Archives: News Stories

Experience the world through film, word, and music this October at Trinity. Each Monday evening at 7 p.m., the College’s WorldView series will teach, inspire, and enlighten hundreds with these events:

October 4 – Tom Key, “C.S. Lewis on Stage”

Tom Key is the producing artistic director of Theatrical Outfit, Atlanta’s fastest growing professional theatre company. “C.S. Lewis on Stage” captures the personality and fiction of the author of The Chronicles of Narnia, and The Screwtape Letters.   

Location:  Marg Kallemeyn Theatre (located in the Art and Communication Center)

Event Follow-up:   Fans of C.S. Lewis Enjoy the One-Man Play at WorldView

October 11 – Clarence Page, “Politics 2010: Holding on to Hope in an Age of Change”

Clarence Page is a Pulitzer Prize winner, columnist, and long-time member of Chicago Tribune’s editorial board. He is a biweekly commentator on “Sunday Morning Edition” on National Public Radio and a frequent guest on national news programs, including ABC’s “Nightline” and “Good Morning America,” NBC’s “Today,” and CNN.  

Location: Ozinga Chapel Grand Lobby.

Event Follow-up:  Pulitzer Prize-Winning Journalist Speaks at Trinity–Photogallery

October 18 – Barbara Martinez Jitner, filmmaker and human rights activist

Barbara Martinez Jitner posed as a factory worker on the U.S./Mexico border in order to uncover a dark world of grueling poverty and sexual abuse that leads to murder. The film Bordertown, starring Jennifer Lopez, was inspired by Martinez Jitner’s critically acclaimed documentary, “La Frontera.” Martinez Jitner is one of the first Latina executive producers of a primetime network television series, the Emmy-nominated “American Family.”

Location: Ozinga Chapel Grand Lobby.

Event Follow-up:  Filmmaker and Activist Raises Awareness on Campus–Photogallery

October 25 – Michael Card, singer songwriter author

Michael Card has recorded over 23 albums, has authored or co-authored over 19 books, and has written such favorites as “El Shaddai,” “Love Crucified Arose,” and “Emmanuel.” He has sold more than four million albums and has written over 19 #1 hits.

Location: Ozinga Chapel Auditorium

Event Follow-up:  Michael Card Performs “El Shaddai” at WorldView—Photogallery

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Admission is free, and all events are open to the public. 

One of the best weather days of the summer welcomed 112 golfers to the annual Trinity Athletics Golf Classic on Monday, August 16. The outing raised more than $36,000 for the TAC scholarship fund.

Calumet Country Club in Homewood was again the host site for the outing, which brings together alumni and friends of the College to raise funds for athletic scholarships.  All of the College’s coaching staff as well as 10 scholarship athletes were present to meet and thank the golfers for their support.

After the final putt, the foursome of Jeff De Boer ’01, Justin Ozinga ex ’01, Matt Postema ’07, and John Sikkenga ’06 won the outing with a 13 under score of 58.

“The golf outing was a very special and successful day,” said Josh Lenarz ’98, interim athletics director. “We greatly appreciate all who came out to golf or who sponsored the event. We are blessed by their support of Trinity and the athletics program. We are honored to partner with them as a Trinity community.”

The College also thanks Ozinga Bros. and Providence Bank for their sponsorship of the event.

Trinity Christian College has been ranked No. 20 among Regional Colleges—Midwest (formerly the Baccalaureate Colleges—Midwest category) by U.S.News & World Report in “America’s Best Colleges” for 2011.

The College’s ranking rose eight places from last year’s ranking of 28. Colleges in the Regional category offer a wide range of degree programs in the liberal arts and in professional fields such as business, nursing, and education.

The U.S.News rankings are based on several criteria, including peer assessment, student retention, faculty/student ratio, class size, graduation rate, and average alumni giving.

Trinity regularly receives comments from students and alumni that attest to the quality of the programs and the value of a Trinity liberal arts education.

“Recently a graduate visited campus to update former professors about his first job and to thank them for the rigorous feedback he received on his writing and speaking,” said Provost Liz Rudenga. “What a joy to listen to his story. The report from U.S.News confirms Trinity’s quality teaching and learning environment, one that paves the way for future graduates to return with similar stories.”

Trinity also ranked 13th in the area of Racial Diversity: Regional Colleges—Midwest. This ranking speaks to the College’s continued commitment to develop a multi-racial, multi-national, and multi-denominational student body. To determine this ranking, U.S.News factors in the total proportion of minority students (not including international students) and the overall mix of groups.

Spending the last three summers volunteering at a cancer camp for children has confirmed an early calling on junior Autumn Boss’s heart to be a nurse.

Boss, of Lansing, Illinois, is a nursing major at Trinity. She just finished her third annual week serving as the companion of 11-year-old Alexis, a cancer survivor and camper at Camp Quality, a special experience for juvenile cancer patients held each year at Camp Manitoqua in Frankfort, Illinois.

Each camper is assigned a companion who not only helps with basic needs but also becomes a friend and mentor. The 80 campers and their companions enjoy the usual camp activities, such as raft races, swimming, crafts, and games. But it is more than just fun; for both camper and companion, it is life and heart changing.

“After experiencing camp, I can’t take life for granted,” said Boss. She explained that the children’s attitudes about their “normal” are astonishing. Boss recalled one child showing her how she gives herself an injection every day. It was a startling illustration of the untimely maturity exhibited by these children. Some have to leave the camp throughout the week for chemotherapy treatments or other procedures.

Boss’s early inspiration to pursue nursing and eventually to serve at Camp Quality has been her aunt LeAnn Kooyenga, a pediatric oncology nurse at Hope Children’s Hospital in Oak Lawn, Illinois, and a regular volunteer at the camp.

Although Boss’s first camp experience didn’t solidify her interest in pediatric oncology, she experienced a simple but profound moment one evening this summer. “It’s hard to describe, but I was watching Alexis and all the kids swimming, and I simply thought, ‘they’re alive.’”

Camp Quality exists through donations and the dedicated work of its volunteers. Boss hopes more people will feel moved to help. Visit www.campqualityillinois.net or call 708.895.8311.

The work of Dayton Castleman, Trinity’s assistant professor of art, is on display at the DePaul University Museum of Art in a show titled “The Nomadic Studio.” This exhibition is part of Studio Chicago, a yearlong collaborative project that focuses on the artist’s studio through exhibitions, talks, publications, tours, and research.

Using mainly cardboard, polystyrene foam, and wood, Castleman constructed a sculptural installation titled “Chicken.” The work depicts a Canadian goose and an F-16 Fighting Falcon jet in what the artist describes as “the moment of their first, and presumably last, kiss.”

“The idea originated after the emergency landing of U.S. Airways flight 1549 in the Hudson River in January of 2009,” said Castleman. “I allowed myself to wonder whether there was some kind of strange attraction that a jetliner might engender in a bird. Eventually the work became about this tragic romance between these two gorgeous flying things.”

Castleman earned an M.F.A. in sculpture from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and has been on faculty at Trinity since 2008. He specializes in sculpture, site-specific sculpture, and installation.

Trinity has received $17,480 from the Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE) in the form of a grant through the Illinois Cooperative Work Study (ICWS) program. This program will provide internship opportunities with non-profit and corporate employers for 19 full-time Trinity students who are Illinois residents.

Employers working with Trinity in this program include Lake Katherine, Elim Christian Services, Camp Manitoqua, Homewood Disposal, and others. These internships give students the opportunity to enhance their job skills in their area of study and offset their need for additional loans.

Many of the participating employers would not otherwise have internships available if not for the ICWS funding. Employers pay a percentage of the students’ wages with Trinity covering the remaining percentage with ICWS grant money. The number of positions available varies depending on employers’ budgets and the number of students that qualify for the program.

Jon Vander Woude ’10 interned at Global Green Products as a student research assistant for two years.

“Having this opportunity has been invaluable to me,” said Vander Woude. “I gained firsthand experience working on a long-term project and learned valuable lessons about collaborating with other scientists. This experience was invaluable in helping prepare me for—and get accepted to—Northwestern University’s chemistry graduate program.”

The ICWS is a great opportunity for both students and employers to strengthen partnerships between higher education and business, industry, and government.

Classes educating key staff members to the Incident Command System (ICS) were held on campus August 5. ICS is used by schools and emergency response agencies to manage and properly respond to emergency situations.

Whether the situation involves responding to a natural disaster or preparing for a large event crowd, the unified command approach to emergency management provides for the systematic and orderly deployment of resources to an emergency and a common language and structure in which to operate.

“The ICS is integrated into Trinity’s existing emergency response plan,” said Jim Van Schepen ex ’71, director of security. “This training for administrative staff is essential for understanding the structure under which we would be working with emergency response agencies that are also trained and operate in this same response system.”

The class was presented by Ron Ellis, Dr. Sandra Ellis, and Keith Gehrand, representatives of the Illinois Emergency Management Office in conjunction with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Matt Smigaj ’10 teaches kids to dance. They are being introduced to the art of ballroom dance.

Over the summer, Smigaj, a graduate of Trinity’s education program, led a four-week ballroom dance camp for kids in 3^rd through 6^th grades at Dance Images in Tinley Park, Illinois.

Nine of his 10 students were from Christa McAuliffe Elementary School where Smigaj completed his student teaching requirement while at Trinity.

During his student teaching, he taught a three-week ballroom dance unit at Christa McAuliffe. Smigaj then created an after-school ballroom dance club. His students had the opportunity at the end of the year to perform for the whole school, as well as for family and friends.

“I put on two ballroom dance assemblies, and I even got the superintendent to come,” said Smigaj. “It was a huge success.”

The response from parents and teachers was positive. Smigaj received letters commenting on how the dance class had made a difference in the lives of the students, some of whom exhibited marked improvement in their self-confidence and in their social skills.

“Dancing teaches coordination, teamwork, respect for a partner, and self-esteem,” said Smigaj.

In addition to leading summer camps for kids, Smigaj, whose career goal is to be a physical education teacher, also volunteers at basketball camps run by former NBA player Phil Henderson, who founded the All American Basketball Academy. The basketball camps serve students from the ages of 6 to 18 and emphasize character and player development.

Several Trinity students and recent alumni spent part of their summer helping youth in Chicago.

While at Trinity, Marisol Miron ’10 of Chicago, felt called by God to work with youth and worked closely with inner city students during her student teaching. That experience inspired her to participate in this summer’s Chicago Alive Youth Camp with fellow Trinity students.

For more than 20 years, the camp has been offering inner city kids a camp experience led by people like Miron, who share the gospel through building relationships and sharing testimonies with campers. Counselors participated in spiritual training and teamwork building workshops prior to the beginning of the camp. During the training, counselors shared their faith with each other and used the time to draw closer to God. They also raised money individually for the ministry.

Miron said, “I learned that being a Christian is about sharing God’s love with others. It is not always about preaching theology but about establishing relationships and providing others with a sense of acceptance.”

Fellow Trinity student Melisa Rodriguez ’12 of Villa Park, Illinois, served as a counselor for the younger children. “The camp is a place where kids and teenagers find hope. It is a place where they are taught that there is another way to life and that way is Jesus. It is a place where they find love and where they learn that their future is not determined by what surrounds them, but rather by what God can do with their futures if they let him.”

Dr. Laurel Quinn, chair of the nursing department, has been appointed to serve on the Illinois Congress on Health Policy Committee. This position is filled by appointment by the President of the Illinois Nurses Association and the Board of Directors for the State of Illinois.

The Congress on Health Policy formulates position papers and policy statements that are then passed on to the state level for approval, amendment, and adoption by the Illinois Nurses Association. Current work in progress includes a position statement on Latex Allergy, a position statement on H1N1/Immunizations, and a position paper on Faculty to Student Ratio. Several additional position papers are in revision at this time.

Quinn also recently earned the designation Certified Nurse Educator (CNE) after meeting strict eligibility criteria and successfully completing a rigorous certification examination developed and administered by the National League for Nursing.

The role of nurse educator is an advanced professional practice discipline with a defined practice setting and demonstrable standards of excellence.

Quinn has been on faculty at Trinity since 2004. Read more about this outstanding professor. Read her profile here.

Trinity’s nursing major builds on the liberal arts and science foundation and encompasses study in the natural, behavioral, and social sciences, the humanities, and nursing sciences. For more information, visit: https://tcc.trnty.edu/depts/nursing/.