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Trinity’s Organization of African American Unity (OAAU) welcomed students and faculty to join in the Celebration of African American Culture on Wednesday, February 27. Attendees shared a delicious meal while enjoying performances of dance, music, and poetry.
The Gospel Choir made an appearance singing “I Shall Wear a Crown,” and many students performed solo acts. Rochelle Burks ’14 of Downers Grove, Illinois, played a drum solo on a djembe, a traditional African drum.
Poetry was shared by Dominique Evans ’14 of Glenwood, Illinois, reading Langston Hughes’ “Weary Blues,” and by Ranesha McGee ’15 of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, reading Maya Angelou’s “Still I Rise.”
Evans serves as president of the OAAU and worked hard to make the evening a success. “We want to let the campus know the importance of African American culture and the contributions it makes to American culture,” Evans said. “We want to bring diversity to Trinity’s campus through more events like this.”
The OAAU seeks to promote, understand, and appreciate the history of African Americans within the larger Trinity community, as well as serve as a voice for students of minority backgrounds.
Start with colorful Hawaiian decorations. Add a great DJ and delicious snacks. Mix in 45 high schoolers from Elim Christian School dressed in their best Hawaiian clothes. Throw in energetic Trinity Christian College special education majors…
Combined, these ingredients create a fun campus event, the Annual Hawaiian Dance hosted by Trinity’s Student Council for Exceptional Children.
At this unique event, held on Friday, February 22, students with severe disabilities spend an evening with Trinity peers, dancing and getting to know each other.
The parents of the Elim students are particularly grateful for this event put on for their children who have the chance to attend a dance with their nondisabled peers.
Special thanks go to the Student Council for Exceptional Children officers, especially Kristin Ipema ’12 of Tinley Park, Illinois, and Kaylee Wilson ’13 of New Lenox, Illinois, who put on a great event, enjoyed by all.
“Events like the Hawaiian dance allow Trinity students to welcome and embrace diversity on our campus,” said Ipema. “This is also a great way for those interested in Special Education get to know some of the students’ personalities and how they function. It is a humbling experience for Trinity students to give up their time and have tons of fun with students that may have struggles in their lives.”
They were in their literary glory on February 18.
English students, professors, and visiting alumni enjoyed a full day of activities at Trinity’s English festival, which welcomed Dr. Deborah Bowen, professor of English at Redeemer University College, poet and alumnus John Terpstra ’74, and Professor Emerita Virginia LaGrand.
ARCU Lecture
Bowen delivered the Freshmen Lecture as well as the Association of Reformed Colleges and Universities (ARCU) lecture in the afternoon. The latter, “The Good Society: Why bother with the humanities in a time of crisis?”, inspired attendees to consider learning as a calling and education as a vocation. Bowen also led a lunch-time discussion with faculty and a few students about effective ways Christians can address current issues in the secular academy.
Bowen earned her Ph.D. from the University of Ottawa and her master’s and bachelor’s degrees from Oxford University. She has written numerous articles and two books, her most recent being Stories of the Middle Space: Reading the Ethics of Postmodern Realisms.
“Dr. Bowen’s lectures pushed her audience to see how Christ ‘shines in all that’s fair,’” said Alexis Warden ’14, of Pella, Iowa. “She reminded us of how studying literature plays a role in the redemption of our world.”
Poetry Readings
Poet John Terpstra read selections from his book A Church Not Made with Hands at Hope CRC in Oak Forest the evening before the festival. Dr. Mark Jones, professor of English, performed a jazz piano backdrop to the reading. Terpstra also joined Bowen in a reading and interview as part of the festival line-up of events.
Terpstra has won many regional and national writing awards in Canada, and his work and letters are now being archived by McMaster University, where he was resident artist in 2010-11.
Book Launch
A book launch celebration was held for Dr. Virginia LaGrand who taught English at Trinity from 1990-2008. LaGrand discussed the various aspects of her book, A Spectacular Failure: Robinson Crusoe I, II, III, which examines Defoe’s three-volume series and argues that this great success was also a “peculiar failure.”
Also attending the festival were graduates of the English program as well as emeritus faculty member and long-time chair of the department, Dr. Dan Diephouse.
Dr. Michael Vander Weele, chair of the department, said he appreciated Bowen’s thoughtful work on the importance of narrative and that he “treasured the fifth year of the Freshman Lecture, which Bruce and Mary Leep have sponsored, and the many other opportunities for students, alumni, faculty, faculty emeriti, and distinguished guests on campus to think and talk together.”
The Trinity Business Network (TBN) hosts events that bring students and local businesses together, allowing students to apply the critical thinking skills they learn in the classroom to actual operational and strategic matters.
On February 15, FutureCeuticals representatives Jeff Van Drunen and alumnus Ryan Wories ’09 spoke to business majors on the challenges of starting and expanding a business. A fast-growing sister company of Van Drunen Farms, FutureCeuticals supplies ingredients to companies and restaurants from multiple United States locations, as well as a European base.
Trinity business major Nate Tameling ’14 of Burr Ridge Illinois said he appreciated Van Drunen’s focus on customer satisfaction. He also enjoys hearing the perspective of recent business graduates.
“Successful business men and women, who were not long ago in our shoes, can tell us how they got to where they are now,” said Tameling.
Bringing business practitioners into classrooms ensures that students also learn the important relational skills of intently listening and asking probing yet respectful questions.
“We believe having our students regularly interact with practicing professionals of all ages and experiences is one of the truly unique aspects to studying business at Trinity,” said Dr. Rick Hamilton, assistant professor of business.
Another unique aspect of studying business at Trinity is the Christian perspective of professors and visiting speakers.
Business major Andrew Reidsma ’14 of Wyoming, Michigan said, “Hearing the representatives from FutureCeuticals talk also gave a great perspective on how to better run a Christian company and better serve God with the gifts he has given us.”
Alumni had a great reason to visit campus on February 16. Winter Weekend presented a variety of opportunities to have fun, learn, and reconnect for more than 120 alumni.
The schedule of events included basketball games and team reunions, as well as an education seminar and alumna art exhibit. Visit the photogallery.
The 3-on-3 basketball tournament drew the participation of 13 teams for this annual hoops tradition. The winning teams were:
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Recreational League Michelle Schurman ’09 |
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Advanced League Matt Buren ’12 |
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Alumni also caught a Trolls basketball doubleheader against Judson. After the women’s game, former alumni teammates enjoyed a reunion in the hospitality suite of the DeVos Gymnasium during the men’s game and had a chance to meet Coach Reggie Chapple.
Other events included an education seminar with renowned speaker Jim Gill, who challenged teachers to reach students of all abilities by combining child development, music, and literacy.
Alumni also enjoyed the work of Lisa (Worpel) Walcott ’05. Walcott was present to discuss her exhibit “A Bit Over the Top” in the Seerveld Gallery.
Access to healthful and environmentally-friendly food and the global consequences of consumer actions were the main topics discussed in the recent Interim course Food Justice. Students learned about the food system and the potential for injustices caused to people, animals, and the environment.
Assistant Professor of Social Work Cini Bretzlaff-Holstein said she wanted to inspire action among students toward improving the system.
The class learned from these experiences:
- Documentaries like “Food, Inc.” helped educate students on how food gets to plates across America, as well as the problems that come along with that process.
- Former Trinity chaplain Tim Hoekstra described founding the running club in the congregation he pastors in Austin, a west Chicago suburb. Working out together encourages healthier choices in other areas of life. Other guest speakers taught the values of community gardens, farmers markets, and restaurants serving locally grown food.
- Field trips to companies like Growing Power, which grows fresh vegetables on compost supported gardens in urban neighborhoods, inspired students to go local with their grocery buying.
Many students came away with a sense of how they could help.
“It is our responsibility to be aware of where the food we are feeding to our families comes from,” said Alexandra Otto ’15 of Brandon, Wisconsin, “how it was produced and how those factors may affect our bodies and the environment.”
Other students became interested in aquaponics, a system in which plants are grown on the nutrients from fish waste, while the plants purify the fish water.
“I want my future research to incorporate this idea of stewardship and energy conservation,” says Calob Lostutter ’12 of Tuscon, Arizona. “Both my passions of science and earth conservation come together in beautiful harmony in this one aquaponics system.”
Supported by the Campus Ecological Stewardship Advisory Group (CESAG) and several interested students, the process of installing an aquaponics system is scheduled to begin soon.
The College community observed Ash Wednesday during the weekly communal worship with the message “Formation Matters for Community,” presented by Dr. Aron Reppmann ’92, associate professor of philosophy.
Reppmann offered a reflection on the dynamics of the formation that occurs through practices observed during the season of Lent, often a time for taking on new spiritual disciplines. He suggested ways the Trinity community can take up communal practices based on its common identity.
“Paying attention to how we are formed, being aware of and intentional about formation is a hallmark of our life together, a distinguishing factor, a way of life that makes our community distinctive,” said Reppmann.
To help students, faculty, and staff continue to engage the practices begun in the Wednesday chapel series, Reppmann will offer weekly posts on his blog Formation Matters.
Tabitha House Ministries, a branch of Restoration Ministries in Harvey, Illinois, creates a safe environment where women can get back on a path to a healthy life, both physically and spiritually. Every Friday morning at Trinity’s Bootsma Café, a women’s book club made up of “Tabitha sisters” meets with Professor of Psychology Mary Lynn Colosimo, Ph. D., who began giving her time to the Restoration Ministries family over 20 years ago.
Currently the Tabitha sisters are reading a 31-week devotional called “The Story,” which walks participants through the Bible and helps bring Scripture to life. The book club began making the weekly trip to Trinity several years ago to meet with Colosimo.
“Gathering on Trinity’s campus reinforces the fact that we’re all students in Christ,” Colosimo said. “We are all equally sinful and sit together at the feet of Christ.”
The College regularly partners with Restoration Ministries through various service learning opportunities for students. By including service learning in her curriculum, Colosimo invites students to volunteer at Restoration Ministries through Trinity’s two-week Interim, at after school tutoring and clubs, and at the food pantry and thrift store.
Summer is often a time when Trinity faculty pursue scholarly work. That work was celebrated at a recent reception honoring the 2012 summer research grant recipients.
The research grant program is a competitive program for faculty-initiated summer professional development. It emphasizes shorter times of intensive, collaborative work, especially between disciplines.
Drs. Bill Boerman-Cornell, Mark Jones, Aaron Kuecker, Mark Peters, Keith Starkenburg, and Yudha Thianto shared highlights from their diverse projects.
Dr. Bill Boerman-Cornell, associate professor of education
As part of this ongoing project, Boerman-Cornell analyzed several graphic novels, selecting a corpus of novels with a variety of subjects, age levels, and subjective evaluations of quality. From that group, he developed a coding system based on the work of Scott McCloud, an American cartoonist and theorist.
Dr. Mark Jones, professor of English
Jones studied Sir Walter Scott’s Kenilworth and worked through the critical history of the novel. His research brought into focus three related topics that fall under the larger category of “Elements of Carnival in Scott’s Kenilworth,” the title of the article Jones is in the process of writing.
Dr. Aaron Kuecker, associate professor of theology
Two writing projects were the focus of Kuecker’s work and are intended as chapters for an edited volume. The first chapter is a methodological overview of the current state of research into the concept of ethnicity in the New Testament. The second chapter is a comparative analysis of a cluster of identity-related phenomena in Luke-Acts and Vergil’s Aeneid.
Dr. Mark Peters, professor of music
Peters focused his summer research on Feast of Visitation cantatas by Christoph Graupner (1683-1760), Hofkapellmeister in Hesse-Darmstadt. None of Graupner’s Visitation cantatas has been published in a modern edition; Peters transcribed nearly five cantatas into modern editions using Finale music notation software. He also reviewed Tonus Peregrinus: The History of a Psalm-Tone and Its Use in Polyphonic Music, by Mattias Lundberg (published in Notes: Quarterly Journal of the Music Library Association 69 [2012]).
Dr. Keith Starkenburg, associate professor of theology
His research addressed the theology of Karl Barth, an important Swiss Reformed theologian in the twentieth century. The first part of the research argued that Barth’s theology relates the work of the Holy Spirit to the work of Jesus Christ without reducing their mutual agencies to one another. The second part showed that Barth’s doctrine of glory plays a significant role in how Barth accounts for the persuasive power of the Triune God’s activity within the Christian community.
Dr. Yudha Thianto, professor of theology
Thianto’s research focus is the study of the history of Bible translation into Malay at the time of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) in the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, in particular the earliest translation of the four Gospels and Acts, published in 1677.
Last year, the College chose to go paperless with the President’s Report and received a very positive response from readers. We continue that practice and now present the 2012 President’s Report, which provides four perspectives on the previous year:
