Safe Passage
By Mike Van Denend '78

On the last day of the 2001-2002 school year the Calvin community dedicated Calvin's Crossing, a marvelous new pedestrian walkway linking the campus on either side of the East Beltline.

It's all part of "Stepping East," an endeavor that includes not only the crossing but also the construction of the De Vos Communication Center and the Prince Conference Center, both of which will be dedicated in grand fashion during Family Weekend (October 25-26).

Although the crossing is a means to get to those amazing structures, I think it appropriate and important to reflect for a moment on the striking glass and steel passageway that is now arcing over a very busy state highway.

First of all, a tip of the cap to campus architect Frank Gorman, who has designed a most intriguing structure, emphasizing a nautical theme, even down to the tiled floor (hand-designed by 1978 Calvin grad David Daining). In addition to designing the passage, Frank was also one of six people who suggested the name in a campus-wide contest.

The crossing will unify the Calvin campus, tying the new buildings and the student residents of Knollcrest East tightly to the rest of the college and paving the way for exciting new possibilities to the east, where Calvin now owns more land than on the west side of the Beltline. The crossing also pulls Calvin out of the trees and slopes of either side of the Beltline and makes the campus brightly visible to the many passers-by, symbolic of the way the college has continued to emerge on the national stage.

However, as I stare at the 150 tons of steel, concrete, tiling and glass, augmented with the familiar "Calvin brick," I think about how the crossing will provide safe passage to numerous persons who must traverse this campus. That's especially true for students, who will no longer (we hope) walk or run across the divided roadway full of fast-moving vehicles.

It was on October 27, 1989, that student Kevin De Rose was killed by a car as he attempted to navigate the East Beltline. And so it was emotional for his parents, Bill and Hets De Rose, to take part in the May dedication of this structure. Yet, said Bill, he

wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else but to stand in the middle of the new crossing and reflect on Joshua 1:9-"…for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go"-Scripture used in the dedication service and words that also were read at Kevin's memorial service.

For quite a few alumni, the Beltline remains fixed in our memories as a thin ribbon of a country road, easy to cross at any time of day or night. But anyone who has visited Calvin in the last 15 years knows that the road has swelled to a major thoroughfare and no amount of lines, signs and lights can prevent accidents from happening.

But now there's safe passage.

And what will today's Calvin students experience when they reach the other side of the bridge? The technological wonders of the De Vos Communication and Prince Conference Centers, combined with the mentorship of insightful and caring Calvin professors who will open up even more worlds of learning.

While this venture will take Calvin new places, what's east of the East Beltline will mirror what has happened west of the East Beltline (and on Franklin Street before that) for many, many years.

English professor Chip Pollard, in a wonderful statement on faith and learning written for the Board of Trustees during his tenure interview, likens a Calvin education to a whitewater rafting experience-exhilarating and educative under the mentorship of an expert guide, yet certainly anything but safe.

Calvin College has always been rooted in its Reformed foundation, understanding that all things in God's creation were created good, have fallen and are eagerly anticipating renewal. Our students are trained to get their hands dirty in His good earth and to do what they can to assist the Spirit's work of regeneration.

That's anything but safe.

But as I stand in the middle of a sparkling new overcrossing high above a bustling highway and look to the west and then to the east, I am confident that the God who has promised to be with us always will give us safe passage as we obediently pursue an unsafe education.

Shalom to us all on our journey.