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Last week, NPR featured a podcast by Professor of Communication Arts Craig Mattson, Ph.D., as part of its “The Academic Minute” series.

In the podcast, “Better Feeling for a Better World,” Mattson discusses the messaging behind social entrepreneurship companies such as TOMS and Warby Parker.

As the podcast notes, Mattson is a rhetorician, and he studies how messages work, how they form relationships, how they create worlds, and how they open possibilities.

You can listen to the podcast here.

The Dean’s List is Trinity Christian College’s highest academic honor. Congratulations to all our traditional undergraduate students and adult programs students who met this distinction for the Fall 2018 semester.

Traditional undergraduate students who attend Trinity full-time and earned a 3.5 grade point average earn this honor:

This academic achievement is recognized for adult undergraduate students who achieve a semester GPA of 3.8 or better in 6 or more graded credits. 

Sarah Anderson

Sonia Andrade

Kesha Atkins

Vivian Avalos

Kaitlyn Baker

Abbygale Baldwin

Cassandra Boll

Gail Brockmann

Latasha Chatman

Belinda Contreras

Megan Corley

Austin Corradino

Michael Coulter

Quanquisha Dudley

Monica Emlund

Jeffrey Estopellan

Latasha Fields

Tyler Fortier

Ryne Foster

Paul Gardner

Cynthia Gary Sanders

Claudia Gonzalez

Martin Gonzalez

Valeria Gonzalez

Mathew Gorecki

Patricia Gorney

Alyssa Gunther

Joseph Gustin

Christine Haines

Kristina Huisenga

Kathleen Krull

Vincenzo Leone

Samantha Lullo

Rebecca MacFarlane

Maribel Martinez

Patryk Matuszewski

Michelle Maus

Daniel McCormick

Maura McNamara

Nicole Medina

Carol Mejia

Griselda Moore

Kimberly Mueller

Sheila Murphy

Jennifer Nagle

Jerrid Neal

Terry Nelson

Ashley Neven

Marisela Nguyen

Veronica Oganovich

Heather Paluch

Lisa Pesavento

Megan Piper

Jihad Ramadan

Patrick Rubien

Jennifer Ryan

Sara Saleh

Steven Schaaf

Eric Schmidt

Ladina Scott

Karina Sotelo

Laura Spizzirri

Mary Strelow

Lisa Strzempa

Alexa Van Beek

Amelia Van Ham

Erica Vates

Christina Villar

Joseph Wathen

Robert Young

Kirsten Zinzer

The College sends condolences to the family, friends, and former students of Dr. Bob Vander Vennen, who passed away on Dec. 14 at the age of 90.  Vander Vennen was the second faculty member to join the College in 1959, after Gerda Bos.

Vander Vennen was born in Grand Rapids, Mich., in 1928.  He graduated from Calvin College and received a Ph.D. in chemistry from Michigan State University. After marrying Mary Huissen in 1953, the couple moved to Washington, D.C., where he held a research position at the U.S. Naval Research Lab for two years. Vander Vennen  then taught at Belhaven College before joining the Trinity faculty as assistant professor chemistry. Along with teaching, Vander Vennen also served as Academic Dean at Trinity.

In 1974, the Vander Vennen family, which by then included children Mark, Paul, and Kathy, moved to Toronto, where he assumed an executive position with the Institute for Christian Studies until his retirement. Over the years, Vander Vennen played key roles in establishing King’s University in Edmonton, Alberta, and Redeemer University College in Hamilton, Ontario. After retirement, he served as part-time Executive Director of Global Scholars Canada.

Vander Vennen was a long-time member of the American Scientific Affiliation and spearheaded the establishment of its Canadian branch, the Canadian Scientific and Christian Affiliation. He was a lifelong member of the Christian Reformed Church.

According to his family, “Although in later years Alzheimer’s Disease robbed him of his memory and at last attacked his body, he never lost his kind, gracious, polite, encouraging spirit. As a family we praise God for Bob’s life and for God’s faithfulness in taking him home.”

Fourteen Trinity students, along with Associate Professor of Communication Arts and Director of Theatre John Sebestyen, Ph.D.,  are traveling to the Region 3 gathering of KCACTF (Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival) this week.

This year, the conference is being held in Madison, Wis.

The students include:

National KCACTF Award for Theatrical Design Excellence
Andrea Taylor will present her Costume Design from Trinity’s Spring 2018 production of Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors in consideration for this award.

National Playwriting Program
Stephanie Rodriguez will attend playwriting workshops and presentations.

Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship Auditions
Four Trinity student actors were nominated to participate in this scholarship audition, by representatives of KCACTF who visited Trinity to observe our productions of The Comedy of Errors (Spring 2018) and Seeds (Fall 2018).  Each of the nominees is required to prepare a monologue and two scenes, with student acting partners who are not also nominees themselves.

–Nominee Emma Darcy, with scene partner Mateo Perez

–Nominee Breanna Eissens, with scene partner Jonah VanderNaald

–Nominee Ben Friesen, with scene partner Alexandria Eggert

–Nominee Morgan Limback, with scene partner Bethany Dadisman

Stage Management Intensive
Four Trinity students have been selected to stage manage events that are a part of the KCACTF conference/festival in Madison: Kyli Ayers, Megan Blok, Hannah Rodgers, and Sydnie Tiemens.

Launched in 1969, the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF) is a national theater program involving 20,000 students from colleges and universities nationwide annually. For 50 years, the organization has served as a catalyst in improving the quality of college theater in the United States. KCACTF has grown into a network of more than 700 academic institutions throughout the country.

Trinity  bids farewell to Dr. Patti Powell , Professor of Special Education and Director of the LBS I Graduate Program in Special Education, who retired in December and received emeritus status.

“Before coming to Trinity, I spent 15 years teaching at Elim Christian School, and before that I taught at the Arizona State School for the Deaf and the Blind in Tucson. When Trinity first decided to offer a special education degree, they asked me to teach the sign language course as an adjunct. Every semester, I would add another course until I was a full-time professor! That was 20 years ago.

“Then, six years ago, Trinity began offering graduate degrees in LBS I and then LBS II, which I wrote the programs for and got them approved by the State of Illinois. So I’ve had the opportunity to teach different types of students and different ages. Among the lessons I wanted my students to take away from their special education classes was the idea that everyone has something to offer. When we work with students with disabilities, our job is to help those students find their abilities. That was the thesis for my Ph.D., which I completed when I was 50. One of my most memorable experiences was serving as a Fulbright Scholar and teaching for a semester in Montego Bay, Jamaica.

“Now that I’m retiring, I plan to stay involved with several professional organizations, including the Division of International Special Education and Services–that hits my sweet spot of traveling internationally and special education work. I’ll also be spending time with my family and hoping to stay involved here at Trinity.”

Congratulations, and enjoy your retirement, Dr. Powell!

Every Christmas, New Moms, a family support organization run by Board of Trustees member Dr. Laura Zumdahl ’02, offers a holiday party where a professional photographer captures family portraits of mothers and their children.

This year, the Chicago Tribune stopped by the party to profile the work that New Moms is doing to make lasting changes to the lives of mothers and children.  “The reality is, interrupting poverty takes time, it takes getting education, skills and a lot of hard work. Our new moms have everything they need in them, they just need coaching, help and support to bring that out,” Zumdahl says in the article. “We really want to help them write their story — and their child’s story — in a different way.”

You can read the entire article here about the great work that Zumdahl and New Moms are doing!

The Athletics Department Honor Roll reflects the department’s commitment to excellence in the classroom as well as on the playing field.  For the 2018 fall semester a total of 113 student-athletes were named to that honor roll. This academic acknowledgement is given to athletes who earned a minimum grade point average (GPA) of 3.50 for the semester, with High Honors going to those with at least a 3.75 GPA.  A total of 16 student-athletes achieved a perfect 4.0 GPA for the semester.

“Our student-athletes continue to perform at high levels in the classroom,” said athletics director Mark Hanna. “This semester’s honor roll includes 46 percent of our athletes and each of our sports teams is represented. These student-athletes are to be commended for their outstanding work.”

In addition to those on the honor roll, an additional 46 athletes achieved at least a 3.0 GPA for the fall semester.  Overall, nearly 65 percent of all the student-athletes are at or above that 3.0 mark.  The overall combined fall semester grade point average for Trinity’s 245 athletes is 3.218.

Honor Roll for 2018 Fall Semester (min. 3.50 GPA)

Julia Belcher, Freshman–Women’s Volleyball

Nicole Belcher, Freshman–Women’s Volleyball

Jessica Bianchi, Senior–Women’s Soccer

Ben Boers, Sophomore–Men’s Soccer

Jim Bruinius, Sophompre–Men’s Track and Field

Jamie Budreau, Senior–Softball

Taylor Busker, Sophomore–Women’s Soccer

Jessica Eckberg, Freshman–Women’s Volleyball

Joey Davidson, Sophomore–Men’s Golf

Hope Fathman, Senior–Women’s Cross Country/Track

Brianna Figueroa, Sophomore–Women’s Volleyball

Alysia Folkersma, Senior–Women’s Volleyball

Moira Garvey, Sophomore–Women’s Basketball

Noah Groen, Freshman–Baseball

Brenna Groenewold, Freshman–Women’s Basketball

Val Guzman, Sophomore–Women’s Basketball

Nick Heidinger, Senior–Men’s Cross Country/Track and Field

Andrew Heun, Sophomore–Men’s Soccer

Brittany Hoekman, Senior–Women’s Cross Country/Track

Selah Hopkins, Freshman–Women’s Soccer

Vanessa Huizenga, Sophomore–Women’s Soccer

Kris Kirchhoff, Senior–Men’s Soccer

Danny Lawrence, Junior–Men’s Volleyball

Ryan Mathes, Freshman–Men’s Cross Country/Track and Field

Sean McLaughlin, Junior–Men’s Soccer

Mathis Muller, Sophomore–Men’s Soccer

Abbigal Nienhuis, Junior–Women’s Basketball

Jake Ostema, Freshman–Men’s Volleyball

Makayla Otto, Sophomore–Softball

Catherine Price, Junior–Softball

Rachel Rasmussen, Sophomore–Women’s Soccer/Basketball

Brandon Riemersma, Junior–Baseball

Frank Romano, Junior–Baseball

Lydia Smallwood, Freshman–Women’s Soccer

Nicole Syverson, Senior–Women’s Cross Country/Track

Lexxy Trujillo, Junior–Women’s Soccer

Brianna Uhl, Freshman–Women’s Soccer

Cassidy VandeKamp, Sophomore–Women’s Soccer

Bryan Vanderlee, Senior–Baseball

John VanderWall, Sophomore–Baseball

Brantley VanOverloop, Junior–Men’s Cross Country/Track and Field

High Honor Roll for 2018 Fall Semester (min. 3.75 GPA)

Ben Andringa, Senior–Men’s Basketball

Ryan Bakke, Junior–Men’s Volleyball

Ross Barz, Sophomore–Track and Field

Allie Boss*, Freshman–Women’s Cross Country/Track

Jessica Boyd, Senior–Softball

Matthew Butnariu, Junior–Men’s Volleyball

Elly Brummel, Senior–Women’s Soccer

Dylan Busscher*, Junior–Men’s Soccer

Brevin DeBoer, Sophomore–Men’s Soccer

Kate DeKryger, Freshman–Women’s Cross Country/Track

Katlyn Demas, Freshman–Softball

Sarah DeVries, Sophomore–Women’s Track and Field

Caleb DeWeerd, Sophomore–Men’s Cross Country/Track and Field

Megan DeWeerd, Senior–Women’s Cross Country/Track

Andrew Dobrescu, Freshman–Men’s Cross Country/Track and Field

Juliana Dykstra, Junior–Women’s Volleyball

Alicia Enz, Junior–Women’s Soccer

Indira Escalante*, Junior–Women’s Golf

Alissa Gardenal*, Freshman–Softball

Ava Gomez, Sophomore–Women’s Soccer

Sarah Hernandez, Freshman–Women’s Volleyball

Sam Herzog, Junior–Baseball

Olivia Hoekstra, Sophomore–Women’s Track and Field

Valerie Hoekstra, Freshman–Women’s Track and Field

Zach Huisman, Sophomore–Baseball

Luke Jager, Freshman–Men’s Soccer

Nate Kamp, Sophomore–Men’s Golf

Sarah Kiwan, Freshman–Women’s Volleyball

Miranda Kortenhoeven, Freshman–Women’s Soccer

Allyson Kranstz, Sophomore–Women’s Soccer

Anna Maatman, Sophomore–Women’s Volleyball

Tyler Massa, Senior–Men’s Soccer

Steven Massey*, Senior–Men’s Golf

Mike McIntyre, Freshman–Men’s Soccer/Baseball

Dara Megyesi, Senior–Softball

Alyssa Mulligan, Sophomore–Women’s Basketball

Alex Nisle, Senior–Baseball

Josh Olson, Junior–Men’s Basketball

Amanda Ophoff, Freshman–Women’s Basketball

Jessica Owen, Senior–Women’s Soccer

Shaelyn Postmus, Junior–Women’s Soccer

Audrey Ricker, Sophomore–Softball

Paige Rogers*,Sophomore–Women’s Soccer

Tate Rozeveld, Sophomore–Men’s Soccer

Mark Schaaf*, Freshman–Men’s Golf

Bob Schaaf*, Junior–Men’s Golf

Sara Shea, Freshman–Women’s Soccer

Jared Smaga, Sophomore–Baseball

Gabriel Soler, Junior–Men’s Soccer

Colin Stravers*, Sophomore–Men’s Track and Field

Francesca Strolia*, Senior–Women’s Cross Country

Alexis Suwyn, Sophomore–Women’s Soccer

Leah Sweetman*, Sophomore–Softball

Breanna Toppen, Junior–Women’s Basketball

Lindsey Vanderlaan, Sophomore–Women’s Soccer

Bethany VanderPloeg, Sophomore–Women’s Track and Field

Mikayla VanLaan*, Junior–Women’s Cross Country/Track

Dani Van Laten*, Junior–Women’s Volleyball

Case VanWingerden, Junior–Men’s Soccer

Daisy Vazquez, Senior–Women’s Track and Field

Christa Veenstra, Senior–Women’s Volleyball

Dan Vos, Sophomore–Men’s Golf/Baseball

Jim Vos*, Senior–Men’s Golf

Pete Vos, Sophomore–Men’s Golf

Carissa Wisse, Sophomore–Women’s Track and Field

Noah Wolters*, Senior–Men’s Cross Country

Taylor Yanke, Senior–Women’s Track and Field

Josh York, Junior–Baseball

Sara York*, Freshman–Women’s Volleyball

Lexi Zambrano, Senior–Women’s Soccer

Danielle Zander, Sophomore–Women’s Volleyball

Madysen Zula, Sophomore–Women’s Volleyball

*indicates a 4.0 GPA