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Dr. Craig Mattson, Professor of Communication Arts, recently took part in the SOCAP 2019 conference in San Francisco as part of a panel discussion on “The intersection of money and meaning.”
Amy Butler, a public theologian and former pastor of The Riverside Church in New York, moderated the panel, which also included Angie Thurston, author and Ministry Innovation Fellow at Harvard Divinity School. During the discussion, Mattson shared the results of his interviews with 36 social entrepreneurs about what role spirituality is playing in their field.
“The panel was very well received,” said Mattson. “At least two audience members spoke up in the Q&A time about how the panel spoke to things they’d wished they’d heard earlier in the conference. I feel very grateful for the support of Prof. John Wightkin and Fusion 59’s Innovation Grant for being able to go to this conference.”
SOCAP (Social Capital Markets) focuses on the emerging global impact economy and convenes ideas and capital to catalyze world change. Its network of investors, entrepreneurs, and social impact leaders works to address the world’s toughest challenges through market-based solutions.
On Nov. 8, Trinity capped off a week of honoring and celebrating our first generation students with a gathering in the Bootsma Bookstore Café. The day was organized by Emily Bosscher, Director of the Office of First Year Experience, and Nicole Saint-Victor, Director of the Office of Multicultural Engagement.
A first generation student is one who is the first in their family to attend college or graduate with a Bachelor’s Degree.
“On this day, we joined colleges and universities nationwide to celebrate our campus’ commitment to unity and acceptance of all students, especially those who are pursuing a college degree without the experience of family to rely on,” said Bosscher. “We partnered with various offices across campus to highlight these students through events that included: a 1st Gen button campaign, alumni visits, Chapel representation, and an interactive display in the library. It all culminated at the BBC with music, appetizers, an open mic, and all types of campus fun!”
Nov. 8 was selected as the date for the annual National First-Generation College Celebration to honor the anniversary of the signing of the Higher Education Act of 1965. The Higher Education Act (HEA) emerged out of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty. Much like other hallmark legislation of that era, such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, HEA was intended to help level a playing field that for too long had been weighed against Americans from minority and low-income backgrounds. In addition to creating federal grants and loan programs to help students finance their educations, the legislation made key investments in institutions of higher education. Additionally, HEA ushered in programs, particularly the Federal TRIO programs, necessary for postsecondary access, retention, and completion for low-income, potential first-generation college graduates.
As its fall Mainstage production, Trinity’s Theatre Department will perform “Eurydice,” by Sarah Ruhl, directed by Dr. John Sebestyen on Nov. 15, 16, 22, and 23.
“In Eurydice, playwright Sarah Ruhl reimagines the classic myth of Orpheus through the eyes of its heroine,” according to Samuel French, the play’s publisher. “Dying too young on her wedding day, Eurydice must journey to the underworld, where she reunites with her father and struggles to remember her lost love.”
“With contemporary characters, ingenious plot twists, and breathtaking visual effects, the play is a fresh look at a timeless love story.”
Eurydice, and her new husband, Orpheus are celebrating their wedding near the beginning of the play. But at the end of that scene, things take a turn. When Eurydice enters the Underworld, she discovers a place where the dead have been dipped in the River, in order to forget their previous lives. But Eurydice’s father is there, and has been resisting the water. He remembers his daughter, and takes it upon himself to help her remember him, too. And to remember herself.
The play was written in the early 2000s, and it honors the original ancient Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice while adapting it to the contemporary style of magical realism, where supernatural things happen to everyday people – but those supernatural things aren’t questioned as being out of the ordinary.
One of the ways the play hearkens back to its ancient Greek origins is by the inclusion of a “chorus of Stones” in the Underworld: a big stone, a little stone, and a loud stone. They experience the Underworld with Eurydice and her Father, but also comment upon the story as both insiders and outsiders.
Due to some death-related themes, this production is recommended for audience members of high school age and older.
Click here to purchase tickets.
CAST & CREW
Cast:
Kyli Ayers, Bethany Dadisman, Benjamin Friesen, Ryan Howey, Mateo Perez, Jonah VanderNaald, Bethany VanderPloeg
Crew:
Production Manager: Sam Jankosky
Assistant Stage Manager: Sydnie Tiemens
Production Assistants: Dani Daujatas, Hannah Last
Scenic Designers: Dr. John Sebestyen & Rick Schuler (’08)
Lighting Designer: Larissa Mulder
Sound Designer: Jake Szafranski (’09)
Costume Designer: Machaela Whitlock
Hair & Make-up Designers: Dani Daujatas & Evie Dykhouse
Properties Master: Sam Jankosky
Trinity recently hosted the Annual Scholarship Dinner in the Grand Lobby of Ozinga Chapel, for a joyful evening that brought together donors and students.
According to Rick Van Dyken, Vice President for Advancement, the evening allows for sharing, engagement, and fellowship. “We are so very grateful for the impact that a scholarship can and does have on the students that attend Trinity,” he said.
Along with time for conversation, two current students, Kennedy Kaptein ‘20 and Ross Barz ’20, discussed their Trinity experiences and the impact that scholarships have played in their lives and President Kurt Dykstra shared the valuable asset that endowed scholarships are for the College.
Trinity currently has 96 endowed scholarship funds that provided a total of $296,500 to Trinity students this year, as well as 60 different annually funded scholarships provided each year that have provided $222,000 this year. Those numbers include three new scholarships that have been added in the last year:
— The Dr. George and Agnes DeJong Scholarship
— The William & Matilda De Witt Scholarship
— The Endowment for the Glory of the Lord
For more information about giving to or creating a scholarship, click here.
FallFest, Trinity’s annual Homecoming and Family Weekend, takes place Nov. 1 and 2! We’ve planned a smorgasbord of fantastic events to celebrate Trinity alumni, students, friends and community, from the 3.1 Run to the Troll Market to science workshops. There’s sure to be something for everyone to enjoy.
Check out all the great activities here.
Matt Croasmun, Associate Research Scholar, Director of the Life Worth Living Program at the Yale Center for Faith and Culture, and Lecturer of Divinity & Humanities at Yale University, recently visited campus for a series of events with faculty, staff, students, and others in the community, where he discussed examining, defining, and achieving what constitutes as a good life.
During a public lecture, Croasmun spoke on “What’s Worth Wanting?” He asked the audience, “How should we examine our lives? We need different modes and different moments.”
Croasmun spoke of four different modes: auto-pilot; effectiveness; self-awareness; and self-transcendence. He compared the different levels to diving deeper. “But after plumbing the depths, we still need to surface. It would be foolish to try to live life below the waterline.”
Croasmun’s visit also marked the launch of Trinity’s Center for Teaching and the Good Life. The Center’s work will be focused on resourcing the imaginations of Trinity’s faculty and staff to help students discover and articulate the joy of their vocation in ways that include and extend beyond career and work. The Center is led by Professor of Music Mark Peters, who serves as director, and Executive Assistant for the Provost Mallory Boyce, who is associate director.
Fusion59, Trinity’s Campus Innovation Center in partnership with the Innovation Club, held a standing-room-only networking workshop on Oct 21. Future Founders Chief Operating Officer Katie Sowa offered advice to students on effective and proper networking etiquette.
Trinity’s Innovation Club meets semi-monthly to help foster innovation on campus through all majors and disciplines – hosting creative workshops, networking events, and field trips.
On Oct. 17, the Honorable Eric Whitaker, U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Niger, visited campus and spoke at several events with students, the community, and faculty.
In a public discussion that took place at Fusion 59, Whitaker talked about a range of topics, such as the current state of affairs in Niger, which is located in West Africa. He also spoke about the United States’ goals in Niger, which he described as “A good country in a tough neighborhood.”
A career member of the U.S. Senior Foreign Service who became ambassador in 2017, Whitaker described his own career path, including serving in the Peace Corps in the Philippines. His previous roles in the Foreign Service include serving as Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary with East African Affairs, Sudan, and South Sudan, and Director of East African Affairs. Whitaker is originally from Dekalb, Ill., and has a BS in biology and an MS in community health education from the University of Illinois, a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Pittsburgh, and a Master of Public Policy degree from the Wilson School at Princeton University.
Whitaker speaks Portuguese, Spanish, French, Visayan, and Korean as well as English and has received 11 Meritorious and Superior Honor Awards, as well as the Department of Defense Meritorious Civilian Honor Award.
Learn more about Ambassador Whitaker and the U.S. Embassy in Niger here.
In 2019, Trinity nursing graduates continue their perfect first-time pass rate on the NCLEX-RN exam. This success represents the fourth time in the past five years that the College is celebrating a 100% pass rate, which represents the highest five-year NCLEX average of any BSN or ADN program in Illinois.
“The mission of the Department of Nursing is to: prepare academically and clinically excellent professional nurses for a lifetime of Christ-like serve to others.” A key element of that mission is being able to pass the NCLEX for licensure, which allows Trinity’s BSN graduates to work as registered nurses.
According to Nursing Department Chair Tina Decker, D.N.P., NCLEX preparation is not an afterthought in Trinity’s nursing program. “It is woven throughout the entire curriculum, starting in the very first nursing courses students take,” she said
“We are so proud that all of the hard work of the students and faculty for the class of 2019 has once again resulted in the best possible outcome of 100% of the graduates passing the NCLEX on their first attempt,” said Decker. “And we are excited for the impact that the Class of 2019 can have by using their skills and knowledge in service to others.”
The NCLEX-RN exams are administered by NCSBN, the National Council of State Boards of Nursing, through which boards of nursing act and counsel together to provide regulatory excellence for public health, safety, and welfare. The exam is taken after the student graduates from a bachelor’s degree-granting nursing program.
Trinity’s nursing program, which is ranked as one of the best BSN programs in Illinois by RegisteredNursing.org, is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education.
Click here to learn more about Trinity’s nursing program.
Three of Trinity’s professors participated in the eighth biennial conference hosted by the Kuyers Institute for Christian Teaching and Learning, “Shaping Christian Learning,” earlier this month at Calvin University in Grand Rapids, Mich. For the first time, the Kuyers Institute co-hosted the conference with INCHE (the International Network for Christian Higher Education).
In a session on shaping curriculum, Trinity Professors of Music Helen Van Wyck, D.M.A., and Mark Peters, Ph.D., and Professor of Philosophy Aron Reppmann, Ph.D., led a session on “Creating a Mission-Specific Departmental Curriculum: A Case Study.” They spoke on how the College completed a significant revision of the music major curriculum in spring 2015. The discussion focused on how Christian faith and institutional mission shape curricular design and examined three courses in detail: Being a Musician, Reading and Writing about Music, and Aesthetics.
Peters participated in another session, “Shaping Culture Makers in Music: The Use of Igor Stravinsky’s Poetics of Music in Christian Higher Education,” with Associate Professor of Music John MacInnis of Dordt University.
Learn more about the Kuyers Institute Conference here.