Spark Spring 2020

SPARK T H E C A LV I N

UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

Global Campus SPRING 2020

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

— Calvin mission statement

SPRING 2020 VOL. 66, NO. 1

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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

Calvin University is an educational institution of the Christian Reformed Church of North America (CRCNA).

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

22 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, parent, and community relations, Calvin University, 3201 Burton St. SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546. ©2019 by the Calvin Alumni Association.

Telephone: 616-526-6142.

Fax: 616-526-7069.

Email: spark@calvin.edu.

Spark on the web: calvin.edu/spark.

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

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

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Carlos Erazo ’14 and Brooke Kuzera Erazo ’14 host a gospel-driven Spanish language channel on YouTube.

FEATURES

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Professor Mark Bjelland reflects on his new book that looks at the key elements of good places.

Starting with new graduate and online programs, Calvin University expands its reach.

GOOD PLACES FOR ALL

THE GLOBAL CAMPUS

18 PETE

An essay from the latest collection released by The Post Calvin.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

THE CALVIN SPARK Editor: Rick Treur ’93 Managing Editor: Lynn Bolt Rosendale ’85 Art Director: Amanda Impens Designer: Emma Tongue ’21 Contributing Writers: Gayle Boss Jeff Febus ’92 Amanda Armour Greenhoe ’11 Matt Kucinski Contributing Photographers: Andy Calvert Amanda Impens Rick Treur ’93

CALVIN ALUMNI ASSOCIATION BOARD President: Gene Miyamoto ’77 (Holland, Mich.)

Vice President: Jori Brink Hannah ’04 (Chicago, Ill.) Secretary: Christine Jacobs Mouw ’88 (N. Little Rock, Ark.) Director: Rick Treur ’93

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Kelli Muilenburg ’07 manages Microsoft’s strategy for final round interviews for university candidates.

Stephen Cowan ’08 created the first shelf-stable microgreen product sold in the U.S.

DEPARTMENTS

ONLINE EXTRAS

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Editor’s Desk

Read Spark online

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Campus News

calvin.edu/spark

8 Sports 10 Scholarship 20 Alumni Profiles 32 The Cultural Calvin 36 Legacy

Members: Sarah Berg ’06 (Chicago, Ill.) Jerry Cooper ex’66 (Holland, Mich.)

Jona Eigege ’15 (Washington, D.C.) Carlos Erazo ’14 (Dallas, Tex.) Rachel Johnson-Melville ’02 (Muskegon, Mich.)

Dale Kaemingk ’77 (Brier, Wash.)

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

Casey Kuperus ’97 (Grand Rapids, Mich.)

James Lee ’12 (East Islip, N.Y.) Rebecca Mejia ’05 (Hawthorne, N.J.) Debra Perry ’91 (Grand Rapids, Mich.)

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

Mark Tigchelaar ’06 (Bellflower, Calif.)

Jim Valk ’87 (Paw Paw, Mich.)

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

Gary Van Prooyen ’88 (Wheaton, Ill.) Karen Zwart Hielema ’94 (Toronto, Ont.)

Take a look at sports pics

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

calvinknights.com/galleries

Letters regarding the contents of the magazine will be considered for publication in Spark unless specifically marked “not for publication.” Correspondence should be no more than 350 words and may be shortened to meet editorial requirements. We will not publish anonymous letters; however, we may withhold names upon request. Send your correspondence to: Spark, 3201 Burton St. SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546, or email spark@calvin.edu.

Connect with alumni facebook.com/calvinalumni

34 Events

Leave a legacy for future alum

38 Class Notes

legacygift.calvin.edu

47 In Memoriam

View the Calvin calendar calvin.edu/calendar

Covid-19 information calvin.edu/go/coronavirus 3

EDITOR’S DESK

A weekend of Calvin traditions, both new and old I hope this letter finds you well as you stay safe and healthy at home. Even though Calvin’s campus is closed during these unprecedented times, we’re looking ahead to being able to come together this fall to celebrate.

We’ll kick off the weekend with the Maroon & Gold Gala, and everyone is invited. Come celebrate this year’s alumni award winners, bid on unique items in a silent auction, enjoy delicious hors d’oeuvres, and more.

swimming at the Venema Aquatic Center or watch as they adventure up the climbing wall. Or if you have a high school junior or senior, sign them up for Fridays at Calvin so they can get a taste of life on campus.

For more than 30 years, springtime at Calvin has been marked by the Calvin Classic, a 5K run, walk, and handcycle event that takes participants on a tour of campus as they compete. The family fun run even gets future Knights involved as they race around the indoor track and earn their own ribbons.

Saturday morning will begin with the Calvin Classic, but if a 5K isn’t for you, consider challenging yourself at the Donut Dash. The 1.5-mile race tests not only your speed, but the strength of your stomach as you stop to eat donuts along the way. If you’re not too full from the donuts, we’ll have a tailgate-style lunch for you to enjoy followed by a fun day of family-friendly activities.

This is also a great weekend to connect with old roommates and friends. Meet up at Peet’s Coffee or stop by Johnny’s together. Extend your stay and see what else Grand Rapids has to offer. ArtPrize will be happening around the city, and the fall colors never disappoint. And if you can’t make it to campus, gather a local team and compete in the virtual 5K—there really is something for everyone during Homecoming & Family Weekend.

This event has drawn in thousands of alumni and friends, and we plan to keep the tradition alive for years to come.

It’s going to look a bit different as we move forward, though. While the race has traditionally been a spring event, this year we’re moving it to the fall.

This change comes as the Calvin Alumni Association reimagines Homecoming & Family Weekend. We want to continue to build traditions as we create new opportunities for you to connect with other alumni and celebrate what it means to be a Knight for life. Integrating the Calvin Classic into this larger weekend is one way we’re looking to do that.

So, be sure to save the date for Oct. 2–4, 2020!

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Friday night you can pick a team of six students to cheer for in the annual bed races. Watch as they compete to see who can push a bed on wheels across the finish line the fastest. If you’re looking to root for a slightly more serious competition, women’s soccer, men’s soccer, and women’s volleyball will all play at home on Saturday.

There will also be various events around campus throughout the weekend. We’ll host a young alumni reunion as well as a 25-year reunion for the Class of 1995.

Check out Late Night with Capella, student improv, or the ecosystem preserve. You can take your kids

Be sure to watch your mailboxes for more information. Or check calvin.edu/homecoming for the latest updates and events. We can’t wait to see you this fall!

RICK TREUR DIRECTOR OF ALUMNI AND COMMUNITY RELATIONS

I was surprised to read about and see renderings of a design-thinking workspace coming to Calvin’s campus with no mention of the designer of the space. Calvin and the Spark typically recognize people who create things. As an architect, I get frustrated when renderings are published without acknowledgment of the hard work, skill, and talent of their creator(s).

An author, painter, or photographer gets a mention when their work appears in the Spark.

Megan Feenstra Wall ’02 Grand Rapids, Mich.

Our apologies to the architects of this fine new space. Ayers Saint Gross originally designed the space three years ago, and GMB has recently made adjustments and finalized the design.

LETTERS

Send us your letters.

Write us at spark@calvin.edu.

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CAMPUS NEWS

Stay updated at calvin.edu/go/coronavirus.

CALVIN RESPONDS TO COVID-19 On March 16, all on-campus classes at Calvin University moved online for the remainder of the spring semester. The move along with the closing of residential halls one week later were two of the most significant changes made as a result of the evolving COVID-19 pandemic.

At the time of the move online and at the time of publication, there were no confirmed cases of the virus within the Calvin community.

Since January, university leaders had been working closely with public health authorities in planning for the potential impact the virus could have on the Calvin community. A number of preventative measures and social distancing practices were encouraged early on to limit any potential spread of the virus. The operational changes were made when it became clear— based on developments in early March, and the advice of government, public health officials, and Calvin leaders— that a quick end to the COVID-19 pandemic was unlikely.

Leadership also knew that taking these actions when they did would enable students to return to their home cities, states, and countries before stricter travel regulations were put in place.

To understand Calvin’s ongoing response to COVID-19 and to view a comprehensive and regularly updated Frequently Asked Questions page, visit calvin.edu/go/coronavirus.

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Nursing professor Adejoke Ayoola will work with students in the new simulation lab.

NURSING PROGRAM GROWS, ADDS SIMULATION LAB In 2019, the Michigan Board of Nursing approved the expansion of the number of seats Calvin can offer to its junior and senior students in the nursing program from 64 to 80.

Now, in 2020, the program is expanding the opportunities available on campus.

A new state-of-the-art simulation lab is being created in the Science Building.

While students will continue to do their clinicals in the main hospitals in Grand Rapids (Forest View, Mercy Health St. Mary’s, Metro Health, Pine Rest, and Spectrum Health), the reimagined space allows students to practice a wide range of health care scenarios on campus.

“Nursing simulation is a teaching method where we can create a scene or a situation that mimics the reality of a clinical situation across the health care continuum—so it could be inpatient or outpatient, a hospital or community-based setting,” said Jaclynn Lubbers, associate professor of nursing.

“The nursing students then work to take care of the patient and family, collaborate, and communicate with the health care team while providing high-quality and safe care throughout the situation.”

The new space will incorporate video recordings in which professors can watch and record students working through a simulation scenario and then use the recording in their debriefing. Lubbers says the research states that this is where students demonstrate the most learning.

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

Jim English steps into a new role.

CALVIN HIRES VICE PRESIDENT FOR FINANCE

Jack Droppers feels called to the role of engaging popular culture boldly at Calvin.

SAO WELCOMES NEW DIRECTOR The Student Activities Office (SAO) welcomes a new director in 2020. Jack Droppers, a working musician and scholar, takes over a role that Ken Heffner built and held for nearly 27 years. Like Heffner did in 1993, Droppers felt called to this work of engaging popular culture boldly and doing so with Christ-centered conviction.

“Being in a band helps shape my experience as someone who books shows because there’s an understanding that in order to put on a good show as a band, it’s essential to have a good audience,” said Droppers.

“So, how do we curate audiences so that they

provide an experience for the artist where it’s more of a conversation and less of just pure entertainment?”

Droppers knows that Heffner and SAO’s approach to this work over the years provides a great model for how to do that well, and he’s excited for the opportunity to build on this solid foundation.

Droppers earned a master of divinity from Western Theological Seminary. He is in a PhD program through the University of Aberdeen in Scotland studying how both music and movies portray suffering and what that says about our relationship with God in the midst of pain.

In December 2019, Jim English became Calvin’s next vice president for finance. Calvin University president Michael Le Roy appointed Jim English to the position and was advised by a nine-member search committee, which included representatives from the university’s faculty, administration, and staff. He was chosen for the position following a rigorous national search.

Prior to joining Calvin, English served for nearly two decades in assistant and associate superintendent of finance and operations roles for three school districts across Michigan. He spent the past eight years with Holland West Ottawa Public Schools.

During English’s tenure at Holland West Ottawa, the school district passed $188 million in bond proposals and invested in and planned for new facilities while improving existing infrastructure, technology, and transportation.

Under his leadership, West Ottawa earned recognition for its improved financial reporting and transparency, realized better value for its health benefits, and created competitive pay structures for its employees.

English steps into the role previously filled by Sally Vander Ploeg, who retired from Calvin in December 2019. Vander Ploeg served the institution for 20 years, the latter seven as the institution’s vice president for finance and administration.

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CALVIN SPORTS

Success on the ice HOCKEY PROGRAM MAKES JUMP TO DIVISION I

Over the last several years, the Calvin hockey program has experienced much success. As an American College Hockey Association (ACHA) Division III team, the Knights made 10 trips to the national tournament, and in 2004 the program won the national championship.

season we have held onto 13th in the tough north region. We have implemented structure, accountability, and raised the bar of expectation for our DIII team. We have implemented regular recruiting for the program and focused on development of skill.”

“With the success that we had at the Division III level, the ACHA recruited us to put a Division I program together along with our Division III program,” said coach Mike Petrusma. “We had a tremendous amount of interest from recruits looking for an opportunity to play college hockey at Calvin.

Therefore, in 2017 we expanded to two teams, and we started this season with 52 guys in the program.”

Petrusma, who has headed up the Calvin program for the past 21 years, is grateful for the opportunity to welcome both players who are ready for the Division I level and those who are at the Division III level, with an opportunity to move up to the top level.

While initially the move to Division I was a large leap, the team has since risen to the challenge. Currently ranked 15th, the team is on pace for a berth in the national tournament, held in late March (canceled due to COVID-19). It would be its first since making the move to the top division.

A series sweep of No. 5 Ohio University in late January proved pivotal for the Knights.

The Division III team is coached by Jim Hartlein, who is now in his second year as the head coach. Hartlein and Petrusma work closely together with both teams in order to achieve their goal of becoming a “two teams, one program” type of environment.

“I feel the Division III team is moving steadily in the right direction,” Hartlein said. “We finished the season two years ago unranked, last season we moved up to 17th, and this

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“The major difference between the levels is that typically the guys at the Division I level have participated in junior hockey for the past couple of years. At the Division III level, guys primarily follow a more traditional path of coming out of high school and starting to play college hockey,” he said.

“We have designed our program for those kids that come straight out of high school to develop them and for some of them to have the opportunity to play at the Division I level once they’ve gotten bigger and stronger. The Division I level is faster, more physical, and tactically more demanding than the DIII level.

Our adjustments to the higher level have included recruiting players that are physically and mentally capable of performing and understanding the game at the higher level for both of our teams.”

Breaking records EARLY CHALLENGES LEAD TO BIG SUCCESS FOR JUNIOR SWIMMER

From taking three chemistry classes before the age of 16 to swimming for a national title against the best swimmers in America, Julian Iturbe ’21 continues to rise to the challenges that being an international student athlete presents.

Iturbe grew up in Caracas, Venezuela, with his parents and his sister. As a junior on the swim team, he continues to push Calvin to new heights. He holds several Calvin records and anchors many key relays.

He began swimming lessons at his parents’ direction. “We never thought swimming would be such a large part of our lives,” Iturbe said. Swimming in Venezuela would prove to be one of the first challenges.

Venezuela’s main sports are baseball and basketball. Iturbe went a different direction, swimming for his middle and high schools.

His first exciting move after graduating was to join the Azura swim team in Davie, Florida. Iturbe experienced the highest level of training there, working with athletes preparing for the Pan-American Games and the Olympics.

The language and culture at Calvin also challenged Iturbe early in his college career.

“It was really hard to study in a different language that was not my own,” Iturbe said.

“In the beginning, I struggled to get good grades and overcome presentations and essays.”

When searching for college options, Iturbe had very specific requirements in mind.

“I always wanted to be a chemical engineer,” Iturbe said. “The list narrowed even more when I considered swimming.”

Calvin swimming has led and supported Iturbe as his times continue to drop in the pool. As for Iturbe, he aims to become the NCAA DIII national champion in the 200-meter freestyle. (The national meet was canceled due to COVID-19.) He already holds school records in the 100-, 200-, and 500-meter freestyle events.

Calvin was one of the few institutions that had both. “Coach Dan [Gelderloos] was the deciding factor that made Calvin stand out in that group. He understood my situation, and he helped me get academic scholarships so I could come here,” Iturbe said.

Calvin’s intentional commitment to Christian faith in all walks of life was one of the biggest differences for Iturbe to navigate. “When I lived in Venezuela, we believed in God, but faith wasn’t as much a part of our lives as it is at Calvin,” Iturbe said. The swim team’s Christian community helped welcome him through the transition.

It all comes full circle each time he lines up to race: “When I’m in the blocks before a race, I think of all the people that I’m representing and that I care about.”

“What I’ve found is that the Christian community that supports Calvin is very loving,” Iturbe added. “They don’t care if you make mistakes or don’t do things right, they will always love you for your efforts and for who you are.”

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CALVIN SCHOLARSHIP

GOOD PLACES FOR ALL If we want to cultivate good places, we need to know how laws, housing markets, local government, finance, and territorial boundaries shape our communities. — MARK BJELLAND

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Spark spoke with faculty member Mark Bjelland (geology, geography, and environmental studies) about his recently published book, Good Places for All. The book is part of the Calvin Shorts series from Calvin Press. You can find more information at calvin.edu/press.

Spark: What inspired you to write this book?

Bjelland: When I arrived at Calvin University in 2013, I was overwhelmed by the many students, alumni, and colleagues who were deeply invested in making their communities better places for all. I got to teach students who had taken Lee Hardy’s “New Urbanism” course and were on fire for city planning.

When the Congress for the New Urbanism held its national meeting in Detroit in 2016, there was a large gathering of Christian architects, housing developers, and city planners, many from Calvin University, who wanted to connect their faith with their work as place-makers. Within that group, there was a hunger for books offering Christian perspectives on places and place-making.

That’s when I decided I needed to write this book.

Spark: If so many Christians are already involved in doing good work in our communities, what new perspectives did you hope to offer?

Bjelland: Well, you are certainly right that individual Christians and faith-based groups are doing amazing work. So, one thing I suggest in the book is that everyone find a way to join in the ongoing work of faith-based affordable housing providers like Habitat for Humanity. But where I felt I could contribute was in helping readers better understand the underlying systems and structures that shape our places. If we want to cultivate good places, we need to know how laws, housing markets, local government, finance, and territorial boundaries shape our communities.

Spark: What can a reader expect to find in the pages of Good Places for All? Bjelland: They should find an easy-to-read book, stripped of academic jargon thanks to editor Dr. Susan Felch. I focus on what I believe are the key elements of good places.

Good places have public gathering spaces and transportation systems that work for everyone. In good places, boundaries don’t isolate people or hoard resources. Finally, good places provide everyone a safe place to call home.

Spark: How does Good Places for All fit with other Calvin Press books that attempt to help us better understand and care for places?

Bjelland: There is something about the Reformed tradition that takes seriously the everyday lived expressions of the Christian life, whether in education, politics, farming, or city planning. I counted three other recent Calvin Press books that address caring for places: Lee Hardy’s The Embrace of Buildings, David Warners and Matthew Heun’s edited volume Beyond Stewardship: New Models of Creation Care, and Mark Mulder’s Congregations, Neighborhoods, Places.

My hope is that people will read all four books in dialogue with each other.

Lee Hardy’s The Embrace of Buildings makes the argument for dense, walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods. I share Hardy’s vision for better urban design, but in Good Places for All I ask questions about who gets to shape and live in such planned communities.

Beyond Stewardship asks how we humans should understand our relationships with non-human creation. In my chapter in Beyond Stewardship, I argue that we should shift the focus of our stewardship work to place-making and place-keeping in the communities we call home. Mark Mulder’s Congregations, Neighborhoods, Places aims to help churches understand the forces that produce inequality so they can better care for their neighbors. In Good Places for All, I encourage Christians to extend that love of neighbor into zoning codes, local politics, and housing policies.

This book, by Mark Bjelland, is available from online retailers or the Calvin Campus Store.

Spark: The release of the books you just mentioned seems to suggest that Christians are rediscovering the city and the importance of place.

Bjelland: Exactly. Theologians are writing on the importance of place in Christian ethics, pastors are rediscovering the parish model for ministry, and popular Christian writers are reflecting on place, homes, and hospitality.

Quite a few Christian Reformed congregations in Grand Rapids’ inner city have noticed their younger adult members moving into neighborhoods that previous generations left behind as they departed for the suburbs. For those congregations that have embraced their urban location, the command in Jeremiah 29:7 has become a mantra: “Seek the welfare of the city.” That phrase even shows up in Calvin University’s Vision 2030 statement calling for a “Reformed Christian faith that seeks understanding and promotes the welfare of the city and the healing of the world.”

My goal in Good Places was to help readers understand how cities work to help inform their work of seeking their city’s welfare.

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FEATURE STORY

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The Global Campus

The Calvin Global Campus is charting new territory for the university. Calvin has long aimed to become a more diverse, international community. This

NEW INITIATIVE SEEKS TO EXTEND CALVIN’S REACH

initiative is intended to offer Calvin’s unique approach to life and learning to broad new audiences.

BY ANDY RAU ’97

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FEATURE STORY

UPCOMING ONLINE GRADUATE PROGRAMS BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

CHARTING NEW TERRITORY Kevin den Dulk has been in this spot before.

Not this exact spot, of course—as associate provost of the recently established Calvin Global Campus (CGC), he is charting new territory both personally and for the university. But the shape of the challenges and opportunities here has a familiar feel.

When den Dulk came to Calvin in 2011 as Spoelhof Teacher-Scholar-in-Residence, the political science department where he taught was struggling to thrive in the face of tight constraints on budgets, time, and people. There were plenty of good ideas worth exploring—but which ones would bear the most fruit, and where were the resources to carry them out? Many people in that situation might give up on all but the safest ideas; but den Dulk, who had been quickly recruited to chair the department, was energized by the resource constraints.

“I started to realize that where I became most energized was when there were ideas and thoughtful people—and modest resources,” den Dulk says with a smile. I’m talking to him in his new office in the Spoelhof University Center on campus, where he’s spent the last few weeks starting to shape a vision for the fledgling CGC. As it turns out, his creativityunder-pressure approach worked: Calvin’s

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political science department is flourishing; faculty and staff in the department were ready to double-down on what they had always done well and to explore new directions. “In some ways my work as chair was simply to help connect the dots—the people and ideas— that were already there,” says den Dulk.

The Henry Institute for the Study of Christianity and Politics, where den Dulk has served as executive director since 2012, is now a prominent forum; its biennial symposium hosts leading thinkers from all areas of public life.

“I love figuring out how to get things done in the context of limited resources,” he says.

“And I’m always on the lookout for new challenges.” Calvin provost Cheryl Brandsen attributes to den Dulk a “positive restlessness to get things done.” den Dulk jokes that he has trouble narrowing his focus; a look at his CV reveals a person who thrives on scholarship that draws from many different disciplines. Spend a few minutes listening to him talk excitedly about new opportunities for the CGC, and you’ll find his enthusiasm for the initiative contagious.

DATA ANALYTICS

EDUCATION

“I draw the most energy from three things: thoughtful people, good ideas, and limited resources. And that’s exactly what the Calvin Global Campus is all about: bringing those three things together.”

— KEVIN DEN DULK ASSOCIATE PROVOST OF THE CALVIN

“I draw the most energy from three things: thoughtful people, good ideas, and limited resources,” he says with a smile. “And that’s exactly what the CGC is all about: bringing those three things together.”

GLOBAL CAMPUS

EXERCISE SCIENCE

GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS

PUBLIC AND NONPROFIT ADMINISTRATION

PUBLIC HEALTH

WHAT IS THE CALVIN GLOBAL CAMPUS?

THE CALVIN EDUCATION GOES ONLINE

The CGC is a new office charged with one big mission: to extend Calvin’s mission to new populations.

In the next five years, Calvin will launch nine new online graduate degree programs.

It’s driven by the conviction that Calvin’s approach to scholarship and public life has something to offer to people outside the existing community. “The Global Campus is about meeting new people with Calvin’s mission,” den Dulk explains. “We’re not doing this to make money. We’re not doing it just because we can. We’re reaching out to new audiences because we believe that Calvin’s approach to life and learning is something unique and valuable.”

What does that look like in practice? “Well,” den Dulk laughs, “that’s what I’m thinking about.” But to get a sense for den Dulk’s vision, consider the first major CGC initiative: a massive expansion of Calvin’s online learning opportunities.

Calvin has offered limited undergraduate courses online in the past, but this is something different. “It’s a massive difference in scale than anything we’ve done before,” den Dulk says.

The first of these programs, an online master’s in education program, will launch in fall 2020, with eight more programs following shortly after.

Calvin has long aimed to become a more diverse, international community, den Dulk says. But the burden has often been on international students to come to Calvin’s physical space, something that’s particularly challenging for many people today. “Particularly since the 1990s, Calvin programs like Entrada and international outreach efforts have really transformed the campus,” den Dulk explains. “The CGC pushes that even further. We’re expanding the reach of our mission to places we simply couldn’t go in the past.

SPEECH PATHOLOGY

STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION

“Imagine providing theological education in sub-Saharan Africa, helping Christian educators in Indonesia. Now, if people can’t come to us physically, we can go to them virtually.”

If Calvin lacked the resources and capacity for full-fledged online programs in the past, how will they be realized now?

The answer lies in both Calvin’s own people and in a partnership with Wiley Education Services, an organization with much experience managing online education for colleges and universities. Wiley brings experience in the logistics and marketing of online education; Calvin provides the education and key people with insight into how online education fits with Calvin’s mission.

While the first online graduate program won’t launch until later this year, students can get their first taste of the new online education system during Calvin’s summer term. More than 20 of the courses offered during summer term are online.

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FEATURE STORY

THE GLOBAL CAMPUS IS ABOUT IDENTIFYING THE PLACES WHERE CALVIN’S APPROACH CAN MAKE THE BIGGEST DIFFERENCE

NEW AUDIENCES, NEW OPPORTUNITIES Online education is the first CGC initiative out the door, and it’s a big one. But the Global Campus is about more than that. While online programs are necessary to extend Calvin’s reach, they’re not unique to Calvin. den Dulk’s real work lies in identifying specific audiences who would be especially well served by a Calvin education and then crafting programs—online, offline, and hybrid—that are accessible to them.

“When we think about online education, we think about education across the globe. But there are many unreached audiences much more locally,” den Dulk explains. “For example, what would it look like to engage working adults right here in west Michigan? Think about somebody working at a local business or nonprofit. They’re very busy, but they know they’d benefit from gaining skills—maybe something like data analytics or design—so they can do their work more effectively and imaginatively.” Calvin could bundle together a set of workshops and courses specifically to meet those people where they are.

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And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. den Dulk’s work with the Calvin Prison Initiative opened his eyes to possibility in that space as well.

“We already work extensively with prisoners in Michigan correctional institutions. But what would it mean to expand our work to include correctional officers and prison staff, too? Like everyone else, they’re looking for ways to learn new skills and be better at their jobs.”

Den Dulk’s eyes light up as he talks. “Think about what it could mean to teach courses on restorative justice or intercultural communication or trauma-focused social work to that community,” he muses.

“It could be transformative.”

Once you start imagining new niche audiences, such as Michigan correctional officers, it’s hard to stop. For example, what about a program crafted to reach church or nonprofit administrators? High school students with a knack for world languages? Programs for those groups wouldn’t necessarily always be online, but online technology will go a long way toward improving access to them.

It all comes back to that familiar challenge— many opportunities, limited resources. For den Dulk, that means focusing on programs that expand on what Calvin is already doing— like widening the scope of the Calvin Prison Initiative or growing graduate programs out of already solid undergraduate programs— rather than inventing new programs. It means carefully studying trends to identify the audiences that aren’t being well served by existing programs and finding populations that are being overlooked entirely.

“Calvin has so much to offer,” den Dulk says.

“The CGC is about identifying the places where Calvin’s approach can make the biggest difference and then reaching out to those people and places with programs that have been carefully crafted with their needs in mind.”

GIS MASTER’S PROGRAM One of the first online graduate programs on the way is geographic information systems (GIS). The way the GIS graduate program came about illustrates the CGC approach.

“We knew we had something special with our existing geography program,” den Dulk explains. “I can’t think of another Christian university that has the geographers and resources we do.” So what is the new audience that will benefit the most from it?

“The GIS master’s program is for two types of people,” explains professor Jason VanHorn, who’s spent a lot of time in the last year crafting the new graduate program.

“First, there are people who want to do professional work in GIS. There’s a deep need to help people answer the question, ‘What does it mean to be a Christian GIS professional?’ And that’s exactly the kind of question we confront in every one of our courses.

“Second, there are so many people already in careers who need GIS knowledge to excel at their work.” VanHorn rattles off a list of fields where GIS skills pay off: architecture, urban planning, civil engineering, anthropology, and more.

The key is making a GIS program that’s as efficient as possible with people’s time and money.

“I was inspired by the way Calvin’s master of accounting program works,” he says.

“It’s very cleverly built and grows naturally out of the existing undergraduate accounting program.” That clever design means that students can get a MAcc degree in nine months. Something similar will be possible with the new GIS program, which can be completed in under a year.

“Calvin is deeply committed to the idea that Christians can and should do geography,” says den Dulk. Now, a new audience is being invited to share that commitment.

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FEATURE STORY

PETE

BY BEN DEVRIES ’15

All I know about the donut scene in Champaign, Illinois, I owe to a man named Pete.

I met Pete three years ago when I came aboard the Champaign Park District as a seasonal.

Pete works as the on-staff electrician, and although, officially, my position requires me to assist all the district’s tradespeople, in practice I log most of my hours with Pete.

I like this arrangement. Over the past three summers, I’ve helped him pull wire, troubleshoot faulty refrigerators, and mount 50pound light fixtures. And in return, he’s kept me in the donuts, scouting only the best crullers and long johns from the finest establishments, all the while excusing his generosity by dubiously asserting the importance of “keeping my blood sugar up.”

“One of us has to have energy,” he likes to say, grinning behind his walrus mustache.

“You can crash once you’re off the clock.”

It goes without saying, of course, that Pete, who’s pre-diabetic, never eats the stuff himself, elevated blood sugar meaning something very different to him. Fifty-plus years of sustained research in the field of confectionary science will do that, I suppose.

Today, though, my donut comes from a gas station—not because this particular gas station

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has good donuts (I should know), but because Pete’s in a rush. At the end of the week is Taste of Champaign-Urbana, a two-day food festival that Pete has spent the better part of three months planning for. It’s all logistical, number-crunching work that I only vaguely understand. How many circuits do we need to satisfy this row of food trucks? What sort of amperage can we pull from the plug in that Quazite vault without tripping the breaker?

Setup starts in earnest today, and judging by Pete’s stretched-taut silence as he tools truck No. 55 out of the congested Thorntons parking lot—a paper tray with a Boston cream donut (mine) and a plain hot dog (his) resting on the console between us—I can tell the strain is getting to him.

The silence, however, doesn’t last long. As much as Pete, at times, can project a kind of frowning gruffness and as much as his stooped, 6’ 2” frame can reinforce that impression, he’s friendly and talks to fill silences.

Glancing sideways from behind his sunglasses to check that I’m listening, he begins, slowly at first, to lay out all that he wants to get done today. Generators. Bucket lights. Drop cords.

He gathers speed with the truck.

Depressing the gas with a stained, size 15 boot, he’s speaking at a steady clip about how he wants the transformers arranged when a

The post calvin: Essays 2016–2019 is a collection from 44 Calvin University graduates under 30 years old.

The book is available online at thepostcalvin.com and at the Calvin University Campus Store: $26.99 (hardcover), $13.99 (paperback).

For more essays, read the blog: thepostcalvin.com.

tiny Camry leaps out in front of us, and he has to hit the brakes.

“Jeez. Careful, guy,” I say to the car already zooming away. “That’s a whole lot of truck you pulled out in front of.”

And it is. At an easy seven tons, No. 55 not only outweighs the dinky little Camry but also, I suspect, scrapes the upper weight limit of my class D license, a fact I conveniently ignore whenever I get behind its wheel.

I can hear the smile in Pete’s voice when he speaks again. “See?” he says, the open window riffling his thinning hair as the truck growls back up to speed. “I doubt you’d ever’ve noticed a thing like that before. But now, now that you’ve driven a truck like this, you really know—you got a real sense of the weight and how hard it is to stop this thing.”

I nod, shrug. Conversations like these are common with Pete, as regular as visits to Carmella’s Creme. Although he ranges on a scale of skepticism to polite indifference about my graduate studies, Pete takes a great deal of pleasure in pointing out the education I’ve received from him. Occasionally, this means flagging the actual knowledge I’ve banked— which is fair because I’ve banked quite a bit.

Where previously my electrical-mechanical

knowledge was basically zilch, I now know how to wire in ballasts, trace for buried cables, and operate boom lifts. I can install outlets, add breakers to an electrical panel, and check fuses.

But more often the education that really interests Pete is subtler, quieter. Coming at it from the perspective of the humanities, I’d use words like “disposition,” “know-how,” and “habitus” to describe this kind of learning. Pete just calls it “seeing.” I see things I wouldn’t have seen before because of the park district.

I see marking paint for proposed excavations.

See a concrete light pole with electrical tape wrapped around its base.

See a Camry, for instance, whose driver’s appreciation of physics may be cognitive, sure, but definitely does not reach into the way-down of the gut.

Pushing the wheel around with the flat of his hand, Pete swings No. 55 left and bumps over the curb into West Side Park where, in a few days, three month’s worth of work on his part will vanish into a haze of conversation, laughter, and fried food. He pulls the truck to a stop and takes a moment to survey the empty park. Then he grins and nods at the paper tray between us, empty now for some minutes.

“You enjoy that donut?”

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ALUMNI PROFILES

Alumni Profiles Calvin seeks to equip students to think deeply, act justly, and live wholeheartedly as Christ’s agents of renewal in the world. These stories demonstrate how our alumni are living out that mission.

Through a social media empire that reaches more than 1 million people per month, Carlos Erazo is helping to connect young people to Christianity.

His popular Spanish YouTube videos highlight topics that are relevant to teenagers curious about living a Christ-like life, as well as unchurched youth.

Read more profiles online calvin.edu/spark

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Tim Van Deelen has spent the last 16 years as a research scientist interested in the conservation of wildlife populations, including black bears, wolves, and deer. Helping to educate students and others in

the repair and restoration of, and reconciliation with, the non-human parts of creation is central to his work.

When she suspected a local company was contaminating her hometown’s soil and water with toxic chemicals, artist and writer Lynn McIntosh felt compelled to investigate. Her persistent whistle blowing over a decade has earned her Michigan’s top award for volunteer environmental leadership.

Connections and networking helped Kelli Muilenburg forge her path from Calvin to the business world, eventually ending up at Microsoft, where she works as an operations program manager assisting other university students on their journey into corporate life.

Kelli Muilenburg Evan Talen ’06

Lynn McIntosh

PHOTO CREDIT: MICHIGAN ENVIRONMENTAL COUNCIL

Carlos Erazo

Tim Van Deelen

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ALUMNI PROFILES

Connecting Christianity

Carlos Erazo ’14 Economics and business communications Media producer, social media marketing specialist, artist, speaker carloserazogtg.com Dallas, Texas

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With more than 900,000 followers on Facebook, more than 2 million Spotify streams, and approximately 90 million video views combined over his social media platforms, Erazo’s monthly reach is estimated at more than 1 million people per month.

“By God’s grace, the project has grown to what it is now.

I’ve worked a lot, but [my success] is not all me.”

Meet Carlos Erazo ’14, Calvin University grad and the visionary for Proyecto GTG. GTG stands for Glory to God. That’s what Erazo is looking to bring through his Spanish language YouTube channel that shares the gospel, engages culture, and has a lot of fun along the way.

When Erazo was a sophomore at Calvin, he not only took a deep dive into his study of economics and business communications, he also got in the habit of filming and producing a weekly video for his YouTube channel—which at that time had more than 62,000 active followers.

“At Calvin I read theology as a hobby, but for a lot of teenagers, theology isn’t something they choose to go to. The church at home in El Salvador wasn’t reaching my friends,” he said, because his friends “didn’t understand the religious talk and theological language used.”

The disconnection between Christianity and young people inspired Erazo to put his beliefs into action and create weekly Spanish YouTube videos that discuss Christianity and how it intersects with culture, social issues, relationships, and daily life in today’s world.

He published his first Proyecto GTG episode in 2011.

Erazo decided to combine a lifelong interest in digital art, video creation, and music with a growing desire to connect spiritually with Spanish-speaking friends and family in his home country of El Salvador.

More videos followed each week, filmed across Calvin’s campus, highlighting topics ranging from pornography to dating to tattoos to evangelism: issues that Erazo knows are relevant to teenagers curious about living a Christ-like life, as well as unchurched youth.

“I became a Christian in high school and grew up with mostly non-Christians,” he recalled.

“When I left El Salvador for the United States, I felt a burden for my friends at home who weren’t Christian. I wanted to speak with them about what it means to be a Jesus-follower.

Over time, this vision began to resonate with YouTube audiences beyond Erazo’s friends.

He and his wife, Brooke Kuzera Erazo ’14, have grown a social media empire through the engaging content of their music, comedy, and advice videos.

Since 2014, Erazo has also been touring in Latin America and the United States, and his shows deliver the kind of turnout expected by major celebrities. Despite his fame and success, however, Erazo remains deeply rooted in his initial passion to speak to his viewers about God’s love.

“I know there are real people listening to what I have to say and responding to it,” he said, “and the best part is those responses. They impact me and they move me.

“I had a mom email me once and tell me that her 14-year-old son is watching. It’s very humbling to hear that, and it snaps me into reality. People are watching and soaking up what I’m saying.”

Being aware of his impact has continued to inspire and encourage Erazo to continue the project and grow personally in his own faith.

“By God’s grace, the project has grown to what it is now. I’ve worked a lot,” he said, but his success “is not all me.”

“It’s easy to become preachy, but I want to make sure that I’m always living out what I’m saying.

The biggest challenge is to be genuine with both what I say and how I live. I have to ask myself if I’m following the gospel and living into what I’m preaching. Like everyone else, I’m struggling to act out my faith every day.”

As Erazo had hoped as a senior at Calvin, Proyecto GTG continues to develop and grow.

“I want to continue making creative, professional media with a message in the future. I want people to be exposed to the gospel. That’s the vision.”

Some content originally appeared in a piece by Katy Gerber of the Calvin Chimes newspaper.

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ALUMNI PROFILES

Kelli Muilenburg ’07 Business Operations program manager Microsoft Corporation Seattle, Washington

Recruiting future leaders 24

While Kelli Muilenburg ’07 was a student at Calvin, she learned about the importance of connection, networking, and relationships.

Muilenburg spent an interim in Seattle writing her business major honors thesis on the topic of e-publishing and what it would mean if the entire publishing industry didn’t exist the way it did (the Amazon Kindle was released a year later!). As a result of her time there, she realized she wanted to live and work in Seattle but wasn’t sure how to make the move happen.

After almost skipping a work social event in downtown Grand Rapids during her senior year internship at Steelcase—simply because she couldn’t find a parking space—Muilenburg learned the value of good networking skills.

Thankfully, she found a space in front of the restaurant and reconnected with a former co-worker who mentioned his brother-in-law worked for Amazon. Her interest was piqued, and her colleague introduced her to his brother-in-law, and she was ultimately referred on to Amazon.

“They flew me out to interview; I interviewed on my 22nd birthday, and then I got a job offer as I was walking out of my last exam at Calvin,” she said. “I felt like my life was a movie … It is still the most amazing thing I’ve ever experienced because I almost skipped the happy hour.”

“You need to put yourself into position to meet someone who can help you connect.”

Her experience that day is why she encourages students to take advantage of networking opportunities: “You need to put yourself into position to meet someone who can help you connect.”

Even though she did her thesis on e-publishing, at Amazon Muilenburg worked on product launches for food vendors through Amazon’s grocery division. She worked at Amazon for three years until her job was outsourced.

After getting laid off and considering her path forward, she thought about her connections and reflected on the career paths of people she admired. Former vice president of student life Shirley Hoogstra had been a mentor of hers at Calvin. “I just loved the work she got to do with students in student life,” Muilenburg said. That relationship resulted in Muilenburg deciding to pursue a master’s in student development administration from Seattle University. “I loved the university student population but realized that I missed the corporate setting.”

Another relationship ultimately brought about the next step in her career. A friend of hers who worked in university recruiting at Microsoft suggested joining her there, and again, Muilenburg’s interest was piqued— even though she had never considered that as a career path. Her friend referred her to Microsoft, and she got the job.

She was meeting with interns in her first week, and even though the content was different, talking to students was very familiar. Oddly enough, as a student, she had stumbled across a piece of advice from Microsoft’s internship program describing how to talk about your skills in a résumé. She took that advice and used it, never thinking that she would one day participate in the recruiting process for Microsoft’s interns.

Today she is an operations program manager at Microsoft, where she manages the strategy for the final round interviews for university candidates coming to Microsoft. She also has hired two other Calvin alumni to work on the university recruiting team.

Her liberal arts education from Calvin has helped her immensely in her work with recruiting, especially her psychology classes.

Calvin’s mission to equip students to think deeply, act justly, and live wholeheartedly as Christ’s agents of renewal resonates with her.

She thinks about the thousands of students that she is bringing to Microsoft. While the next applicant will be one of thousands she sees, for the applicant, it is the first time there, and she wants to make sure they leave knowing they had a great experience and will speak well of their time at Microsoft.

When she thinks about students looking for work, Muilenburg advises, “Know that you have to make a good first impression. I usually know in the first three minutes if I’m going to hire someone, often just from the conversation that takes place walking into the interview.”

She’s thankful for the relationships and mentors she developed at Calvin, like the one with Hoogstra, as well as with Robert and Cherith Nordling, who mentored her while she was a Barnabas leader on campus. While working with the Nordlings, Robert wrote her a note she still has that reads, “You lead as naturally as you breathe.”

She values the encouragement of getting the affirmation of that skill set, and now Muilenburg is taking the leadership lessons she learned at Calvin and using them with her team at Microsoft.

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ALUMNI PROFILES

The accidental activist Lynn McGavin McIntosh ’80 English Writer, artist, creation-care advocate Rockford, Michigan

In November 2010, Lynn McGavin McIntosh ’80 was guiding a piano student through Bach’s Minuet in G when she heard a crash. “Kacie,” she said, “Minuet in G three more times, I’ll be right back.” She dashed out her back door, climbed a ladder onto a neighbor’s roof deck, and began snapping photos of large dust clouds billowing from a demolition site across the street.

“Sometimes you have to seize the moment and drop everything,” McIntosh told those gathered last September to award her The Petoskey Prize, presented annually by the Michigan Environmental Council to “a volunteer activist for outstanding grassroots environmental leadership.”

She sidesteps the label “activist.”

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“For me, an activist is an artist on fire.

Something’s very wrong, you see it with burning clarity, and you must sound a warning bell.”

McIntosh knew there was something wrong when Wolverine Worldwide, a footwear and apparel company headquartered in Rockford, Michigan, applied for a permit to demolish its century-old tannery, claiming, “There is no known contamination on the property.”

Former tannery workers told McIntosh otherwise. They described storage tanks for heavy metals that were never emptied; “the pit,” where toxic waste pooled and overflowed; and “tons of Scotchgard” used to waterproof shoes.

McIntosh and her husband formed Concerned Citizens for Responsible Remediation (CCRR), presenting evidence— including soil and water samples—to the city and the state’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and urging an environmental study of the site before allowing demolition.

But for nearly 140 years, Wolverine jobs and company-funded civic projects had helped the community of 6,000 thrive. Local newspapers reported that city leaders looked away from the evidence and lobbied the state to leave the matter in local hands. Rockford’s newspaper decried the McIntoshes and the CCRR for “harassment of our local business community.”

The city granted Wolverine a permit, and for the 12 months it took to raze the tannery, the CCRR could only watch—and document.

McIntosh took thousands of photos. She followed trucks to unauthorized dump sites.

She requested public records and made maps of pollution hot spots. In June 2011, the CCRR petitioned the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for an assessment of the property. The EPA declared the tannery warranted investigation as a federal Superfund site.

It seemed a victory for the citizen-led resistance. But city, state, and business leaders pushed back, and the EPA bowed, agreeing to a state-led, voluntary cleanup of the site.

“For me, an activist is an artist on fire. Something’s very wrong, you see it with burning clarity, and you must sound a warning bell.”

“That’s when anybody would have given up,” McIntosh said. “But I knew too much. It was like I heard cries in a mine shaft.”

For five years she and the CCRR went underground. They learned that the tons of Scotchgard Wolverine used at the tannery contained PFAS, a family of chemicals that don’t break down in the environment and are linked to cancer, endocrine disorders, and a multitude of other illnesses. One former Wolverine driver showed McIntosh where he dumped a truckload of PFAS-laden sludge every day for a year, a site surrounded by homes with private wells.

McIntosh thought, What if I lived there?

What if these were my children?

By early 2017, the CCRR had enough evidence to spark a DEQ investigation of at least one of Wolverine’s dump sites.

“Though they promised quick action, we heard nothing for eight months,” McIntosh said. “That’s when I said, ‘Enough! I’m calling The Grand Rapids Press.’”

The story broke, and the public shockwave that followed forced investigations. More than 1,500 homes in seven contamination zones were found to have PFAS in their drinking water. The highest concentrations are more than 10,000 times the amount considered safe by federal officials to consume over a lifetime. Wolverine has agreed to extend city water lines to many, but not all, affected homes. It could take generations to clean up sediments leaching toxins into groundwater and the Rogue River.

“This is the tip of the iceberg,” McIntosh said.

Chief among her concerns is that “the EPA still has not declared PFAS—and many other seriously harmful chemicals—hazardous.”

“And yet,” she added, “in a story with a dark underbelly of greed and corruption, I saw that light shines in a multitude of ways. It pricks, provokes, reveals, softens, sharpens, and, in the case of CCRR, ricocheted among us, creating an energy that steeled us until help finally came.”

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ALUMNI PROFILES

As a youngster growing up in “farm country” in west Michigan, Tim Van Deelen ’88 spent a lot of time outdoors. “When I showed up at Calvin, I knew I wanted to major in biology, and like 90 percent of freshmen biology students, I thought I wanted to be pre-med.”

That all changed in then-professor Al Gebbens’ plant taxonomy course. “We would put on our coats, go outside, and talk about plants and how they’re organized,” said Van Deelen, “And, I just loved it.”

Following his Calvin graduation, Van Deelen was offered an assistantship at the University of Montana working with beavers. “I had more fun doing that than I ever thought I could have in an academic setting,” he said.

Researching mammals, particularly large mammals and their population dynamics, would eventually become Van Deelen’s speciality. A self-proclaimed “deer nerd,” the Beers-Bascom Professor in Conservation at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has spent the last 16 years as a research scientist interested in the conservation of wildlife populations, including black bears, wolves, and, of course, deer.

What has become particularly salient in Van Deelen’s research over the last several years is the human influence on the landscape.

His recent research in the northern Great Lakes is on how mammal communities are structured based on their connectivity and how that may be altered by declining ice coverage.

Repairing restoring, reconciling “Climate change is the granddaddy of them all,” he said. “It makes everything else that we deal with worse.”

Helping to educate students and others in the repair and restoration of, and reconciliation with, the non-human parts of creation has become central to Van Deelen’s work.

“We need citizens who think about this in how they vote and in the consumer choices that they make,” he said. “We need people who are going to pay attention and mitigate and manage the problems climate change is causing.

“I think what I took away from Calvin is a burden for always thinking about ‘how does your faith integrate with how you spend your one life that you’ve been given?’ ” he said.

In addition to his work as a professor, researcher, and graduate student advisor, Van Deelen has spent more than a decade teaching at the Au Sable Institute, an educational organization based in northern Michigan that offers field-based courses in Christian environmental studies.

“I think what makes Tim such a great teacher is that the students see how passionate he is—his love for God and God’s creation is palpable,” said Calvin professor Dave Warners, a longtime friend and colleague of Van Deelen’s at Au Sable. “You can’t help but listen when he’s talking.”

Van Deelen hopes that his students take what they learn and strive to make a difference.

“I believe the Christian stewardship model has people too separate from nature,” he said.

“That has started to change more broadly within the culture, but much needs to be done to begin to fix the damage that we have done to creation.”

Reflecting on how to initiate change, Van Deelen said: “You have to spend your time outside—at a nearby park or a beach. That’s where you draw the motivation. That’s where you begin to battle back. For me, it links back to a kid growing up in farm country; it’s a habit of the mind.

“There is so much wonder out there; you have to take advantage of the peace it can bring you and the motivation to spur you to make a change.”

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Tim Van Deelen ’88 Biology Beers-Bascom Professor in Conservation Department of forest and wildlife ecology University of WisconsinMadison

“I believe the Christian stewardship model has people too separate from nature. That has started to change … but much needs to be done … .”

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EVERY. SQUARE. INCH. “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry: ‘Mine!’”

— Abraham Kuyper

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MIDDLE COAST THE CULTURAL CALVIN

THE

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As Jacob Penning ex’15 stood on the shore of Lake Michigan in Grand Haven a few years ago, he was awestruck.

“I stood there and looked left and looked right and thought about walking forever,” he said.

And then he wondered if it was possible: hiking the whole coast of Lake Michigan, that is.

In July 2018, Penning decided not only to try it but to document his adventure via video, with the help of Micah Rynders, a 2018 Calvin graduate in film production and writing and a longtime friend.

“I think the first thing I said when Jacob told me he was going to try this was, ‘OK, I’m going to film it,’” said Rynders.

“The idea was so captivating, I felt like we had to have it on film. I just thought, ‘Whoa, this could be a documentary, a story that hasn’t been told.’”

The result: 35 hours of footage of Penning’s four week, 480-mile adventure from the Indiana border to the northernmost tip of the Great Lake at the Mackinac Bridge.

“There is no trail, so hiking on the beach the entire way was the goal,” said Penning, who claims to be the first person to complete and document this hike. “I can’t explain waking up on the coast with the water roaring and seeing 10 straight miles ahead of me through the mist. It is such unparalleled beauty, and I was captivated by it every day.”

Penning faced significant challenges along the way. “At each channel, I wondered how I was going to get across, and every single time a boat would show up. I would yell to them and tell them what I was doing, and they would bring me across,” he said.

In fact, Penning frequently experienced the generosity of people. “I was so led by the Lord through this,” he said. “Something would happen, and I knew I was going to be blessed. People extended their resources to me the whole way through.”

Penning and Rynders are working to compile the footage—which includes personal documentation and drone coverage—into a documentary film with a working title of The Middle Coast in time for this fall’s Catalina Film Festival in California.

“What’s inspiring about it is this was just two kids with an idea doing something they loved and wanted to do,” said Rynders.

“And every time I see the footage, I can’t believe we did that.”

“I want someone to see this video and believe the thing they dreamed about doing is possible,” added Penning. “This all started with a dream: I bet I can just keep going and going. This is about going after that dream and persevering through the entire journey.”

To learn more and see clips from the upcoming film, visit the Facebook page The Middle Coast.

ALUM’S ARTISTRY EARNS ACCOLADES Jonathan Eiten ’92 always knew that he wanted to be an artist.

“In high school, I spent more time drawing people in class than doing schoolwork,” he said.

He was encouraged to pursue art, first by his parents and later by Calvin professors Chris Overvoorde, Charles Young, and Anna Greidanus, he said.

“Working with Chris Overvoorde was a big encouragement for me,” said Eiten. “I really wanted to paint.”

Since graduating from Calvin, Eiten has continued to paint and was recently honored with three awards at Art Comes Alive 2019, a juried competition sponsored

by Art Design Consultants, Inc., in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Eiten’s Violin With Gin Bottle on Trunk earned him a gallery contract award, Painter of the Year, and Best in Show runner-up.

“My intent in composing an image is not only to tell a story but also to let the objects tell their own story,” Eiten writes in his artist statement.

“Objects have their own place in our lives and can take on a life of their own. They undergo use and wear as they age and naturally take on character, making them interesting to look at.”

Such was the case in Eiten’s winning composition.

“I was bowled over by the three awards,” said Eiten, whose piece was among 4,000 submitted by international artists.

The Portland, Maine, resident said that, while he has exhibited his work mostly on the East Coast, exhibiting in the Midwest is an exciting new venture.

More of Eiten’s work can be seen at the Indian Hill Gallery in Cincinnati, on his Facebook page Jonathan Eiten Studio or online at jeiten.com.

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EVENTS

100TH RIVALRY SEALED WITH VICTORY

GHANA ‘FAMILY’ CONNECTS

Alumni and friends gathered at more than 50 remote sites around the globe to watch the 100th anniversary game of the Calvin-Hope men’s basketball Rivalry on Feb. 8. The 84-59 Calvin win matched the highest margin of victory by a Calvin team over Hope at DeVos Fieldhouse, with the Knights also winning by a 25-point margin (78-53) in the 2014 MIAA tournament championship game.

Calvin students who were home in Ghana over Christmas break helped to gather other alumni in the area for a chance to connect and help to further organize their growing community. Alumni shared their experiences about navigating life as a Ghanaian in America after college and as returnees to Ghana after many years away. The current students in attendance were pleased at the chance to listen to people who have experienced similar journeys.

Hope still leads the all-time series 103-100, but Calvin has won the last five meetings. The difference in points all-time in the series is now just 60 points, with Hope having scored 13,851 points and Calvin 13,791 points.

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The lunch was hosted at Coco Lounge, a restaurant in the heart of Accra, on a Sunday afternoon—a time that is often strictly allocated for family time in Ghana. And this event was truly a family event. The laughter, joy, memories, and experiences that were shared made it all the more worthwhile.

WEST MICHIGAN ALUMS TAKE IN MUSICALS

Last November more than 125 west Michigan alumni gathered for dinner at the University Club in downtown Grand Rapids and then headed across the street to DeVos Performance Hall to see the Broadway touring show The Lion King.

After an excellent performance, alumni were invited to meet some of the cast and ask questions about the production, life on the road, and the craft of acting.

In February, 100 alumni gathered for dinner and a performance of Hamilton.

RIVER CITY IMPROV BRINGS LAUGHTER TO THE BAY AREA

California Bay Area alumni came together for a night of laughter and reconnecting. River City Improv, the Calvin alumni improv team, performed for a crowd of alumni, family, and friends at Palo Alto Christian Reformed Church. Besides an evening of clean comedy, the group had a chance to see old friends and make new ones.

BREAKFAST SERIES PEERS INTO THE FUTURE

In partnership with the Calvin Career Center and the Center for Innovation and Business, the alumni office is helping to host “The Future of …”—a thoughtprovoking breakfast series. Recent talks included Jeff Stout ’92 discussing “The Future of Driving,” Kurt Dykema ’88 on “The Future of Water,” and Mary Tuuk ’86 about “The Future of Music.”

Recorded talks are available on Calvin’s website; search for Executive Breakfast Series.

SAVE THE DATE! We would love to see you at upcoming alumni and university events.

Class of 1970 50-year reunion May 22–23, 2020 (to be confirmed) Heritage reunion June 12, 2020 Homecoming and Family Weekend Oct. 2–4, 2020 Maroon & Gold Gala Oct. 2, 2020 Calvin Classic 5K Run/Walk Oct. 3, 2020 (on campus and virtual 5K at your location)

TRAVEL WITH CALVIN Don’t miss the chance to join one of our alumni travel experiences.

Netherlands: Off the Beaten Path Explore and discover how the Dutch made the Netherlands.

Hosts: Henk Aay, Robert Hoeksema Sept. 25–Oct. 7, 2020 Hawaii Big Island, Kauai, hiking, volcanoes Host: Gerry Van Kooten Nov. 10–22, 2020 Vietnam and Cambodia Ancient and modern history and culture Host: Jim Bratt Nov. 5–21, 2020 (FULL) Croatia Host: Ken Bratt May 2021 See calvin.edu/go/travel for details.

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

PLAN AN EVENT If you would like to arrange an event in your area, send an email to alumni@calvin.edu.

More on these events and others calvin.edu/calendar

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CALVIN LEGACY

A WORTHWHILE LEGACY Audrey Baker Veldhof (Dec. 11, 1944– June 3, 2019) embodied what it means to live wholeheartedly as Christ’s agent of renewal in the world.

GRATEFUL TO OUR ANCESTORS

FAITHFUL TO OUR HEIRS

A 1966 grad, Veldhof excelled as a student athlete at Calvin. She went on to complete a master’s degree at the University of Michigan and then spent her career serving countless children as a teacher and coach at Zeeland Christian School.

Beyond the direct work she did in the classroom and on the court, Veldhof started multiple athletic programs for girls—giving many young women the chance to discover the joy of organized sports for the first time.

She also envisioned a community playground and then rallied support to make it a reality, and she served as the director of Kid’s Hope at her church for 21 years.

Veldhof’s passion for helping young people was evident in how she lived her life, and in 2015 she decided to continue serving the next generation by establishing a named scholarship at Calvin. True to her selfless character, she chose to create the award in her husband’s name. And instead of giving the scholarship to someone pursuing passions similar to her own, Veldhof decided to honor her children’s calling in health care. Now, each year, a nursing student is blessed by her generosity.

With the help of Calvin’s gift planning team, Veldhof turned an initial contribution into a lasting legacy. To do that, she named her scholarship as a future beneficiary of her IRA. This ensured long-term funding but also meant her heirs would not be taxed on that money. She also set up a charitable gift annuity. The charitable gift annuity provided her a revenue stream during her life, provided a source of income to activate the scholarship during her lifetime, allowed her to experience the blessing of meeting many of her scholarship recipients, and ensured the assets would later fortify the long-term scholarship funding after she was gone.

Today, the Lloyd and Audrey Veldhof Nursing Scholarship (Veldhof’s children later added her name) is positioned to make the dream of a Calvin education a reality for thousands of future nursing students.

Veldhof was a member of the William Spoelhof Society—a group that was established to recognize alumni and friends who have committed to carrying forward Calvin’s vision through their planned gifts to the university. Members share a legacy of selfless leadership and love as they remember Calvin in their wills, IRAs, life insurance, or other planned gifts. If you have questions on how to join, contact the gift planning office at giftplanning@calvin.edu or visit legacygift.calvin.edu.

Calvin University Office of Gift Planning

Save the date for October 2–4, 2020!

Join us on campus for a weekend full of family fun.

FRIDAY • Maroon & Gold Gala

• Late Night with Capella

SATURDAY • Calvin Classic 5K, Youth • Young Alumni Reunion Fun Run, and Donut Dash (Classes of 2010-2020) • Tailgate-style lunch • Volleyball matches • Men’s and women’s soccer games (one under the lights!)

• 25-Year Reunion (Class of 1995) • Plenty of other family friendly activities!

Watch the website for updates.

calvin.edu/homecoming

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

The alumni association is also interested in knowing about important family milestones such as marriages and newcomers. Please send that news to alumni@calvin.edu, and in return, we’ll send you a Calvin gift.

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CLASS NOTES

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HERITAGE (graduated more than 50 years ago) 01 Through WestBow Press, John M. Rozeboom ’64 has published Rounding Third and Headed For Home: Memories and Reflections. In it, John tells his story of growing up on a family farm, attending Christian schools, and teaching and coaching for 42 years at South Christian High School in Grand Rapids and at Lynden Christian School in Lynden, Wash.

Calvin connections abound! The book is available through the Calvin Campus Store.

Between 2006 and 2018, Jack Fennema ’65 traveled to China 40 times as a teacher-education volunteer, training teachers and assisting in the establishment of Christian schools. Jack also reports that several thousand books of Christian theology and practice, translated through The Reformation Translation Fellowship, have been distributed to Chinese house church pastors and lay people.

02 In January, Wipf & Stock Publishers released Broken Glass, a novel by Mary Petter VanderGoot ’68.

First in a trilogy, the book follows Maggie, the mother of four adult children who are navigating complicated lives while blaming their parents for the way they were raised. Maggie must face her own ghosts to see where she can mend relationships and make room in her heart to accept her family as it is. Mary

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credits a writer’s group and a reader’s group, most of whose members are Calvin alums, for encouraging her in this venture. The book is available through the Calvin Campus Store.

1970s IFSF Publishing has recently released That Treeplanting Story, a new fiction collection by Dan De Vries ’70. The book’s eight tales, including two of novella length, are set in or around tree-planting camps in British Columbia.

The first four stories were awarded an Avery Hopwood Prize in major fiction at the University of Michigan in 1980.

Springer recently published Introduction to Discrete Mathematics via Logic and Proof by Calvin Jongsma ’70 as a part of its Undergraduate Texts in Mathematics series. Calvin based his text on three decades of teaching discrete mathematics to mathematics, computer science, and engineering students. He notes that the book takes “a unique approach to core topics in discrete mathematics by starting with a systematic study of the fundamentals of mathematical proof.” Calvin is an emeritus professor of mathematics at Dordt University in Sioux Center, Iowa.

03 From November 20 through December 15, Jessica VerWys Powell ’72 took the stage in the role of Momo in the San Jose Stage Company’s production of The Humans. As Momo, Jessica played the family grandmother suffering with Alzheimer’s. The tragicomedy

won the 2016 Tony Award for best play and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in drama that year.

Last November, voters in the second ward of Kentwood, Mich., elected Ron Draayer ’74 to represent them on the Kentwood City Commission. Ron retired in 2017 from Davenport University, where he was an associate professor in the College of Technology, specializing in cyber security and disaster recovery.

Performing a Christian Life: God and the Good Life is the title of a new book by Thomas D. Kennedy ’75. In it, he hopes to help general readers think carefully and deeply about their Christian identity and what it looks like to live well. Now a professor of philosophy and dean of the Evans School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences at Berry College in Mount Berry, Ga., Tom taught at Calvin early in his career—from 1982–1984. In the book’s acknowledgements, he notes his debt to Calvin philosophy department icons Richard Mouw (HON) and Nick Wolterstorff ’55.

Thomas D. Kennedy wrote a new book called Performing a Christian Life: God and the Good Life.

’75

04 In January, Al Bilthouse ’77 and

Bill Alphenaar ’78, pictured here on Maui, rented and rode motorcycles on three of the Hawaiian Islands. With that ride, they completed their quest to ride motorcycles in all 50 states and every Canadian province and territory except Nunavut. The pair rode just under 40,000 miles in five years!

They report making Calvin connections from Newfoundland to Hawaii, “often in unlikely places.”

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CLASS NOTES

06

05

05 Last September, Erik “Rick” Spykman

Bruce Rottman has been selected for the University of Chicago’s Outstanding Educator Award.

’80 40

’77 and his wife, Rhonda, set out from Holland, Mich., in their Carver 460 Voyager to navigate America’s Great Loop, a 6,000-mile voyage that circumnavigates the eastern half of the United States. After crossing Lake Michigan to Hammond, Ind., they proceeded along the Calumet, Illinois, Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee, and Tombigbee Rivers to Mobile Bay, Ala., then east along the Florida panhandle. After spending the holidays and January in Florida, they cast off again in early February, heading up the eastern seaboard to close the loop back to Michigan. Rick and Rhonda are keeping a journal/blog of their daily experiences. Follow their adventure at rickandrhondaontheloop.com.

Just released in March by Tyndale House Publishers is Hunger Winter: A World War II Novel by Rob Currie ’79. The novel tells the story of 13-year-old Dirk, who leads his little sister across the war-ravaged Netherlands in a search for their father, a fighter in the Dutch Resistance. Kirkus Reviews calls the book “a gritty but hopeful wartime thriller.”

1980s Bruce Rottman ’80, who has taught high school humanities, economics, and American government classes at Providence School in Santa Barbara for the past 11 years, has been selected for the University of Chicago’s Outstanding Educator Award. First-year students at the university are invited to nominate an educator who has influenced them, challenged them, or helped them along the path toward intellectual growth. A student from the Providence graduating class of 2019 nominated Bruce for

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teaching him “about ideas and for showing me why they matter.” Bruce was also the recipient of the NASDAQ Award, presented to the top five economic educators in the nation in 2000, and was twice the recipient of awards presented by the Wisconsin Council on Economic Education.

06 Kevin Adams ’82 has written a new book. The Gospel in a Handshake: Framing Worship for Mission, published

by Wipf and Stock, “helps readers revel in the mission of the timeless liturgy,” Kevin says. He has also authored 150: Finding Your Story in the Psalms. Kevin and his wife, Gerry Meninga Adams ’82, founded Granite Springs Church in 1991, a congregation that helped inspire a movement of church planting in the Sacramento area. The book is available through the Calvin Campus Store.

After 35 years of continuous service as an educator, Gert Van Der Groef Sweeney ’84 has retired. She began her career with the state of Massachusetts at the Fernald State School in Waltham as a recreation therapist and adapted physical education instructor for three years. For the next 32 years, she served as a physical education and health teacher, cluster coordinator, and administrator in the Boston Public School system.

07 Scott Schrotenboer ’84 has joined Grand River Bank (GRB) in Grandville, Mich., as its vice president of commercial banking. Prior to joining GRB, Scott was vice president of business banking at Huntington Bank for nine years and, before that, vice president of commercial lending at Macatawa Bank for 12 years.

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These six friends from the Class of ’83 met on the first floor of Beets-Veenstra. They’ve reunited regularly since graduation, and every year for the past 18, they’ve taken a weekend trip together. Last September, they enjoyed a beautiful weekend in Winter Park, Colo. From left: Patti Bakker Wallinga, Judi Slenk Nykamp, Cheryl Pothoven Stark, Sherry Veenema Merz, Sandi Wolthuis Veenstra, Lori Vanderlaan Weesies.

09 Dan Van Kooten ’84 and Andrea Harms Van Kooten ’86 had never heard of the Camino de Santiago, until they watched and listened to Justin Skeesuck and Patrick Gray tell their story in a 2017 January Series presentation. Lifelong friends, the two men made the 500-mile pilgrimage across Spain with Gray pushing Skeesuck in his wheelchair. Last fall, the men led the first “I’ll Push You Accessible Camino,” with Dan and Andrea along as part of a group that included 10 people in wheelchairs, one sight-impaired person, and 37 “pushers.” Together, they completed the last 70 miles of the Camino in six days. Andrea writes, “It was an amazing adventure—a taste of heaven!”

In February, Dan Takens ’88 became the new president of Exalta Health in Grand Rapids, Mich. Retiring and handing the position over to Dan was another Calvin grad, Bill Paxton ’74. Dan comes to the post after three decades in public education, the last 11 of which were spent as superintendent of the Byron Center School District. Exalta Health provided free or almost-free medical and dental care to nearly 2,500

Abigail Noble ’89 was one of 100 women honored with a She Leads Michigan Award in 2019. Presented

by Nations Light Ministries, the award recognizes Michigan women of faith who serve in various areas. Abby is the founder of Michigan Health care Freedom, a nonprofit that works to inform the public about state healthcare policies and lawmakers about the practical health care concerns of Michigan citizens. She has testified many times before state legislative committees and speaks often to both local groups and individuals about their health care policy concerns.

1990s In October 2019, Elevate Studio in Grand Rapids, Mich., received a design award in the Unbuilt Projects category from the city’s affiliate of the American Institute of Architects. Elevate won the award for their work on a hospital chapel complex at the American Mission Hospital in A’ali, Bahrain.

The winning design draws heavily on the experiences of lead designer Jim VanderMolen ’82 with cultural artifacts and local customs around the project site. Four of Elevate’s other eight employees are also Calvin grads: Steve Fridsma ’91, Mary Wolters Fridsma ’91, Jana Van Singel Cooper ex ’95, and Michael McKinnon ’12.

This academic year, Crossroads School in Longmont, Colo., has been celebrating its 10th anniversary in a new, larger building with 40-plus students.

The school opened in 2010 with four students, providing an alternative, faith-based education for at-risk youth.

Barb Howerzyl Bulthuis ’92 is the school’s executive director and founder.

Keith Hekman ’92 has co-authored the recently released Liengme’s Guide to Excel 2016 for Scientists and Engineers: Windows and Mac. The book is an updated, straightforward guide for those using Microsoft’s Excel 2016, taking readers from basic principles to more complicated areas. Keith is a professor of aerospace, industrial, and mechanical engineering at California Baptist University.

PHOTO CREDIT: BRENDA BREWER

patients in 2018, relying on some 240 doctors, dentists, nurses, and other health professionals who volunteer their time.

Amy Alderink is the executive director of Homecor, a nonprofit organization that provides assistance to homeowners in Holland’s core neighborhoods.

ALUMNI HIGHLIGHT

When a roof is more than a roof Amy Bosgraaf Alderink ’94 began her career jumping in construction dumpsters.

Some days she still does.

A Latin and biology major, Alderink realized while doing her student teaching that she would be “a horrible teacher.” She went home to her family’s construction business in Holland, Michigan, and drove the waste truck, trying to figure out what to do next.

“I was surprised how much I liked the business,” Alderink said. “I never took a business class at Calvin, but I did learn to think independently, critically, and creatively.” Soon she was the growing company’s “chief creative officer.”

Since the recession of 2007–2008, Alderink has channeled her construction creativity into the Holland nonprofit Homecor. As executive director, she oversees two types of projects.

The attention-getting project type is wholehouse renovation in the city’s core neighborhoods, like one that neighborhood kids called “the spooky house.” Vacant for 40 years, its roof leaked, and it was full of mold. With donations and zero-interest loans, Homecor purchased the house, gutted it, renovated it, and sold it to a first-time homebuyer.

“It’s the drip of encouragement that spreads the ripple,” Alderink said. “Disheartened neighbors see the change and want to invest in their own property.”

The quieter of Homecor’s two project types is its grant program.

“The city has programs to help low-income homeowners make structural repairs,” Alderink explained. “We bridge the gap for those who can’t meet all the city’s rules or can’t afford their portion of the repair. We also offer grants for curb-appeal improvements and energy efficiency.”

The get-the-job-done nature of Homecor suits her perfectly, Alderink said.

“I’m task oriented. But sometimes I meet a homeowner who tells me, ‘We just went through two years of cancer treatments, and the roof was the last thing we could think of.’ I looked at it as a roof. They needed a roof, we gave them a roof.

But God reminds me that it’s more than a roof.”

To see pictures of renovations and to learn more about Homecor, visit homecor.org.

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CLASS NOTES

ALUMNI HIGHLIGHT

Spreading the power of baby plants “I felt very grounded and alive.

And I knew my path: to connect people with powerful plants.”

By every external measure, Stephen Cowan ’08 was a success. Ten years after graduation, he had become very good at selling business software and had every material comfort. Inside he was crumbling.

“I was living an artificial existence— artificial food, artificial air, in a building with 1,000 computers all day,” Cowan said. “Anxiety was building, dipping me in and out of depression and apocalyptic thoughts. In that moment of extreme defeat, my intuition screamed, ‘Go back to nature, connect with plants.’”

Knowing he needed something more immersive than the forest reserve outside Chicago where he grew up, Cowan booked a one-way ticket to Iquitos, Peru, in the heart of the Amazon. For four months, indigenous people taught him the wonders of jungle plants.

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“My health came back quickly,” Cowan said. “I felt very grounded and alive.

And I knew my path: to connect people with powerful plants.”

That path led him, back in the States, to microgreens—specifically broccoli microgreens, the 10- to 14-day-old shoots of the plant, when its nutrients are more concentrated than in any other stage of growth. Broccoli microgreens are the superfood of the superfood. According to Cowan, they pack 40 times as much sulforaphane—a potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compound—as mature broccoli.

But microgreens are delicate, hard to transport, and expensive. How do I get them to more people? Cowan wondered.

Along the path of trial and error, he arrived at: tea. In November 2018, Cowan launched Microtea, a line of tea

and herb blends infused with freezedried broccoli microgreens. It’s the first shelf-stable microgreen product sold in the U.S. While production has more than tripled, Cowan’s mission is bigger than selling microgreen tea.

“We want to supply and empower other companies to put microgreens, this medicinal magic, into their products, helping more people come into balance and live their best lives.”

To learn more, visit drinkmicrotea.com.

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10 “Always travel with Calvin gear!”

That’s the advice of James Dirksen ’93 and Sarah Koopsen Dirksen ’93.

While on vacation in Washington, D.C., with their daughters, Claire and Carly, they visited a friend, a Navy captain stationed at the Pentagon. In the hall, they spied another Calvin alum— Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos ’79 and husband Dick DeVos. No photos are allowed in the Pentagon, and Secret Service officers hovered, but the Dirksens were not deterred. Sarah pulled a Calvin College sweatshirt out of her daughter’s backpack and waved it at the DeVoses. A meeting and rule-breaking photo (with the permission of the Secretary) followed. Sarah even told Betsy DeVos about the time she helped with childcare for a women’s Bible study at the DeVos home. “It was a great day to be a Knight!” Sarah said.

11 In a new position as superintendent of Ravenna (Mich.) Public Schools, Greg Helmer ’94 has published Lead with Endurance. Greg writes, “Learning how to endure through life and leadership is one of my motivating factors in writing this book. Leadership is not a title. It’s a behavior and action that anyone can live.” An educator for 25 years, Greg was named a National Distinguished Principal of the Year in 2013 by the National Association of Elementary School Principals.

12 Jordan Buning ’94 has been named the new president of ddm marketing & communications in Grand Rapids. A 25-year-veteran of the industry, Jordan has been with ddm since 2001, holding a variety of account leadership roles and serving as a principal for more than five years.

“Two Calvin grads putting their education to waste.” On that tagline,

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Jason Stoub ’93 and Chad Stoub ’96 built EverKept, a garbage business that grew from 33 customers into the largest residential waste-hauling service in west Michigan. The brothers prided themselves on personal service, hustle, and innovation. In January, they sold EverKept to Arrowaste, another local waste hauler—also owned by Calvin grads. Tom Yonker ’79 and sons Kyle Yonker ’03 and Chad Yonker ’08 are assuring customers that the change simply means “more Calvin grads putting their education to waste.”

That also includes Arrowaste’s director of operations, Chris Greendyke ’98.

Last November, the Virginia Art Educators Association honored Julia Schickel ’97 with its Virginia Elementary Art Educator of the Year award. Julia teaches art at Stratford Landing Elementary School in Fairfax County.

Lisa Huisman Koops ’99 is the author of Parenting Musically, a new release from Oxford University Press. Based on her fieldwork with a diverse group of families in the Cleveland area, Lisa argues that there are many approaches to parenting musically and that celebrating this diversity is key to family engagement in music. A professor of music education at Case Western Reserve University, Lisa researches the interplay of enjoyment and agency in children’s and families’ musical play. She also teaches music and movement courses for young children at The Music Settlement in Cleveland.

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In 2009, Melody Orr Vander Weide ’99 launched GRKIDS.com.

She’s still its “chief fun finder,” and in ten years, has grown the business into a publishing company that includes

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five websites and one print magazine, 12 part-time employees, and 30 contractors across three cities.

Melody says she “has a heart for moms in the workplace and does the working-mom-juggle dance along with them.” She’s now sleuthing out adult fun in west Michigan for her latest venture, HeyGR.com, with offerings like, “15 Ridiculously Adventurous Grand Rapids Date Nights You Have to Try,” and “12 Grand Rapids Coffee Shops for Caffeine Lovers.”

2000s Gezellig Brewing Company in Newton, Iowa, had been open just four months when it captured two silver medals at the 2019 Great American Beer Festival.

The world’s largest commercial beer competition awarded the medals to Gezellig for its Belgian-style fruit beer entry and its entry in the south German-style hefeweizen category.

Gezellig is a Dutch word suggesting conviviality, warmth, a sense of well-being in the presence of others.

Helping create that sense at the brewery is co-owner Mindi Andringa Vanden Bosch ’00.

The Vantage Group, a management consulting firm based in Ada, Mich., has hired Missy Kuiper Jackson ’01 as a managing partner. Before going to The Vantage Group, Missy worked for furniture maker Herman Miller as the lead strategist overseeing the sales enablement and strategic selling programs.

Julia Schickel was honored as the Virginia Elementary Art Educator of the Year.

’97

A trio of Calvin alums have co-edited The Routledge Handbook of Adoption.

Elisha Lee Marr ’98, Emily Geenen Helder ’03, and Gretchen Braymer Wrobel ’11 compiled the newly released volume to offer contemporary scholarship from a variety of disciplines on adoption 43

CLASS NOTES

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as it’s practiced around the world. The perspectives of biological/first parents, adoptive parents, and adopted individuals are represented.

Esther Hui is part of a research team at the University College London that aims to be the first to develop a complex intervention for moderate to severe dementia.

’14 44

Last fall, Grand Rapids Business Journal named its annual class of 40 Under 40 Business Leaders, and three Calvin alumni were among them. They are: Luis Avila ’05, an attorney and partner at Varnum Law focused on labor, employment litigation, and immigration issues; Mike Goorhouse ’08, president and CEO of the Community Foundation of Holland/Zeeland; and Attah Obande ’03, director of dream fulfillment at SpringGR, a business training camp.

The honor took into consideration their business success, entrepreneurial leadership, and community service.

In November, Noah Kruis ’03 was ordained a Minister of the Word in the Christian Reformed Church in North America for his work as a national organizer and trainer at Crossroads Antiracism Organizing & Training. The group offers institutions, congregations, denominations, nonprofits, and other workplaces a systemic analysis of racism and trains transformation teams within those organizations.

Jordan Northrup ’04 has served three combat tours to Iraq and Afghanistan.

But the real war for him was the one he describes in his book, The War Inside: Finding Victory over Alcohol. A “blackout drunk,” by his description, for 14 years, Jordan claimed his first day of sobriety on April 19, 2014, when, he says, “God showed up in a major way and transformed my life.” Jordan uses his book and speaking opportunities to tell people “what God has done, and that true freedom is found in Jesus Christ.”

A major in the U.S. Marine Corps, he is now stationed at Quantico, Va.

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14 Kristin Kosowski Newton ’06 was recently named Elementary School Teacher of the Year of the Little Elm (Texas) Independent School District.

Kristin teaches art to students in kindergarten through fifth grade.

Though she struggled with academics, Kristin says she found her confidence in art classes, encouraged by her own elementary school art teacher. She says she’s paying her gratitude forward now, hoping to be the same kind of encourager to her students.

Jeri Meninga Wieringa ’08 is finishing her first year as an assistant professor in the department of religious studies at the University of Alabama. A digital historian, Jeri’s expertise is in using and building digital tools for use in humanities research.

15 Tyler Harms ’09 has been teaching in elementary and secondary classrooms for 10 years, and now he’s collected some of his learning—and that of other experienced educators around the country—in a book for teachers just beginning their careers. Teaching for God’s Glory: Daily Wisdom and Inspiration for New Teachers covers topics like behavior management, collaborating with colleagues, and maintaining a healthy work-life balance. The book provides a page for journaling the week’s successes, opportunities for growth, and prayer requests every Friday.

2010s Joshua Engelsma ’10 has written a new dating guide. Titled Dating Differently: A Guide to Reformed Dating, the book’s chapters offer advice on subjects overarching (“Where Is This Headed?”) and particular (“What’s There to Do on a Date?”). Joshua writes from Doon, Iowa, where he pastors Doon Protestant Reformed Church. The book is published by the Reformed Free Publishing Association.

16 Kari Holmgren Veenstra ’10 credits Twitter for the publication of her first novel. She submitted the manuscript of her teen science-fiction/fantasy novel, The Rescuer, to a competition advertised on the social media site and won mentorship with a published author.

Following the mentorship, the book’s first chapter was displayed on the competition’s website, where it caught the attention of the acquisitions editor at INtense Publications. The story follows a 15-year-old boy living 500 feet below the surface of a drowned planet who gambles his family’s one chance at a better future to help a missing friend.

Wave Function, a poetry chapbook by Colleen “Coco” Keehl ’12, was recently published by Ursus Americanus Press.

Coco is also the founder of GRAVITON, a science-inspired poetry magazine.

Her chapbook is available online.

Esther Hui ’14 is part of a research team at University College London (UCL) that aims to be the first to develop a complex intervention for moderate to severe dementia within the Medical Research Framework and in two countries at the same time. UCL is a world-leading institute for dementia research. Esther’s PhD supervisor, Aimee Spector, co-invented Cognitive Stimulation Therapy, the primary psychosocial intervention in memory clinics in the United Kingdom and used in over 30 countries for mild to moderate dementia. There is no effective treatment for severe dementia. Esther’s first year of research is funded, but she’s crowdfunding for the second and third years. To find out why and to learn more about her research, email her at esther.hui.19@ucl.ac.uk.

Peninah Kimiri has worked with communities like the Maasai in East Africa.

ALUMNI HIGHLIGHT

‘I’m not Jesus, but I can make a difference’ Peninah Kimiri ’11 had been a counselor at the Gender Violence Recovery Center in Nairobi for five days when the youngest survivor ever admitted was brought to the medical center: a 4-week-old baby, penetrated by her father. Within the same month, the center admitted its oldest survivor: a 105-year-old woman gang raped by seven teenaged boys.

“I was traumatized,” Kimiri said, “but I thought, ‘I’m not going to let this break me; I can make a difference.’”

For the next four years, she counseled survivors of gender-based violence (GBV) and their families and led programs for their medical, psychosocial, and legal care. She also helped provide them protection, which included rescuing women and girls from abusive, violent

situations. She has arrow wounds to show for it.

“Very quickly I knew that my purpose in life was to bring back meaning to the lives of survivors and their families,” she said.

Nonprofits across East Africa began inviting Kimiri to help their communities—including nomadic communities, like the Maasai, and those in active war zones—set up services and raise awareness about GBV. After four years serving 14,000 GBV survivors—only 120 of whom won convictions against perpetrators— “I burned out,” she said. “The case that broke me was taking in a woman with a machete in her head.”

Kimiri took a step back, advocating, writing policies, speaking to the African Union, and mentoring young survivors on how to speak to policymakers.

Another step back took her to Myanmar to help enhance GBV support services for internally displaced persons in the country’s north.

Now Kimiri is back home. Working for CARE Canada, she travels to active conflict zones around the world, advising local partners and leaders on GBV services. But Kenya is her base— and Kenyan women her heart.

“Very quickly I knew that my purpose in life was to bring back meaning to the lives of survivors and their families.”

“I want to continue what I started here.

Kenya now has very good GBV laws but terrible implementation. Working toward practice-change is the rest of my life’s mission.”

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William De Roo ’58 Nov. 23, 2019, Williamsville, N.Y.

Roger Mulder ’59 Nov. 21, 2019, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Carl Edewaard ex’56 Sept. 12, 2019, Holland, Mich.

Bernicejean Hoogsteen Reitsema ’43 Nov. 10, 2019, Castle Rock, Colo.

Jean Young Gaffin ’58 Mar. 15, 2019, Springfield, Va. Mary Tebrake Gage ’60 Nov. 1, 2019, North Oaks, Minn.

Nadine Tubergen Garber ’60 Nov. 2, 2019, Astoria, Ore. Rachel Vanderbilt Greenfield ’65 July 14, 2018, Milwaukee, Wis. Jane Hoexum Haan ex’57 Aug. 19, 2019, Jenison, Mich.

Clarence Henze ex’47 July 19, 2019, Holland, Iowa

Deaths

Marvin Hooker ’52 Oct. 7, 2019, Crestwood, Ill.

HERITAGE

Adele Ekema Hoving ’55 Oct. 20, 2019, Norman, Okla.

Jason Alofs ’61 Oct. 6, 2019, Holland, Mich.

Lester Ippel ex’48 Jan. 4, 2020, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Wanda Faber Arenz ’61 Jan. 6, 2020, Cass Lake, Minn.

Jerald Jarsma ex’57 Feb. 23, 2019, Kalamazoo, Mich.

Harry Arnold ’50 June 16, 2019, Portage, Mich.

Gertrude Kamps ’55 Nov. 5, 2019, Modesto, Calif.

Gerrit Bieze ’58 Dec. 15, 2019, Grand Rapids, Mich.

John Klanderman ’61 Oct. 8, 2019, West Chester, Pa.

Kathleen Dekker Bossenbroek ex’67 Jan. 29, 2019, Columbus, Ohio

Edward Knott ’44 Nov. 29, 2019, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Albertus Bratt ’55 Dec. 11, 2019, Grand Rapids, Mich.

James Chambery ’55 Nov. 19, 2019, Port Saint Lucie, Fla. Marcia Vanden Berg Cook ’68 Oct. 23, 2019, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Jackson Day ’55 Nov. 1, 2019, Jenison, Mich.

Betsy VanHalsema DeKorne ’45 Nov. 29, 2019, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Jack DeMaagd ’68 Oct. 19, 2019, Kalamazoo, Mich.

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Barbara Poel Hoekema ’69 May 23, 2019, Grand Rapids, Mich.

John Koopmans ex’55 May 11, 2019, Newbury Park, Calif.

Alice Koster ’66 Nov. 7, 2019, Mendham, N.J.

Violet Droogsma Rens ex’46 Oct. 29, 2019, Milaca, Minn.

Bertha Ritsema Reynolds ex’49 Sept. 27, 2019, Denver, Colo.

Russell Ripma ex’51 Nov. 28, 2018, Grandville, Mich.

Esther Scholten Robbert ex’45 Oct. 26, 2019, Jenison, Mich.

Norman Roobol ’58 Oct. 11, 2019, Durham, N.C. Jackson Schutte ex’61 Aug. 5, 2018, Austin, Texas

1970s William Brouwers Jr. ’72 June 14, 2019, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Vonda Essenburg ’74 Oct. 20, 2019, Byron Center, Mich.

William Hartman Jr. ’70 Nov. 12, 2019, Pella, Iowa Fred Sterenberg ’74 Nov. 29, 2019, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Russell Van Antwerpen ’77 Oct. 3, 2019, Southampton, Pa. Ryan Veeneman ’75 May 30, 2019, Kentwood, Mich.

Lucile Steigenga Wolthuis ex’76 Jan. 25, 2020, Grand Rapids, Mich.

1980s

Fred Steensma ’59 Oct. 16, 2019, Fairport, N.Y.

Daniel Pott ’80 Nov. 14, 2019, Hudsonville, Mich.

Nancy DeVos Stehouwer ’74 Nov. 20, 2019, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Donald Vander Kolk ’85 Nov. 14, 2019, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Kenneth Stoub ’64 Oct. 5, 2019, Stockton, Calif.

Brian Vredevoogd ’83 Oct. 26, 2019, Spring Lake, Mich.

Meredith Ter Horst ’65 Oct. 9, 2019, Grand Rapids, Mich.

2000s

Laura VanderZee Vanden Bosch ex’58 Jan. 23, 2020, Holland, Mich.

Frederick Van Dyk ’57 May 7, 2019, Kentwood, Mich.

Gordon Van Enk ’62 Oct. 12, 2019, Torrance, Calif.

Alice Laughlin Veldhuis ex’44 Feb. 20, 2019, Jefferson, Ga. William Venema ex’52 Oct. 28, 2019, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Ronald Kunnen ex’53 Nov. 16, 2019, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Arlene VandenBosch Ver Beek ex’60 July 16, 2019, Cedar Lake, In.

Mary Lappinga Ligus ’57 June 30, 2019, Jacksonville, Fla.

Carl Vlietstra ex’62 Sept. 3, 2019, Fort Collins, Colo.

Fay Ammermann Marcus ex’62 Jan. 1, 2019, Phoenix, Ariz.

Viola Steigenga Vogel ’49 Oct. 10, 2019, Prescott, Ariz.

Donald Meindertsma ’59 Jan. 2, 2020, Laguna Niguel, Calif.

Betty De Vries Wigboldy ex’51 Oct. 21, 2019, Lynden, Wash.

Arlene Van Zoest Moll ’54 Sept. 18, 2019, Willard, Ohio

Alan Zoet ex’66 Oct. 21, 2019, Grandville, Mich.

Sarah Althaus Trowbridge ’09 Jan. 7, 2020, Chicago, Ill.

2010s Tyson Butler ’18 Jan. 20, 2020, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Gentry Kestner ’13 Nov. 2, 2019, Lakeview, Mich.

ANDREW PREZIOSO, 1999–2020 The power of a single voice.

Andrew Prezioso knew that well. And so he used his well.

To sing. To laugh. To encourage.

“He brought light to the people he was around and made them feel special,” said Jill Geyer, who led the Wilderness Orientation trip Andrew was on the summer before he started at Calvin.

“I can picture him on the beach of North Manitou Island at sunset, gleefully singing an assortment of musical numbers.

On another day, I remember him leading our orientation group in worship with his eyes closed in his smooth strong voice.”

Andrew’s singing voice was something that caught everyone’s attention.

“He had a beautiful, wonderful, larger-than-life singing voice,” said Derek Ten Pas, an engineering major who lived in the same residence hall with Andrew freshman year.

His singing was enjoyed in Beets-Veenstra residence hall, where he led dorm worship as a Barnabas, in impromptu moments around campus, and in the university’s gospel choir.

His singing voice will be remembered, but so will his “contagious laugh.”

“Many times at dorm events I remember knowing he was there before seeing him, just because of his laughter,” said Ten Pas. “It was the kind of laughter that prompted you to laugh, even if you just found something mildly funny.”

There was no denying that Andrew’s voice could carry in groups. But it wielded its greatest power in quieter, more intimate settings.

“It was evident that he had a passion for people and a passion to learn more about God. He was quick to affirm people when they shared something in Bible study,” said Ten Pas. “He let them know that their voice mattered and was valued.”

Andrew died Jan. 16, 2020.

He is survived by his parents, Pam and Donald; his brother, Michael; and his grandparents.

The Calvin University community reminds anyone who is struggling with mental health issues to seek help. The National Suicide Prevention Hotline is 1-800-273-8255.

OLIVIA HAVERKAMP, 2001–2020 Olivia Haverkamp, 18, a first-year student studying biology at Calvin University, died Jan. 26 following a three-year battle with a rare childhood cancer.

During those three years, her disease did not define her.

“In class, I will remember her more for what she didn’t say than for what she did,” said Kate van Liere, professor of history. “She never said a word about her illness.”

“She never complained about it.

In fact, she rarely talked about it,” said Sadie Kornoelje, a first-year student at Calvin who was Olivia’s lab partner at Grand Rapids Christian High School when she learned of her cancer diagnosis.

It wasn’t that Olivia was shirking reality. It was that she was embracing a much greater reality. She knew who she was and whom she belonged to.

And that confidence inspired those she met.

“Olivia lived her life with purpose,” said Anna Sytsema, Haverkamp’s roommate, “and nothing was going to take that mindset away from her.”

And her understanding of her purpose translated into an unparalleled resilience and perseverance.

“Whether or not she was really confident about beating the disease, there was no doubt about her confidence that she was in God’s hands and that he would take care of her. That sense of trust and faith really inspired me,” said van Liere.

Olivia saw every day as a gift, gave each day her whole heart, and found joy in everything.

“Olivia loved loving,” said Sytsema.

“As long as I’ve known her, she has been the most positive, joyful, and thoughtful friend I’ve ever known,” said Hannah Rusticus, a first-year Calvin student and close friend of Haverkamp.

“Kindness was her defining characteristic,” added her dad, Brad Haverkamp.

Olivia is survived by her parents, Brad and Cindy (Folkert) Haverkamp; sisters Caroline and Maria Haverkamp; grandmother, Carol Folkert; and grandparents William and Marybeth Haverkamp.

IN MEMORIAM 47

AL BRATT, 1933–2019 Al Bratt was an explorer. He was constantly learning something new about God’s creation. And he loved sharing these experiences with his students. Whether introducing students to unique creatures in a lab in DeVries Hall or trudging through swamps and fields as students identified insects, for 39 years, Bratt helped Calvin students fall in love with the natural world.

Bratt, 86, died Dec. 11, 2019.

“The best was when he brought in marine creatures that most of us had never heard of (let alone seen!),” said Elisabeth Hunt, a 1988 Calvin grad.

Hunt worked in one of Bratt’s labs as an animal caretaker.

She had a front-row seat to witness his enthusiasm for the animal kingdom.

“I remember he’d stroll in where I was working, ubiquitous sucker in his mouth, and announce ‘The shipment’s coming tomorrow.’

That was my warning that I had about 12 hours to set up individual tanks for a couple dozen amazing animals.”

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Bratt opened doors for students to study invertebrate zoology, animal diversity, ecology, and entomology at Calvin. He even led interim courses in marine biology and parasitology. But, for all the doors he opened for students, it was his physical office door being open that meant the most.

“Al was a friend to students,” said John Ubels, biology professor emeritus who was a student of Bratt’s and was a colleague of his for one year at Calvin. “His door was always open, and he hung out in the labs and halls with us chatting and laughing.”

Bratt, who was known as Calvin’s “bug specialist,” leaves a deep legacy: one that shows much respect and admiration for God’s creation, a great love for his students and colleagues, and an insatiable curiosity for the natural world.

Bratt is survived by his wife, Marilyn; their children, Debra (Bruce) Tiejema, Linda (Bill) Veldboom, Pamela (Karl Kinkema) Bratt, and Dirk (Cindy) Bratt; seven grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

RUTH RUS, 1927–2019 For Ruth Rus, every person and every musical note mattered.

Rus, 92, taught in Calvin’s music department for three decades.

She died Nov. 16, 2019.

“Ruth cared deeply. That care was expressed in her relationships with her colleagues and her students and with the Grand Rapids community,” said John Hamersma, one of her former colleagues. “Most importantly, she cared deeply about her music. This sensitivity shone in her own performances and in the performances of her students. Every note she played and every note she taught was caressed with great affection.”

It was a labor of love.

“She loved and understood every note she played,” said Howard Slenk, one of her former colleagues. “It was as though she had taken the piece apart and put it together again in a new and thrilling way.

“Ruth opened the glorious gates of music to me. She gave me a piano lesson when I was a sophomore at Calvin, long before she joined the music faculty here. After that one lesson, I knew music would be my major and my calling,” said Slenk, who 15 years later would find Rus to be a “supportive and inspiring colleague.”

“Ruth’s legacy lies mostly with her students and their achievements,” added Hamersma.

“I’m certain that is what Ruth wanted it to be. Her approach was to be humble and reverent in the presence of great music and to inspire those virtues in both her students and in her audiences.”

Rus is survived by her three children—Laurel (Don Bullick) Rus, Marvin (Heather Hutton) Rus, and Charles Rus—and three grandchildren. Rus was preceded in death by her husband, Louis.

JUNE HAMERSMA, 1929–2020 “People often ask me how I feel about taking on your shoes,” said Kristi Potter, the director of the January Series, at June Hamersma’s farewell luncheon in 2007, “and I tell them your shoes are too high and too colorful for me to fill, so I won’t even try, but I will gladly walk in your footsteps.”

Hamersma, 90, the founder of Calvin University’s award-winning lecture series, the January Series, died Feb. 16, 2020.

Hamersma’s colleagues remember her bright personality and colorful wardrobe, which both literally and figuratively illuminated Calvin’s campus each January. They remember how she channeled her high-energy, big personality, and persistence toward building a widely recognized, award-winning lecture series.

“She worked hard to make it into something really significant and respected,” said Potter, who worked with Hamersma for 12 years before taking over as series director.

“June Hamersma offered remarkable leadership at Calvin,

turning the January Series into a learning opportunity with a reach far beyond our campus community,” added John Witvliet, director of the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, and a friend of the family.

“The 300-plus lectures and events she hosted on campus over those 20 years brought thousands to our campus for the first time and showcased Calvin’s liberal arts vision in compelling ways.”

Potter says that June was certainly persistent and demanded excellence. And she had such high expectations because she believed in the value of Calvin’s mission.

“She wholeheartedly believed in the importance of a liberal arts education with a Christian perspective, and early on understood that a good education is one that teaches you how to think, not what to think,” said Potter.

June is survived by her husband, John, who was a professor of music at Calvin for 50 years; their children, John (Glenie) Hamersma and Mary (Ken) Baas; and four grandchildren.

BOB DEKRAKER, 1954–2020 “There was a lot more that he did than we ever realized,” said Gayle Ermer, chair of Calvin’s engineering department, of longtime Calvin University employee Bob DeKraker.

Bob DeKraker, 65, died of cancer on Feb. 19, 2020. He worked at Calvin for more than three decades, and since 2001 as the laboratory manager for engineering.

“He was one of the first people I met when I began teaching at Calvin. He helpfully introduced himself and offered assistance with all things related to technology and laboratories,” said Matt Heun, professor of engineering. “True to his offer and for all of my 18 years at Calvin, Bob unfailingly provided prompt and courteous support. He was a rock of the engineering department. To the extent that our trains ran on time, it was thanks to him.”

While students had a limited view of the work Bob did on their behalf, his investment in them defines his legacy at Calvin and contributed greatly to their success.

“A visual memory I have of Bob is when he helped with the Engineering 101 bottle rocket project. He helped set up launchers, had to bring access to water and compressed air, and then he’d stay for all the labs and troubleshoot,” said Ermer. “Literally, I picture him wet up to the waist, kneeling in the mud, muddy and nasty, fixing stuff to make sure the students could do the work expeditiously.

He went above and beyond.”

“He always wanted the engineering students to shine on senior design night,” added Michelle Krul, administrative assistant for the engineering department. “He made sure they had whatever was needed so the students could have the spotlight that one Saturday every May. Bob was a faithful, honest, and good man—one of the true unsung heroes of Calvin.”

Bob is survived by his wife, Carol; children, Elizabeth (Kyle) Neher, Benjamin (Jessica) DeKraker, and Theodore DeKraker; and three grandchildren.

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