Calvin College - President's Report 2003

The 2002–2003 Year in Review

2002

A grant of almost $130,000 to Calvin from the National Science Foundation helps pay for two new 16-inch telescopes for the school's astronomy program, one located at Calvin and the other on the campus of Rehoboth Christian School near Gallup, New Mexico.
Communication professor William Romanowski receives a Gold Medallion Award from the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association for his book on religion and culture, Eyes Wide Open.
Calvin's Crossing, the pedestrian overpass that bridges the Calvin campus as it crosses over the East Beltline, wins an award of excellence in the category of Special Construction from the Associated Builders and Contractors of West Michigan.
The Calvin development office is honored by the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) as a winner of the Circle of Excellence in Educational Fund Raising Award.

Calvin is named to three college ranking guides, including the Princeton Review's Best 345 Colleges. Calvin is also featured in the Fiske Guide to Colleges, where it is named both a best school and one of just 43 best buys, and in the 2003 Unofficial, Unbiased Insider's Guide to the 320 Most Interesting Colleges.
Calvin's combination of superb professors and the state-of-the-art DeVos Communication Center is rewarded with a gift of $500,000 from the Steelcase Foundation. The gift will be used toward the almost $3 million in technology costs for the center.
Calvin chaplain Dale Cooper and physical education professor Kevin Vande Streek team up to write Lasting Victory, a book of devotionals for "students, athletes, coaches, and those who cheer them on."

The college has a 2002–2003 enrollment of 4,330 students, its third-highest ever and the highest since 1988.
Calvin moves up one slot from a year ago in the annual U.S. News & World Report rankings, holding down number three in the category of Midwest Comprehensive Bachelor's Colleges.

A $25 million construction project that includes a 380-foot span across the East Beltline (Calvin's Crossing), a state-of-the-art communication building (the DeVos Communication Center), and a tranquil hospitality center (the Prince Conference Center) is officially dedicated.
Calvin's theater department is once again a multiple winner at the 2002 Grand Awards, the annual awards for Grand Rapids community theater. Calvin actresses won for both best leading actress and best supporting actress, while the all-female cast of the play As It Is in Heaven won a special Grand Award for acting ensemble.

Paulo Ribeiro, professor of engineering, is named a fellow in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. The honor is a rare one, conferred upon a person with an extraordinary record of accomplishments.
Calvin College is again one of the top schools for students who study abroad. In 2000–2001, the school had 486 students studying in other countries.
Great with Child: Reflections on Faith, Fullness, and Becoming a Mother by Calvin English professor Debra Rienstra is named one of the best religion books of 2002 by Publishers Weekly.
The men's cross-country team, coached Brian Diemer, finishes second at the NCAA Div III National Championship meet, while the women, under head coach Nancy Meyer, are fifth.

Senior Matt Post demonstrates a system he designed for electronic voting in local, state, and national elections—his attempt to solve issues related to mechanical voting systems.
Twelve Calvin students are selected the Jubilee Fellows Program, designed to help students decide if they are called to work in Christian ministry. The students will spend two years in the program, gaining hands-on experience in the field of ministry.