March 26, 2022, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Melvin Scherpenisse ’65 March 24, 2022, Spring Lake, Mich.

Clarence Van Essen ’53 Feb. 4, 2022, Platte, S.D.

Gary Postma ’78 Feb. 27, 2022, Morrisburg, Ontario

Donald Schierbeek ’55 Jan. 30, 2022, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Joan Kleinhesselink Van Gorp ’61 Dec. 28, 2021, Sioux Center, Iowa

Laura Newhouse Rogers ex’73 April 30, 2022, Mabton, Wash.

Lois Meyering Schra ’65 April 9, 2022, Colorado Springs, Colo.

Dale Van Hamersveld ex’48 April 21, 2022, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Steven Talsma ’78 Feb. 6, 2022, Ada, Mich.

John Van Regenmorter ’70 Feb. 1, 2022, Hudsonville, Mich.

Elizabeth Vanderstoel Menninga-Richards ’74 Dec. 16, 2019, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Myra Koeman Schuiteman ex’56 May 7, 2022, Englewood, Fla. Robert Shaver ’57 Jan. 27, 2022, Byron Center, Mich.

Gene Van Zee ’51 Feb. 27, 2022, Grand Rapids, Mich.

1980s

George Van Zwalenberg ’53 Jan. 28, 2022, Jenison, Mich.

Cheryl Fu ’89 Dec. 18, 2020, Pittsburgh, Pa.

Carolyn Vanden Brand Veen ’51 April 30, 2022, Kalamazoo, Mich.

Isabelle Hanse-Amundsen ex’85 April 21, 2022, Zeeland, Mich.

Carolyn Van Til Veenstra ex’55 Oct. 26, 2021, North Haledon, N.J.

Glenna Brouwer Kelly ’84 Feb. 16, 2022, San Francisco, Calif.

James Veldman ex’51 April 24, 2022, Grand Rapids, Mich.

David Laninga ex’84 April 18, 2022, Killeen, Tex.

Rondell Venema ex’62 Jan. 13, 2022, Dunnville, Ky.

Joseph Van Vliet ’84 Feb. 11, 2022, Ada, Mich.

Pierson Van Alten ’50 March 16, 2022, Elmhurst, Ill.

Robin Verbeek ’72 April 17, 2022, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

1990s

Jay Van Dahm Jr. ex’61 Jan. 16, 2020, Palos Heights, Ill.

Carolyn De Lange Voss ex’52 March 30, 2022, Zeeland, Mich.

Irene Vander Baan Vanden Akker ex’52 March 10, 2022, Whitinsville, Mass.

Beryl Morgan Walkotten ex’60 Feb. 19, 2022, Macatawa, Mich.

Hermina Sikkema ’65 April 24, 2022, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Dolores Weesies Stouwie ’65 Nov. 30, 2020, Caledonia, Mich.

Shirley Stoepker Sybesma ’55 Feb. 21, 2022, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Sue Ten Brink ’71 Jan. 19, 2022, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Howard Timmer ex’57 March 1, 2022, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Mary De Loof Vanden Berg ’65 April 9, 2022, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Karen Van Huis Vanden Brink ’65 May 8, 2022, Holland, Mich.

Marilyn Heynen Vanden Heuvel ex’67 April 13, 2022, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Jacklyn Brumels Werkema ex’56 Jan. 26, 2021, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Edythe Prins Wiebenga ’70 Jan. 29, 2022, McBain, Mich.

Loc Phan ex’99 Aug. 21, 2017, Victoria, Texas Kristi Van Dussen Warren ’91 Dec. 6, 2021, Zeeland, Mich.

2000s Sarah Zondervan De Jong ’01 Dec. 31, 2021, Lacombe, Alberta Christopher Dutil ex’00 May 3, 2018, Flushing, Mich.

Betty Vredevoogd Zwemer ex’48 Feb. 23, 2021, Vero Beach, Fla.

1970s

Phyllis Bos Vander Bilt ’53 Feb. 9, 2022, Bradenton, Fla.

James Bosma ex’75 Feb. 19, 2022, Las Vegas, Nev.

Patricia King Vander Heide ’71 Feb. 22, 2022, Grand Haven, Mich.

Kendall Dozeman ex’79 March 20, 2022, Zeeland, Mich.

Gerald VanderWall ’51 Feb. 24, 2022, Grand Haven, Mich.

Devi Daining Fongers ’77 Feb. 10, 2022, Grand Rapids, Mich.

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Ralph Honderd | 1939–2022 Health and physical education

Longtime Calvin professor, coach, and athletics administrator Ralph Honderd died April 3 after battling illness for several weeks. Honderd was 83.

As a student, Honderd was known for his long wing span and giant hands. Throughout his tenure at Calvin, he used those large hands as well as his heart to serve the campus and greater west Michigan community.

Honderd arrived at Calvin as a student in the fall of 1957 and over the next four years, he made his mark in both basketball and track and field.

After graduating from Calvin in 1962, Honderd taught at Western Michigan Christian High School in Muskegon but returned to Calvin in 1966 to serve as a faculty member and coach after earning his master’s in kinesiology from Michigan State University. He later received his PhD in kinesiology from Michigan State in 1985.

Honderd would serve Calvin as a faculty member and coach for the next 38 years. His tenure included head coaching responsibilities in men’s basketball, women’s golf, and men’s and women’s track and field.

IN MEMORIAM 48

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.

GIVE

calvin.edu/go/annualfund

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CALVIN ALUMNI ASSOCIATION 3201 BURTON ST. SE GRAND RAPIDS, MI 49546 CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED (ACS)

SEPTEMBER 30–OCTOBER 1, 2022 Calvin Classic 5k & Family Fun Run: Come to campus to run, walk, handcycle, volunteer, or cheer at this festive Saturday morning race.

Homecoming highlights: From hockey and soccer competitions to a Gospel Choir celebration of African American musical history, you’ll find a wide variety of activities for alumni, students, families, and friends.

Can’t make it back to campus? Participate in the virtual Calvin Classic wherever you are or request a Reunion in a Box for a personal gathering with four or more alumni friends.

View the full event schedule at calvin.edu/homecoming