Archives: News Stories
Trinity’s fall semester 2019 commencement will take place in Ozinga Chapel Auditorium at 10 am on Saturday, Dec. 14. Click here for more information.
At the Dec. 14 commencement, three of Trinity’s professors will offer reflections: John J. Fry, Ph.D., Professor of History and Department Chair; Mario Guzmán, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Psychology; and Kelly Lenarz, Ed.D., Assistant Professor of Education; and Director of Education Assessment, Innovation & Traditional Undergraduate Programs.
You can view the Commencement 2019 Livestream here on Saturday morning.
Trinity congratulates all our Fall 2019 graduates and their family and friends!
After stellar fall sports seasons that culminated with appearances in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics national tournaments, players from both the Trinity women’s soccer and women’s volleyball team received National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) and Chicagoland Collegiate Athletics Conference (CCAC) honors. Three members of the women’s volleyball team also were named NAIA All-American.
Senior Dani Van Laten earned NAIA All-America second team honors. She is the first player to make it on the NAIA second team. Along with that, the setter was also a NCCAA/AVCA First Team All-America honoree, and was named the NCCAA/AVCA Player of the Year and was an All-America first team selection to wrap up her successful career here at Trinity. Last season, Van Laten earned NAIA All-America honorable mention status and was named a NCCAA All-America first team honoree.
Junior Brianna Figueroa earned NAIA All-America honorable mention as a libero this season. She was also a NCCAA/AVCA All-America first team selection. This is Figueroa’s first time receiving these accolades.
Rounding out the post-season awards for women’s volleyball is sophomore Sarah Kiwan. The opposite was named an NAIA All-America and was also a NCCAA/AVCA All-America second team selection. This was the first time in her career receiving these distinctions.
Three players from the women’s soccer team were named to the NCCAA All-North Central Region first team. Junior Kaleigh VanElst was added to the list as a defender, senior Lexxy Trujillo earned a spot on the team as a midfielder, and sophomore Selah Hopkins grabbed a spot as a forward.
One other Troll earned an honorable mention spot for the NCCAA All-North Central Region awards, and that was junior Drew McCarthy, who played in various positions for Trinity throughout the season.
Along with earning this award, Hopkins was named the NCCAA All-North Central Region Player of the Year, while head coach Josh Lenarz ‘98 was named Coach of the Year.
Trinity’s Music Department invites the community to attend the 18th Annual Christmastide program on Saturday, December 7 at 4 pm in the Ozinga Chapel. This year’s theme, “Jesus, Prince of Peace,” reflects thanksgiving to God for the new hope and peace the Christ Child brings to a dark world. The program features music by Trinity’s vocal and instrumental ensembles, audience singing with brass and organ, and readings that reflect the theme.
Doors open at 3:30 p.m.
“Christmastide is the only occasion in the academic year when all of our ensembles–vocal and instrumental–come together for a celebrative event commemorating Christ’s incarnation,” said Dr. Helen Van Wyck, professor of music and director of choral activities. “It will be a joyous, worshipful event of beautiful music and readings proclaiming the wonder of Christmas.”
Christmastide contains vocal performances by the Concert Choir, Gospel Choir, and Honors Ensemble. Trinity’s Wind Ensemble and Brass Quintet will also take part in the celebration.
This Christmastide also represents the last time Dr. Van Wyck oversees this annual tradition. After 33 years at Trinity, she will be retiring at the end of the 2019-20 academic year.
Click here to purchase tickets online. If you have questions or would like to order your tickets over the phone, contact the box office at (708) 293-4537 or box.office@trnty.edu.
For 60 years, generous donors have shaped Trinity to what she is today and laid the foundation for our next 60 years. The blessings of planned giving have played a critical role here, allowing for benefits that touch lives across generations.
For those who are utilizing planned giving approaches, or are considering it, there have been several significant changes that will impact giving in 2019. Those changes include:
–IRA charitable rollover
For many Americans 70 1/2 years old and older, the Individual Retirement Account (IRA) charitable rollover allows for gifts from their IRA. Some IRA administrators offer checkbooks that simplify the giving process. If you use this type of checkbook, the deadlines for processing payments have changed. In order for IRA checks from these checkbooks to be counted as a qualified charitable donation (QCD) for the 2019 tax year, they must be delivered to and processed by your designated charity by Dec. 31. In previous years, donations needed to only be postmarked, not processed, by the end of the calendar year. IRA gifts processed after Dec. 31 will be counted as a distribution for 2020, and you may incur a tax penalty if you have not met the required minimum distribution (RMD) for 2019.
–Charitable gift annuities
Charitable gift annuities are another popular method of planned giving, The American Council on Gift Annuities recently unveiled a new schedule of suggested maximum gift annuity rates for gifts established on or after Jan. 1, 2020. Under this new schedule, rates will decrease between 0.3% and 0.5% on average.
For questions about these changes, and for further information about planned giving, visit Trinity’s planned giving page.
Women’s volleyball, women’s soccer, and men’s cross country concluded their seasons over the weekend with competitions in the NAIA Nationals.
The Trinity women’s volleyball team hosted the NAIA Opening Round on Saturday for the second consecutive year as they were paired with the Indiana University Kokomo Cougars. IU-Kokomo came out on top, beating Trinity in four sets.
In the first set, the Cougars won 25-18 . Trinity fought back in the second set, squeezing out a 25-22 win against the Cougars. The third set resulted in another win for IU-Kokomo as they took a late lead, winning 25-20 against the Trolls. And in the fourth and final set, the Cougars came back and took the lead from the Trolls to win in extra points with a score of 26-24.
This concluded the women’s volleyball team’s season. They finished with an overall record of 28-8 and a conference record of 17-1.
The Trinity women’s soccer team also competed in a NAIA Opening Round match on Friday, hosted by the Indiana Wesleyan Wildcats. The first match was played between the Trolls and the Georgia Gwinnett College Grizzlies. Although Trinity kept possession for a great deal of the game, the Grizzlies ultimately scored in double overtime to defeat Trinity, 3-2.
The game concluded the 2019 season for the women’s soccer team. They finished the season with an overall record of 17-3-1 and a conference record of 12-2.
Andrew Dobrescu of the men’s cross country team competed in NAIA Nationals on Nov. 22 in Vancouver, Wash. On the 8K course, the sophomore finished in 250th out of 335 runners in the tournament. This is his first appearance at NAIA Nationals. This was the last meet for the team this season. He will compete in the spring with the track and field team.
Students and professors in Trinity’s Physical Education, Recreation, and Kinesiology (PERK) Department are working with Trinity alumnus Ryan Hesslau ‘18 to be the first college to pilot an app his company recently developed, The Waves App.
Above the Waves is a student management technology company that is “helping guidance counselors better manage their students.”
The Waves App is a student management tool that allows guidance counselors to message students, schedule sessions, and make referrals – all from one central location. Although the platform was built for a high school setting, PERK agreed to partner with Hesslau to test run the platform in a college environment.
With the approval of the Institutional Review Board, students in all PE classes have been given access to the app and have been asked to provide feedback. PERK department professors have encouraged students to ask questions about health, wellness, and physical activity. This might include questions about things like nutrition, proper weightlifting technique, or stress management.
Department Chair Dr. Shari Jurgens, who is one of the PERK Department professors working with Hesslau and Above the Waves, says, “Trinity alums are doing some really cool things with technology, and The Waves App is a great example. We are currently using this app in the PE Department as a test run and we are really hopeful that this will be expanded across the campus in the future.”
The vision for The Waves App on a college campus is to become a helpful plug-in tool for faculty advisers that allows them to message students, schedule sessions, and plenty more.
In addition to being the founder and CEO of Above the Waves, Hesslau is also the Founder and Executive Director of ForeverU, a not-for-profit youth development organization that offers personal development programs to 7-12 grade students that empower them to overcome adversity. He also serves Trinity as a Startup Coach in Fusion59, Trinity’s on-campus innovation hub.
–Paige Rogers ’21, Health Communication Major
Trinity is pleased to announce that Indira Escalante ’19 has been named Trinity’s Lincoln Laureate. Escalante was honored at the Lincoln Academy Student Laureate Convocation Ceremony on Nov. 16 in Springfield, Ill.
The annual Lincoln Academy Student Laureate Ceremony recognizes excellence in curricular and extracurricular activities by seniors from each of the state’s four-year, degree-granting colleges and universities, and one student from the community colleges in Illinois.
An accounting major and theology minor from Hoffman Estates, Ill., Trinity’s selection committee lauded Escalante for her leadership roles at the College, including as an intercollegiate student-athlete in golf, a member of the multicultural student leadership team, a founding member of a campus club called Women Empowered, vice president of administration of the Student Government Association, a student representative on the Campus Diversity and Unity Committee, and as a student mentor for incoming transfer students in Trinity’s Foundations 111 class. “She possesses a rare combination of gifts that span excellence in the field of accountancy, a complex understanding of social justice, a commitment to public service, and diverse contributions to the communities she serves,” the committee noted. “She has demonstrated a commitment to the public good for all people in ways that have garnered the respect of her peers, faculty, and staff in every context in which she serves. This is a remarkable gift to the Trinity Christian College community.”
Escalante, who was joined in Springfield by Becky Starkenburg, Vice President for Student Life, and her parents Lesly and Jose, said she was surprised and honored to be named Lincoln Laureate. “My first reaction was that I don’t deserve it,” she said. “There are so many students here at Trinity to choose from.”
After graduation, Escalante plans to sit for the CPA exam and go to work as an accountant with a major firm.
Trinity Christian College Lincoln Laureates
2018 – Mallory Boyce
2017 – R. Josiah Rosario
2016 – Courtney Kalous
2015 – Hallie Wisse
2014 – David (Woody) Lucas
2013 – Megan Anderson
2012 – Adam Perez
2011 – Alberto LaRosa
2010 – Joseph Wydra
2009 – Jon Vander Woude
2008 – Caitlin Fillmore
2007 – Elizabeth VanderSpek
2006 – Allison Backous
2005 – Erin Marshalek
2004 – Rachel Van Oort
2003 – Yvana Hansen
2002 – Evan VanderZee
2001 – Nate Bosch
2000 – Laurie Johnson
1999 – Hanna Vancer Zee
1998 – Kristen Devine
1997 – Heidi Boeck
1996 – Julie Tinklenberg
1995 – Keri Dyksterhouse
1994 – Mark Mulder
1993 – Kristen Hart
1992 – Sarah Ver Velde
1991 – Aron Reppmann
1990 – Nathan Van Der Male
1989 – Drew Sweetman
1988 – Erik Hoekstra
1987 – Kimberly Dykema
1986 – Edward Wiener, Jr.
The Trinity women’s soccer and volleyball teams secured bids to NAIA Nationals, and now, both teams are scheduled to compete in opening round competition this weekend.
The women’s volleyball team will host the opening round in the DeVos Gymnasium against Indiana Kokomo on Saturday evening at 5 p.m. When the two teams faced each other in the regular season, the Cougars won in five sets.
Ticket prices: $15 family, $5 adult, $3 student/child. Please note, since this is an NAIA National Championship event, regular season free pass holders, including Trinity Athletics Club members and Trinity students, faculty, and staff, will be expected to pay at the gate.
Trinity’s Athletics Department will be hosting a live stream commentator for play by play coverage of the match. The livestream link is https://portal.stretchinternet.com/tcc/.
For women’s soccer, the team will travel to Taylor University, where they will play Georgia Gwinnett on Friday at 1 pm CST, with the winner of that match playing Indiana Wesleyan on Saturday at 1 pm CST. Whoever wins this opening round will move on to the final round starting on Dec. 2. The live stream link is https://portal.stretchinternet.com/Indianawesleyan/
Along with the women’s soccer and volleyball teams advancing, Andrew Dobrescu will race in the NAIA National Championship Cross Country Meet in Vancouver, Wash., on Friday, Nov. 22.
More updates will be provided once they are available.
Go, Trolls!
The value of Christian higher education, the impact of student debt, the ESPN effect—Pres. Kurt Dykstra talked about all this, and much more, on the radio show “The Common Good” on Nov. 13
Hosted by Brian From and Ian Simkins every weekday afternoon on 1160 AM, “The Common Good” looks at “rolling up our sleeves and creating space for hard conversations about real issues that impact our lives.”
You can listen to the entire discussion here.
Trinity is pleased to announce the launch of the Center for Teaching and the Good Life. For 60 years, Trinity has been shaping the imaginations and gifts of students so that they might extend flourishing as they engage their neighborhoods, churches, communities, cities, and wider global contexts. This center marks Trinity’s ongoing commitment to education that is for God, for good, and for the world.
The mission of the Center for Teaching and the Good Life is to deepen Trinity’s capacity to help all students discover and articulate the joy of their vocation in ways that include and extend beyond career and work. Fundamentally, the Center resources faculty and staff in pursuit of the questions “What does it mean to be human?” and “How can we help each student live fully into being the particular human God has called them to be?”
To accomplish this purpose, the Center will house a resource repository surrounding questions of teaching and the good life, convene faculty and staff seminars, workshops, and colloquia, and engage external experts and constituencies. Alongside this work, the Center will coordinate Trinity’s Thinking & Writing courses, a suite of courses that give all Trinity students the opportunity to think, discover, and write in response to questions about the good life.
Leadership of the Center will be provided by its Director, Dr. Mark Peters, Department Chair and Professor of Music, and Associate Director, Mallory Boyce ’19, Executive Assistant to the Provost.
According to Peters, “The Center’s name signals that every interaction faculty and staff have with students presents us with an opportunity for teaching and learning. And it reminds us that every such encounter can be understood in the context of what it means to live now as humans in God’s world.” To that end, Boyce noted that the Center will accelerate work Trinity’s staff and faculty are already undertaking, “Trinity’s faculty and staff are already cultivating an expansive understanding of vocation with students – the Center is naming that work and providing greater institutional support to deepen the opportunities faculty and staff have to engage these themes and to guide students in doing the same.”
Support for the center comes in part from a Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education (NetVUE) “Vocation across the Academy” grant administered by the Council of Independent Colleges with support from Lilly Endowment Inc. These grants are designed to support institution-wide initiatives that deepen and expand the conversation on vocation.