The Tie That Binds

Even though the Christmas trees are decorated and we’re about to gather with friends and family to celebrate the holidays, I find myself still thinking about Homecoming & Family Weekend 2023. It was a weekend of Calvin at its finest—from student bed races and a root beer float party to athletic fields in full use. The Calvin Music Festival moved to Homecoming Weekend this year. Alumni Board members from around North America gathered on campus. Friday’s alumni chapel unified a packed house in meaningful worship. Runners of all ages filled the starting line for the Calvin Classic 5k, and the fieldhouse was transformed into a carnival space for all to enjoy. Brilliant early fall weather certainly helped set the tone, as did seeing roughly 3,000 fans show up to watch Calvin’s football team take to the field for an intrasquad scrimmage. It was epic.

But those happy memories weren’t the only highlights I took away from this year’s Homecoming; I also came away with a renewed sense of the most important thing that unites us as Calvin alums: our faith in Christ and a sense of calling to act as agents of change in his world.

In an ongoing effort to renew our Calvin celebrations, we again held a dinner on campus to honor our 2023 Distinguished Alumni Award winners. The Great Hall that night was filled with alumni who have contributed to Calvin’s success over the decades. In a poignant moment, we recognized seven former award winners in attendance. Current and former members of the Alumni Board, the Board of Trustees, Calvin’s current leadership team, academic deans, and many faculty members also joined us. It was a wonderful night to celebrate Calvin alumni.

Young Alumni Award winner Nate Knapper ’08 and Distinguished Alumni Award winners Betsy DeVos ’79 and Janne Ritskes ’80 each spoke about receiving their awards, what the experience meant to them, and how Calvin shaped them. We were treated to three very different stories, but what was remarkable was the common thread in each of their talks: the importance of faith and a sense of God’s calling, which spurred them on to address the brokenness they saw in the world around them.

It made me think about all of us as Calvin alumni around the world. We may all share a common diploma, but we are all different too—different majors, different careers, different geography, different ethnicities, different perspectives, different opinions. The list goes on. And yet, despite our differences, we are all united by our faith and God’s calling for each one of our lives. It’s a “tie that binds” and draws us into lives of meaning, purpose, and witness.

In this issue, beyond Homecoming and reading about our award winners, you’ll also get a chance to learn about what’s happening with Calvin’s off-campus pro- grams. You’ll take a step back in time to reflect on Calvin’s men’s basketball in the 1950s. And in this increasingly polarized world, you’ll read about what it means to demonstrate civic hospitality from Calvin alums who are incorporating its principles into their classrooms.

For me, the holidays are often a favorite time spent with family, friends, and warm memories. I pray that each one of us experiences the beauty of Christian unity as we collectively marvel in the miracle and joy of our salvation.

Soli Deo Gloria,

BY JEFF HAVERDINK ’97 DIRECTOR OF ALUMNI ENGAGEMENT

Rising In The Rankings

In its 2024 Best Colleges guidebook, U.S. News & World Report ranks Calvin University fourth overall in the Midwest Regional Universities category. The university is also considered top five in its category when it comes to undergraduate teaching, first-year retention, and international student enrollment.

The digital news and information company helps prospective students and their families evaluate 1,500 U.S. four-year bachelor’s degree-granting colleges and universities based on up to 19 measures of academic quality and graduate outcomes. These include such things as first-year retention rates, graduation rates, strength of faculty, and graduate indebtedness.

In addition to Calvin’s high rankings compared to other schools in their category, the university also stood out nationally, placing 35th out of all colleges and universities on a list that ranked the schools with the highest percentage of students who “had no financial need and who were awarded institutional non-need-based scholarship or grant aid.”

Calvin’s engineering program remains on the top 50 “Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs,” a list that ranks all colleges and universities in the United States that are non-doctorate granting institutions. The university also appears on lists that highlight the best computer science programs and best nursing programs in the country.

Announcing The 2024 January Series Lineup

The 2024 edition of Calvin University’s award-winning January Series features national podcasters and journalists, a world-renowned rock climber, a French American jazz pianist and composer, an American legal scholar, and a Pulitzer Prize-winning author.

The series is free and open to the public and runs for 15 straight weekdays, from Monday, January 15 through Friday, February 2.

A few notable names joining the series include Matthew Desmond, winner of the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction; Tim Dalrymple, president and CEO of Christianity Today, and Tommy Caldwell, who, in 2015, National Geographic called “arguably the best all-around rock climber on the planet.”

Perhaps the most unique experience will take place when renowned poet and threetime National Book Award finalist Marilyn Nelson joins Abram Van Engen ’03 and Joanne Diaz on stage for a live recording of their podcast Poetry for All. Alumna Niala Boodhoo ’96, an Axios journalist and podcast host, as well as guest host for 1A on NPR, will also present during the series.

The January Series runs from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. EST, Monday through Friday in Calvin’s Covenant Fine Arts Center. In 2024, attendees will be able to watch and listen to the 15 presentations virtually— both live and until midnight PST on the day of each presentation. Visit the January Series website to see the full lineup, to register to watch online, or to find a remote webcast location near you.

STAY CONNECTED

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

LAUNCHING THE WRITER-INRESIDENCE PROGRAM

This fall, the English department launched a Distinguished Writer-inResidence program. The program invites exceptional and celebrated authors into the Calvin community, providing students, faculty, and staff unique opportunities to learn from and forge relationships with top-tier literary talents.

Each September, a different world-class writer will come to Calvin to teach a creative writing intensive course, to interact with the campus community, and to give lectures both on campus and off. The writer will also be featured at the Festival of Faith and Writing, the signature event of the Calvin Center for Faith and Writing.

“Alongside the biennial Festival of Faith and Writing, this program helps make Calvin distinctive among its peers in offering students access to nationally recognized writers,” said Benita WoltersFredlund, academic dean of the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences.

National Book Award finalist Mitali Perkins spent this fall at Calvin as the inaugural writer-in-residence. She has authored many picture books and novels for young readers and has written a nonfiction book for adults about children’s literature. Her novel, You Bring the Distant Near, was nominated for a National Book Award and her latest book, Hope in the Valley, has received multiple starred reviews in leading publications.

Luminous Now Streaming On Kanopy

Luminous, a documentary that tells the story of the first astronomer in history to make a public prediction about the nearfuture explosion of a star, is now available to stream on Kanopy, the premiere streaming service for libraries and educational institutions.

The film, produced by Sam Smartt, an award-winning documentarian who is a professor of film and media at Calvin, follows astronomer Larry Molnar, a colleague of Smartt’s, on his journey of making the bold prediction and then testing its validity. His prediction’s success or failure plays out on the international stage.

A sneak peek screening of the film was held on Calvin’s campus in October 2021, which was attended by more than 500 people. The film made its official premiere in April 2022 at the Julien Dubuque International Film Festival in Iowa. It has since been screened more than 60 times at festivals, schools, amateur astronomical societies, and churches. The documentary has been featured in film festivals in Australia, France, Spain, the Netherlands, and across the United States, winning numerous awards.

Smartt sees the film’s streaming on Kanopy as the finish line to a nine-year project from pre-production to distribution— a project that involved more than a dozen Calvin students, alums, staff, and faculty.

STAY UPDATED

Read more or register for the upcoming Festival of Faith and Writing at ccfw.calvin.edu

STAY CONNECTED

Find more campus news at calvin.edu/news