• Calvin mourns the death of Professor Karen Muyskens
• 2008 January Series continues this week
• Featured Web site: Interim
• Calvin-Hope Rivalry: Sat., Jan. 26. Join us at one of 60+ satellite sites!
• Calvin Symposium on Worship - January 24-26
• Regathering 2008: Wednesday, January 30
• Calvin plans events to honor Dr. Martin Luther King
• Homecoming 2008: February 8-9
• Calvin plans for new alumni e-Community--your input is needed!
• Prof. Halteman receives Award from Humane Society
• New Lecture Series Highlights Animal Compassion
• Calvin Distinctive #2: Purposeful Renewal
  

Calvin mourns the death of Professor Karen Muyskens

It is with sadness that we report the death of Karen Muyskens, professor of chemistry, who passed away suddenly this weekend. Dr. Muyskens, who taught at Calvin since 1989, had been battling an infection that as recently as Saturday evening had apparently stabilized. Karen Muyskens is survived by her husband Mark, with whom she shared a position in the chemistry department, and three children. We are comforted, as are Mark and the family, in the knowledge that their beloved Karen was a child of God, who lived each day the words of the Heidelberg catechism which affirms that we are not our own, but that we belong with body and soul, both in life and in death, to our faithful Saviour Jesus Christ who has fully paid for all our sins with His precious blood. But this day, and in the days to come, please surround Mark and his family with your prayers and your words of comfort. Visitation and funeral arrangements are posted on the Calvin Web site.

2008 January Series continues this week

The lineup for the 2008 January Series of Calvin College features its usual collection of top-notch experts from around the world. This year's talks include such topics as the next election for president, renewing religious language, black gospel music, the world's rain forests, theology for an age of terror, the future of the space industry, the pillow angel case and more. The January Series is held in the Calvin College Fine Arts Center Auditorium; tickets are not required. This week's presentations include:

Monday, January 14
James Abbington
100 Years of
Black Gospel Music in an Hour

All presentations begin at 12:30 pm and end promptly at 1:30 pm (EST). Additionally, remote webcasts at a dozen sites around the U.S. will bring January Series' expertise to such locales as Muskegon, Ann Arbor and Chicago and as far away as Florida and California.

In addition to these remote sites, listeners may also join in as most of the presentations will be broadcast in real audio through the Calvin Web site. More information, including the entire 2008 January Series schedule and the complete list of remote webcast sites, is available on the January Series Web site.

Featured Web site: Interim

Calvin's January Interim term, a three week term when students explore topics which would ordinarily not be offered during a regular semester, continues this week.The list of Interim courses (almost 200 of them!) represents an interesting collection of topics and reflects the wealth of knowledge within the Calvin faculty. The college has created a new Web site for the Interim term which highlights:
•  featured Interim courses
•  photo of the day
•  after class events
•  course weblogs and photo galleries

Calvin-Hope Rivalry: Sat., Jan. 26. Join us at one of 60+ satellite sites!

The classic Calvin-Hope men's basketball rivalry will reignite on Saturday, January 26 at 2:00 pm at the Calvin College Fieldhouse. Calvin and Hope parents, family, and alumni are invited to gather at one of more than 60 Rivalry sites across the U.S. and Canada to participate in this Calvin-Hope tradition via live satellite broadcast. To locate the event closest to your area visit the Rivalry Web site. Are you unable to find a Rivalry location nearby? Call 616-526-6142 and perhaps we can recruit you (in 2009) to help make local arrangements to plan a new Rivalry event in your hometown! Check out the Calvin/Hope "Rivalry" Web site!

The Calvin-Hope rivalry has gained national attention in recent years and was recently ranked one of the country's fiercest rivalries behind Duke/North Carolina, Connecticut/Tennessee (women's) and Louisville/Kentucky. The first game between the two schools was played during the 1920-21 season. Since then, Hope and Calvin have played 165 times; Calvin has won 83 games and Hope has won 82.

Calvin Symposium on Worship - January 24-26

The Calvin Institute of Christian Worship and the Center for Excellence in Preaching warmly invite you to attend the Calvin Symposium on Worship, January 24-26, 2008. Worshipers and worship leaders from around the world gather at Symposium each January for a time of fellowship, worship, and learning, seeking to deepen and integrate all aspects of worship, develop their gifts, encourage each other, and renew their commitment to the full ministry of the church. Online registration is now open.

Regathering 2008: Wednesday, January 30

Calvin's spring semester convocation, Regathering 2008, will take place in the Calvin Fieldhouse on Wednesday, January 30 from 9:50-10:50 am. Alumni, parents and friends are invited to this event, during which the Calvin community will launch the spring semester and welcome back students and faculty who have traveled abroad during fall semester and Interim, celebrating the cultures with which they have engaged and the diversity of things they have learned in doing so. We are especially pleased to welcome guest speaker Dr. Elaine Storkey, whose convocation address topic will be "Climate Change & The Global Poor."

Calvin plans events to honor Dr. Martin Luther King

The Calvin community is planning several events highlighting the important topic of racial reconciliation, commemorating the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King. On January 19, the Multicultural Student Development Office is sponsoring a trip to The National Underground Railroad Museum in Cincinnati, Ohio. A celebration service is planned for Sunday evening at Divine Grace Ministries and events for Monday, January 21 include a MLK March, a lecture on anti-racism, and another celebration event at the Gerald R. Ford Fieldhouse in downtown Grand Rapids.

Homecoming 2008: February 8-9

Homecoming 2008 is fast approaching! Events include a Gospel Choir reunion and concert, as well as a Project Neighborhood Reunion (celebrating 10 years!). Other Homecoming highlights feature:

Visit the Homecoming Web site to view the complete program and details and access the ticket order form.

Calvin plans for new alumni e-Community--your input is needed!

The Calvin Alumni Association has contracted with iModules, a company that specializes in building Web portal sites for colleges and universities. Some time in 2008, the Alumni Association hopes to launch this new site, open to all Calvin alumni. This site will replace the current "'KnightVision" alumni site that is now in place. We'd like to get your input about this new Calvin alumni Web portal. Please complete this short survey about how you currently stay connected to Calvin and how you might use such a tool. All those who complete the survey will be directed to a Web form where they can be entered into a drawing. Five names will be drawn and those persons will receive a Calvin blanket from the Campus Store.

Prof. Halteman receives Award from Humane Society

Calvin philosophy professor Matt Halteman was recently honored with a 2007 Animals and Society Course Award from the The Humane Society of the United States. Halteman was honored in the Distinguished Innovative Course Award category for "Peaceable Kingdom: Transforming Our Relationship with Animals," a class he teaches during Calvin’s January Interim term. The award included a $500 prize to the Calvin philosophy department to support course development and outcomes. "Developing this course has been a rewarding experience, and I am most grateful for this vote of confidence," said Halteman. "Peaceable Kingdom," which Halteman is teaching for the fourth time this year, is an examination of the philosophical, ethical, environmental and socio-economic issues surrounding the treatment of animals by contemporary agribusinesses and other industries. Halteman stressed that he was passionate about infusing "Peaceable Kingdom" with the Calvin mission. "What attracted me to teaching this class in the first place was Calvin’s emphasis on the creation-fall-redemption triad and the idea of transforming fallen structures," he said. Read more.

New Lecture Series Highlights Animal Compassion

Dr. Stephen H. Webb will give the inaugural address of the Animals and the Kingdom of God Lecture Series, held at 7:30 pm on Friday January 18 at the Bytwerk Theater in the DeVos Communication Center at Calvin College. Annual lectures in this new series will engage questions concerning the just and merciful treatment of animals from a faith perspective. "We think Stephen Webb is an excellent choice for the inaugural lecture of this series," said Matt Halteman, Calvin philosophy professor and administrator of the interdisciplinary committee that selected the speaker. "He is one of the leading voices for animal compassion in contemporary Christian theology." Webb, a conservative Christian theologian and professor at Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana, is the author of On God and Dogs and Good Eating-a volume in the Christian Practice of Everyday Life series from Grand Rapids-based Brazos Press. His lecture is titled "A Christian Case for Compassion for Animals." "Webb articulates the importance of compassion for animals as a crucial element of God’s broader call to care for creation, and that holistic message fits well with our outlook here at Calvin," Halteman said. That idea was the founding principle of the Animals and the Kingdom of God Lecture Series, which was funded by a friend of the college for 10 years to bring concern for animals under the larger tent of creation care that already exists at Calvin.

Calvin Distinctive #2: Purposeful Renewal

A Calvin education calls and equips students to be agents of renewal in God's world. Calvin's challenge to students, faculty, staff and alumni is clear: "Whatever you do, use your knowledge, your gifts and your profession to make all things new." Calvin is committed to anti-racism efforts, including a Calvin Anti-Racism Team (CART), which holds regular training events on campus and works with local leaders in community-wide efforts. For more information visit the Calvin Distinctives Web site.

The Calvin Wire newsletter is a bulletin of the Calvin Alumni Association sent to alumni and friends of Calvin College to inform them of the latest news from campus.