Presidential Trio

Presidents Tony Diekema, William Spoelhof and Gaylen Byker
at the dedication of Calvin’s Crossing pedestrian overpass in 2002.

From Dr. Tony Diekema:

I was a student when Dr. Spoelhof was president, so as you can imagine, it was a scary thought taking over the presidency after him. But over the years in my experience, he was the most helpful, gracious man that you could imagine. He never gave you the notion that he had been the president for the past 25 years.

He’d be very happy to talk about anything—and we did about building on the campus and that kind of thing, but he really did not like to give advice and would never give advice without being invited. We had a great relationship.

From Dr. Gaylen Byker:

Dr. Spoelhof was my president, my mentor and my friend. We shared a history in the military and respected each other for that. He led Calvin at a key time in its history—a time of growth in student and faculty size, academic rigor and stature. He was firm in his resolve that excellence was the standard in all things. Calvin is a world-class Christian college today because of the foundation he set for those of us who have followed him to build upon. I thank God for his presence in my life and in the life and history of Calvin College.