Campus News

Rankings show Calvin students benefit from campus diversity, excellence in teaching, and health and wellness services, among other things.

GUIDEBOOKS GIVE CALVIN HIGH MARKS

U.S. News & World Report ranks Calvin University fourth overall among Midwest regional universities. The digital news and information company helps prospective students and their families evaluate colleges and universities based on up to 17 measures of academic quality, such as first-year retention rates, graduation rates, and the strength of faculty.

In the Midwest Regional Universities category, Calvin University ranks #8 for “Best Undergraduate Teaching” and #2 for “Most International Students.” Calvin also continues to remain in the top 50 of the “Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs” list, which ranks all colleges and universities in the United States that are non-doctorate-granting institutions.

In addition to the U.S. News & World Report rankings, Calvin University also received high marks from a number of other leading rankings guidebooks, including Fiske Guide to Colleges, Forbes, Money, Niche,Washington Monthly, and the Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education, to name a sampling.

And the Princeton Review, which includes Calvin as one of the best institutions for undergraduates to earn their college degrees, also lists it as a top 10 school nationwide for its student support and counseling and wellness services, and in the top 20 nationwide for the 11th straight year for its health services.

Leaders toured Handlon Correctional Facility, met with CPI students, and engaged in a roundtable discussion regarding prison education.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION VISITS CALVIN PRISON INITIATIVE

In late August, leaders from the U.S. Department of Education visited Handlon Correctional Facility, Calvin’s second campus. This was undersecretary James Kvaal’s first visit to a prison. He and his team spent four hours touring the facility, where they talked with students in the program and participated in a roundtable discussion with state leaders, Calvin University and Calvin Theological Seminary administrators, and officials from the Michigan Department of Corrections, among others.

The leaders agreed CPI is a national model for prison education.

“[This program] really has a strong sense of mission, and it really has touched people’s lives and changed their lives, and I think that is an incredible opportunity for these students,” said Kvaal.

“Calvin, and the CPI program, is a leading exemplar of what high-quality prison education programs can be. We want to see more programs like this across the country,” said Amy Loyd, assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education.

“Now, with the visit today, we hope that this will be an opportunity to not only expand this in Michigan, but to expand this program across the United States for the benefit of those within,” said Dr. Wiebe Boer, president of Calvin University. “We look forward to further partnerships with the government to make this happen.”

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Find more campus news at calvin.edu/news.

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In November 2022, Calvin launched a national search for its first-ever football coach.

CALVIN ANNOUNCES NEW FOOTBALL PROGRAM AMONG OTHERS

Football is coming to Calvin University in 2023, with play starting in 2024. Calvin University’s Board of Trustees voted on and approved the university’s athletics strategic plan in late October, which includes adding women’s acrobatics and tumbling, men’s volleyball, and men’s American football to its portfolio of NCAA Division III athletic offerings. It also calls for an exploration of expanded ice hockey programs, including adding a women’s team.

“We are one of the premier athletics programs in all of Division III and so why not add more offerings that meet the needs of our students,” said Dr. Wiebe Boer, president of Calvin University. “By adding these sports, we are providing students who have competed throughout high school the opportunity to get the best Christian liberal arts education around and continue in the sport they love. It’s a win-win.”

The athletics strategic plan also includes a significant renovation and expansion of Calvin’s outdoor athletic facilities, including the construction of new outdoor facilities for soccer, lacrosse, and football.

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Read more football news

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Author and game show contestant Ken Jennings holds the record for the longest winning streak on Jeopardy!.

JANUARY SERIES ANNOUNCES 2023 LINEUP

The 2023 January Series lineup is now set. A NASA scientist, a former speechwriter for three U.S. presidents, and the holder of the longest winning streak on Jeopardy! are among an eclectic lineup who will discuss some of today’s important issues.

Each year, the January Series welcomes a worldwide audience. Last year, the series reached a record 100,000-plus viewers in 50 states and 52 countries spanning six continents.

“The number of people who join us speaks to both the quality of the programming we offer and the accessibility of these talks,” said Michael Wildschut, who is directing his first January Series. “When we learn more about the world, we will hopefully become a richer version of ourselves, and, in doing so, be better equipped to make this world a better place for all.”

The free lecture series’ 36th edition begins Monday, January 9, and runs 15 straight weekdays through Friday, January 27. The one-hour lectures begin at 12:30 p.m. EST in Calvin’s Covenant Fine Arts Center. Viewers can also enjoy presentations virtually, both live and until midnight PST, on the day of each presentation at calvin.edu/january. Dozens of remote webcast locations will also stream the series live. Find an updated list of viewing locations on the January Series website.

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Find more about the January Series at calvin.edu/january.

Calvin University president Dr. Wiebe Boer congratulates Rev. Dr. Michelle Loyd-Paige after she received the Dante Venegas Award.

DIVERSITY TRAILBLAZER WINS PRESTIGIOUS AWARD

Rev. Dr. Michelle Loyd-Paige, the executive associate to the president for diversity and inclusion at Calvin University, was named one of two recipients of the Dante Venegas Award. The award is the Office of Race Relations’ method for calling out distinguished leadership in diversity and racial justice work in the Christian Reformed Church. Loyd-Paige is being recognized for her work in a community setting.

For 37 years, Loyd-Paige has served Calvin University as a professor and administrator, most recently for nearly a decade in a cabinet-level position created to advance the university’s commitment to diversity and inclusion.

This is significant, considering that LinkedIn research shows the average turnover rate for a chief diversity officer is just three years, with many leaving because of a lack of resources, unrealistic expectations, and inadequate support from senior executives.

“Calvin’s aspirational mission and my personal mission are in alignment,” said Loyd-Paige, citing a key reason why she’s stayed at Calvin for so long. Over the years, she’s felt an obligation to continue her work, both to honor those who came before her and the generations that will call Calvin home in the future.

Jana Feuerstein, a first-year graduate student, works with a client at the on-campus clinic.

SPEECH PATHOLOGY GRADUATE PROGRAM BOOMING

More learners are choosing Calvin’s speech pathology graduate program because of the unparalleled preparation they receive, which includes a student earning more than 100 clinical hours right on campus during their first year in the program.

“This is one of the biggest selling points for students to join the program,” said Emily Vedra, the distance education manager for the Speech Pathology and Audiology Program. “It prepares students best for their second year when they go into hospitals and schools. They are ready to hit the ground running.”

Employers agree. “The Calvin students are provided with an incredible advantage coming into externships. They are introduced to technical and soft skills that are needed in their clinical placements,” said Karen Duffy, Spectrum Health’s Speech Language Pathology Clinical Education Coordinator. “The students have a grasp on standardized testing, documentation, and rapport building that sets them up with a foundation to build on and succeed.”

The School of Health’s speech pathology graduate program is also expanding to satisfy a growing demand in its more recently added online graduate program. Online students have access to similar resources as in-person graduate students, including to more than 20 practicing speech-language pathologists who are experts in voice, aphasia, child language, and adult neuro.

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Find out more Calvin’s online degrees at online.calvin.edu

In November, a group of first-generation students gathered for a photo near Hiemenga Hall.

INCOMING CLASS MOST DIVERSE, TOPS 1,000

More than 1,000 incoming students began their pursuit of an undergraduate or graduate degree at Calvin University in the fall of 2022.

The entering class of first-year students is record-setting in terms of ethnic and geographic diversity. This year’s incoming class hails from 42 U.S. states and 38 countries, both five-year highs for Calvin. Seventeen percent of the incoming class hails from outside the U.S., a record for the university.

In addition, Calvin’s 2022 class shows domestic diversity with 18 percent of the incoming students representing BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) populations, an institutional high. Also notable, the class’s average GPA, ACT, and SAT scores all either match or exceed the marks from the past five incoming classes. Calvin also experienced growth in firstgeneration students with more than a 20-percent increase year-over-year. It’s also the institution’s highest mark since 2018.

Calvin’s diversity is seen in its portfolio of learners, which has expanded in recent years to meet the needs of a changing environment and to provide more pathways to a Calvin education.

Today, Calvin serves traditional residential undergraduate and graduate students, students at the Handlon Campus through the Calvin Prison Initiative program, transfer students and online learners, and students in the university’s Ready for Life program. Calvin also serves adult learners who are seeking certificates.

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Find more campus news at calvin.edu/news. Jon VerLee ’07 will dedicate funds and time to grow entrepreneurship across disciplines.

STARTUP GARAGE

When alumnus Jon VerLee ’07 sold Breeze, a user-friendly church management software company, in 2011, he and his wife, Kerrie Notman VerLee ’07, wanted to bless others with what they saw God had entrusted to them. That evolved into the Calvin Startup Garage, an incubator that provides mentoring, funding, and community support to Calvin students from any major interested in starting their own businesses. “The purpose is to create 100 Christ-centered companies in the next 10 years,” said VerLee.

VerLee will volunteer his time over the next four years to be the director of the Startup Garage and an entrepreneur-in-residence. The VerLees plan to give $500,000 over that time to fund it, with part going toward operational expenses and part seeding an endowment that the university hopes to grow to $2 million, with the help of Calvin alums and friends of the university.

When VerLee started Breeze, his vision was to make the maximum possible impact, centering people over profit. It’s a vision that aligns with Calvin’s School of Business. Said VerLee, “The goal of a business is not to make money; money is a byproduct of creating real value in the world.”