TWO FAMILIES, ONE FOUNDATION
Dr. Sam Reimer Professor of Sociology
DR. SAM REIMER PONDERS THE UNIQUE ACADEMIC HISTORY OF TWO SETS OF SISTERS AT CRANDALL UNIVERSITY AND FOLLOWS THEIR LIFE PATHS STARTING WITH THEIR SHARED CRANDALL FOUNDATION AND BRANCHING OUT TOWARD THEIR INDIVIDUAL PROFESSIONS.
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n my 27 years of teaching sociology at Crandall, I never would have predicted such an unusual experience, and to my knowledge, nothing like this has happened before at Crandall and it is unlikely it will ever happen in the future. I had the privilege of teaching two sets of Steeves sisters, all four of whom received Crandall’s prestigious Honours Society award, given to the undergraduate student whom the faculty selected as the top overall student in that year’s graduating class. What are the chances? The Honours Society Award is based on three criteria: academic achievement, service, and Christian character. All four sisters were A/A+ students, a rare accomplishment, especially in Sam Reimer’s classes! They were all active in service—on worship teams, sports teams, outreach to the community, leadership positions, and three of them supported my work as Teacher’s Assistants. All showed (and continue to show) exemplary Christian character. Let’s start with the elder Steeves sisters, Kathleen (Steeves) Duong and Hannah (Steeves) Bartlett. Kathleen, or Katie, graduated in 2011 with a double major in English and Honours Sociology. After graduation, Katie earned her Master’s degree (2012) and PhD (2017) from McMaster University in Sociology. She worked as a sessional instructor at McMaster in the Social Psychology program for a few years before starting
as a tenure track assistant professor of sociology at Trinity Western University. What a joy for a prof to teach a student who now is an academic colleague! I see Katie at professional conferences, and we are working together on the Canadian Flourishing Congregations Study, and Katie serves as Associate Director of Research for the Flourishing Congregations Institute. Katie states: "During my undergrad, I was encouraged by my Sociology professors to pursue a career in academia and research that I have now started. I would not have seen this possibility for myself without their guidance. The small class sizes and strong background I received [at Crandall] in theory and methodology helped me be (over) prepared for graduate school, and the modeling of faith integration and mentorship helped prepare me as I now teach and mentor my own students and research assistants in a Christian education environment." Her younger sister, Hannah (Steeves) Bartlett graduated in 2016 with a double major in Biblical Studies and English (along with the Youth Leadership Certificate). After Crandall, Hannah received her MDiv from Acadia Divinity College and is now Next Generations Pastor at Cornerstone Baptist Church in PEI. Hannah was ordained with the Canadian Baptists of Atlantic Canada in 2021. While Hannah was not a sociology major like the others, I got to know her in my Christian Spirituality,
6 | Crandall University
