Family Weekend

Family Weekend will be full of activities for parents to enjoy with or without your student.  Consider attending the sectionals offered on Friday, October 23:

10:45 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. James Timmer, Men's Athletic Director, will lead a tour of the new Spoelhof Fieldhouse Complex.
1:15 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.  Donald De Graaf, Director of Off-Campus Programs, will present "Off-Campus Programs: Creating a Lifetime of Global Opportunities," in the DeVos Communication Center Bytwerk Theater.
2:15 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.  Dr. Randall Wolthuis, Director of the Broene Counseling Center, will build on his popular Passport presentation, "For Parents Only - Part 2," in Hiemenga Hall 431.

Tickets for all Family Weekend events are now available at the Calvin box office (616-526-6282).  You may purchase tickets for events online, but if you are attending several ticketed events, the simplest ordering is done via phone.  The Family Weekend banquet WILL sell out (Improv already is sold out), so get your tickets now---not later.  If you are not planning to attend any of the ticketed events you do not have to register ahead of time, but please check in at the Parent Oasis tent or one of the residence hall desks upon arrival to sign in and pick up a Family Weekend schedule and map.  (Please note these time changes: The swim meet will begin at 5:00 p.m. on Friday evening and the Fall Music Festival begins at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights.  Refer to the Family Weekend site as the best and most up-to-date source for program information.

Calvin dining services has special events planned for Family Weekend with special pricing starting with dinner on Friday, October 23, and running through brunch on Sunday, October 25.  On Saturday, there will be root beer floats in Knollcrest Dining Hall.  On Sunday, there will be a special brunch in Commons Dining Hall featuring homemade apple cobbler, and cookie and brownie decorating. Prices are  $4 for breakfast, $5 for lunch, and $7 for dinner or brunch (for ages 12 and up). Children ages six to 11 are half-price; five and under eat free!

Chapel, prayer and silence

You can join the campus in daily worship as chapel is now available live on their Web site every day. The schedule for chapel is also found on that page.

Besides faculty and staff that participate, chapel is often planned and led by Worship Apprentices (WAs).   WAs are students involved in a program of learning and practice about worship leadership at Calvin. Their gifts and interests may include playing or singing on a worship team, invigorating worship through drama and the visual arts, and prayerful planning and preparation for worship. As a team of about 10 students, they support and encourage one another, and they are individually mentored to develop their unique gifts and talents. See the 2009-2010 Worship Apprentices here.

Members of the Calvin community will be gathering to pray at 7:30 a.m. every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday in room 220 of the Chapel Undercroft.  This group of students would like to invite everyone who wants to be actively praying for the college to join them. It will be led by students, but faculty and staff are welcome.  They would also like to know how they can best pray for you. So either  join them or send your prayer requests to calvinprayer@gmail.com. No prayer request is too small.

A group of 75 students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends joined together for a silent retreat over the weekend to spend the time in worship and then silence, prayer and rest.

Homecoming  this week!

Come home this fall to Calvin for a weekend full of activities, reunions and fellowship---alumni, families and friends, alike.  After 57 years, Calvin College has changed its Homecoming tradition, the annual alumni celebration and reunion, from gathering in the chilly month of February to the fall when the campus is at its colorful best.  We've moved most class reunions to this weekend; the classes of '00-'09, '99, '94, '89, '79, '74, '69, '64 will have special gatherings on Saturday evening.  We've also added special interest reunions and stacked Friday and Saturday with many athletic, music and social events.

One fun option for this weekend is a concert by Glenn Bulthuis and the Tonedeafs as they play the music of the Beatles on Thursday and Friday nights, October 8 and 9. Tickets are $10 for adults, $7 for groups of 12 or more and $5 for students and children.  You can also join a block party on Friday night at the seminary pond for the Cardboard Canoe Contest with free food and music.  On Saturday, you can enjoy baseball, volleyball, soccer, rugby, hockey, swimming and lacrosse, as well as a trolley ride, children's activities and more.  Read more about all these options for Homecoming on the schedule Web site.

And wherever you are, wear something "Calvin" on October 9 for Armor Day. Send your pictures and/or stories to alumni@calvin.edu for possible publication.

Unlearn Week
Ambassadors Mentorship Program

Unlearn Week is a week of anti-racism programs designed to challenge the many generalizations, stereotypes and assumptions that maintain racism in our society.  Discussion about the Obama administration, the Asian experience and cross-racial adoption are all a part of this year's Unlearn Week.  You can read a News & Stories feature about Unlearn Week and visit the Unlearn Week Web site for more information. Unlearn Week is brought to you by the Multicultural Student Development Office (MSDO).

The end of summer marked the end of training for the ambassadors in Calvin's MSDO Ambassadors Mentorship Program. Nine Calvin students were trained as "ambassadors" —students who foster growth in the college’s multicultural community and who combat racism day-to-day on Calvin's campus.

Health services and influenza information

Health services meets the unique health-related needs of Calvin students and prepares them for lifelong wellness.  Read their advice and recommended actions related to influenza and vaccines on their newly redesigned Web site.
 

Academic advising

Calvin College reserves two days each semester for academic advising and the fall dates are October 27 and 28. This is a time when classes are not in session so that faculty can meet with their advisees. Feel free to check out this short video clip on academic advising from a student's perspective: http://www.vimeo.com/6591426.  More information about academic advising—tips, resources, videos, and a link to their Facebook page—is found here.
 
Students are instructed to schedule an appointment with each of their faculty advisors (one or more depending on the number of majors a student is pursuing) and prepare for registration. Students must meet with their assigned advisor in order to be cleared for KnightVision registration. Please do all you can to encourage your son or daughter to take full advantage of these two days on campus. In addition to meeting with an advisor, this is a good time to get caught up on reading assignments and writing papers. It should not be a time to leave campus for a long weekend get-away. Questions? Please feel free to contact Dana Hebreard, Coordinator of Academic Advising, at dhebrear@calvin.edu.

2010 Summer Academy

Calvin is proud to offer an outstanding immersion program to US high school students who have completed ninth through 12th grades.  This month-long, credited, residential program is coordinated by the office of pre-college programs.  For more information go to their Web site: www.calvin.edu/go/summeracademy.

Pre-marital workshop offered again

The Broene Counseling Center is again offering a pre-marital workshop to any Calvin student(s) who are planning to get married within a year or so.  The workshop consists of two consecutive Saturday mornings, Oct. 31 and Nov. 7, from 9 a.m. to noon.  It will be led by Randy Wolthuis, Ph.D.  The workshop will address such topics as family of origin, nurturing a relationship, communication, money, conflict management, and much more.  Couples will also have a chance to take a premarital inventory and, at a later date, meet with a Broene counselor to review the inventory results.  This is a great thing!  The cost is a mere $35 per couple.  To sign up or ask questions, please call us at 616-526-6123.
 
Randy Wolthuis, Ph.D., rwolthui@calvin.edu
Director, Broene Counseling Center
Licensed Psychologist
616-526-7166

Sports happenings...

The Calvin men’s golf team used home course advantage to its advantage, firing a first place and course record score of 294 strokes Monday afternoon. 

This week is a busy one with many athletic contests happening, as well as special alumni Homecoming athletic events planned.

 

Events for alumni, friends and families

Bookmark the alumni events calendar to keep track of important dates throughout the year, to which you are warmly invited, as a parent, alumni and/or friend of the college.  More information is found there for each of the following events:

October 7 - 11: Homecoming 2009 on campus; Reunions
October 15: Calvin Along the Lakeshore: Muskegon (Mich.) Art Museum
October 23 & 24: Family Weekend and Reunions on campus
October 24: Prof. Janel Curry will speak in Whitinsville (Mass.) about caring for creation
October 27: Lakeshore (Mich.) Winter Sports Luncheon