Spark Magazine Winter 2024

SPARK

SOCCER GRAND OPENING

Top: Sarah Visser speaks at dedication of the new Calvin Soccer Stadium and Zuidema Field. Middle: Women’s soccer alumnae return home for the dedication.

Bottom: Men’s soccer defeats Kuyper College at the Homecoming soccer game.

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

TABLE OF CONTENTs

Calvin University is an educational institution of the Christian Reformed Church in North America (CRCNA). To learn more about the CRC’s work in North America and around the world, visit crcna.org

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 engagement, Calvin University, 3201 Burton St. SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546. ©2024 by the Calvin Alumni Association.

Telephone: 616-526-6142. Email: spark@calvin.edu Spark on the web: calvin.edu/spark

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FEATURES

10

SPACE TO THRIVE

Discover the Commons Union project and its impact on campus life.

14 REDEFINING THE MEANING AND VALUE OF WORK

Professor of communication

Craig Mattson and alumni offer insights about cultivating Christ-centered careers in a complex world.

18 FOOTBALL TAKES THE FIELD

Trent Figg isn’t just coaching Calvin’s new football team; he’s shaping well-rounded leaders.

Inaugural football season: “We want to be a transformational football program.” –Trent Figg (right), head coach, Calvin football.

THE CALVIN SPARK

Editor: Jeff Haverdink ’97

Managing Editor: Sara Korber-DeWeerd ’00

Editorial Assistant: Susan Buist ’98

Art Director: Amanda Impens

Designers:

Ben Carpenter ’25

Vicki Dolsen

Contributing Writers:

Meghan Huizenga

Sara Korber-DeWeerd ’00

Matt Kucinski HON

Contributing Photographers:

Christian Frazier

Ryan Humm

Johann Van Tassel ’27

Honglei Yang ’25

CALVIN ALUMNI ASSOCIATION BOARD

President: Tyler Amidon ’93 (Centennial, Colo.)

Vice President: Stephanie Vogelzang ’07 (Alexandria, Va.)

Secretary: Joe Allen ’13 (Grand Rapids, Mich.)

Treasurer: Adam Kinder ’06 (Ada, Mich.)

Executive Director: Jeff Haverdink ’97

Members:

Minwoo Heo ’09 (Arlington Heights, Ill.)

Carla de Jong Hiemstra ’94 (Visalia, Calif.)

Diane Esquivel Holton ’10 (Grand Haven, Mich.)

Amy Waanders Jeninga ’88 (Brookfield, Wis.)

Dale Kaemingk ’77 (Brier, Wash.)

Kathleen Smit Klaasen ’70 (Caledonia, Mich.)

Jonathan Marcus ’82 (Holland, Mich.)

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

Janorisè Evans Robinson ’92 (Caledonia, Mich.)

Jasper Schouten ’01 (St. Davids, Ont.)

NEWS & STORIES

Stay up to date on the latest stories at calvin.edu/news.

Read Spark online calvin.edu/spark

Follow us on Instagram @calvinuniversityalumni

Connect with alumni facebook.com/calvinalumni

Leave a legacy for future alumni giftplanning.calvin.edu

View the Calvin calendar calvin.edu/calendar

Linda Den Hartigh Vermeulen ’78 (West Bloomfield, Mich.)

Wei Wang ’14 (Portage, Mich.)

Eliezer Yeong ’18 (Grand Rapids, Mich.)

Eric Yulianto ’02 (Mason, Ohio)

Johanna Chambery Zandstra ’91 (Schererville, Ind.)

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Religion News Service reporter Kathryn Post ’18 covers religion and spirituality, with

Space for Connection

Director of Alumni and Family Engagement, Jeff Haverdink, shares a meal with the Calvin Alumni Association Korea Network leadership team.

It’s hard to believe that in just a few weeks a historic fall semester at Calvin will come to a close. And what a semester it has been!

We were blessed to welcome nearly 1,200 new students, launch new master’s degree programs, and enjoy the sounds of a new marching band. And who will ever forget Calvin’s first official football season?

There was energy and excitement at Calvin this fall, and we have much to be grateful for.

Adding to that excitement was the unveiling of many new spaces around our Knollcrest campus. The completion of the first phase of the Commons Union project revealed a remodeled Hekman Library, designed to enhance student learning and shared life together. Both an interactive virtual learning lab and a cadaver lab debuted in DeVries Hall for our health sciences students. Calvin athletics celebrated the dedication of the soccer stadium and the opening of an outdoor athletic building, complete with an incredible football locker room.

Beyond the beauty and excitement of new structures, what means more is seeing how the community uses those spaces. Often while walking through the library or waiting for a coffee at Peet’s, I look around to simply take in the scene of students learning from each other and creating lifelong memories together.

This past summer, I had the privilege of traveling to Seoul, South Korea, to spend time with some of our amazing alumni, current students, and the leadership team of our Calvin Alumni Association Korea Network. It was an incredible experience, and I’m deeply grateful for the beautiful hospitality our fellow Calvin alums showed me while I was on their side of the world.

On more than one occasion, I had to remind myself that I was nearly 6,500 miles from Calvin’s campus. The culture and food were different, not to mention the sheer size of the city. Yet at one event, I was surrounded by nearly a hundred alumni and students. I felt right at home, warmly welcomed by new friends who all share a common Calvin connection.

As with all my interactions with Calvin grads, I was blessed with new perspectives while in Seoul. It was meaningful to spend time there: seeing the world from a new vantage point, experiencing the hospitality of Korean culture, and most importantly, getting to know alumni at a deeper level in their own space.

Physical space matters, but meeting people where they are and sharing life together matters even more, whether in a new study area on campus or halfway around the world sharing conversation over delicious Korean barbecue.

As we turn our focus to celebrating the birth of our Savior, I marvel anew at God’s great love for us. God sent his Son into our earthly space to live with us and to give his life for us so that we might live forever with him—in his holy and perfect space.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

ALUMNI & FAMILY ENGAGEMENT

ENROLLMENT CONTINUES TO RISE

Calvin’s total enrollment now exceeds 3,600—a mark it hasn’t hit since 2018. The increase is a result, in part, of the university experiencing its second straight year of double-digit-percentage growth in its incoming first-year class.

In 2024–2025, Calvin welcomed 1,232 new students, which represents the largest incoming class in the past decade. The class includes 1,131 undergraduate and 101 graduate learners from hundreds of high schools, dozens of U.S. states, and almost every continent.

Calvin continues to reach a greater diversity of learners, both ethnically and geographically. For the fifth straight year, the percentage of African American students at Calvin increased, and this year more than 18% of Calvin’s student body is BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color). An additional 13.5% of students come from outside the United States, marking the fourth consecutive year of increased international enrollment.

To encourage continued growth, high school juniors and seniors who schedule an official visit to campus and choose to enroll at Calvin receive a $2,000 scholarship added onto their financial aid packages, which is renewable for up to four years.

AEROSPACE ENGINEERING READY TO LAUNCH

Beginning in Fall 2025, Calvin’s nationally lauded engineering program will launch an aerospace concentration. Ken Visser, whose career in aerospace includes working for both NASA and Boeing and, for the past 25 years, as a professor of aerospace engineering at Clarkston University, will lead the new program.

“I believe God was calling me to do specific kingdom work based on all the experience he’d given me up to this point,” said Visser. “Forty years ago, when I was graduating high school and wanted to study aerospace engineering at a Reformed university, I couldn’t find one.”

When Visser scanned the current educational landscape, he discovered not much had changed in the last four decades. However, Calvin’s academically excellent and Christ-centered education, ABET-accredited engineering program, and faculty with backgrounds in aerospace engineering made the university a good fit for the new concentration’s launch.

The aerospace concentration will include courses in aerodynamics, aircraft performance, flight mechanics, and propulsion. Visser also plans to expand student opportunities in the field by setting up a student chapter of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AAIA), a professional society which he will be inducted into as an associate fellow this coming January.

STAY CONNECTED

Read the full-length stories and more campus news at calvin.edu/news

Aerospace engineer Ken Visser joined Calvin to lead its new aerospace concentration.

Interim President Elzinga Officially Appointed as President

As Calvin’s presidential search committee spent the summer and beginning of the fall discerning steps for the next presidential search, they soon realized they wouldn’t have to look far. On October 18, upon the committee’s recommendation, Greg Elzinga ’90 was unanimously voted to the position of president of Calvin University by the board of trustees.

As Calvin’s 13th president, Elzinga draws on deep connections to the university. He has been a Calvin student, parent, staff member, and administrator—serving as vice president for advancement prior to the role of interim president, which he assumed from February 2024 until his presidential appointment.

“I’m deeply grateful for the opportunity to serve as Calvin’s president and feel extraordinarily blessed to work alongside a highly talented and experienced leadership team,” Elzinga said at the announcement of his presidency.

President Greg Elzinga begins his presidency focused on key university priorities:

LEVERAGING COMPREHENSIVE ENROLLMENT GROWTH

While continuing to support the growth of undergraduate enrollment, President Elzinga will work alongside academic leaders to expand graduate degree programs to meet the needs of adult learners around the world.

MAKING DISCIPLINED INVESTMENTS IN INFRASTRUCTURE

Calvin’s ability to carry out the mission of the university requires continued investments in physical spaces and infrastructure. President Elzinga will work to deliver a student experience that strengthens community, fosters experiential learning, and stewards campus assets for future generations.

STRENGTHENING WORKPLACE CULTURE AND FUNDRAISING

Given the headwinds facing higher education, it is critical that Calvin fully leverages the gifts and experiences of every campus team member to support the university’s growth plans. President Elzinga aims to lead the community in increased collaboration and trust.

Once the decision was announced via email to alumni, faculty, staff, students, and parents, the congratulations began pouring in for President Elzinga.

“President Greg is a genuine, empathetic, humble and Holy Spirit-led leader who cares deeply about the Calvin community,” said Josh Samarco, director of the Center for Intercultural Student Development.

“His commitment to seeing a unified campus community is something that excites me. I have personally served alongside Greg, and the way he actively listens to others lets me know he will continue to serve this university well.”

Samarco also noted that students have appreciated Elzinga’s leadership during his interim tenure.

More information on President Elzinga can be found at calvin.edu/president

IN FAVOR OF SHALOM

BY MATT HALTEMAN AND SARAH BODBYL ROELS ’06

On a muggy summer evening, Professor Matt Halteman visited his former philosophy student Sarah Bodbyl Roels ’06 on her 28-acre farm in Lowell, Michigan, to catch up and talk about his new book, Hungry Beautiful Animals: The Joyful Case for Going Vegan

Halteman and Bodbyl share a vision to seek harmony and justice in God’s creation but pursue that vision in different ways. Their relationship, rooted in what they share, allows them to productively challenge one another to imagine ways of expanding their own practices toward shalom.

MATT HALTEMAN

Professor of philosophy and chair of the Animals and the Kingdom of God Lecture Series at Calvin University

I’m taking a selfie with a donkey called Mickey. My host, the biologist Dr. Sarah Bodbyl Roels ’06, rescued him from his native Arizona. Michigan is a challenging home for desert-roaming donkeys, so Sarah and her husband, Dr. Steve Roels ’06, socked significant sweat equity into turning a parcel of their 28-acre homestead into a hospitable place for Mickey.

Sarah and Steve know a thing or two about investing their unique talents and gifts to bring as much justice and joy to their patch of Earth as circumstances allow. They also understand, as Calvin grads should, that living towards shalom—the flourishing of God’s creation across an all-species kinship—is a perpetually unfinished business that requires tough conversations about the sometimes-conflicting methods we humans concoct to do our well-intentioned best, God helping us.

I know these things about Sarah and Steve because I learned alongside them as their professor in 2005. Sarah enrolled in my first section of Peaceable Kingdom, the animal ethics seminar my students dared me to teach upon noticing a tension between my fierce love of my bulldog Gus and my aggressive savor of pork ribs. They knew I taught the course in hopes of justifying my carnivorous predilections. They were delighted when I felt inspired to change, in no small part because of their questions and courage.

There is no greater joy for an educator than watching such questions and courage lead to flourishing lives that seek peace amid life’s complex mysteries. Now my professional peer, Sarah agreed to be an advance reader of my new book, Hungry Beautiful Animals: The Joyful Case for Going Vegan —born from the curiosity and resolve of Sarah and her fellow students then, and the occasion for our reunion now.

As we hike the wilds beyond Mickey’s quarters, Sarah apologizes for overgrowth, mosquitoes, and the regrettable need to cull does. But she knows her vegan former professor isn’t judgy. We’ve learned together—then and now—that disagreement is a sharpening tool for mutual flourishing, and no obstacle to abiding love.

SARAH BODBYL ROELS ’06

Associate dean, Van Andel Institute Graduate School

I’m a bad vegan.

At least that’s what I told myself before I read Hungry Beautiful Animals. During my junior year, I took Matt’s very first animal ethics course. For three weeks in January, we wrestled with the brokenness of our food system, the diminishment of health caused by our eating habits, and the disconnect between the ways we loved our pets yet dismissed animal suffering elsewhere in society. I left the course humbled, but also inspired and eager to make ethical food choices.

Twenty years later, when the draft of Matt’s new book appeared in my inbox, I opened the file with trepidation. I expected the pages to deliver a tongue-lashing for my failure to achieve vegan perfection in my

adult life. I believed that going vegan was all or nothing. If I ate a steak at a family celebration, continued to cook with butter, or kept a flock of chickens on my farm, I was a bad vegan.

To my delight, Hungry Beautiful Animals banishes the all-or-nothing approach to going vegan, focusing instead on the joyful discovery and celebration of what can be done to work toward creaturely flourishing, instead of what cannot. For me, this means my passions for ecological restoration, environmental education, and developing loving relationships with the host of creatures on my farm I call family align with and contribute to going vegan.

Hungry Beautiful Animals unabashedly proclaims a grace-filled, big-tent vision for going vegan with room for everyone at the communal table. Whether you insist there’s “no way” or are already practicing veganism every day, I invite you, dear reader, to delve into the pages of Hungry Beautiful Animals and discover your own journey towards creaturely flourishing.

SPACE TO THRIVE

BY SARA KORBER-DEWEERD ’00

MID-CENTURY ARCHITECTURE MEETS TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY LEARNING

Executive vice president for student experience and strategy Sarah Visser remembers the many hours she spent as a Calvin student at the Hekman Library in the late ’90s and early aughts, combing the stacks or seeking out a quiet study carrel on the more secluded fifth floor. She says today’s Calvin students still seek those quiet spaces, but they also see libraries a bit differently than she did—more as gathering places for cooperative learning.

Two changes can account for that shift: coursework has become more collaborative and project-based, and students can access many books and digital research tools online. Visser says Calvin began discussing renovations to Hekman Library that better met evolving modes of learning and student needs back in 2015, with a vision to create “a learning commons.”

“We wanted the library to be a place that fosters student engagement in the learning process,” Visser says. “We didn’t need to keep seven copies of the same book or shelve decades of academic journals. Though students still need access to print resources, increased access to digital resources suggested the physical space of the library was ripe for strategic redevelopment.”

COMMONS UNION: A PROJECT IN TWO PHASES

Conversations about better stewarding campus space to nurture deeper community engagement go back at least two decades to a plan to redesign the Commons Dining Hall and Commons Annex—a vision that has not yet come to fruition. But the opening of the redesigned Hekman Library marks the completion of phase one of a revised plan known as Commons Union, a project designed in two phases tied closely to the original.

Right: A new staircase connects the three renovated floors of the Hekman Library. A lighted picture creates a unique focal point at the top.

Though the architectural plans have changed, the why behind them remains the same: to invest in physical upgrades at Calvin is to invest in a dynamic campus ecosystem that supports learning and strengthens community. It’s about making room for all to thrive.

THE CHANGING FACE OF CALVIN

“A commons that serves all of our learners is really important. We’ve always talked about how a core way students learn is in community and in these formational, relational ways. And it’s increasingly important as our student body diversifies,” Visser says.

Summer youth camps, dual enrollment for high school students, graduate and certificate programs, and the newly revamped Life and Career Studies program for students with intellectual disabilities have changed the composition of the Calvin student body in exciting ways. “When we think about our students as learners, we’re

thinking about designing spaces on campus that enrich learning, connection, and collaboration at every age and level. It’s a lifespan approach,” Visser says.

COMMUNITY RECEPTION

Director of Calvin’s Service-Learning Center and alumna Annie Mas-Smith ’06 remembers serving as a student leader when student organizations lived in the Commons Annex, a long, narrow building that felt more like a hallway than a welcoming student center. Relocating student organizations and services to a more central location on campus increases their visibility and accessibility. “To now be at the hub of the community and all its activity is so exciting,” Mas-Smith says of her new space on the 200-level of the redesigned library now known as Commons Union.

Student leader and office intern for Campus Ministries Anna Bierma agrees. “I’m from Alaska—I didn’t know anyone when I first came to Calvin. My first year, places

like Peet’s or the library created points of contact where I caught up with new friends, worked on projects with classmates, and became involved with activities on campus. The new library space will cultivate intentional social, academic, and spiritual community,” Bierma says.

That’s exactly the kind of feedback Visser loves to hear. With 40% of students living off campus, Visser has long believed the Calvin community needs a “family room”—a shared space where students, faculty, and visitors can gather, rest, learn, and study. The near-instant popularity of adding Peet’s Coffee on the 200-level of Hekman five years ago only solidified her commitment to ushuring that dream toward its current reality.

MOVING FORWARD

Visitors to campus can now enjoy the completion of phase one of the Commons Union, which includes a complete renovation of the library’s first three levels. Student organizations and key offices that serve students

have relocated from Commons Annex to the 200-levels of Hekman and Hiemenga Hall, now connected by an interior tunnel. Adjacent to the new offices, the ever-popular Peet’s Coffee (top right) opens to an outdoor courtyard and fireplace. Visser thinks of this floor as “a space where everybody—students, alumni, visitors—can come hang out, meet, or work.”

The main entrance to Hekman Library, home to circulation and reference services, is now on the 300-level (left). Calvin Information Technology occupies the 100-level, alongside a new high-density book storage room and a student gathering and performance space (right).

Fundraising for phase two of Commons Union continues, and once completed, will support the construction of a consolidated dining hall with meeting spaces, retail offerings, and a “great hall” that will continue to advance the university’s vision to foster and support authentic community.

LEARN MORE ABOUT DR. CRAIG MATTSON, SIGN UP FOR THE MODE/SWITCH NEWSLETTER, AND LISTEN TO THE PODCAST.

Redefining the Meaning and Value of Work

HOW YOUNG PROFESSIONALS ADAPT AND FLOURISH IN TODAY’S CHANGING WORK CULTURE

BY SARA KORBER-DEWEERD ’00

Humans spend about one-third of their waking hours working—conservatively, about 90,000 hours over a lifetime.

Part of the long-standing Calvin project of preparing agents of renewal for Christ-like service in God’s world is to help students navigate this significant element of their emerging adult lives. To seek one’s vocation is a multi-dimensional process of trial and error, self-reflection, and personal growth— all with the understanding that preparation and imagination do not always match reality. Given that, how can professionals flourish in the places and spaces they give the best hours of their days?

FINDING THE MEANINGS OF WORK

Calvin professor of communication Craig Mattson has devoted his own working life to helping young professionals flourish in their jobs.

Mattson conducts research on modes of occupational engagement that help people cope with the pressures of work. He also hosts a podcast called Mode/Switch that offers early to mid-career professionals insight about the challenges, changes, and nuances of modern work culture.

Mattson says his recent research has pointed him to a variety of ways individuals construct meaning and value from their work. Some professionals view their jobs as a way to address social problems, while others focus on nurturing the growth and well-being of those around them. Mattson’s research has also revealed a small population that simply tolerate work, without finding much meaning in it. They often describe themselves as “playing a role” that may feel inauthentic to who they really are.

As the nature of work shifts due to cultural attitudes, technology, and more, it’s time to broaden discussions about it. “Today your job could mean so many things. Vocational discourse might need to shift to help people not so much construct meaning at work, but actually kind of manage the meanings of work,” says Mattson, who explains that the reasons people work or choose to enter or leave a particular field can be shaped by a variety of factors like socio-economic status, ethical commitments, and personal needs and priorities.

TIMES CHANGE, SO DO VALUES

Senior manager of global talent development at MillerKnoll Megan Korber Snikkers ’13 says it’s natural for attitudes about the role and value of work to shift over time and across cultures. “Work culture is under the microscope right now, and it’s changing the expectations employers and employees have of each other,” she says. “It requires employers to examine and rethink outdated structures to get the best out of their talent.”

Many companies are offering more flexibility in how work gets done. Working remotely, the four-day work week, and

Navigating the demands of a new career while also building a personal life has required careful prioritization.

—NAIN MIRANDA ’23

unlimited personal time off are just a few ways some organizations have responded to employees’ desire to find balance in their professional and personal lives. “It’s more possible to say, ‘I don’t want to work to the bone or deprioritize my family,’” Snikkers says.

THE GREAT RESIGNATION

Starting in 2021, large numbers of workers began quitting or changing careers mid-stream in the U.S. and elsewhere. This post-Covid phenomenon known as the Great Resignation, the Big Quit, or the Great Reshuffle is yet another sign of shifting attitudes towards work.

Long-time educator Mandy Sytsma Priore ’01 spent 20 years in classrooms in the U.S. and overseas when burnout from the ever-shifting demands of her profession prompted her to change careers. Now the director of junior tennis at the Shrewsbury Club in central Massachusetts, Priore maintains a flexible schedule and shares her love of tennis with kids.

A lifelong tennis player who competed on the Calvin tennis team, she says, “Tennis has always been a passion of mine, but I didn’t think I could make a career of it.”

Two years into her new role, she’s thriving. “To flourish in my career means living out a passion that works best for me and my family’s needs. At the end of the day, I need to have enough energy to give to my family,” Priore says.

DECONSTRUCTING VOCATION

Asking questions about the value and meaning of work could yield more answers than it did just a few generations ago, when longevity at one company or at least in one career was the prized norm.

Mattson notes that Millennials, who entered the workforce during the Great Recession and have lived through the institutional instability of the 2010s and 2020s, change jobs, on average, more than previous generations. He says it only makes sense.

Snikkers grew up watching the boomer generation’s loyalty to their professions and companies yield little payoff in the face of a global recession, but she still entered the work force with similar expectations about how to achieve success. “The grind—pay your dues, raise your hand at every opportunity, go the extra mile, the idea that you can have it all—led me to experience burnout,” she admits. “It forced me to remember my value in Christ, outside of the personal and professional roles I fulfilled.”

Mattson says the traditional concept of vocation highlights that all work has value. But in his recently published book, Digital Overwhelm: A Mid-Career Guide to Coping at Work (Cascade 2024), he also issues a gentle warning.

“You know the whole of your life belongs to God, and it’s all supercharged with that significance,” says Mattson. “But from that moral realization we could very quickly begin to idolize work. And that tendency is problematic; it could so easily lead to burnout.”

STRIKE A BALANCE

Young professional Nain Miranda ’23, a technology-risk consultant at EY (Ernst & Young) and the co-founder of two startups, found himself weighing personal and professional priorities early in his career. “There’s often immense pressure to achieve success as quickly as possible, to prove ourselves as young professionals, and to reach certain milestones at a rapid pace,” Miranda says.

He doesn’t equate rapid success with flourishing in a career. Instead, flourishing means living a life of faithfulness, especially in times of uncertainty or change. And he should know—he accepted a job offer, graduated from Calvin, and got married, all within a short period of time. “Navigating the demands of a new career while also building a personal life has required careful prioritization,” he says.

WISDOM FOR THE AGES

The mother of a four-year-old daughter and six-month-old son, Snikkers agrees. She says reprioritizing the parts of her life she values most—faith, family, and meaningful work— led to both a mindset and a job change.

“Whatever I do has to be rooted in faith,” she says. “Calvin gave me the perspective that faith can and should be integrated with all of life, as well as the boldness to believe that Christ’s example is the best way to do anything. I’ve had a unique opportunity in the workplace to share my faith just by showing up differently, by leading as Christ did.”

Mattson, too, emphasizes the capacity of faith and Scripture to help professionals at all points of their careers and in every field make the small adjustments needed to flourish. He cites the books of Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes as relevant sources of wisdom.

Ecclesiastes, for example, nudges readers toward “humble gratitude for everyday work, as well as the gifts of community, friendship, and family. We can dial back on our sense that our work is of ultimate importance: enjoy your work, work hard at it, but don’t put too much value in it,” Mattson says.

Perhaps shifts in how professionals view, value, and therefore conduct work, then, are not new at all, but more of a return to something lost—and regained—along the way.

Whatever I do has to be rooted in faith. Calvin gave me the perspective that faith can and should be integrated with all of life.

—MANDY SYTSMA PRIORE ’01

FOOTBALL TAKES THE FIELD

BY MATT KUCINSKI

Over the past two years, Trent Figg has been more than a coach; he’s been an architect carefully building a program with the mantra of “creating champions for life.” That championship mentality is being strived for on the field, in the classroom, in the community, and in matters of faith.

While the task of starting a program from scratch was a heavy lift, Figg believes the opportunity to do so couldn’t have been at a better place. “When I looked at Calvin and considered whether I wanted to be a head football coach, I was looking at all four of those areas, and I saw that Calvin is already doing all of those really, really well,” says Figg. “We aren’t having to reinvent the wheel here.”

TRENT FIGG head coach

“We are so blessed. … God is so good. ... This is just the beginning.”

Left page: Trent Figg and Pastor Mary Hulst take the field with the team for the first home game.

Right page, left: Calvin defense makes a key stop at Trine. Right page, center: Running backs Ronin Russell-Dixon and Alex VanSweden get ready for the game against Kalamazoo.

Right page, far right: Wide receiver Hunter Hogan gets a big gain on his play.

ON THE FIELD

Figg took note of Calvin’s 11 national championships, 54 final four appearances, and 351 league titles. “Our teams are constantly competing for championships, so there’s already a blueprint in place to be successful on the field,” Figg says.

And Calvin’s football players are eager to contribute to that long-standing legacy. “We’ve shown we can compete. We’ve shown we can win games,” says Paul Bouma IV, a freshman tight end. “We’ve been playing good football and we’re looking to get better every day moving forward.”

IN THE CLASSROOM

Figg noticed the successful outcomes of Calvin’s student athletes, who collectively have a higher GPA than the university average. “And we have a 99% graduate placement rate, so when a student graduates from Calvin, their degree means something to them,” Figg says.

His football players also say their on-field and in-classroom preparation are mutually sharpening. “Our guys come out every day, and we work hard. When you make practices hard each week, the game comes easy,” says KJ Harp, a sophomore defen-

sive tackle and accounting major. “We go over every scenario out there on the practice field. We study our practice notes as we prepare for a game, and we pour over our class notes as we prepare for our tests. We do both with perseverance and intention. You have to love what you do, and I feel like our guys really love playing football and getting an education at Calvin.”

IN THE COMMUNITY Figg is already hearing about the positive impact his players make.

“I’ve had a couple of professors stop me on campus and say, ‘I just want you to know that your kids are the most welcoming kids,’” Figg says. “We don’t want to be an independent contractor, we want to fit right in with the Calvin experience that’s already happening, and if we can enhance that experience, let’s enhance it as a team.”

While Figg describes the community support at Calvin to be “unlike any place” he has been before, he also sees the football program advancing that sense of community, too. “I saw nearly 5,000 people come together at our first game to celebrate Calvin, to celebrate Calvin students.”

Provost Noah Toly agrees. “Football is one of the ultimate team sports, and in some ways it’s an ultimate community sport. It can really show off the community spirit we already have.”

Above all, Figg wants to see his studentathletes become champions OF THEIR FAITH.

“For me, I had a baseline of faith going into college, but some of the hardest times in my life were actually after college. In the darkest times in my life, it’s been the only thing that’s pulled me through.”

He wants the same for his students.

“The real world is hard, and so when our students graduate, I want them to know the truth, so when they do go through hard times, they know where to turn, because so many people turn to the wrong places,” Figg says. “Our kids come from all different walks of faith, and I recognize that, and I respect that, but I also want them to know what I believe to be the absolute truth—without a relationship with Jesus, they don’t have anything. And I can say that because that’s what changed my life.”

CHASE BRADMAN ’25

quarterback, master of accounting

“It was unreal. We couldn’t have asked for a better day and a great turnout by the community.”

KJ

HARP ’28

defensive lineman, accounting

“We study our practice notes as we prepare for a game, and we pour over our class notes as we prepare for our tests.”

PAUL VANDERPLOEG ’25

quarterback, engineering

“Here at Calvin, we are held to a higher standard in the classroom, in the community, and on the field.”

Left page, top: Team captains walk to midfield to begin the first home football game in Calvin’s history. Left page, bottom: Defensive back Dylan DeHoop celebrates after an interception.

Right page, top: Calvin’s first marching band, led by seasoned conductor Dr. Steve Sudduth, elevates school spirit on the field.

Right page, bottom: Offensive linemen pose for the “O” in offense, enjoying their first home win against Oberlin.

(1) The Calvin Alumni Choir sings the national anthem for the football game.

(2) The student success team participates in Maroon & Gold Day on Homecoming Friday. (3) Women’s soccer opens Calvin Soccer Stadium with 5-0 Homecoming win. (4) Students race down Knight Way in the Grand Prix Bed Races.

(5) The 2024–25 Calvin Alumni Board represents alumni worldwide.

(6) Jesse McCurdy ‘24 (#731) and Justice Shaffer ‘27 (#734) race to take first and second place in the Calvin Classic 5K. (7) Future Knights sprint in the Youth Fun Run for kids ages 3–9.

(8) John Engbers ’06 and Ruth Dekker Engbers ’05, along with their kids, participate in the Calvin Classic Virtual 5k in Brookfield, Wis.

(9) The 70-member strong Campus Choir, directed by Dr. Mark Stover, performs at the Calvin Music Festival.

(10 & 11) Parents, families, and fans enjoy the autumn weather and Calvin football.

FAMILY WEEKEND

2024 Alumni Honorees

THE CALVIN ALUMNI ASSOCIATION RECEIVES MANY NOMINATIONS FOR THESE ANNUAL AWARDS, AND THEY PRAYERFULLY CONSIDER EACH ONE. THESE THREE ALUMNI HAVE BEEN CHOSEN FOR THEIR CONSIDERABLE CONTRIBUTIONS IN THEIR FIELDS AND FOR THE WAYS THEIR LIVES REFLECT THE MISSION OF THE UNIVERSITY.

Watch profile videos for each honoree calvin.edu/go/alumni-awards

Read more profiles online calvin.edu/go/alumniprofiles

Nominate alumni

Email: alumni@calvin.edu

AIRIN EFFERIN ’09 YOUNG ALUMNI AWARD

Professional concert pianist Airin Efferin knows firsthand how music changes lives; she shares her passion for and commitment to music by making high-quality musical experiences more accessible in Indonesia. Efferin is the co-founder of the Bandung Philharmonic Orchestra, the first professional orchestra of Indonesia.

SHAWN BLANTON ’87 DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI AWARD

Known as the “chip doctor,” award-winning electrical and computer engineer Shawn Blanton is the founder of Carnegie Mellon University’s Advanced Chip Test Laboratory. He is leading the way in advancing technology to test microchips, the building blocks of today’s electronics. He is also deeply committed to increasing diversity in engineering.

JAMES

OLTHOFF

’80 DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI AWARD

James Olthoff is the chief metrologist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Olthoff serves as the United States’ primary representative of metrology at both the national and international levels, helping to ensure that the country maintains the highest standard of core measurement capabilities.

In 2015, concert pianist Airin Efferin ’09 initiated and co-founded the Bandung Philharmonic, the first professional orchestra of Bandung, Indonesia. Efferin, who served as the orchestra’s first CEO, conceived the idea with an international standard of excellence in mind and the mission to bring high-quality classical music experiences to more people in Indonesia.

One of the first people she shared her dream with was Calvin professor of conducting Robert Nordling. “I wanted to see if he would be on board with this crazy initiative,” Efferin recalls. “He responded with capital letters: ‘YES!’” To this day Nordling remains, in Efferin’s words, “an amazingly solid partner.”

Bandung, a metropolis about the size of Chicago, is the third largest city in Indonesia, and the orchestra’s reach has been significant. In addition to performing concerts, the Bandung Philharmonic hosts an expansive music education outreach program, including a composer competition, a children’s concert series, music lessons for underprivileged children, and a newly launched scholarship program for university students.

Efferin, who now sits on the board of the Bandung Philharmonic, says founding the orchestra alongside her colleagues and with the support of partners like Nordling remains her most rewarding accomplishment to date. “It felt like you went through the dragon’s gate, you did something that was so challenging, and you conquered it.”

Today, Efferin serves as community manager at House of Piano Jakarta, the exclusive dealer of Steinway pianos in Indonesia. She says her role gives her “a bird’s eye view” of music opportunities in the country and that the “strategic position widens her circle of impact.”

“I

know that music can change lives.”

“Growing up, I never even got to touch a Steinway,” Efferin says. “The first time I knew a piano could sound that amazing was at Calvin.” Increasing access to music and sharing its transformative power with others is a major focus of Efferin’s work. In her own life, formal musical training made possible not only her flourishing career but also a journey of personal healing.

Efferin, a survivor of multiple traumas, struggled with bulimia as a college student, binging and purging several times a day until two friends at Calvin came alongside her and encouraged her to get help. Of the slow and gradual process of overcoming an eating disorder, she says, “Music and piano have been a big part of that healing journey. Because of that very personal experience, I know that music can change lives.”

During her last two years at Calvin, Efferin became more focused on piano studies. Under the guidance of Dr. Hyesook Kim, she practiced four to six hours a day and won the Calvin Concerto Competition, which gave her the opportunity to perform a solo with the Calvin Orchestra.

“Being in such an intensive, immersive musical experience made me happy. It gave me more confidence in myself and in my voice. I felt that my mental health and well-being were healing. I was daily getting stronger.”

Efferin brings passion to the creative process as well; a writer and lyricist, she hopes to one day see her work performed on stage. “What I love about the creative process now is the call to vulnerability. You’re peeling away layers of yourself, and this is actually a very scary and painful process. [But] you find the truth that’s maybe hidden very deep inside yourself and, from there, think of ways to share it with the public. I had no idea when I was younger that this was what making art is about.”

Wrapped in that restorative and redemptive view of the creative process is a faith that has weathered great difficulty. “I’ve come to believe that to know Christ is to know suffering. It was in the deepest, darkest moments of my life that I think I was able to glimpse a little bit of God,” Efferin says.

To listen to Efferin’s story through her words or as her fingers glide across the keys of a piano is to connect both pain and beauty, suffering and mercy. It’s also a story that fuels her desire to continue redeeming her unique square inch of God’s world.

“As we know, this happens one person, one heart, and one precious moment at a time,” she says.

Music for All

Airin Efferin ’09

Young Alumni Award Winner

Shawn Blanton ’87

Distinguished Alumni Award Winner

Electrical and computer engineer Shawn Blanton ’87 gained an enduring bit of wisdom at Calvin from his statics and dynamics professor Ned Nielsen: “‘Learn as much as you can wherever you are.’ I’ve kept that philosophy,” Blanton says.

Blanton is the associate department head for research and the Joseph F. and Nancy Keithley Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). His research focuses on designing, manufacturing, and testing integrated circuits, also known as microchips.

Often called the “building blocks” of technology, chips drive the functionality of today’s electronics. They do everything from telling a car airbag to deploy to keeping the complex networks of servers that power platforms like Google running smoothly.

Blanton, aptly known as the “chip doctor,” says even when things are going well, only about 90 percent of newly manufactured chips correctly function, which means all have to be thoroughly tested.

Advancing the Future

Testing is not perfect, which means some bad chips will be deployed, but when “you’re dealing with safety-critical applications, such as autonomous-driving vehicles, you want all the chips to work.”

Often, when a bad chip escapes testing, it is discovered when something goes wrong. “And when you want to understand what has gone wrong in a chip that has billions of transistors and connections, it’s hard to find that needle in a haystack,” Blanton says.

There’s a great deal of job security in the work Blanton and his research team conduct. “Changes in technology have revolved around the basic transistor switch getting smaller and smaller. Phones get more powerful, but they don’t get bigger, for example. New technologies do fail, and so we have this work that we can always be doing.”

Blanton is highly regarded, widely published, and well-recognized in his field and has won numerous awards over his decades-long career, most recently the 2022 Golden Torch Award for Lifetime Achievement in Academia from the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE). He is the founder of the Advanced Chip Test Laboratory at CMU, and his work has led to more than 200 publications and seven patents.

“Opening

doors means showing students the avenues to advanced degrees.”

Blanton credits his parents with first encouraging him to pursue a profession in STEM but acknowledges not every student receives the benefit of that encouragement.

A long-time member of the NSBE, Blanton is especially passionate about increasing diversity in the field of engineering. He received the Emerald Award in 2006 for outstanding leadership in this area.

Blanton explains that students may not realize the opportunities available to them; they may feel a PhD is financially or academically out of reach. “Opening doors means showing students the avenues to advanced degrees. When they find out it’s not a huge leap after their undergrad, they go for it, and they accomplish it,” he says.

Blanton’s recruiting track record at Carnegie Mellon is notable. “We went from having just a handful of students of color in our PhD program to having over 150; that put us in the number one position in the U.S. for diversity, and that’s more than double over large schools like Georgia Tech.”

He has also partnered with Calvin to recruit undergraduate students for summer research opportunities at CMU and, in some cases, for advanced degrees. “I’m not chasing accolades,” he says. “It’s more about the people.”

Being a Christian in academia isn’t always easy, admits Blanton, but it’s given him opportunities to share his faith with those around him, whether that’s sharing God’s word with those he encounters or holding his students to a high standard of integrity in research.

“There’s a thread of ethics and fairness in the work we do all the time. There’s always the possibility to spin what we do, but we’re not going to do that, we’re going to show all sides. And I share that with my students.”

Blanton also emphasizes the inherently ethical nature of a vocation that focuses on designing a better, more sustainable world. “It’s a career aimed exactly at redeeming every square inch of God’s world to make it better for humankind. We’re always in that space, heading towards that goal.”

The Measure of a Leader

James Olthoff ’80

Distinguished Alumni Award Winner

His first day on the job at the National Bureau of Standards, now the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), James Olthoff ’80 parked in front of the metrology building and realized, “I didn’t even know what metrology was.”

When he reached his office, he pulled a dictionary off his shelf and looked up the definition. That informal initiation in 1987 led to a lifelong career in metrology, the science of measurement. “I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to do a job that’s been fascinating for, really, my whole career,” says Olthoff, who now serves as NIST’s chief metrologist.

A meter is a meter, a kilogram is a kilogram, a second is a second. But how do people know they can trust such measurements? How do countries mutually agree on standards?

Metrology is necessary for all national and international trade and commerce. Olthoff serves as the primary representative of this field for the United States at both the national and international levels. He helps ensure that the U.S. maintains the highest standard of core measurement capabilities.

“The ability to measure something well gives you a level of trust that allows you to understand the world and how it functions. Measurement infrastructure is necessary for society to function and for international commerce to exist,” Olthoff says.

The fact that most people don’t notice or consider metrology testifies to the effective implementation of internationally agreed upon standards and the shared trust that surrounds them.

In 2018, Olthoff represented the United States when the 60 member countries of the Treaty of the Metre assembled to redefine the international system of units.

That significant milestone “was one of the most exciting moments you can possibly imagine as a metrologist,” he says. “It’s not very often you see that kind of agreement among the countries of the world these days, but it is good to see that people are people.”

Olthoff enjoyed the process as much as its successful outcome. “It’s a great privilege and pleasure to interact with people from around the world. You can see that we’re all God’s people. We’re all working toward a common goal in this little world of international metrology. It’s a small field in some ways, but it covers the entire world.”

At Calvin, Olthoff studied math and physics, but he says Calvin’s liberal arts education also equipped him well for his career. “Liberal arts prepared me for my field in a lot of ways I didn’t expect as a scientist: Communication is a huge part of being a scientist. The ability to critically address problems is very important,” Olthoff says. He completed a PhD in physics at the University of Maryland and held a two-year appointment at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine before coming to NIST.

Olthoff has held many positions with NIST, first working as a bench scientist and, over the years, holding a variety of high-profile supervisory and research roles. He has also authored or edited over 100 publications and won numerous awards, including the United States Presidential Rank Award, among others.

Though it’s hard to precisely measure the impact of an entire career, Olthoff’s contributions to science have clearly made a mark. As he draws closer to retirement, Olthoff says he enjoys witnessing how the work he has had a hand in starting or advancing has developed into important discoveries and technologies by the scientists at NIST.

So much of metrology is about fairness, Olthoff notes. “It’s being able to do measurements in a way so that the world can trust something and trust an answer.” But the precise science of metrology also bolsters Olthoff’s faith in God. “There is a good answer to most technical questions, and it’s because God made the universe the way he did. God made everything, and he did it very precisely.”

“There is a good answer to most technical questions, and it’s becuase God made the universe the way he did.”

TRAVEL WITH CALVIN

Heritage of Germany: from Luther and Bach to Dresden and Berlin

May 5–17, 2025

Hosts: Jim Bratt, Suzanne Bratt

Dive into the world of J.S. Bach with musicologist Suzanne Bratt, and follow the arc of German cultural development from Martin Luther’s Reformation era to World War II with historian Jim Bratt. Visit castles and cathedrals, attend a classical music concert, cruise the Elbe River, and more. Register today!

AROUND THE WORLD WITH CALVIN

150th Anniversary Year: 2025–2026

Pacific Northwest: Cascades to Coast

September 5–14, 2025

Host: Ralph Stearley

Shaw Festival

Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario

September 2025

Hosts: Debra Freeberg, Gary Schmidt

South Korea and Japan

October 2025

Host: Don DeGraaf

Egypt

October 20–30, 2025

Host: Gary Burge

View full itineraries and register online at calvin.edu/go/travel

CALVIN TOURS

From Alaska to New Zealand, Calvin alumni and friends have enjoyed exploring with Calvin experts. Janel Curry and Debra Freeberg’s New Zealand tour included learning about environmental sustainability and visiting Hobbiton, The Lord of the Rings film set. Ken Bratt shared insights about “Romans on the Rhine” at Augusta Raurica in Switzerland during a Rhine River cruise. And Gerry Van Kooten’s “The Wilds of Alaska” tour included hikes at Exit Glacier just outside Seward and in Denali National Park.

RHINE RIVER CRUISE ALASKA

NEW ZEALAND

ALUMNI GATHERINGS

What has been connecting alumni across Knight Nation? Summer ice cream socials around west Michigan, visits by Interim President Greg Elzinga in Traverse City and Atlanta, tailgates before football games in Milwaukee and Kalamazoo, a student send-off event in Seoul, and social hours for heritage alumni and young alumni groups. Alumni around the globe enjoy discovering opportunities to deepen their connections with Calvin and the alumni network.

EVENT CALENDAR

January Series January 20–31, 2025 calvin.edu/january

The Rivalry watch parties February 1, 2025 calvinhope.com

Symposium on Worship February 5–7, 2025 calvin.edu/worship

Rangeela February 28 & March 1, 2025

Wind Ensemble tour in Florida March 8–15, 2025

Class of 1975 50-Year Reunion May 9–10, 2025 calvin.edu/go/50

Commencement May 10, 2025 calvin.edu/commencement

For a full list of Calvin events, see calvin.edu/calendar

TRAVERSE CITY, MICH.

MILWAUKEE, WIS.

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA

Beyond Numbers

The Lasting Impact of a Legacy Gift

After graduating from Calvin, Doug Gardner ’52 enlisted in the military at the height of the Korean War.

Just after graduating from Calvin, Charles “Doug” Gardner ’52 enlisted in the military—it was the middle of the Korean War.

Gardner’s son Brian loves the story of how his dad received his first assignment. “My dad had finished basic training, and he was waiting in line to find out where he would be stationed. When it was his turn, the assigning officer noticed his Calvin class ring and asked him where he’d like to go.” Gardner, who never expected to have the choice, attended clerk school in Germany and completed his military service in Europe. He always felt grateful for that Calvin connection.

After the war, Gardner earned a master’s degree in educational psychology and became a math teacher, a role he enjoyed for ten years. As many teachers do, Gardner spent his summers earning extra income for his family. His parttime work as a builder led to a career change in 1966.

Grand Valley State University needed off-campus housing for its growing student body, and Gardner was up to the task. That relationship led to the establishment of a successful business, BBG Corporation, now Campus View Housing, currently operated by Brian.

To get the business up and running, Gardner worked for free for almost two years, paying himself in company stock, while his wife, Joan Baker Gardner RN’54, supported the family as a nurse. “Growing up, my mom always worked,” Brian says. He also recalls the many summer hours he and his siblings clocked cleaning and painting. “It was truly a family business.”

The Gardners kept close ties to Calvin over the years. They were longtime

members of Shawnee Park Christian Reformed Church, many of their friends taught or worked at Calvin, and all three of their children attended Grand Rapids Christian Schools and two attended Calvin. Brian jokes he was “the black sheep of the family,” attending Hope to play football, though he worked at Calvin one summer and attended summer camps. “Calvin was a part of the fabric of our family’s life,” Brian says.

Though it felt natural for his dad to establish a legacy gift, the circumstances surrounding that decision are still comical to Brian. “Dad didn’t want to be outdone by an acquaintance of his who set up a similar gift,” Brian chuckles. “When he heard a guy he didn’t especially like had given a million dollars to Calvin, he said, ‘I can do that!’”

In partnership with Calvin’s office of gift planning, Brian helped his dad designate an estate gift for the academic programs he loved most. “Dad wanted at least some of the gift to go to the psychology and math departments,” Brian says. The rest Gardner designated for Calvin to use as needed.

How far can one million dollars stretch?

As it turns out, quite far. When Gardner died in 2022, his legacy gift funded three important projects, including the renovation of a high-tech math classroom and the establishment of a psychology scholarship now given annually. As for the remainder, Brian says his dad would have been thrilled to support the new football program. “Dad was a big football fan—it’s why he let me go to Hope. He would have loved that his gift is supporting Calvin football.”

Discover

how you can unlock a lasting legacy at Calvin by establishing an estate gift. Your thoughtful contribution can support scholarships, research, and other campus initiatives that meaningfully impact future generations of students. To find out more, contact giftplanning@calvin.edu

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

1960s

Five alumni—Lynwood Vanden Bosch ’68, Jack Van Coevering ’82, Steven Tjapkes ’85, Jennifer Siebers Van Regenmorter ’90, Mindi Jelsema Johnson ’01, and Michael Zahrt ’11—all colleagues at Foster Swift Collins & Smith, P.C, were recently recognized in the 2025 Best Lawyers in America

1970s

01 Cologne, Germany resident Camilla Hoitenga ’76 connected with alumni traveling on a Rhine River cruise last spring—four passengers were both fellow high school and Calvin University classmates. They captured a group photo at Cologne Cathedral.

Pictured left to right: Joy Bratt Monsma ex’73, Laurel Strikwerda Bratt ’68, Ken Bratt ’68, Craig Flietstra ’76, Kathy Penning Flietstra ’75, Camilla Hoitenga ’76, Larry Louters HON, Mary Jo Louters HON, Cheryl Hubers TenBrink ’81, Kevin TenBrink ’82.

02 John Miersma ’79 was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Hydraulic Institute. Miersma served on the board for over 20 years and oversaw growth and expansion of the institute, including efforts that resulted in harmonized U.S. and E.U. pump efficiency training and standards. Miersma recently retired as president and CEO of Iwaki America Inc., where he continues to serve as board chairman and in an advisory role.

1980s

Christopher Holstege ’88 received the highest honor offered by the University of Virginia, the Thomas Jefferson Award. Dr. Holstege was recognized for his contribution to advancing medical education, for his commitment to the well-being of the University of Virginia community, and for his leadership and service.

Neonatologist Kimberly Gronsman Lee ’87 contributed an essay to a newly published narrative anthology called The Perfect Doctor: Forty Voices in Pursuit of an Ideal, which explores the tension between the ideal of being the perfect doctor and the reality of being fallible humans.

03 Joy Hovinga Jones ’84 served as an associate producer of the award-winning documentary The Bride Price, 2020. The film chronicles underaged and forced marriages around the world, but primarily in Malawi. The film’s awards include Best Feature Documentary at Love Wins International Film Festival, New York, and Best Feature Documentary at One Race Human Film Festival, Indianapolis, among others. The film is available for streaming on PBS. Jones is also the vice president of Malawi Orphan Care Project. She is pictured with senior chief Theresa Kachindamoto, who has annulled over 2,000 marriages of underaged brides in Malawi.

Dr. Christopher Holstege received the University of Virginia’s highest honor, the Thomas Jefferson Award, for his leadership and service and for his contributions to advancing medical education and community well-being.

Delivering Fun in the 616

As a college student, Drew Vermeer ’15 was probably the only kid on campus who bought, repaired, and sold pinball machines in between classes.

“I liked tinkering and the thrill of the hunt for broken games,” explained the business marketing grad.

After graduation, Drew partnered with his brother and fellow entrepreneur Grant Vermeer ’12, who had a degree in business communications. Together, they pursued business concepts ranging from a compost operation to a clothing company and even a VHS-to-DVD venture. Unfortunately, each of those ultimately led to a dead

end. Drew and Grant were thinking ahead to their next business venture when a neighbor noticed Drew’s arcade collection in his garage and asked if he would ever consider leasing the machines.

That conversation led the Vermeer brothers to develop a business model and start 616 Amusements. From side hustle to thriving business, 616 Amusements supplies hundreds of arcade machines to restaurants, entertainment venues, and events in Michigan and beyond.

“I credit it all to my Calvin education,” Grant shared. “Having a liberal

arts education that wasn’t just being focused on business classes has really helped me every day to be a well-rounded human and business owner who can wear multiple hats in one day.”

“This was my side hustle for 10 years, and I never dreamed it would turn into anything else,” Drew added. “Calvin helped me learn to think outside of the box, problem solve, and to be a well-rounded business owner.”

Learn more about the Vermeer brothers’ business at 616amusements.com

— Meghan Huizenga

The Vermeer brothers know how to deliver on nostalgia and fun.

04 In June 2024, four alumni rode the 185-mile C&O Canal Towpath from Cumberland, Maryland, to Washington D.C. The riders were Sherry Mandeville Knoppers ’87, John Knoppers ’88, Dan Tjoelker ’88, and Dave Klooster ’89 They were supported by Steph Miller Tjoelker ’87 and Michelle Wildeboer Klooster ’89

2000s

05 Morgan Davis Mansa ’07, deputy director of housing for Wake County, North Carolina, is one of Triangle Business Journal’s 2024 40 Under 40 Award recipients. The award honors young professionals who distinguish themselves in their fields and communities. Mansa is recognized for her leadership in advancing affordable and equitable housing.

06 Kathryn De Jong Riemersma ’11 and Matt Riemersma ’07 opened The Boardwalk in July 2022, a riverfront event and wedding venue along the St. Joseph River in Benton Harbor, Michigan. They gathered there with Calvin friends this past summer to kick-off a weeklong vacation together.

Left to right: Nate Hoeksema ’08, Chrissy Boeder Hoeksema ’07, Nicole Visser Arentsen ’07, Luke Arentsen ex’05, Kathryn De Jong Riemersma ’11, Matt Riemersma ’07, Becky Gleisner De Jong ’07, Jeff De Jong ’09

Professional engineer, project manager, and certified planner Paul Ryckbost ’03 was elected to the board of directors and promoted to senior vice president at Guernsey in Oklahoma City,

Oklahoma. Guernsey is a multi-disciplinary design and consulting firm that provides service across the United States and abroad.

2010s

Behind Our Walls, a documentary directed by Nathan Roels ’17, is now available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video. The film follows a group of inmates in Michigan as they pursue a college degree from behind bars through the Calvin Prison Initiative (CPI).

Emily Workman ’18 holds a doctorate in physical therapy and recently became a board-certified neurologic clinical specialist. Workman is employed at Shirley Ryan Ability Lab in Chicago where she specializes in treating patients with spinal cord injuries.

2020s

07 Recent graduate Anthony Angeli ’24 is now employed as an orderly doing patient transport at Garden City Hospital in Garden City, Michigan.

Elena Workman Huisman ’20 recently graduated as a physician assistant from Northeastern University in Boston, where she received the 2024 Academic Excellence Award from the university’s Bouvé College of Health Sciences. She now works at Massachusetts General Hospital.

ALUMNI HIGHLIGHT

Sitting at the Intersection of Justice and Spirituality

As a reporter for Religion News Service, Kathryn Post ’18 spends her days investigating and writing stories on justice and spirituality, pop culture and religion, and higher education and faith.

During her time at the online, independent religion and spirituality news source, she has approached her role as a journalist and storyteller with sensitivity and a commitment to the truth.

In 2023, she reported on the federal trial of the man charged with killing 11 Jewish congregants at a Pittsburgh synagogue. Months later, her articles on the environmental crisis in East

Palestine balanced the devastating impact of the hazardous chemical spill alongside the hope-filled relief efforts. And throughout her four years with Religion News Service, she’s written about misconduct from church leaders and told the delicate stories of victims.

“Because I gravitate toward stories that sit at the intersection of justice and spirituality, I do a lot of investigative reporting and reporting on abuse in religious or spiritual contexts,” Post reflected. “These stories can be really heavy and difficult to navigate. They take a lot of hours and careful, careful reporting, but they often end up being the most rewarding stories.”

Post credits her ability to navigate challenging topics to her Calvin experience, particularly the summer she spent as a McGregor Fellow researching toxic masculinity and evangelicalism with Professor Kristin Kobes Du Mez.

“It was the first time I was exposed to religion journalism as a field and realized there was a career opportunity where I could apply my writing skills, research skills, and interest in religion,” Post said.

Post is also a founding member of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee at Religion News Service, a group that develops initiatives to promote DEI in both the workplace and in news coverage.

For Post, acting as an agent of renewal means telling the stories of abuse survivors and marginalized groups while also advocating for diversity and inclusion in the field and from the office.

You can read Kathryn Post’s work at religionnews.com

— Meghan Huizenga

Religion News Service reporter Kathryn Post ’18 sheds light on everything from faith to pop culture.

Beautiful Animals: The Joyful Case for Going Vegan

Digital Overwhelm: A Mid-Career Guide to Coping at Work

Craig Mattson, professor of communication and Arthur H. DeKruyter Chair in Faith and Communication

06 Owls Mate for Life: A Memoir of Loss and Love

James Paauw ’75

Credo House 07 Journey to Adverse City: An Allegory for Young People

James Paauw ’75

Credo House 08 Gratitude: Why Giving Thanks Is the Key to Our Well-Being

Cornelius Plantinga ’67

Brazos Press

Under the Wings of God: Twenty Biblical Reflections for a Deeper Faith

Cornelius Plantinga ’67 Brazos Press

Gary Schmidt, professor emeritus of English HarperCollins

11 You’ll Shoot Your Eye Out! Life Lessons from the Movie A Christmas Story

Quentin Schultze, professor emeritus of communication Edenridge Press

12 Love to Pray: A 40-Day Devotional for Deepening Your Prayer Life

Alvin VanderGriend ’58 PrayerShop Publishing

13 Modern Improv Quilting: Be the Boss of Your Design

Laura Vogelzang Veenema ’09 Stash Books 14 Mecha Mouse Loses a Foot

Mark Sonnen ’12 Self-published

Always Flying Bobby

(Cindy) Boyll ’89

Scribe Press

Monsterious: Trapped in the Horror Dome

McMann ’91

REUNION IN A BOX

These Calvin cross country and track and field teammates and their families reunited in western Pennsylvania. They posed with their Calvin flag from the DIII national championships.

Back row, left to right: George Visser ’10, Kristin Haagsma Visser ’09, Calah Schlabach ’09, Annika Krygsman Bangma ’09, Mike Bangma ’07

Front row, left to right: Jon Gries ’08, Kelly Edwards Gries ’09, Josh Orndorff ’10, Aaron Goodman ’10

Request your party kit for a gathering of four or more alumni: calvin.edu/go/reunion-box

Calvin friends met at a campground in Michigan City, Indiana, for a summer reunion.

Top row, left to right: Ben Brower ’04, Katie Timmermans Brower ’06, Frank Vanden Bosch ’00, Mindi Andringa Vanden Bosch ’00, Jonathan Morris ’02, Renee Vandenberg Morris ’02, Tim Molenbeek ’03, Lindsay Brown Molenbeek ’02, Joe DeKraker ’00, Sheri Ver Meer DeKraker ’99

Along railing, left to right: Melanie Plaisier Lyons ’00, Evan Koons ’02, Kylene Dalton-Koons ’02, Lisa DeMots Marcusse ’00, Steve Marcusse ’01, Melissa Curtis Grasman, Tom Grasman ’00

Eight former Beets-Veenstra floormates and housemates gathered for a long weekend at Gun Lake in Delton, Michigan.

Back row, left to right: Rebecca Van Reken ’00, Pennie Hale Mirande ’00, Meghan Lane-Holbert ’00

Middle row, left to right: Jodi Wildschut Gerber ’00, Ashleigh Hirdes Muhme ’00, Shannon Kelly ’01

Front row, left to right: Sara Korber-DeWeerd ’00, Kim Fox ’00

Knollcrest East apartment roommates reunited after 20 years at Calvin’s inaugural football game, followed by a backyard barbecue. They plan to make this first-game-of-the-season meetup their new annual event!

Left to right: Jim Apol ’87, Paul Vanderkooi ’87, Dean Vander Hill ’88, and Jon Snyder ’87

During the summer, a group of alumni enjoyed their “reunion in a box” in Klaipeda, Lithuania, at LCC International University. They also spent time hiking in Cornwall, UK.

Left to right: Steve VanZanen ’82, Chris Hamstra VanZanen ’84, David Nyenhuis ’82, Beth Lemkuil Nyenhuis ’82, Lia Martin Wiersma ’83, Dave Wiersma ’82

The 1997–98 Bolt-Heyns-Timmer resident assistant staff held a reunion at Pere Marquette Beach in Muskegon, Michigan. Pictured are seven of the original staff members along with their spouses.

Back row, left to right: Ben VanderKodde ’99, Matthew Falk ’97, Chris Kuipers ’99, Dan Eisnor ’99, Matt Dyksterhouse ’99

Front row, left to right: Laura Vanden Hoek VanderKodde ’98, Michelle Gundersen Falk ’99, Cindy Bryce Kuipers ’01, Anne Zaki ’99, Molly Pierce Haley ’99, Lauren Hunsberger Eisnor ’99, Amy Slings Dyksterhouse ’99

These alumni gathered in Jakarta, Indonesia, for a July reunion.

Left to right: Rudy Setiawan ’97, Kristi Atmarumeksa ’00, Paula Chandra ’99, Vera Kuswanto ’04, Gloriana Kuswanto Teh ’01, Newin Atmarumeksa ’97

In July, five Calvin grads turned part of their family reunion into a Calvin reunion. They took this photo at the Horsetooth Reservoir in Fort Collins, Colorado.

Left to right: Rebekah Blanchard Totel ’01, Mandy Suhr-Sytsma ’05, Sarah Blanchard Carlblom ’99, Nathan Suhr-Sytsma ’04, Ryan Carlblom ’00

A family gathering of legacy alumni and their parents met in Traverse City, Michigan, in July.

Left to right: Dan Olson ’91, Andy Olson ’21, Cheryl DeKryger Olson ’91, Peter Olson ’24, Joel Geib ’09, Emily Geib Au ’09, Sue Olson Geib ’79, Rachel Geib ’13

Summer is the season for reunions! Scan to view more reunion-in-a-box photos on Facebook.

Deaths

1940s

Dorothy Ohlman Aalbers ex’43

April 7, 2024, Bradenton, Fla.

Jeanne Woudenberg Colberg ex’48

July 15, 2024, Rock Hill, S.C.

Eleanor DeFouw DeGraaf ex’49

June 17, 2024, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Wayne Dornbush ’49

June 17, 2024, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Nanette Timmer Eklund ex’49

March 1, 2024, Minneapolis, Minn.

Hester Van Dam Hinken ’49

May 31, 2024, Grandville, Mich.

Lavina Hoogeveen ex’49

May 24, 2024, Hudsonville, Mich.

Audrey Nieboer Huizenga ex’47

April 21, 2024, Munster, Ind.

Audrey Groot Koedyker ex’49

Feb. 5, 2024, Highland, Ind.

Kathryn Rensenbrink Krosschell ex’47

June 10, 2024, Culpeper, Va.

Mary Starn McLean ’47

Aug. 2, 2024, Reisterstown, Md.

Margaret Twight Spaan ’45

Jan. 12, 2024, Beaverton, Ore.

Geraldine Van Deel ex’47

July 8, 2024, Saint John, Ind.

Anthonie Vanden Ende HON

June 18, 2024, Strathroy, Ontario, Canada

Esther Nielsen Van Hammen ’46

June 25, 2024, Honor, Mich.

1950s

Lewis Arkema ’58

Aug. 4, 2024, Sioux Center, Iowa

Edward Begay ex’58

June 12, 2022, Gallup, N.M.

Distinguished Alumni Award recipient

John Boonstra ’59

June 20, 2024, Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada

Ruth Van Arkel Bos ex’58

April 6, 2024, Louisville, Ky.

Shirley De Vries Dannenberg ’52

May 26, 2024, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Larry De Boer Sr. ex’50

June 23, 2024, Indian Springs, Ala.

Alieda Van Boven De Graaf ’52

May 24, 2024, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Roger De Graaf ’58

Aug. 16, 2024, Zeeland, Mich.

Norma Verduin De Jong ex’54

July 4, 2024, Jenison, Mich.

Norman De Nooyer ’57

July 8, 2024, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Bernard De Wit ’54

April 6, 2024, Sioux Center, Iowa

Carmen Steffens DeYoung-Tanis ex’57

April 23, 2024, Kalamazoo, Mich.

Earl Dykstra ’50

Aug. 28, 2024, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Donald Gerard ’56

Aug. 18, 2024, Lowell, Mich.

Vernon Geurkink ’58

Aug. 2, 2024, Glendale Heights, Ill.

Donald Griffioen ’54

May 26, 2024, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Marvin Groeneweg ’55

Jan. 19, 2024, Fairfax Station, Va.

Gaylord Haan ’57

April 21, 2023, Holland, Mich.

Ruth Yff Hamstra ’59

July 7, 2024, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Herman Hanko ’52

April 2, 2024, Jenison, Mich.

Harold Hansen ex’55

March 2, 2024, Alton, Iowa

Hendrik Hart ’59

March 15, 2021, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Geraldine Swart Hooker ex’51

May 12, 2024, Largo, Fla.

Lester Hooker ex’58

Oct. 14, 2023, Middleville, Mich.

Elmer Huizenga ex’52

June 17, 2024, Laguna Woods, Calif.

Hsi-Yin Yu “Lily” Jen ’54

July 1, 2024, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Lena Tjoelker Jones ex’57

May 18, 2024, Vancouver, Wash.

John “Jack” Kamps ’57

June 30, 2024, Albuquerque, N.M.

Roger Kleis ’57

May 22, 2024, Holland, Mich.

Marvin Koets ’57

Jan. 10, 2024, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Sidney Kornelis ex’54

July 9, 2024, Visalia, Calif.

Edwin Kroon ’52

June 23, 2024, Greenwood Village, Colo.

Joyce Berghage Lanehart ’53

March 9, 2024, Winter Haven, Fla.

Marvin Leach ex’59

Aug. 7, 2024, Fort Meade, Fla.

William Masselink HON

May 20, 2024, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada

Outstanding Service Award recipient

James Mast ex’53

July 8, 2024, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Gysbert Menninga ex’54

June 30, 2024, Oak Park, Ill.

Stanley Meyers ex’54

Jan. 21, 2024, Walker, Mich.

Harold Miersma ’56

June 14, 2024, Kentwood, Mich.

Edwin Monsma ’53

July 15, 2024, Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

Geraldine Girodano Mouw ex’59

July 14, 2024, Edgerton, Minn.

Elizabeth Claerbout Nyenhuis ex’50

June 30, 2024, Oostburg, Wis.

Betty Morsink Overbeek ’57

Aug. 29, 2024, Grandville, Mich.

Harold Ploegstra ex’57

March 27, 2024, Tomball, Texas

Arlene Vink Reinsma ex’56

March 16, 2024, Lansing, Ill.

John Rienstra ’59

Aug. 6, 2024, Douglas, Mich.

Arnold Rumph ’54

June 19, 2024, Dorr, Mich.

Violet Westenburg Sjaardema ex’56

Dec. 2, 2023, Denver, Colo.

Evelyn Veltema Stursma ex’56

May 22, 2024, Jenison, Mich.

Alvin Vanden Bosch ’50

May 29, 2024, Edgerton, Minn.

Clarence Vander Veer ex’56

April 11, 2024, Hudsonville, Mich.

Johanna Kooy Van Manen ’57

Aug. 29, 2024, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Sylvia Kooistra Van Poolen ’52

June 23, 2024, Wayland, Mich.

Tony Van Zanten ex’50

Feb. 9, 2024, Greenville, S.C.

Stanley Veltema ’50

April 7, 2024, Coopersville, Mich.

Helen Bonnema Ver Schure ex’54

April 21, 2024, Denver, Colo.

William Viss ex’50

July 26, 2024, Lansdale, Pa.

Arloa Arends Visser ex’50

April 20, 2024, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Marcia Diemer Wyman ’55

Aug. 2, 2024, Clare, Mich.

1960s

Joan Bailey Anderson ’63

Aug. 21, 2024, Whitehall, Mich.

Thomas Bakker ’69

July 17, 2024, Scottsdale, Ariz.

Jack Boelema ’63

Oct. 23, 2023, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Ada Medendorp Busby ’61

Jan. 14, 2024, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Susan Voss Butler ex’69

March 7, 2024, Lakeland, Fla.

Ross Glass ’67

April 10, 2024, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Melvin Haga ’65

Dec. 4, 2023, Ionia, Mich.

Anne Schreuder Kelly ’69

July 6, 2024, Sherman Oaks, Calif.

Jean Elgersma Kimm ’67

Nov. 10, 2023, Redlands, Calif.

Robert King ’60

Aug. 29, 2024, Frankfort, Mich.

Ronald Klaasen ex’64

July 17, 2024, Pella, Iowa

Marie Stoub Klein ’65 Aug. 31, 2023, Mesa, Ariz.

Duane Kuizema ex’61

June 17, 2024, North Haledon, N.J.

Edith Childs Lampen ’66

June 6, 2024, Grandville, Mich.

Peter Limburg ’65

June 23, 2024, Lansing, Mich.

Robert Lubbers ’64

July 7, 2024, Spring Lake, Mich.

David Luyk ’69

July 29, 2024, Grandville, Mich.

Lois Kramer Meekhoff ex’64

Aug. 1, 2024, Hudsonville, Mich.

Verne Meyer ’68

Aug. 13, 2024, Sioux Center, Iowa

Joel Morris ’61

Aug. 20, 2024, Plano, Texas

Adrian Nagle ex’61

Aug. 29, 2024, Thornton, Colo.

William Poelstra ex’62

Dec. 27, 2023, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada

Wietse Posthumus ’62

Dec. 22, 2023, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

George Reenders ’62

Aug. 12, 2023, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Ruth Champlin Sherred ’65

June 27, 2024, Traverse City, Mich.

Judith Baker Sprik ’66

May 10, 2024, Rockford, Mich.

Eleanor Kreuzer Tamminga ’62

Aug. 10, 2024, Hudsonville, Mich.

Paul Triemstra ’65

Nov. 18, 2023, Clarkston, Mich.

William Van Dam ’65

April 8, 2024, Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada

Sandra Vande Berg Vanden Einde ex’61

Dec. 13, 2023, Holland, Mich.

Lois Vander Heide ’68

Aug. 12, 2024, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Gerard Vanderwall ex’64

Aug. 6, 2023, Holland, Mich.

Janice Vander Wal Van Soelen ’63

May 30, 2024, Hull, Iowa

Howard Van Till ’60

July 31, 2024, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Faith and Learning Award recipient

Dianne Versprille Van Wingerden ’63

Dec. 10, 2023, Jenison, Mich.

Harry “Jack” Van Zytveld ’60

June 29, 2024, Grand Rapids, Mich.

James Verbrugge ’63

June 10, 2024, Athens, Ga.

Donald Ver Hey ’65

May 27, 2024, Bloomington, Ind.

Marlene Vugteveen ex’61

Aug. 1, 2024, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Davis Young HON

Aug. 20, 2024, Grand Rapids, Mich.

1970s

Albert Bouw ’72

June 27, 2024, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Wendell Dieleman ex’72

July 28, 2024, Pea Ridge, Ariz.

Cheryl Steenstra Dykstra ’79

July 31, 2024, Hudsonville, Mich.

Dale Evenhouse ’70

June 27, 2024, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Patricia Koetje Feenstra ’70

Sept. 1, 2023, Grand Rapids, Mich.

James Hietbrink ex’71

Aug. 15, 2024, Chicago, Ill.

Susan Jelinek Hoff ex’75

May 25, 2024, Downers Grove, Ill.

Jeffrey Price ’72

Jan. 2, 2024, New Lenox, Ill.

Beverly Aukeman Regts ’77

June 29, 2024, Cadillac, Mich.

Beverly Haskins Reyner ’74

May 7, 2024, Bradenton, Fla.

Leravene Sas ’73

Aug. 14, 2024, Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich.

Roberta Smies ex’72

June 18, 2024, Sheboygan, Wis.

David Weemhoff ’77

May 2, 2024, Tavares, Fla.

1980s

Robert Aardema ex’81

Dec. 21, 2023, Belmont, Mich.

Pennylyn Dykstra-Pruim ’88

Aug. 16, 2024, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Beverly Hanse Hubers ’84

Aug. 10, 2024, Troy, Mich.

Erik Kooyer ’88

June 30, 2024, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Arnold Spitzer ex’82

July 15, 2024, Swisher, Iowa

Philip Stewart ex’81

Aug. 22, 2024, Walker, Mich.

Timothy Van Noord ’89

March 24, 2024, Alto, Mich.

1990s

Steven Landstra ’90

Feb. 29, 2024, Holland, Mich.

2000s

Kathryn Harris-Radelt ’02

Aug. 7, 2024, Brighton, Mich.

PENNYLYN DYKSTRA-PRUIM

1966 – 2024

Pennylyn Dykstra-Pruim ’88, age 58, served at Calvin University for nearly two decades as both a professor of German and associate dean for diversity and inclusion. She died on August 16, 2024, following a lengthy battle with cancer.

“Penny could articulate, like few others, to all sorts of audiences, how important language learning and learning about other cultures is—and how much it is needed in our world,” said Herm De Vries, a former classmate and colleague of Dykstra-Pruim’s at Calvin.

Dykstra-Pruim created learning materials for cross-cultural engagement, including authoring several innovative, nationally used German textbooks. She also co-led two interim trips to Thailand and Cambodia where she created materials to help students understand cultural sensitivities as they entered a new space.

“Her cross-cultural awareness and ability to help others become sensitive to what might otherwise not be seen or noticed are part of her legacy,” said David Dornbos, who co-led the interim trips with Dykstra-Pruim.

During her two decades at Calvin, Dykstra-Pruim taught students and colleagues how to build bridges across diversity and difference. Her compassion, creativity, thoughtfulness, and thoroughness were hallmarks of her leadership.

As associate dean for diversity and inclusion, she helped launch “Diversity & Inclusion for All,” a podcast featuring thought leaders discussing key topics related to diversity, equity, and inclusion in the context of Christian life and witness. She also helped lead the Refugee and Immigration Collaborative at Calvin.

HOWARD VAN TILL 1938

– 2024

As a longtime professor of physics and astronomy, Howard Van Till ’61 will be remembered for his contributions to conversations about the relationship between Christian faith and science.

Van Till, who taught at Calvin from 1965–1998, died on July 31, 2024. He was 85 years old.

After earning his PhD from Michigan State in 1965, Van Till returned to Calvin and began teaching astronomy, an interest that would shape both his research and teaching.

Van Till published numerous articles in professional and religious publications, but the publication of his first book in 1986, The Fourth Day, drew heightened attention and stimulated Calvin and the church to grapple with issues at the intersection of faith and science.

“Howard Van Till was part of a long line of faculty at Calvin who thought deeply and persistently about the relationship between Christian faith and worldview, on the one hand, and scientific study on the other,” said Will Katerberg, curator of Calvin’s Heritage Hall and professor of history.

Loren Haarsma, Calvin professor of physics, concurred: “His writings inspired numerous colleagues and students to study topics at the intersection of science and theology courageously, to communicate what they learned thoughtfully and clearly, and to respond to criticisms patiently and graciously.”

Van Till was one of the founding members of the International Society for Science and Religion and was recognized by the Calvin Alumni Association with its Faith and Learning Award in 1999.

W. DAVID LAVERELL

1941 – 2024

David Laverell was a gifted theologian and mathematician, a grace-filled pastor, and a computer analyst.

“He had an unusual combination of talents,” said Joel Adams, a former colleague of Laverell’s. “Not many ordained pastors have also worked as professional software developers, or vice versa.”

David Laverell, 83, died on June 27, 2024. He served for a quarter century (1984–2009) as a professor of mathematics and then computer science at Calvin.

In the late 1960s and ’70s, after completing his PhD, Laverell taught mathematics at Temple University and then at Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). A decade later, he received both his master of arts in religion and master of theology from Westminster Theological Seminary, leading him to the pastorate for a few years.

While pastoring, he continued to pursue his interests in math and science, discovering along the way that he was a gifted computer analyst. In fact, he taught himself IBM assembly/machine language programming.

As a professor, Laverell is most remembered by colleagues and students for his capacious spirit. “David was unfailingly kind to people and was always willing to extend grace to students with whom others of us would have lost patience,” said Adams. “More than one student would not have finished our program if it weren’t for David! His students and colleagues will remember him as a humble person who always put others—especially the students—before himself.”

DAVIS YOUNG 1941 – 2024

Geology professor Davis Young made a significant impact on the study of Christianity and geology at Calvin. He died on August 20, 2024, at the age of 83.

After earning degrees from Princeton University, Penn State, and Brown University, Young came to Calvin in 1978 to help build a geology department from the ground up.

During his career, Young authored several influential papers on science and faith, as well as eight books. Two of his early books, Creation and the Flood and Christianity and the Age of the Earth, were groundbreaking in addressing the history of geology and the relationship between historical science and Christian faith.

“It’s hard to overstate what these books meant for a generation of young Christian geologists,” said Calvin geology professor Ralph Stearley, a former colleague of Young’s. In fact, Stearley was so inspired by Christianity and the Age of the Earth that he collaborated with Young to update the book in 2008 under the title The Bible, Rocks and Time, a volume that continues to influence a new generation of Christian scientists.

Young also authored three technical books on the history of geology, including Mind over Magma, which earned him the Geological Society of America’s primary award, the Mary Rabbit Award, in 2009.

Young also appreciated the opportunity to teach and inspire young minds. Upon his 2004 retirement, he said, “Calvin is a treasure for Christians who want to learn about the world.”

GRADUATE PROGRAMS DESIGNED FOR YOU

We all have something that motivates us to go beyond ourselves and to live out something greater. Rooted in faith, Calvin’s graduate programs are built for adult learners who seek to reach for new possibilities. Continue your education at Calvin where, together, we’ll think deeply, act justly, and live wholeheartedly as Christ’s agents of renewal in the world.

Learn more at calvin.edu/go/grad-programs

CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED (ACS)

January 20–31, 2025

Choose your January Series 2025 experience: Attend the live presentation on campus at 12:30 p.m. EST, watch the simulcast at a remote site, or watch digitally on-demand until midnight PST. Visit calvin.edu/January for details.

CALVIN UNIVERSITY PRESENTS

January 20–31, 2025

Choose your January Series 2025 experience: Attend the live presentation on campus at 12:30 p.m. EST, watch the simulcast at a remote site, or watch digitally on-demand until midnight PST. Visit calvin.edu/January for details.