Fall 2021 Voice

THE

OF DORDT UNIVERSITY

What is actuarial science and what do actuaries do?

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Upcycling: exploring a better alternative to recycling

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FALL

2021

FROM THE PRESIDENT

THE

MAKING A DEFENSE I have served for nearly a decade as president of Dordt University. One question I’ve been asked often is about Dordt’s identity as “the Defenders.”

It’s a name that we have begun to use more often, from referring to our alumni base as “Defender Nation” to establishing our place athletically as “Defender Athletics.”

Where did the name “Defender” come from?

The story goes that when Dordt started a basketball team and needed a name, then-president Rev. B.J. Haan and his family decided on “Defenders” one night at the dinner table. It was to signal that Dordt was to be a “Defender of the Christian faith.”

Since Dordt has a rich history of grounding our activities firmly in the Word of God, this vague provenance has bothered me—until this summer when in my personal devotions I paused and pondered 1 Peter 3:15: “But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.”

It seems to me that this passage offers a good foundation for Dordt’s use of “Defender,” and it’s timely, too.

The Reformed tradition, which is our unwavering institutional commitment, has many strong attributes, but evangelism and apologetics aren’t normally “top of mind” for us—which I believe needs to be righted.

1 Peter 3:15 helps us affirm the preeminence of Christ and spurs us on to a life of holiness through the power of the Holy Spirit within us. It also moves us to take up both the Old Testament calling to be a witness for God (Isaiah

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43:10) and the New Testament charge from Christ to be his witnesses (Acts 1:8). And it challenges us to live in ways that are peculiar in our contemporary context—that is, if we don’t live in ways that cause people to ask about our hope, perhaps we’re conforming too much to the patterns of this world (Romans 12:1-2). The passage calls us to hope—and to live in ways that make that hope evident to non-believers who cross our paths in the everyday lives we’re called to by Christ.

Particularly now, the admonition to be people of “gentleness and respect” is a needed commodity in a culture bent upon cancellation, animosity, and lack of manners. It also offers grace— since this letter was written by Peter, the disciple who denied even knowing Christ while warming himself in Pilate’s courtyard. Thus, if we’re not perfect in our “defense” the first time, we shouldn’t be discouraged—we should redouble our efforts to press on for the future.

Since coming to Dordt 25 years ago, I’ve been inspired by the depth of thought and the biblical intentionality with which we carry out our work. We’re a principled people who take seriously the Founders Vision to ground everything we do biblically and deeply.

I can’t rewrite history to now suggest that the choice of “Defenders” so many years ago was built upon this wonderful passage from Peter’s letter. However, during the rest of my presidency, when I’m asked the “Why Defenders?” question, I’ll give this hopeful response.

Maybe you will, too.

DR. ERIK HOEKSTRA, PRESIDENT

OF DORDT UNIVERSITY

FALL 2021 VOLUME 67 | ISSUE 1 The Voice, an outreach of Dordt University, is sent to you as alumni and friends of Christian higher education. The Voice is published three times each year to share information about the programs, activities, and people at Dordt. www.dordt.edu (712) 722-6000 Kindly send address corrections and correspondence to voice@dordt.edu or VOICE, Dordt University, 700 7th Street NE, Sioux Center, Iowa 51250-1606

Contributors Sarah Moss ('10), editor sarah.moss@dordt.edu Jamin Ver Velde ('99), designer Sally Jongsma, contributing editor Lydia Marcus ('17), contributing writer James Calvin Schaap ('70), contributing writer Bethany Van Voorst, contributing writer Liz Frisbee ('23), contributing writer Brandon Huisman ('10), vice president for enrollment and marketing brandon.huisman@dordt.edu

Our Mission As an institution of higher education committed to a Reformed Christian perspective, Dordt University equips students, alumni, and the broader community to work effectively toward Christ-centered renewal in all aspects of contemporary life.

On the Cover Fall was long and glorious on Dordt's campus this year. Early evenings offered striking settings for studying or simply enjoying light's magic as it reflected from windows and off sculptures.

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his fall, Dordt was named the top Midwest regional college for undergraduate teaching in the U.S. News and World Report 2022 rankings.

Rankings aren’t everything, but it is exciting that our faculty and administration have been recognized for their commitment to teaching students well. Read through this issue of The Voice, and you might notice just how dedicated Dordt faculty are.

DASH THE DEFENDER During Late Night with the Defenders, a suprise visitor was introduced to the packed house at De Witt Gymnasium. Dash the Defender made an appearance at a few athletic events over Defender Days weekend, bringing energy in a new form to the Dordt faithful.

IN THIS ISSUE 6

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Dordt staff work hard to help students and their parents manage the cost of a Dordt University education.

Two professors investigate a genetic mutation that is often carried by people of Frisian descent.

Dordt's Agriculture Stewardship Center expands its livestock and greenhouse facilities, offering more hands-on learning for students.

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Criminal justice majors participate in a deputy training program that certifies them as reserve officers.

Once again, Dordt tops US NEWS list for best undergraduate teaching in the Midwest.

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In his twenty-five years in the technology industry, Eric Gray has been at the forefront of the launch of many popular apps.

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Dordt grads Terry Katsma (’80), and Devin LeMahieu ('95) are colleagues in the Wisconsin state legislature.

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Jane Wolterstorff ('82), one of Dordt's first social work graduates, has spent her 40-year career serving clients.

FROM THE EDITOR

JAMIN VER VELDE ('99)

THANKFUL FOR OUR FACULTY

A criminal justice professor has partnered with the Woodbury County Sheriff to create an opportunity for students to become Iowa reserve peace officers while in school. A mathematics professor is driven to help actuarial science majors succeed so he took an actuarial science exam to better understand what his students need to know. Agriculture faculty are looking for ways to help their students get hands-on opportunities with livestock during their four years at Dordt. And alumni who work in politics and technology pinpoint experiences with faculty at Dordt that shaped their worldview and career trajectory.

As Dr. Teresa Ter Haar says, “Our faculty play an integral part in what makes Dordt “Dordt,” and we are grateful for the work they do every day to live out our mission to “equip students, alumni, and the broader community to work effectively toward Christ-centered renewal in all aspects of contemporary life.”

SARAH MOSS ('10), EDITOR

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NEWS

STUDENT TRAINS PUP FOR PARTNERS FOR PATRIOTS This year Katie Ribbens, a senior psychology major, plans to raise, train, and care for a service dog while living and studying on campus.

PHOTO SUBMITTED

Ribbens is participating in Partners for Patriots, a nonprofit organization that pairs war veterans suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with trained service animals.

“Approximately 22 veterans with PTSD take their lives every day,” she says.

“I’ve seen firsthand how animals can help people. I wanted to explore the possibility of getting involved in Partners for Patriots’ mission as a Dordt student.”

Over the course of the last year, Ribbens was in regular communication with Vice President for Student Success Robert Taylor regarding what it might look like to train a dog while living on campus.

“Katie has been fantastic to work with,” says Taylor. “She is a great communicator and a true partner—always working to balance her goals with university policy. Katie has a heart for people, and it’s beautiful to see her combine her interests with acts of service to others.”

The effort was so important to Ribbens that, as part of her Kuyper Honors Program contract, she wrote a 60-page training guide to help show that this dog would undergo a rigorous training program to become “a lifesaving apparatus for a veteran someday—not just a dog that is living with me for the fun of it.”

CLUB FOR A CAUSE Not wanting the service dog training to be an isolated venture, Ribbens started the Assistance Animal Club at Dordt. The goal of the club is to educate and raise awareness about mental health and the benefits that service animals can provide.

The club has held events, including one where the vice president of Partners for Patriots and a veteran with his service dog came to campus to talk with the club members about why a service dog can be a valuable asset to veterans.

Thanks to her diligent work, she has been given permission to train Sierra, a bernedoodle puppy who will reach a maximum weight of 40 pounds, on campus this fall. Ribbens received Sierra this summer, and within two weeks had trained the puppy to follow about a dozen commands.

“I’m exposing her to everything I can, because she’s going to need to be ready

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Katie Ribbens first learned how much animals can help people by observing their responses to horse therapy.

for anything to be thrown at her,” says Ribbens.

“What I admire most about Katie starting the Assistance Animal Club is her persistence and dedication to see this project come to fruition,” says Dr. Mark Christians, professor of psychology and faculty adviser to the Assistance Animal Club. “Katie is clearly committed to using

her love for animals, specifically dogs, to bring a valuable service to veterans who are dealing with many challenges— spiritually, physically, socially, and psychologically.”

Training a puppy will take a considerable amount of her time, but Ribbens is thrilled to have the opportunity to do it.

“I think this is a beautiful picture of how we can use God’s creation to help people. It’s also a great way to work as Christ’s hands and feet in loving my neighbor,” she says. “As much as I wanted to do this for so long, I never dreamed that I’d actually be bringing a dog to campus to do a year of college with me. These dogs are lifesavers—or at the very least, they can change lives. I am grateful I get to be part of the process and to witness God working along the way.”

LIZ FRISBEE (‘23) AND SARAH MOSS (’10)

or decades, new full-time Dordt University faculty have gathered at the beginning of August to prepare for their academic service at Dordt, meeting weekly or bimonthly during the school year to discuss teaching and the Reformed worldview, share questions and experiences, and develop relationships across disciplines and levels of teaching experience.

Today’s New Faculty Seminar is led by Education Professor Dr. Dave Mulder (’98) and Dean for Curriculum and Instruction and Theatre Professor Dr. Teresa Ter Haar.

In Dordt's New Faculty Seminar, new faculty learn from experienced faculty and experienced faculty find they learn from their new colleagues.

The students are always at the center of what we do and the questions that we ask at Dordt. The desire of our heart is to do better for them all the time.

— Dr. Teresa Ter Haar

“Dordt is the third Christian university I’ve taught at,” says Ter Haar. “The other two universities also have new faculty orientations/seminars—a lot of institutions do—but the faith-based and academic goals of the institution impact the shape of the program. I appreciate the structure of ours.”

During the fall semester, the seminars focus on the nuts and bolts of managing a college course, says Mulder.

“We start with thinking about teaching, and then in the spring our focus becomes more philosophical. We lay out the contours of the Reformed perspective and use that as a lens for our teaching practice. How does the Reformed perspective shape your curriculum? And how do you help students to understand that our faith really matters to our teaching?”

NEWS

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JAMIN VER VELDE ('99)

NEW FACULTY SEMINAR FOCUSES ON WHAT MATTERS

In addition to the regular themed meetings, new faculty are paired with a faculty mentor from a different department early in the fall semester.

These pairs can meet as often as they like and are encouraged to sit in on each other’s classes occasionally.

“The idea is that we are all helping each other to learn and to grow in our teaching; none of us is done learning to be a better teacher. New faculty can learn from experienced faculty, and experienced faculty can learn from new faculty too,” says Ter Haar.

building relationships,” says Mouw. “It was also really helpful to meet with my faculty mentor. We would go to lunch and brainstorm together, and I could get some direction from her. She has become a friend.”

“I think this seminar is important because we want our students to have the best possible experience and to be working with faculty who feel armed and ready to jump into this pretty amazing opportunity,” says Ter Haar. “The students are always at the center of what we do and the questions that we ask at Dordt. The desire of our heart is to do better for them all the time. Our students are not monolithic, and they are constantly changing over time.

We want to help our new faculty feel prepared to serve them well.”

LYDIA MARCUS (‘17)

Instructor of Social Work Leah (Reitsma, ’91) Mouw, who came to teach at Dordt in 2020 after years of practicing social work, says she appreciates the opportunities to develop relationships provided through the New Faculty Seminar. “In the seminars, we got to hear what other new faculty members were dealing with and what questions they had. That was significant to

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NEWS

INVESTIGATING A FRISIAN GENETIC MUTATION JAMIN VER VELDE ('99)

Two Dordt University professors are trying to raise community awareness about a genetic mutation in the phospholamban (PLN) gene, which can cause heart arrhythmias and possible cardiac death in people of Frisian descent.

Genetic studies have shown the mutation first appeared somewhere in the province of Friesland, Netherlands, around 700 years ago.

JAMIN VER VELDE ('99)

“Since there are many Dutch descendants at Dordt, we believe there are potential carriers of the gene in our constituency. It would be good for them to know that they carry the mutation and take steps to treat potential complications,” says Professor of Nursing Dr. Deb Bomgaars.

Symptoms of the disease include reduced stamina, shortness of breath, arrhythmias, heart rate surges, and full cardiac arrest. Some individuals show no symptoms, but that doesn’t make the condition any less serious. The mutation is dominant, meaning that it will be passed on to half of a person’s children on average—and their cases might not be asymptomatic.

Bomgaars first took interest in the genetic mutation when she found out that a close family member had tested positive for it. She remembers that, while in a meeting with Professor of Biology Dr. Tony Jelsma, he requested prayer for a family member hospitalized with a racing heart and mentioned that heart disease is prevalent in his family. She later pulled Jelsma aside and mentioned that he might want to investigate PLN.

Gene research is not new to Dr. Tony Jelsma, who is now helping raise awareness about one gene.

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Professor of Nursing Deb Bomgaars became interested in the PLN gene, which originated in the Netherlands, after a family member tested positive for it.

Jelsma and Bomgaars, along with Professors of Nursing Melanie Wynja and Deb Kleinwolterink, are working with Dr. Dean Jansen, a physician and administrator for the PLN Heart Foundation—and a PLN carrier himself—to help raise awareness for this dangerous mutation.

Research into PLN provides a reallife application to the content that he and Bomgaars teach, says Jelsma— particularly in his human physiology and genetics classes.

“Despite knowing the molecular mechanism of this condition, the fact that it presents in a variety of ways and in different degrees of severity shows that there is still much we don’t know about our physiology,” says Jelsma. “Our bodies are complex, indeed! Moreover, we see how we can use our knowledge to save lives, whether it’s by developing treatments or cures, or whether it’s simply by raising awareness.”

Bomgaars says the research will impact her nursing students and beyond.

“This research helps me to collaborate with not only other departments on campus, but with the Dordt community,” she says. “By researching PLN, I can be of service to God’s creation. It is a way for me to help others be aware of potential heart problems that can be treated.”

SARAH MOSS (’10)

DORDT ARCHIVES

DORDT ARCHIVES

DORDT ARCHIVES

NEWS

Mary Dengler, retired in 2019

John Zwart, retired in 2019

Duane Bajema, retired in 2018

RECENT FACULTY KEEPING BUSY IN RETIREMENT These Dordt emeriti are continuing their academic interests after retirement—and so far, they love it.

Dr. Mary Dengler, professor emerita of English, says she feels busier than ever since retiring. She enjoys spending time reading novels and books on theology, political theory, as well as literary and art theory; watching films; and having conversations with her “contagiously witty husband.” She is also staying busy academically.

“I’m still editor of Pro Rege, Dordt’s academic journal. This position allows me to read and publish thoughtprovoking, timely articles and reviews from Reformed Christians who are guided by Scripture in their response to cultural changes and trends,” she says. “I am also editing a colleague’s excellent book on the Reformed Christian approach to Scripture and worldview, which has deepened my own understanding.”

Last year, she edited a creative nonfiction book by what she describes as “a former bad-biker-turned Christian.” And she’s on page 210 of her own memoir– “my most difficult project,” she says.

“Through retirement, I have learned that our lives are not our own, that God is sovereign, that he calls us each day to fulfill the work he sent us to do,” she adds. “Watching how he has

orchestrated my times and places, even when I was unfaithful to him or unaware, takes my breath away.”

Dr. John Zwart, professor emeritus of physics, has continued to peer-review articles, give presentations, write articles, and attend conferences. He has also worked with the American Association of Physics Teachers to develop online educational materials for high schools and colleges.

“God has opened many doors for me,” he says. “I have a variety of interests and talents, a supportive spouse, and opportunities to study and to keep making physics my calling and career.”

He plans to continue demonstrating his competency as a scientist, particularly since he sees it as an important way to be a witness to the world.

Dr. Duane Bajema, professor emeritus of agriculture, has kept his love for bees alive since he retired. He has taught many beekeeping classes in the area, where he educates others on everything from pollination to honey creation. He also taught a class at Dordt and has been known to guest lecture.

“I have also worked on a major USDA grant to promote pollinator education

JAKE VAN WYK View the video of Jake Van Wyk, professor emeritus of art, at youtube.com/ watch?v= ppit0oetmiA.

among high school teachers,” he says.

Alongside these scholarly pursuits, Dr. Bajema has enjoyed the opportunity to get more involved in the local community and to work on projects at home.

“I continue to learn as new problems and challenges arise. The challenges stimulate creativity, and I never cease to be in awe of the creation. I enjoy getting up early in the morning to contemplate the challenges of the day as I seek to continue serving the Lord in whatever I do,” he says.

LIZ FRISBEE (’23)

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NEWS

JAMIN VER VELDE ('99)

HEARING B.J. HAAN AGAIN A

few years ago, Archives Coordinator Ingrid Mulder opened a drawer and found two boxes of deteriorating cassette tapes. Upon further examination, she realized that 11 of the cassettes were interviews of B.J. Haan, Dordt’s first president, narrating his recollections of Dordt’s early years.

Knowing that these tapes were a special part of Dordt’s history, Mulder brought them to Hulst Library Director Jenni Breems.

“B.J. Haan was an influential leader who cast a vision for Dordt,” says Breems. “He was also known for how he interacted with the mayor of Sioux Center, Maurice TePaske, and how they worked together to build the community of Sioux Center.”

Mulder and Breems set out to preserve the fragile cassettes and to make the voice of B.J. Haan available to a wider audience by digitizing and curating the content. After receiving grant funding from the Sioux Center Community Foundation’s Generations Grant, they worked with George Blood LP, a leading provider of archival audio preservation, to digitize the cassettes.

each clip, what was discussed, when the interview took place, where they were located, and why the recording was created in the first place.

“It wouldn’t be good enough to just have a recording; you need to know what’s on it, who’s speaking, who did the interview, and what other people were referred to in the recording,” says Mulder.

LISTEN ONLINE To listen to the audio archives online, go to digitalcollections.dordt.edu/ oral_history_haan/.

But it wasn’t as simple a process as sending the tapes off to be digitized.

Mulder spent hours listening to the cassette tapes to determine which were best to have transposed and what stories should be digitized. She also determined the metadata: who was mentioned in

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The Dordt Digital Collection now includes recordings of Dordt founder Rev. B.J. Haan narrating stories and reflections for his memoir, A Zeal for Christian Education.

“Every time I walked to the archives, I could hear B.J. Haan’s voice floating through the hallway,” adds Breems. “Ingrid listened to the cassettes multiple times and took diligent notes.”

Once they received the digitized recordings and the original cassettes, Breems and Mulder set out to create an oral history collection in Digital Collections @ Dordt, which is

Dordt’s institutional repository. There are 24 individual recordings of Haan.

Listeners can tune in to hear Haan read the Founders Vision, reminisce about breaking ground on the original classroom building, comment on the hiring of Dordt’s first faculty members, recall the fact that Dordt was built on what was a mink farm, explain the importance of promoting Christian education locally, and much more.

“This was a labor of love in many ways,” says Mulder. “I was awed by the fact that, here is a group of people—B.J. Haan and others who founded Dordt—who started something from nothing. And they started it on the heels of another failed Christian college, Grundy College, so people were saying, ‘It’s not going to work, it’s not going to work.’ They had a vision, and they had faith and trust. They were willing to work together, even if they didn’t always agree.”

Since launching the oral history of Haan in the spring, the recordings have been played more than 500 times— highlighting that Dordt supporters are eager to hear what Haan had to say.

“People are listening,” says Breems, “and there are many fascinating stories that give insight into Dordt’s history, the person that B.J. Haan was, and the vision that he cast.”

SARAH MOSS (’10)

TAKING THE FIRST STEP TOWARD A RESEARCH CAREER

Professor of Music Dr. Onsby Rose presented at the International Society for Research and Promotion of Wind Music Conference in Valencia, Spain, in July.

His Symphony No. 1, "Heroes," placed second in the Professional Division for Wind Band Composition in The American Prize for the Performing Arts.

Senior Shantelia Shook (’22) spent her summer making barcodes for cancer cells.

GABBY PIKE, SANFORD HEALTH

Shantelia Shook was in a the lab this summer as a student at the Sanford Program for Undergraduate Research (SPUR) in Sioux Falls. And if she didn’t have a heart for research before the program, she certainly does now.

“This program is a great way to see what graduate school would be like,” she says.

SPUR is unique because it offers handson experience in a laboratory setting.

Students are given a project and paired up with a professional lab team and a personal mentor.

“You could be doing cancer research, biochemistry, or whatever it is the lab is studying. They show you how to think like a researcher, not just show you the lab,” she says.

One of the main reasons Shook’s interest in laboratory research was piqued was because she’s seen family members battle cancer. She wants to play her part in fighting the disease, and she’s gotten a good start through the SPUR program.

One of the projects she worked on at SPUR was cellular barcoding, which is an attempt to track cancer cells. The experiment takes a cell and essentially creates a barcode, like the ones you’d see in a grocery store, for that cell. By using the barcode for the cell, Shook and other researchers can track how cells change, “because not all tumor cells act the same way.”

If researchers can create a tried-andtrue method of tracking cancer cells, it may help to identify why certain cancer cells keep coming back, according to Shook.

There’s a system called V(D)J recombination, which produces small antibodies inside cells. Shook says her research team’s goal is to “hijack that V(D)J recombination system and turn it

Shantelia Shook learned firsthand the frustration and satisfaction that can come with laboratory research.

on in other cells.”

“Then, we want to track cells that already exist in our body and use that tracking in whatever cell lines we want to use for our cancer cells,” she says.

Two proteins, RAG (recombinationactivating gene) 1 and 2, activate the process. Shook has been researching methods to take those proteins and activate the V(D)J recombination anywhere in the body.

“It’s a very frustrating process that does not work 90% of the time, but when it does work, it’s like ‘yay!’” she says.

Shook said the SPUR experience convinced her to continue studying cancer cells in the future. She plans on eventually heading to graduate school.

“People here are so helpful and supportive,” she says. She’d encourage anyone who’s interested in a career in research to apply for the SPUR program.

SIMON FLOSS, SANFORD HEALTH

NEWS

FACULTY NOTES

In June, Assistant Professor of Physics and Engineering Dr. Jason Ho published a paper with collaborators in Physical Review D. The paper, titled “Correlations between the Strange Quark Condensate, Strange Quark Mass, and Kaon PCAC Relation,” explores “new constraints on fundamental properties of strange quarks and assesses existing determinations of these values.”

Professor of Theology Dr. David Moser published “The Flesh of the Logos, Instrumentum divinitatis: Retrieving an Ancient Christological Doctrine” in the International Journal of Systematic Theology in July.

The article argues that Thomas Aquinas’ teaching that the humanity of Jesus Christ is “an instrument of the divinity” best explains why Christ’s human actions cause salvation for Christians in the present.

This summer, Professor of Art David Platter was invited to serve on the advisory board for Christians in the Visual Arts (CIVA). “This is a wonderful opportunity to engage the visual arts with artists who profess Christ as Lord,” says Platter. In September, Platter also installed a solo art exhibition called "Super Fascia," which features an ongoing body of work that Platter has developed for nearly 10 years.

Professor of Mathematics Dr. Tom Clark recently published the article “Classroom and Computational Investigations of Camel Up” in The College Mathematics Journal.

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NEWS

Professor of Music Dr. Carrie Groenewold (’06) performed Howard Hanson’s “Concerto for Organ, Harp, and Strings” at the Orpheum Theatre with the Sioux City Orchestra in March.

She also presented “The Life and Music of Louis Vierne (1870-1937), in Celebration of 150 Years” in a virtual lecture-recital in collaboration with the South Dakota American Guild of Organists back in November.

This summer, Professor of Biology Dr. Tony Jelsma presented a talk titled “Understanding the Neurobiology of Gender and Sexuality” at the American Scientific Affiliation annual meeting.

In May, Professor of Worship Arts Dr. Jeremy Perigo traveled to Kiev, Ukraine, to serve as a visiting lecturer at Ukrainian Evangelical Theological Seminary. He was also featured at the Music in Worship Conference, an interdenominational worship conference that gathered churches across Ukraine and other Ukrainian-speaking pastors, musicians, and worship leaders from around the world.

Since last fall, Professor of Education Dr. David Mulder (’98) has presented 21 professional development webinars and virtual workshops for K-12 educators on the topic of promising practices for online teaching and learning.

He worked with schools in Colorado, Kansas, Wisconsin, Kentucky, and Iowa, and he held a series of webinars in conjunction with the Association for Christian Schools International that were attended by over 400 educators from around the world. Also, he and collaborators published an article titled “Assessing Digital Nativeness in Pre-Service Teachers: Analysis of the Digital Natives Assessment Scale and Implications for Practice,” in the Journal of Research on Technology in Education, a top journal in the field of educational technology.

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JAMIN VER VELDE ('99)

FACULTY NOTES

Construction is proceeding on new livestock and greenhouse facilities at Dordt's Agriculture Stewardship Center.

AG STEWARDSHIP CENTER EXPANDS A

new monoslope building will give students a large lab space to work with live animals, says Dr. Holly De Vries, assistant professor of agriculture. The building has only one slope to its roof, with a roof truss that is higher on the front side giving an open end facing south. A cattle working room with chutes will be located in the center of the facility, as well as a footbath for teaching bovine hoof care.

H. De Vries

And there will be plenty of live animals. In addition to the existing livestock at the facility, the Agriculture Department will collaborate with local dairy farmers to raise replacement heifers to between 10 and 16 months of age at the Agriculture Stewardship Center. In total, the facility will provide space for up to 200 dairy and beef cattle.

“This is going to give us state-of-the-art facilities for livestock and allow us to increase the livestock that are here yearround,” says Gary De Vries, professor of agriculture and department chair.

“It will not only provide extensive hands-on work opportunities, but also bolster interdisciplinary and professional connections,” says Dr. Holly De Vries.

“Students will get to work alongside nutritionists, breeding companies, veterinarians, and other professionals to formulate and apply a care plan for the heifers.”

Agriculture majors will also benefit from a new three-season greenhouse, starting plants from seed early in the spring

and maintaining them later into the fall semester than they are currently able to do. Professor of Agriculture Dr. Jeremy Hummel hopes to use the greenhouse to research stone fruit trees, like peach and apple trees, which will be part of the permanent collection and can be used for labs.

“Stone fruit trees do not grow well in Iowa, but they are a staple in places like California, so we want to be able to conduct research on them so our students can learn about this aspect of agriculture as well,” says Gary De Vries.

The current construction also includes an 8,000 square foot commodity shed for feed storage.

There are also plans for a “flex” building, which can be used for a variety of purposes—a space where agriculture students might raise chickens for the Foods Connecting to Life. There will also be space in the building for lambs, giving Dordt students the opportunity to care for, feed, and breed these animals.

Dr. Holly De Vries hopes the renovations will also make Dordt feel more like home to students who come from farming families.

“One of the hardest parts about coming to college is leaving the home farm, because that’s what they know and that’s what they enjoy. We hope that these updates to the Agriculture Stewardship Center help it to feel more like home for students,” she says.

LIZ FRISBEE (’23)

D

SARAH MOSS ('10)

ordt criminal justice majors must fulfill a work experience requirement for graduation, and this year, three Dordt criminal justice majors are taking advantage of a unique opportunity to become Iowa reserve peace officers, also known as deputies. The Woodbury County Sheriff, their training unit, and reserve unit have agreed to train junior and senior criminal justice majors to become Iowa Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA) certified reserve officers,” says Jon Moeller, instructor of criminal justice.

Every Thursday night during the fall semester, the group drives to Sioux City to participate in a four-hour training session. Over the next nine months, they will go through six modules that cover topics like criminal law, felony calls, patrol techniques, juvenile law, laws of arrest, motor vehicle law, report writing, and more. They must complete 80 hours of training and 40 hours of supervised time to be certified as reserve peace officers. Once officially certified, they will be able to ride along with full-time deputies and engage in actual police work.

Nate Monillas appreciates the fact that the deputy program gives him hands-on experience before he begins his career in law enforcement.

Getting certified as an Iowa reserve deputy gives students a leg up among their peers, adds Moeller.

Nate Monillas, a senior criminal justice major, is taking part in the reserve officer program this semester.

“I decided to join because it is a great learning experience,” he says. Because he plans to live in the Le Mars or Sioux City area after he graduates, volunteering in Woodbury County could also give him some helpful connections.

PHOTO SUBMITTED

Tom Prinsen; students Kyle Laarman, Nate Monillas, Andres Garcia; Jon Moeller.

NEWS

CRIMINAL JUSTICE MAJORS GET CREDIT FOR DEPUTY PROGRAM

DEPUTY DUTIES “By Iowa law, reserve deputies have the same authority and powers of arrest as full-time deputies,” explains Moeller.

“Reserves typically assist with crowd and traffic control, full-time law enforcement training, court security, inmate transportation, and general deputy support.”

“These students will leave Dordt with a strong education and with work experience.

Whether they are planning to be a lawyer or to work in law enforcement, they will find that having experienced the work firsthand is vital,” he says.

Communication Professor Dr. Tom Prinsen has long been interested in law enforcement, so when he heard about the reserve deputy program from Moeller, he decided to apply, too. Once he completes the program, he plans to serve as a reserve deputy on a volunteer basis during the summer months.

“This program allows me to apply the skills I already have in new ways,” says Prinsen. “For example, interpersonal communication—officers are often

there at some of the toughest times of people’s lives, so how do you communicate well in those challenging times?”

Moeller is already hearing accolades about the Dordt group. Early in the fall semester, he emailed the three Dordt students and Prinsen to let them know that “the Woodbury County Sheriff’s Office has been impressed with each of you.

They were very impressed with your level of professionalism and appearance, and they have already commented that others should live up to the standard you set.”

Monillas is grateful to be able to get an inside glimpse of what it’s like to be part of the policing community while he is still in college.

“I can’t wait to be part of something that I feel is important and helpful,” he says.

SARAH MOSS (’10)

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Professor of Art Matthew Drissell has completed an elemental kingdom chemistry project, where he made a painting for each of the 118 elements of the periodic table. It has been installed in the Chemistry Department.

Professor of Mathematics Dr. Valorie Zonnefeld (’97) and Professor of Education Dr. Ryan Zonnefeld (’97) co-presented at the International Congress of Mathematical Education.

They presented two talks: “Competitions Promoting the Mathematical Sciences” and “Building a University-School Partnership.”

Professor of Nursing Dr. Debbie Bomgaars collaborated on a research project titled “Investigating Rurality as a Risk Factor for State and Trait Hopelessness in Hospitalized Patients with Ischemic Heart Disease.” The project was published in the Journal of the American Heart Association in September.

Professor of Education Dr. Gwen Marra presented at the Transformational Language Arts Instruction conference in Pella, Iowa, in June.

Her talks included “Book Share 2021,” “Social Emotional Learning and the Brain,” and “Implementing Dialogic Discussions.”

At the Fall Music Festival on October 15, the combined choirs—Chorale, Concert Choir, Canons of Dordt, and Bella Voce—debuted a new choral work that Professor of Music Dr. Ryan Smit (’99) composed this past summer, which is titled “Soli Deo Gloria.” The piece focused on the Dordt University motto as well as Romans 11:33-36.

Professor of Economics Dr. Jan van Vliet recently published a book review of The Keynesian Revolution and our Empty Economy: We’re All Dead by Victor V. Claar and Greg Forster in the Journal of Markets and Morality.

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DORDT TOPS LIST FOR 'BEST UNDERGRADUATE TEACHING' IN MIDWEST D

ordt University ranks number one for “Best Undergraduate Teaching (Regional Colleges Midwest)” in the U.S. News and World Report’s 2022 rankings. This means that Dordt “faculty and administrators are committed to teaching undergraduate students in a high-quality manner,” according to the rankings’ methodology statement.

“I am excited and proud that our talented and hard-working faculty are being recognized in this way,” says Dr. Teresa Ter Haar, dean of curriculum and instruction and a theatre professor.

“Given the challenges that Covid-19 presented our campus community over the last year and a half, it is especially encouraging that our faculty are being recognized for teaching excellence. It reveals the commitment Dordt’s faculty make—and continue to make every day—to connect with students and provide robust learning experiences.”

Rankings come and go, says Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Leah Zuidema, but Dordt students know that faculty are here for them.

“Faculty are committed L. Zuidema to our students and to teaching with excellence and with biblical truth,” says Zuidema. “This ranking is a public recognition of what our students already know—that they have faculty who are invested in them, who are skilled at what they do, who care deeply, and who want to create meaningful learning experiences.”

JAMIN VER VELDE ('99)

NEWS

FACULTY NOTES

Instructor Tayler Hoekstra, like his Dordt colleagues, prioritizes engaging his students in ways that enhance learning.

creative problem-solving, and openness to other perspectives, our students might complete their undergraduate degrees prepared for a job, but not be as prepared to think deeply, question appropriately, or act justly in our increasingly fraught culture,” she says.

Faith shapes how Dordt faculty approach teaching—which is different from how teaching might be approached at some colleges and universities, says Zuidema.

Dordt faculty teach with the Educational Framework in mind, specifically focusing on how students “should be able to discern, evaluate, and challenge the prevailing spirits and worldviews of our age in the light of God’s Word and our reformational perspective.”

One of Ter Haar’s favorite responsibilities is to visit classrooms across campus as part of Dordt’s faculty development program. She watches as faculty shepherd rich discussions, engage in hands-on activities with students, give lectures, facilitate labs, and ask great questions. She sees how great teaching can inspire students to learn well.

“At Dordt, we talk about being scripturally rooted and understanding the themes of God’s Word as revealed to us in Scripture. Whether it’s our Core Program, majors, residence life design, academic enrichment, or student services, we recognize the guiding role of the Bible,” she adds. “There’s a beginning and an end that’s different for a Dordt professor, and it starts with God’s good design as outlined biblically and an understanding that we’re participating in the kingdom of God.”

“Without inspirational teachers to model inquiry, intellectual determination,

SARAH MOSS (’10)

NEWS

DORDT UNIVERSITY HAS ITS LARGEST ENROLLMENT EVER Dordt University’s overall enrollment is 1,786 for the fall 2021 semester—the largest enrollment in school history, breaking the fall 2020 semester record of 1,666 students.

This figure includes a record 1,401 full-time undergraduate students. In addition, Dordt has record full-time equivalent (FTE) enrollment at 1,544; FTE is a measure of how many credits students are taking.

There are 424 freshmen on campus this fall, which is the second largest freshmen class in Dordt’s history. The largest freshmen class was in 1998, which included 439 students.

Greg Van Dyke, director of admissions, is grateful for another year of record enrollment.

we excel at: engineering, nursing, agriculture, education, business, accounting, and others,” says Bos. “We have faculty who are passionate and knowledgeable in their field. We have alumni who are achieving great things in

Master of Social Work, Master of Public Administration, and Master of Education programs.

“Dordt integrates a thoroughly Christian approach with high quality, convenient, engaging, and relevant content,” says Dr. Steve Holtrop, director of graduate studies, as he reflects on the continued success of Dordt’s graduate programs.

“Our personal approach, reasonable costs, and solid reputation seem to offer a combination that online and graduate students are looking for.”

There has been a lot of uncertainty over the past 18 months, and it is encouraging to see a record number of students choose Dordt because they trust the mission and experience that Dordt provides as a Christ-centered institution.

“There has been a lot of uncertainty over the past 18 — Greg Van Dyke, director of admissions months, and it is encouraging to see a record number of students choose Dordt because they their field as well. That, I think, speaks to trust the mission and experience that what Dordt is doing from an academic Dordt provides as a Christ-centered standpoint.” institution,” says Van Dyke.

In addition, the class of 2021 had Dordt’s There are many reasons why Dordt has highest bachelor’s degree graduation seen record enrollment this year, says with a rate of 74.6 percent—a percentage Registrar Jim Bos, including the quality that Bos says is excellent. education that Dordt faculty offer.

Dordt's graduate programs also had “There’s no doubt that students are record enrollment this fall, with 238 interested in specific programs that students currently studying in the

Brandon Huisman, vice president for enrollment and marketing, sees Dordt’s record enrollment for the fall 2021 semester as a blessing and evidence of God’s continued faithfulness to Dordt.

“Dordt is committed to serving and sending the next generation for Christ,” he says. “To me, our record enrollment shows that these students desire to be effective kingdom citizens and are confident Dordt can help them in this pursuit.”

SARAH MOSS (’10)

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NEWS

BEING DORDT ALUMNI Many alumni appreciate how Dordt has grown yet in many ways remains the same.

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Dordt has had a profound impact on Kate (Van Weelden, ’18) De Vries as a wife, a friend, and a church member.

“Because of my time in Dordt’s education program, I am a more effective Christian educator at Des Moines Christian School,” she says. “I have a passion for Christ-centered teaching, and I’m more prepared to answer questions like, ‘What do fractions have to do with my faith?’”

She and her husband, Derek, stay connected with Dordt by attending alumni events in the Des Moines area.

“We wanted to stay connected to Dordt and its mission because it connects with our life mission—living our lives to the glory of God,” she says. “I am so thankful we found other Dordt graduates in our area and formed connections that are valuable to our lives today.”

Back (l-r): Rich De Vries, Len Fakkema, Cal Ahrenholz, Barb Ahrenholz, Hank Eekhof, Kathy Eekhof, Doug Achterhof, Elroy Houtsma, Bruce Groenendyk, Arlyn Slagter, Curt Voss Front (l-r) Sue De Vries, June Fakkema, Pat Ahrenholz, Curt Ahrenholz, Tim Van Dam, Jana Van Dam, Gail Achterhof, Mary Houtsma, Lisa Groenendyk, Cindy Slagter, Pam Voss

“Dordt alumni continue to share that they are grateful for their Dordt experience and are amazed at how Dordt has grown yet remained the same in many ways,” says Alicia (Groen, ’05) Bowar, director of alumni and parent relations.

THE SURVEY SAYS...

Tony Louters' (’96) daughter, Alexis (’21), has just started graduate school at Florida Atlantic University. His son, Bryce, is a Dordt senior studying agribusiness.

As Louters considers his Dordt education PHOTO SUBMITTED

Daniel Dykstra (’77) hosted a reunion of members of the class of 1977 in Kansas City.

Pictured are Randy Koops, Don Koops, Elmer Jelgerhuis, Dave Miller, Leslie Top, Gerald Veltkamp, Steve Smith, Dave Breems, Tom Lemahieu, Keith Lemahieu, and Dan Dykstra.

“We have already talked about trying to get together in two years because after waiting 41 years, we could not remember all the stories!” jokes Dykstra.

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Every year, the Alumni and Parent Relations Office conducts an alumni survey. This year, one data point that stands out is that 93.4 percent of alumni who responded to the survey say they attend church on a weekly basis. This seems to show that Dordt is a place where many students strengthen their faith and commit to growing their faith after leaving Dordt.

“Dordt desires to develop effective kingdom citizens to lead in lives of service to God and neighbor, and this data point helps us better understand whether we’re fulfilling that calling,” says Alicia Bowar.

and his children’s experiences, his prayer is that Dordt stays true to its Reformed, biblically based Christian education.

“I see many Christian institutions losing their way. It’s important that Dordt stays true to its mission and that we stay biblically sound,” he says.

He is grateful for strong friendships he formed at Dordt, too.

“When we get back together—even if I haven’t seen them in 25 years, it’s just like we left off when we were in college,” he says.

That’s also true for Bruce Groenendyk (’81). Every three years, Groenendyk, his wife Lisa (Vander Wal, ’80), and 13 other Dordt couples reunite. It’s a tradition that started in 1988 and has taken them all over the country, from California to Michigan. This year, they gathered for the 12th time at a lodge in Tennessee.

Couples take turns planning each reunion, where they reminisce, share blessings, and provide encouragement.

“The friendships that we formed as students at Dordt are strong and mean so much to us,” he says. “When we get together after three years, it feels like we get right back into the conversation.”

“We were at Dordt because of the Lord’s leading,” adds Groenendyk, “and we stay connected with Dordt as alumni because we want our university to be successful and train our youth for years and decades to come.”

SARAH MOSS (’10)

DORDT COMMUNITY SUPPORT RUNS DEEP O

GIVING MORE FUN Defender Forever is the newest way to connect with and give back to Defender Nation.

Defender Forever was born from a desire to offer donors an opportunity to experience tangible community with others who love Dordt and want to have fun while giving back, says Karen Van Schouwen, director of annual giving.

“It is a simple, easy way to support the next generation of Defenders, and it’s also a unique source of news, exclusive swag, special discounts, and more,” she says.

Defender Forever welcome boxes have been leaving campus. Yours could be in the mail soon.

a tangible connection to Dordt and other Defenders that highlights our commitment, sharpens our wit, and reminds us all why we love Dordt.”

Defender Forever participants get the “There’s something inside scoop on facts unique about the and tidbits about Those who Dordt community— Dordt. For example, participate students, how many pounds of in Defender alumni, parents, clay did it take to create Forever employees and choose “The Gift”? What were other supporters,” to make the Christmas madrigal says John Baas, a gift of $100 per year. dinners? What year did To become a Defender vice president for the first student computer Forever, sign up at dordt. advancement. “They lab appear on Dordt’s edu/forever. identify fiercely with campus? How many this institution. In variations of the Dordt talking to current University logo were students and considered before Dordt younger alumni, we got a sense that decided on the now-infamous DU logo? this program would be a fun rallying Participants are also eligible for special point for Defender Nation. We all have Campus Store discounts, fun giveaways, an innate, God-given desire to belong and a one-of-a-kind welcome box and to be part of a community. You can that includes special Defender Forever expect Defender Forever to be fun, to be merchandise. encouraging, and to be simple to join and stay engaged.”

“It’s more than a club, names on a roster, or a thank-you receipt in the mail,” says SARAH MOSS (’10) Van Schouwen. “Defender Forever is

TO SIGN UP

NEWS

DEFENDER FOREVER PROGRAM MAKES

ne of the blessings of serving in the alumni office is connecting with alumni, parents, and current students. We help make connections happen for those that need temporary housing, an invite to a church for someone new to the community, or advice on recommended companies to work for.

We find parents and alumni who open their homes to college students during summer internships and alumni who offer access through their real estate business to house graduate students in temporary rentals.

We may be strangers at first, but there is a common bond shared by Dordt alumni and parents that compels us to look out for one another, to open our homes, and provide job connections that might not have happened otherwise. These connections lead to new relationships, and Dordt hospitality is extended throughout our communities. Being a part of the Dordt community doesn’t end after two or four years on campus; it’s a lifelong bond and connection to one another.

Thank you to those of you alumni and parents who’ve offered advice, connections, and support to others, especially to our younger alumni and students. Your service to the broader Dordt community has a memorable impact on those you are blessing.

ALICIA BOWAR (’05), DIRECTOR OF ALUMNI & PARENT RELATIONS

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JAMIN VER VELDE ('99)

F E AT U R E S

CHECKING OUT

ACTUARIAL SCIENCE Dr. Tom Clark teaches his students the mathematics and the strategies they need to pass the exams required to become actuaries.

What exactly is actuarial science, and what do actuaries do?

In high school, Gabriel Garcia loved taking mathematics courses. When he thought about what he wanted to be when he grew up, he envisioned doing something with numbers—perhaps something related to statistics and finance. That interest in mathematics ran in the family; both of his parents work for insurance companies in Honduras.

During his junior year of high school, he took an accounting course and quickly discovered that accounting wasn’t for him. He began to wonder if he should major in biomedical engineering, because he liked the sciences as well.

One day his father pulled him aside.

“Have you heard of actuarial science?” he asked Garcia. “I have a friend whose son is studying that in the United States.”

When Garcia looked into actuarial science, he quickly became intrigued.

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“It focused on finance, statistics—it’s a mix of a lot of areas of study that I liked,” he says. “I ended up taking an online introduction to actuarial science course, and I remember partway through the course thinking, ‘This is something I can see myself doing for the rest of my life.’”

and a men’s volleyball program—and he knew he’d found where he was meant to spend the next four years of his life. Once he got to campus, he was thrilled to find that Dordt's actuarial science program was a close-knit community of students and professors.

Garcia knew he wanted to attend a university in the United States where he could play men’s volleyball, study actuarial science, and receive a Christcentered education.

“Each actuarial science student has a really personalized experience with professors and classes, and with our adviser, Dr. Tom Clark,” explains Garcia.

“Professor Clark is great. We have specific time with him, and he knows each actuarial science major well. Through Dordt’s program, we get to have unique experiences and build relationships with our professors, which is really helpful for our major.”

“I was also looking for a calm place to start, because as an international student coming to a new country, a new culture, and a completely different background, I wanted to find someplace where I felt at home,” he says.

He found that Dordt checked all the boxes for him—an education focused on faith, an actuarial science program,

Clark, who is a mathematics professor, assumed leadership of the actuarial science program last year. He has a Ph.D.

So, what exactly is actuarial science, and what do actuaries do?

“The one-sentence answer is, they try to model and project risk,” says Clark. “Usually that’s financial risk, but it can be in other contexts too. Actuarial science is interdisciplinary in its skill set; you’re taking statistics, mathematics, business, economics, and programming classes. You’re gaining a broad range of skills that, when put together, help to model risk.”

learning terminology you’ll have to use and the calculations you’ll need to make, and then understanding the context in which you would be working.”

That class prepares students for the first of many actuarial science exams: the financial mathematics exam. Over

concepts needed for the first actuarial science exam, but it wouldn’t necessarily help them to pass the exam.

“To pass the exam, you have to be fast.

You have to know all the formulas, how to use the test-specific calculator, and to solve 35 problems in three hours. And these problems are not easy; you only have five minutes for each question. So, students have to be quick and efficient in how they solve the questions,” says Clark.

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in mathematics and a love of learning, so when he became the champion of the actuarial science program, he threw himself into discovering all he could about what it meant to be an actuary, to best serve his students.

Actuarial science is interdisciplinary in its skill set; you’re taking statistics, mathematics, business, economics, and programming classes. You’re gaining a broad range of skills that, when put together, help to model risk.

— Dr. Tom Clark, mathematics professor

The first class Clark taught for actuarial science was a financial mathematics class, which looks at the financial concept of the time value of money.

Clark soon discovered that the financial mathematics class would give actuarial science majors the foundational

JAMIN VER VELDE ('99)

“How much do bonds cost? How do you price insurance, or how do you price an annuity? How do you calculate interest over time?” says Clark. “It’s more about

the course of their career, actuaries take approximately 10 – 11 exams—and college students are encouraged to take and pass two to four exams during their undergraduate years.

To help his actuarial students prepare for this aspect of the exam, Clark held a weekly workshop to help students practice for the exam, connecting what they’d learned in the financial mathematics class to the actual practice of completing the exam.

“We focused on a different topic every session: bonds, stocks, annuities, and perpetuities. We worked together on problems and tried to figure out how they worked—looked for patterns, applied formulas, and kept trying to get faster,” says Garcia, who participated in the workshop.

After one year of teaching actuarial science, Clark decided he should take the financial mathematics exam so he would have a better understanding of what his students needed to pass it. On a road trip to Yellowstone in June, he and his family stopped in Rapid City so that he could go to a testing center to take the exam.

He finished in two hours and 45 minutes, which gave him 15 minutes to check over his answers. Later he found out that he scored a nine, with 10 being the maximum score possible on the exam.

Gabriel Garcia loves mathematics and numbers; he also loves volleyball. Dordt's actuarial science program allows him to combine those interests in a Christian educational setting.

“It was important to me not just to pass the exam, but to understand the content thoroughly to best teach it, and I think my score reflects that I did,” he says. “It was a very valuable experience, because now I better understand what the connections are. There are 40 formulas that students could memorize, but what are the 10 that they need to memorize?

What are the key concepts that inform everything else? Now I have that level of understanding and can better serve my students.”

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“Actuarial exams are not easy; they can be challenging, and that’s probably why some people don’t want to study actuarial science, because you have to spend a lot of time studying,” says Garcia. “Derek talked about how it’s good to take as many exams as you can while you are in college—ideally around three during your four years. And now that I know that, I have a plan for what to do.”

De Vries is one of several alumni who have maintained a relationship with Dordt’s actuarial science program after graduating. Part of De Vries’ role at Principal is to recruit at small colleges and universities in Iowa, including Dordt. He has a goal of connecting with students as early in their college career as possible and to build stronger relationships with faculty like Clark.

“We have a pipeline to Dordt for strong applicants who are interested,” he says. “Students from smaller schools, especially Dordt, offer a different perspective and educational experience than those who went to large state schools.”

JAMIN VER VELDE ('99)

Looking back at his own Dordt education, De Vries says he appreciates that he was able to get involved in co-curriculars like choir and to serve as a sports

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F E AT U R E S

Garcia has plans to take the financial mathematics exam this fall. He hopes to take a second exam—the probability exam—this spring, and then a third exam during his junior year. He developed this game plan after hearing Derek De Vries (’18), who works as an assistant actuary at Principal Financial Group in Des Moines, give a talk at an evening meetup on campus.

At many other colleges and universities, if you study actuarial science, everything is so centered on studying for exams that you can become tunnel visioned.

Derek De Vries ('18) is one of many Dordt actuarial science graduates who found a job right out of college.

announcer at KDCR. Once he began working and interacting with his colleagues, he realized that being able to do these kinds of things while studying actuarial science was a bit of an anomaly.

“At many other colleges and universities, if you study actuarial science, everything is so centered on studying for exams that you can become tunnel visioned,” he says. “Interestingly enough, when I included my work as KDCR sports announcer on my résumé, it stood out to the hiring team at Principal, as they were looking for someone with communication experience. That’s an opportunity that wouldn’t have happened if I went to a different school.”

— Derek De Vries ('18), actuary

De Vries now visits several universities and colleges to connect with freshmen to help them figure out if actuarial science is the right major for them as soon as possible. He wants to help them get into the internship pipeline.

“A fair number of students have actuarial internships lined up for the summer after their sophomore year, with interviews happening in September and October of their sophomore year,” says De Vries.

“You’ve really only had one year of college, which doesn’t give you much time to get organized and determine if this major is right for you. I try to answer any questions they have about the profession and help them get a picture of what being an actuary entails.”

De Vries isn’t the only Dordt graduate who has been a resource for current students. Lucas Vander Berg (’17), who works as an actuarial manager at Milliman in Milwaukee, spoke at Pizza and Presentations, an on-campus meetup for students majoring in actuarial science, math, data science, and more.

“I thought it would be a good opportunity to give some real-life examples of what type of work an actuary can do and perhaps break down

Students in Dr. Tom Clark's classes get lots of personalized attention as they study actuarial science.

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At Milliman, Vander Berg leads a team of analysts and spends much of his time consulting with health insurance companies on their Medicare Part D— that is, drug coverage—products.

“I also work with various non-insurance companies on their pharmaceutical drug strategies and help them understand proposed healthcare reforms happening in Washington, D.C.,” he says. “I really enjoy using analytics to drive business decisions and to work one-on-one with newer staff to assist in their development.”

Clark believes oneon-one interaction with students is also key to getting prospective students to begin to grasp what actuaries are all about.

“Having alumni come back to campus— whether in person or through a virtual presentation—can help students better understand what it means to be an actuary and to see that it’s an attainable role,” says Clark.

Dordt and to be a resource to students.

For those studying actuarial science, it’s important to connect with other actuaries who are already working full-time; I think that’s a big part of what can propel your career forward. By funding a scholarship, I can get to know students personally and encourage them to get connected.”

There is a large variety of work actuaries do; while many work for insurance companies, there are also actuaries who work on non-insurance projects.

What’s even better, adds Huisman, is helping alleviate some financial worries for someone studying actuarial science at Dordt adding, “We need more Christian actuaries. It’s crucial that we have godly people in the corporate environment. There’s a lot of

— Lucas Vander Berg ('17), actuary

Jordan Huisman (’17) and his wife, Lindsey, also chose to start a scholarship for an actuarial science major at Dordt.

Huisman is an actuary working in corporate risk at Principal Financial Group in Des Moines.

“My position entails quantifying financial risk for the entire enterprise and communicating those risks to Principal’s executive management team,” he says. “What that involves is working with all our product lines and business units to model stress scenarios similar to what we saw in the 2008 global financial crisis or, more Lucas Vander Berg has often recently, with the had people tell him that Covid-19 pandemic. they know a student who We model these was thinking about studying types of scenarios in actuarial science but decided against it because advance to prepare for they are “too social” or “like what the implications working with people.” might be on our financial position, so “I have to laugh, because we can ensure that those analytically-minded, we can make good self-motivated high on our promises to school students with customers.” communication skills and

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Vander Berg talked about prescription drug pricing and coverage, giving a case study in why an insurance company may choose to cover one drug over another. He also purposely avoided talking about actuarial exams because the testing can be intimidating, he says, which can discourage students who would make good actuaries from ever entering the profession.

an actuary at Zurich North America, started a scholarship for an actuarial science major at Dordt, and he serves as an adjunct faculty member at Dordt for some upper-level actuarial science courses.

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some of the common misconceptions about actuaries,” says Vander Berg. “For one, there is a large variety of work actuaries do; while many work for insurance companies, there are also actuaries who work on non-insurance projects.”

EXTROVERTS ENCOURAGED

the ability to work with others are exactly those who would make great actuaries,” he says.

“It’s exciting to see Dordt alumni going places,” says Clark.

“That’s part of Dordt’s mission—to go out into the world and to work in different areas of life.”

Some alumni give back in other ways.

Josh Nymeyer (’14), who works as

Out of gratitude for the educational experience he had at Dordt, Huisman felt called to give back by funding a scholarship.

“I was very blessed at Dordt through my education, my faith life, the friendships I formed, and the scholarships I received,” he says. “Funding a scholarship is a way to remain more connected with

Lucas Vander Berg ('17) works with health insurance companies to help help them make drug coverage choices.

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F E AT U R E S

opportunity for greed and selfishness in any career field, and I think it’s important that we have Christians who are ready to change things for the better, especially at large financial institutions,” he says.

With actuarial or financial roles, the problems aren’t always black and white.

— Jordan Huisman ('17), actuary JAMIN VER VELDE ('99)

“Actuaries are leaders in solving complex problems. It’s easy to approach a problem looking for a solution that will maximize money or self-gain, but in doing so, you’re potentially missing what might be best for God’s kingdom,” says Huisman. “There are many ways to influence decisions that will impact customers, employees, and shareholders in ways that are better for a sustainable kingdom of the Lord.”

It’s crucial that we have godly people in the corporate environment. There’s a lot of opportunity for greed and selfishness in any career field, and I think it’s important that we have Christians who are ready to change things for the better.

When Clark thinks of faith and actuarial science, he thinks of the term “serviceable insight.” As defined in Dordt’s Educational Task, serviceable insight describes education that is more than mere transmission of information or knowledge; it strives for transformation of the whole person.

“This transformation, wholly dependent on biblical wisdom, is cultivated in community and equips us to serve God and neighbor,” and to “seek wisdom that enables us to better know, serve, and praise our Creator.”

“To me, that’s it—it’s how you take strong technical skills and a perspectival background to shape you to be the kind of person that’s following Christ in a technical field,” Clark says. “It’s thinking through, for example, if it is ethical to have a minimum payment on a credit card such that a $500 charge turns into a 30-year loan. What are the implications of faith on these financial calculations?”

Actuaries think through such questions and more every day, and Clark wants to make sure Dordt actuarial science majors have received an education that helps them apply their faith to the technical principles they’re learning.

“Dordt is the kind of place that’s nimble and cares about its programs,” says Clark. “We don’t like doing things halfheartedly. Our programs are good because our faculty care, and we want to make sure our students know what they need to in order to succeed.”

SARAH MOSS (’10)

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Lindsey and Jordan ('17) Huisman are helping support the education of Michael Osgood (center) through a scholarship that they funded for actuarial science majors.

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JAMIN VER VELDE ('99)

UP THE SIDE OF UPCYCLING

Cody Minderhoud, who rendered the upcycling team’s designs in SolidWorks, says it’s exciting to think that the fruits of their summer’s labor "could really go somewhere."

During a trip to Zambia several years ago, Associate Professor of Biology Dr. Jeff Ploegstra witnessed a different side of waste management.

“I saw people burning trash to get rid of it, because there wasn’t an infrastructure for waste removal,” he says. “I also saw people repurpose materials; one person used round water bottles to build walls for a building.”

He returned from the trip to Zambia with an idea: wouldn’t it make more sense to design water bottles that could extend their lifespan and be used as building blocks, rather than as simply a water container, especially if people were

already trying to utilize them to build makeshift shelters?

This summer, Ploegstra partnered with Professor of Engineering Dr. Kevin Timmer, Environmental Science Major Mika Kooistra, and Engineering Major Cody Minderhoud to focus on design and waste reduction that would help people around the world.

One of the things they focused on was bringing to life Ploegstra’s dream of creating a water bottle design that

can be later used as a building block— perhaps to build a house or a retaining wall in areas impacted by natural disaster.

“Many natural disasters happen in coastal areas,” says Ploegstra, “and many involve housing loss, massive ground destabilization, and loss of access to fresh water. So how do you address all three of these things at once?”

“If you’re shipping water bottles, why not make them useful for shelter?”

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Recycling is important, but it isn’t enough, according to Kooistra. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says that 10,090,000 tons of plastic containers and packaging ends up in landfills every year. The highest percentage of total recycled plastics in any one year has only been 8.6 percent.

“It’s sad that we haven’t even achieved a 10 percent recycling rate,” says Kooistra.

And there isn’t even recycling data from before 1980; anything that was recycled prior to 1980 was on such a small scale that it wasn’t measured or recorded by the EPA.

The idea of finding alternative uses for a product rather than throwing it away has become known as upcycling. Upcycling is different from recycling, says Kooistra.

Recycling reduces production of virgin plastic by reusing waste material, but every time something is recycled, the material degrades. And recycling requires significant amounts of energy, infrastructure for transportation, cleaning, grinding, and reconstituting the material.

“Recycling is a closed loop system—it’s about transforming the waste material into new products. With recycling, we’re able to reduce the amount of plastic that’s produced. However, with upcycling we’re trying to create a higher quality, multi-use product at the outset, JAMIN VER VELDE ('99)

“Even if you make a bottle that uses less plastic, you still run into problems. If you ship bottles, you have to put more plastic packaging around it for transportation because it’s structurally unsound.

Creating plastic packaging for flimsy water bottles also isn’t great for the environment,” says Ploegstra.

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Upcycling as opposed to recycling not only reduces the waste stream but could help meet the needs of people facing disasters and poverty.

want to build interest around creative solutions, broadly speaking, to help address waste management issues—to perhaps inspire others to think beyond the standard bottle design that we’ve all

With recycling, we’re able to reduce the amount of plastic that’s produced. However, with upcycling we’re trying to create a higher quality, multi-use product at the outset, eliminating the need for recycling.

Every morning throughout the summer, the group gathered to brainstorm new designs, refine design criteria, weigh advantages of different bottle shapes and volumes, and more.

Minderhoud was charged — Mika Kooistra, envirnomental science major with rendering and optimizing the plastic grown accustomed to,” says Ploegstra. bottle designs using a software design program called SolidWorks. The team Still, the group wanted the project to came up with many designs, narrowing go beyond troubleshooting and design. them down to five that they considered They reached out to Den Hartog best. They are currently pursuing patents Industries in Hospers, Iowa, to get for their best designs. advice about molds and the feasibility of creating bottle structures. Using the Ploegstra’s favorite design was a bottle 3D printing lab, Minderhoud printed designed with retaining walls in mind. miniature 3D replicas of each bottle design.

“A lip offsets the cap so that it doesn’t interfere with the next bottle and angled sides on each block allow the wall to naturally curve around. You can put a piece of rebar, which is easily accessible around the world, through the holes to anchor the wall,” he says.

Environmental Science major Mika Kooistra spoke with businesses and industries to get a sense for their needs and openness to adopting upcycling designs.

JAMIN VER VELDE ('99)

F E AT U R E S

eliminating the need for recycling,” Kooistra explains.

says Timmer. “If bottles were potential building blocks, then people might be able to find uses for them, rather than just throwing them away.”

“We’re an educational institution, we don’t work in plastic production, milk processing, or disaster relief—and we’re not even bottle designers, really. We

Kooistra took on the task of building stakeholder relationships, with the goal of one day finding a way to produce these building block bottles en masse.

“We hope to establish partnerships that would allow for global distribution, so that the blocks could be easily produced and disseminated for disaster relief,” she says.

She eventually contacted Hy-Vee and Wells Enterprises about the shape of milk bottles.

“What if milk was sold in gallon-sized Lego shaped jugs? Children could use them to build forts and other structures, which might be exciting for them,” says Timmer.

And Kooistra reached out to World Renew, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the United Nations Habitat Program about the potential for the brick-like bottles to be used for disaster relief. She found a couple of promising leads, which the team hopes to pursue in future phases of the project. For now, they are solidly in phase one: troubleshooting and building designs.

Ropes made from bags may have potential to be monetized—something people in developing countries could create and then sell at markets.

“We’ve been told by organizations that whatever we create should have a direct and clear use, or it needs to be monetizable,” says Ploegstra.

“In many cases, those living in developing countries don’t have time to care about the environment or what they are doing with their waste, because their entire day is dedicated to survival,” says Kooistra.

Having spent their summer brainstorming and designing, Timmer, Kooistra, Minderhoud, and Ploegstra all agree that upcycling is a wonderful way to live out their faith.

“As Christians, our worldview can be highly influential. We believe that taking care of the environment is important

and that we have a role as stewards to help with preserving creation. We see upcycling as a way to be compassionate to our brothers and sisters; upcycling could potentially provide housing or disaster relief supplies for people who may have lost everything or are living in abject poverty already. Upcycling can be a compassionate way to help with sustainable development,” says Kooistra.

“God didn’t create us to be wasteful,” says Timmer. “So, in a sense, our project seeks to enable individuals to be better stewards by giving them an alternative use for plastic bottles and plastic bags, rather than having to throw the products away.”

Looking back on the research he conducted this summer, Minderhoud says he feels a sense of accomplishment.

“There is potential that our upcycling project could go somewhere, and it’s really exciting to see the fruits of our labor from this summer,” he says. “I spent entire days braiding ropes and hours printing 3D models of blocks, which I never thought I’d do. It’s great to design your own experiment, gather your own empirical research, and then see how the work could positively impact people and the environment—it’s very satisfying work.”

SARAH MOSS (’10) JAMIN VER VELDE ('99)

Another project the team took on was upcycling plastic bags. Like plastic bottles, single-use plastic bags often end up in landfills. The group wondered whether plastic bags could be turned into ropes. Minderhoud and his roommates had saved plastic bags all year long. Once friends and professors heard about the project, they brought in loads of plastic bags as well. Minderhoud cut the plastic bags into strips, learned how to braid, and started experimenting.

using lifting weights. Some of the ropes held to 115 pounds. Minderhoud’s most successful weave was the four strand and six strand: “If you want a stronger rope, add bags to it. So technically, there’s twice as much material on the cross section of each braid. It’s a lot harder to work with, because to braid those I had to have weights at the bottom of each strand to keep tension on it for to achieve a tight braid.”

F E AT U R E S

Kooistra also reached out to Brommer Sanitation in Sioux Center to learn about Sioux Center’s waste stream and to get the company’s thoughts on whether the bottle designs might be a good way to reduce waste streams in the United States.

“I’ve braided about 40-50 ropes of varying lengths and weaves using plastic bags,” says Minderhoud.

“We also made tarp samples using parchment paper, a heating iron, and ropes. These can work as a great form of short-term shelter from the elements,” adds Kooistra.

One interesting challenge of the ropes project was strengths testing.

“When you make ropes with plastic bags, the plastic does tend to stretch quite a bit. We started experimenting with the rope weave and how many bags should go into that weave to find what weight we could max out with stretching,” explains Kooistra.

They tested the ropes in the Rec Center

Faculty and student upcycling team members say their ideas for reducing waste and helping people came from a desire to serve others and protect the world they live in.

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F E AT U R E S

MANAGING THE COST OF A DORDT EDUCATION

JAMIN VER VELDE ('99)

THE VALUE OF A CHRISTIAN EDUCATION GOES BEYOND DOLLARS AND CENTS

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Experiencing a seriously Christian education can have an impact on students for many years to come, he adds. Dordt alumni are leaders in their churches and in their communities.

And, according to the 2021 L. Huisman alumni survey, more than 93 percent of respondents say they attend church on a weekly basis. Many students who attend Dordt find that they grow in their faith during their two to four years on campus, and that is priceless.

“We’re a standout among other Christian universities for a number of reasons— the deliberate nature of the spiritual atmosphere is really captivating. Pair that with a brave vision, strong leadership from the president and the board, faculty who care about students, being ranked number one in student engagement many years in a row—these things matter,” he says.

“It’s important to emphasize that there is degree seekers graduate within four cost associated with higher education. years, says Jim Bos, registrar. Students We’re not trying to hide from that,” says at a four-year public institution spend Harlan Harmelink, director of financial an average of 5.6 years completing their aid. “There will be a cost, and there will bachelor’s degree, and private school likely be a sacrifice. students take about You might have to 5.4 years on average. stretch your personal “Dordt students take finances. But, at an average of 4.07 Dordt, we want to years to complete work with you along their degree,” says In the 2020-21 academic the way—to partner Bos. “That means year, none of the Dordt with you to ensure Dordt students get graduates had taken more that we can provide an extra year and a than five years to graduate. as much help as half to go out into the Considering that three of possible.”

Dordt’s most popular majors world and be salt and are engineering, nursing, For students and their light,” as well as to and education—majors that families who want earn money. In fact, often require additional a Christ-centered if college students semesters of study at other education and are enroll for a fifth year, institutions—this is quite a cost conscious, Dordt the average student feat. provides a variety should expect that the of resources. From extra year will cost individualized care over $130,000 when in the Financial Aid taking into account Office and Registrar’s Office to student the opportunity cost of lost income, employment and scholarship options, retirement plans, home equity, additional students interested in Dordt have much tuition, and more. to consider when deliberating how to The Registrar’s Office is especially make a two- or four-year Dordt degree fastidious about ensuring that programs work for them. can be completed in four years. It starts by making sure that every academic MAKING FOUR YEARS OR LESS A program offered at Dordt has a fourREALITY year plan that students can easily access At Dordt, graduating in four years or less through u.dordt.edu, the internal website, is the norm. In May 2021, 92 percent of so that students can look at any program Dordt students who graduated with a and see how it can be completed in four bachelor’s degree did so in four years or years. less. Nationally, 41 percent of bachelor’s

PUNCTUAL GRADUATES

JAMIN VER VELDE ('99)

These factors matter so much that Dordt has, according to Huisman, one of the highest legacy rates in the nation among colleges and universities. Approximately 30 percent of Dordt’s current student body are children of alumni, highlighting that “Dordt provides an education that our alumni appreciate, understand, and are willing to pay for,” he says.

Turn on the news, and you’ll frequently hear how higher education in general can be expensive. Over the past 10 years there have been some good national trends in higher education, says Director of Online Education Joe Bakker.

According to a recent report by College Board, students are borrowing less than they did 10 years ago to go to college.

Still, finances can be a challenge for students considering college.

“There is still more that can be done,” he says. “In order to make college more financially feasible, we have to be willing to do pretty radical things to change the format, so that students can pursue a degree in a different way.”

F E AT U R E S

W

hat Dordt is known for is spiritual depth, innovative programs, faculty who care, and our vibrant campus community,” says Lyle Huisman, director of development.

“God is moving in this place, and we have found that our constituency has an appetite for the Christ-centered Christian education that we offer at Dordt.”

Graduating in four years, a feat increasingly difficult at many institutions, is the norm rather than the exception at Dordt.

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JAMIN VER VELDE ('99)

F E AT U R E S

“When a new program proposal comes to the curriculum committee, academic departments are required to submit details about how the program can be completed in four years,” says Bos. “If it can’t be completed in four years, it doesn’t get approved.”

And if that’s not enough, Academic Records Assistant Lisa Christians emails every sophomore student in February— just before fall semester registration opens—with details on what courses they have taken and what courses they will need to complete to graduate within four years.

“We interject ourselves at that point because then students still have time to rearrange their schedule as needed to complete their degree in four years,” says Bos. Faculty advisers play an important role in helping students stay on track.

“They are willing to work with individual students to help meet their academic goals. Many faculty will even take on independent study courses so that a student can graduate on time, or they will sometimes let students take classes out of order,” says Bos. “Our faculty are tuned in to the needs of our students.”

Just because a degree can be completed in four years or less doesn’t make it easy.

“The only way students can complete an engineering degree in four years is if they work really hard,” Bos says. “At Dordt, we have really good students overall. They work hard.”

Registrar Office staff Jim Bos, Avonda Fessler, and Lisa Christians work closely with all students to help ensure that they stay on track to complete their degree in four years.

enrolled in classes. Or students can get started on earning a graduate degree sooner.

Not every university works hard to ensure that students can complete their degree in four years or less, but Dordt does.

In recent years, more students have reached out to Bakker about the possibility of graduating in three years.

Given student interest, Bakker put together a series of course sequences for business, communication, criminal justice, digital media production, English, human health and performance, history, and social work.

These sequences make it easier for students to understand what’s possible when considering graduating within three years.

As a Calvinist, you’re not supposed to be proud, but I’ll go ahead and say that I’m kind of proud of Dordt for working so hard to get students through in four years. It's a big deal.

There are some students who find that graduating in four years simply isn’t possible for — Jim Bos, registrar them. Students who switch their major may find that the “As a Calvinist, you’re not supposed to coursework and required internships be proud, but I’ll go ahead and say that are too much to complete in four years.

I’m kind of proud of Dordt for working Other students find that they prefer to so hard to get students through in four spread out their coursework in a way years,” chuckles Bos. “It’s a big deal.” that feels more manageable.

Still, being able to complete a degree in four years or less is a benefit, says Bos. It can help students get out in the workforce a year earlier than peers who take five or more years to complete a bachelor’s degree—meaning that they can make an extra year’s worth of income, while their peers are still

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“Degree in Three is a series of course plans that show a pathway for students to finish a bachelor’s degree in three years,” he says. “This includes information on what courses should be taken when and at what speed in order for students to achieve their education goals.”

EARNING A DEGREE IN THREE AND GETTING DUAL CREDIT

Graduating in three years isn’t for everyone; students who want to participate in Degree in Three must be driven and dedicated.

Is it possible to complete a bachelor’s degree in three years? For eight programs of study at Dordt, the answer is yes, says Director of Online Education Joe Bakker (’07).

“Saying that you want to finish college early and actually finishing college early are two different things,” says Bakker.

“Participating in Degree in Three takes sacrifice. It means students work on

These students should also have a plan. If students are confident in their major choice, it can be a great option, especially for those considering going to graduate school and beyond.

“Students who plan to go on for four to seven years of additional schooling after a bachelor’s degree might find that a Degree in Three will help them achieve their career goals faster,” adds Bakker.

courses in high school can also help lessen their course workload during college.

Our eyes are on each individual offer that gets put together. They aren’t batched. This process allows us to more effectively use the financial aid that’s available to students.

— Harlan Harmelink, director of financial aid

“Some students sign up for a course not because they want to graduate early, but so they can have more time to participate in athletics, music, theatre, and other activities. Or perhaps they want to get a part-time job to help pay for school expenses, and taking dual credit courses in advance will allow them to do that,” Bakker says.

Degree in Three is a great option for students who are interested in making their college experience more affordable, too. By reducing the number of semesters they attend college, they will likely see financial savings.

As the landscape of higher education shifts, it is good for universities and colleges to think outside the box about how students can pursue their dream of completing a bachelor’s degree. This is especially true for an institution like Dordt that is dedicated to equipping

But it’s more than just finances that can help students out. With the dual credit program, students get a taste of what college coursework is like, which can help them make decisions about what they might want to study while in college.

JAMIN VER VELDE ('99)

Participating in Degree in Three might mean students need to take college courses while in high school. And Dordt offers an excellent option for that as well: dual credit courses.

“Dordt’s dual credit program offers students the opportunity to take Christcentered courses at a significantly discounted rate,” says Bakker.

“A college education can be expensive and hold some people back from being able to achieve their dreams of earning a bachelor’s degree,” says Bakker. “For students who want the quality and value of a Christian education, the options, flexibility, and access Dordt provides is a real win.”

GETTING PERSONALIZED FINANCIAL AID ATTENTION Director of Financial Aid Harlan Harmelink has a hand in every financial aid package that goes out from Dordt, providing individual attention to students’ financial needs.

“Our eyes are on each individual offer that gets put together,” he says. “They aren’t batched. This process allows us to more effectively use the financial aid that’s available to students, to be able to help where it’s needed most.”

As part of this process, Harmelink gets to know students in a few different ways.

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) paints a picture of a student’s financial situation, but it doesn’t always tell the whole story.

“That’s why, for several years, Dordt has had what we call our supplemental data form. It’s an opportunity for students and their families to share a little more information and provide context into their situation,” Harmelink says. “But even that doesn’t really tell the whole story.”

“For example, I recently spoke with a young man who took our Introduction to Business course as a high school dual credit student,” says Bakker. “The course helped him decide what he wants to do in college—what he wants to major in. He found the section on marketing to be fascinating, and he quickly determined that accounting wasn’t for him. Taking a dual credit course helped him make some decisions earlier, rather than waiting until partway through his freshman year to discover his academic preferences.”

Whether students go the Degree in Three route or not, taking dual credit

“students, alumni, and the broader community to work effectively toward Christ-centered renewal in all aspects of contemporary life.”

F E AT U R E S

coursework during the summer months, and it likely means students complete extra coursework in high school. It’s not that students are doing less work overall; they are simply doing work faster and finishing college earlier.”

So he holds meetings, makes phone calls, and sends emails to students and their families.

Director of Online Education Joe Bakker has helped develop the "Degree in Three" option for some majors.

“I want to know their goals and their desires as they achieve their college degree. Yes, there are some limits to what we can do to help—absolutely. But those interactions, either through the admissions counselor or directly with me, helps give me the knowledge and insight to be able to provide the right support.”

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Loans are not a gift, but they do provide money for schooling at the lowest possible interest rate, and under many loan programs, interest does not accumulate while the student is in college. And Dordt happens to have a loan default rate that is significantly better than the national average. The student loan default rate measures the percentage of students who are unable to make the required payments on their student loans. Dordt’s loan default rate is 1.8 percent, which is much better than the national average of 9.7 percent. This shows that Dordt students who take out student loans to pay for their college education are very likely to repay the loan on time.

“Sometimes the sticker price can be intimidating,” says Harmelink. “But I encourage families to wait the process out and see what the financial aid package includes. We hear from families who say, ‘Wow, the cost of a Dordt education ended up being a lot better than I thought it would,’ or, ‘This is a lot closer to the state school I was thinking of going to.’”

CONSIDERING DONOR-FUNDED SCHOLARSHIPS One particularly exciting area of growth in scholarships is donor-funded scholarships. Director of Development Lyle Huisman says that in the past 12 years, 10-30 new donor-funded scholarships have been added every year. This fall, there will be 943 student recipients of donor-funded scholarships, which are valued at $1.86 million.

“There is often a misconception that, to start a scholarship, you have to give $40,000 - $50,000 for an endowment,” says Huisman. “But Dordt decided to make it so that almost anyone can start a scholarship. For as little as $2,000 annually, with a five-year commitment, you can fund a scholarship where every penny goes to a student.”

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JAMIN VER VELDE ('99)

F E AT U R E S

Students have several options for financial aid. Scholarships are earned by achieving excellence in academics or cocurricular activities, and grants are gifts based on the financial need of a family; these do not need to be repaid. Students can also work in employment programs, which provide part-time jobs that are funded either by the federal and state governments or by Dordt.

Director of Financial Aid Harlan Harmelink credits donor-funded scholarships for helping make a Dordt education affordable for students willing to work hard.

What’s particularly exciting to Huisman about the increase in donor-funded scholarships is the fact that alumni, parents, and other supporters see how valuable a Dordt education is and want to chip in to help students be able to have that Christ-centered education.

“When people fund these scholarships, they know exactly what the Dordt experience is. It’s professors who care about students and want to challenge them to do their best. It’s an enriching spiritual environment. These donors want to see students have that same Dordt experience, and scholarships can help to make that happen.”

Donor-funded scholarships come in a range of forms. Some are regional; for example, the KC/DC Scholarship was started by a group of donors in the Kansas City area who wanted to support an incoming freshman from the Kansas City area. That scholarship has grown to the point where there are four students who receive the scholarship all four years that they are enrolled at Dordt.

Similarly, the Mile-High City Scholarship was started by a group of alumni who asked that the scholarship be given to an incoming freshman student from the Denver area.

Other scholarships get their start on campus.

“There is an agriculture class called ‘Defender Cattle Investment,’ where Dordt agriculture students go to market

to buy the cattle and sell them. They now earn more money than they’re able to keep putting back into the program, so they funded a scholarship for an agriculture major who is planning to be part of the Defender Cattle Investment class for at least one semester,” explains Huisman.

With the Defender Capital Management Scholarship, students who participate in the Defender Capital Management (DCM) club on campus get a chance to learn how to operate and manage stock market portfolio profits. Given the success of their portfolios, students participating in DCM decided to start a scholarship for a business, finance, or accounting major willing to take accounting and finance courses.

One especially unique scholarship is the Salt and Light Education Scholarship, which is the first scholarship funded by a current undergraduate Dordt student who wants to give back so that others can experience a Dordt education.

And then there is the Rooster Booster Scholarship, which began as a pheasant hunt in South Dakota for avid hunters and has grown into a $4.1 million endowment that is providing 39 scholarships at $3,000 this fall.

The generosity of Dordt alumni, parents, donors, and students is astounding, and Harmelink gets to witness firsthand the impact that these gifts have on the lives of Dordt students.

GAINING STUDENT EMPLOYMENT

they live out their calling as disciples.”

Students make $9 - $13 an hour through the student employment program.

But what if they can make more off campus—why should they choose to fulfill these roles on campus instead?

“Since Dordt is a non-profit institution, there are fewer taxes taken out of what the students are paid as part of student employment. Also, in the winter, you don’t have to leave campus and brave the elements to work,” he laughs.

Most students can make their college education more affordable by participating in Dordt’s student employment program.

Approximately 90 percent of students are offered work as part of their financial aid package. They work in on-campus positions such as — Jim Bos, registrar Information Desk attendant, Admissions Office assistant, marketing photographer, Student employment can also give Defender Grille employee, and more. students valuable experience for their résumés. Achterhoff plans to What was once called “work study” has work even more closely with the now been dubbed student employment, Career Development Center in the says Kyle Achterhoff, who future, so that students have a better directs the student understanding of the soft skills they are employment program. gaining through student employment.

With that rebrand comes new opportunities for “I want students to realize that, while students. Rather than being K. Achterhoff at Dordt, they can get plenty of real-life limited to working eight to experience before they walk across the 10 hours per week, students stage of the B.J. Haan Auditorium and now have a tiered system where they grab their diploma,” he says. can work as many as 19 hours a week and make approximately $5,000 per GOING BEYOND DOLLARS AND year—with approval from Achterhoff and CENTS their supervisor.

What advice should high school students This new tiered system can make a and their parents consider as they reflect Dordt education more affordable for on making college affordable? students able and willing to work extra hours every week. Or students might be “I advise students to come for a able to complete their education with campus visit and to learn how these less debt. Achterhoff also hopes students opportunities would apply to their will learn important life skills while situation and goals,” says Bakker. “During being part of the student employment a campus visit, you can meet with us program. and learn the specifics about how Dordt can make your college education a “We want students to learn the value reality.” of work—to be held accountable, to be responsible, to show initiative,” he says.

Harmelink says that, if students are “We can see the value of work in the willing to work hard, opportunities are Bible; for example, Adam and Eve had available—perhaps through regional or jobs even before sin entered the world. community scholarships.

We want students to see work as a way

“Yes, it can take time to fill out these applications, but many local scholarships go unused each year because students don’t take the time to apply,” he says.

“Even if you spend an entire evening filling out applications and you’re awarded one of them, the work was worthwhile.”

F E AT U R E S

“When someone receives a scholarship, they are overwhelmed with gratitude,” he says. “And donors recognize that there is something special going on at Dordt—in these transformative years that students are here, they learn and grow in their academic field, but they also develop spiritually as well. That’s immensely valuable.”

And high school students should know that what they do now can impact their financial aid options in the future.

“Students, please know that what you do in high school makes a difference, especially when it comes to your classwork and how your high school GPA can translate into an academic scholarship in college,” says Harmelink.

Investing in an education can be expensive, but it’s important to think through how it will shape a student to be both financially successful and a well-rounded person with a strong faith and the ability to thrive.

Harmelink also advises parents and students to trust the Lord as they consider tuition payments.

“Many who have children in Christian schools go forward each year in faith when they commit to Christian education and paying tuition bills for K-12 education,” he says. “Yes, parents and students need to be wise stewards of their resources, and they need to work hard as well. But it is also important to trust that God will provide. Don’t let the thought of four years be too overwhelming. Take care of one semester and one year at a time, because each year can present new opportunities.”

Above all, Bos says that it’s important to understand the value of a university education for high school students and their parents.

“It is tough to put a monetary figure on what the value is, because it’s more than landing a high-paying job,” says Bos. “How will a student impact the Lord’s kingdom? How will they be a good spouse, parent, community member? Investing in an education can be expensive, but it’s important to think through how it will shape a student to be both financially successful and a wellrounded person with a strong faith and the ability to thrive.”

SARAH MOSS (’10)

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ALUMNI

PHOTO SUBMITTED

IN THEIR HONOR

Veterans have told Aaron Van Beek that seeing the war memorials helps them process their wartime experiences.

Aaron Van Beek (’18) has always appreciated those who serve in the military.

As a child, he spent every Memorial Day either riding a decorated bicycle or marching with the Boy Scouts in the local parade. Military service also runs in his family: three great-grandfathers served in World War II, one grandfather was a Vietnam war veteran, and a sister is in Army National Guard basic training.

“Growing up with family members who serve, I have a strong appreciation for the freedoms that we have in the United States, because of those who were willing to serve and pay the ultimate sacrifice,” says Van Beek.

Van Beek, who studied elementary education at Dordt, wanted to find a way to give back to those who served in the military. He had heard of the Honor Flight Network, an organization that transports America’s veterans to Washington, D.C., but he didn’t give it much thought until his junior year of college during Christmas break.

“All I wanted was to volunteer on an honor flight,” he says. “I started doing

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research and quickly realized that there hadn’t been an honor flight in Northwest Iowa since 2012, and that the closest one was three hours away.”

ALUMNI PROFILE View Van Beek's profile online at youtube.com/ watch?v=ibFq9D0T8c.

He started communicating with the Honor Flight Network about bringing an honor flight to his area to provide World War II, Korean War, and Vietnam War veterans of Northwest Iowa, Southwest Minnesota, and South Dakota a way to see the war memorials in Washington, D.C. His original plan was to simply charter one flight; instead, he volunteered to be president of the Midwest Honor Flight, a 100 percent non-profit organization.

“I remember calling the Network and saying, ‘I’m only 20 years old. Is it okay if

I host an honor flight?’

And they said, ‘Yeah, you’re the youngest we’ve ever had, but sure, let’s get you going,’” says Van Beek.

Since 2017, the Midwest Honor Flight has flown six flights, or “missions,” and has had more than 525 veterans participate.

“We have a waiting list of 800 veterans who are waiting to go, and we will have two missions this fall,” Van Beek says.

“The missions are a small token of our appreciation as the American people. It will truly never make up for the hours, days, and years that our soldiers gave up with their friends and family, in service to their country. But at least it’s a start.”

Each mission is a one-day charter flight that is free of charge for veterans. Van Beek, the veterans, and volunteers spend 10 hours in Washington, D.C., where they watch the changing of the guard

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JAMIN VER VELDE ('99)

at Arlington National Cemetery, visit all the war memorials, and take a bus tour of downtown Washington, D.C. They fly back to the Sioux Falls airport that evening.

“It’s a whirlwind of a day, but it’s a day of honor,” says Van Beek. “Our veterans are thanked throughout the day, and they come back feeling appreciated. For some, they’re thanked and welcomed home for the very first time, and it feels as if their war is finally over.”

Van Beek says veterans have told him that the Midwest Honor Flight is cathartic as they process their wartime experiences.

“There are veterans who don’t want to talk about their story; it used to be called shell shock, but today we call it PTSD. As volunteer president of Midwest Honor Flight, Aaron Van Beek raises funds, organizes These are real repercussions that our events, and connects with veterans who wish to participate in the program. veterans struggle with, and our goal Van Beek, a third-grade teacher at Kinsey motorcycle and with the Midwest Elementary School in Sioux Center, Iowa, classic car rides, Honor Flight is loves being a teacher as much as he a pancake feed, to try to bring loves serving as volunteer president of and a 1940s “Service is a big part of faith, healing and closure. the Midwest Honor, and he especially inspired hangar whether that’s doing missionary When they see the enjoys it when his work with the dance to raise work in developing countries or memorials, they Midwest Honor Flight aligns with his role funds. Culver’s in a local community,” Van Beek can see that their as an educator. restaurants says. “I have a passion for veterans service matters, in Northwest and for service, and this is one way “When I teach a unit on service in social that their service for me to show that, as a grateful Iowa, Southwest studies, we talk about how we can serve isn’t forgotten.

American and as a Christian, I am Minnesota, and the community better. One activity I Generations to thankful for those who have paved South Dakota have my students do is make cards for come will be able to the way for the freedoms we have take one day a the veterans who will participate in the visit the memorial today.” year where they Midwest Honor Flight. Students will write and see what give 10 percent of things like, ‘Thank you for serving our they did for their sales to Midwest country—I love living in America,’ or ‘I’m country,” he says.

Honor Flight. nine years old and in the third grade, and And in 2021, the Sioux City Musketeers A large part of his role as president my teacher Mr. Van Beek gets to take you hockey team raised $54,000 for the includes lining up fundraisers, speaking on an honor flight,’” he says.

Midwest Honor Flight by selling hockey with donors, and presenting to groups. sweaters after their game.

He talks with his students about the Every year, Midwest Honor Flight holds freedoms that America has – free publicschool education, a summer break, and so much more.

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FAITH & SERVICE

“Obviously, our freedoms are numerous, and we have plenty to be thankful for, so it is a good opportunity for students to understand what we have and why we have it, and I can tie that to the work I do with the honor flight.”

Anybody can be a change maker, says Van Beek. There are many ways that people can better their communities, their country, and their world; every little bit helps.

Honor flights bring veterans to Washington, D.C., for a one-day, 10-hour visit to Arlington National Cemetery and the war memorials.

SARAH MOSS (’10)

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JAMIN VER VELDE ('99)

Eric Gray urges students to "find something you love, set goals for the impact you want to have, and work hard toward that."

GRAY SEEING BLUE SKIES Eric Gray (’94) has been working in the technology industry for more than 25 years, the last 20+ in Silicon Valley, a global technology center and home to many start-ups and prominent industry leaders like Google and Facebook.

He has been with Apple, Inc. since 2005, where he is currently the Product Manager, Commerce and Pricing for Services. In this role, Gray gets to work with the App Store, Apple Music, TV+, the iTunes Store and more.

“It’s an amazing place to interact with people from all different backgrounds and experiences,” says Gray. “I appreciate the impact we have at Apple. We have hundreds of millions of customers, and there are also hundreds of thousands of developers.”

Growing up as the son of a Christian Reformed Church minister, Gray moved frequently. He was born in Washington,

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but his family soon moved to Redlands, California. When he was six years old, they relocated to South Holland, Illinois, and then, when Gray was 10, to Whitinsville, Massachusetts. He ended up in Orange City, Iowa, for his senior year of high school at Unity Christian High School.

Making so many moves during his childhood was a great experience, he says.

“It was good to get comfortable with change, and I was able to see so much of the United States,” he says.

When it came time to decide where to go to college, though, Gray looked close

to home.

“I’d just moved to the area, so going to Dordt meant one less change,” he says.

“Also, many kids from Unity as well as Western Christian High School went to Dordt, so it made sense.”

Also, Dordt had an excellent engineering program, which is what Gray initially chose to major in.

“I spent a few weeks in engineering, but that was enough for me,” he chuckles.

He took some marketing courses, which he enjoyed. Not long after, he switched his major to business and eventually also picked up accounting.

“Dordt had great professors,” says Gray. “They were cutting edge in their disciplines, and they were also extremely practical and personable.”

three well-known consumer product technology companies. He spent the majority of his time at the Apple campus while working as a senior manager at KPMG. After 10 years at KPMG, Gray had the opportunity to go in a different direction than finance and accounting. When given an opportunity to work with the newly formed iTunes Music Store at

There is a continuity of belief and a grounding that faith can have, and I didn’t really recognize how it shaped my outlook until years later.

After graduating from Dordt, — Eric Gray, on the impact of Dordt Gray entered the world of public accounting. He Apple, he took it. started at Coopers and Lybrand (now PricewaterhouseCoopers) in Des Moines “When I started at iTunes, there were less before joining KPMG, one of the big than 200 people. iTunes, being a part of four accounting companies at the time. the much larger Apple was an amazing There he specialized in information, place to work,” says Gray. communication, and entertainment Gray has witnessed some significant practice. He worked with a variety of launches in his more than 15 years as an clients, from Palmer Wireless in Fort Apple employee.

Myers, Florida, to Meredith Corporation, a media conglomerate in Des Moines “The iPhone was transformational in that owns magazines and television 2007. I was most involved with the App stations.

Store, which launched in 2008. The iPad and the iBookstore went live in spring 2010,” he says. “Most recently, I was part of the launch of News+, Arcade, and TV+ in 2019, and Fitness+ which launched in December 2020. It never stops—that’s

the beauty of Apple; it’s a company that continues to innovate.”

With his wife Jennifer, they are raising three kids, Dylan, Lindsay, and Tyler, in Sunnyvale, California. The kids are very involved in sports, and he is actively involved in youth baseball. When not working or watching his kids play sports, he loves to travel, and the San Francisco Bay Area is great for hiking, too.

As a Dordt student, Gray didn’t spend much time thinking about how his time at Dordt would shape his faith. More than 25 years after he completed his degree, he can recognize the importance Dordt had in his faith life.

“There is a continuity of belief and a grounding that faith can have, and I didn’t really recognize how it shaped my outlook until years later,” he says. “When I was a student, I would have said that Dordt had little impact on my faith, but as I look back now, I can see that it was significant.”

What advice does Gray have for students who are interested in working for a company like Apple?

“Find something you love, set goals for the impact you want to have, and work toward that,” says Gray. He is also quick to add that it takes hard work and a plan to get where you want to go. “You’re only going to be successful if you truly, genuinely love what you’re doing and believe in the impact that it’s going to have.”

SARAH MOSS (’10) JAMIN VER VELDE ('99)

At KPMG during the dot com boom in the 1990s, Gray continued to gain a wide range of experience. He went on rotation to London to work on transactions, including public offerings and mergers and acquisitions for technology companies like Scoot.com, Affinity Internet Holdings, Boo.com, and other companies that are now long gone. He also worked with Virgin Megastores, a record store, and with Watches of Switzerland and Mappin & Webb, a high-end jewelry company.

From there, he went to Silicon Valley and spent five years working with technology companies while still at KPMG.

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Gray is grateful for the support his Dordt accounting professors gave him.

He remembers Professor Mert Gulker helping him to get an internship at First National Bank in Chicago, Illinois.

He recalls that Professor Emeritus of Accounting Dr. Robert Hilbelink “helped me get into public accounting, even though I added my accounting major late and all the accounting firms had already finished their recruiting efforts by the time I started the process.”

“It was an interesting time, because in 2000, the markets crashed, and the dotcom boom went bust,” recalls Gray. But networking equipment was still viable, so Gray got to work on some offerings in that space.

In Silicon Valley, he worked with Apple, Electronic Arts (EA), and Hitachi—

In a visit to campus, Eric Gray shared some of his work experiences with students.

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Terry Katsma began his second career in 2014, making a shift from banking to politics.

DORDT GRADUATES SERVING IN WISCONSIN POLITICS Pair of "Oostburgers" experience similar path to the state capital

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Terry Katsma (’80) was born in Oostburg, Wisconsin, graduated from Sheboygan County Christian High School, and studied Business Administration at Dordt.

Fifteen years later, Devin LeMahieu (’95) followed in Katsma’s footsteps, though LeMahieu studied political science at Dordt. In 2014, both men entered the Wisconsin State Legislature for the first time.

I immediately announced that I was running for his seat in the Wisconsin State Assembly,” says LeMahieu. “About a month later, my state senator announced that he was running for Congress. The Senate Majority Leader called me up to ask me to run for Senate instead of the Assembly. After a week of weighing the pros and cons, I decided to run for the Senate.”

“In March of 2014, my State Representative called me to let me know that he wasn’t going to run again.

LeMahieu’s decision to run for the Senate opened an opportunity for Katsma to run for the Assembly seat.

Katsma had had a satisfying and fulfilling 34-year career in community banking and, at age 56, with kids out of the house and most financial commitments behind him, he was looking for something different. “I was interested in participating in public policy at the state level. There were some conservative movements going on in Wisconsin, starting in 2010, and I wanted to participate in them first-hand,” he says.

LeMahieu was the owner and publisher of The Lakeshore Weekly, a community

Katsma, currently in his fourth two-year term as an assembly member, feels honored to serve on the Joint Finance Committee, the legislative committee that develops and approves the biannual state budget. “On this committee, I am able to have a direct impact on state policy with regard to spending and taxation,” he says. His training in business administration at Dordt and his years as a banker have given him the

“I knew Terry pretty well prior to becoming a senator,” LeMahieu says.

“We live two blocks from each other. We were both members of the Oostburg Kiwanis Club. Oostburg isn’t that big!

When I heard that Terry was considering running for the Assembly, I was pretty surprised but very excited. It has been great working with Terry over the last seven years.”

LeMahieu serves as a senator in district 9 and Katsma as a representative of district — Terry Katsma 26.

The political sphere, as every sphere of God’s creation, needs Christians to be of influence.

Elected to the state legislature the same year, the two men have had many common experiences.

“Senator LeMahieu and I have collaborated on numerous initiatives,” says Katsma. “I am proud to call him my senator.”

Katsma, the first person from his

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In November 2020, LeMahieu was also elected Wisconsin Senate Majority Leader. “It was an honor to be chosen

tools needed to serve on the committee.

“Political science was always an interest of mine, but I consider myself more of a businessperson and a banker than a politician. Many of my colleagues also had a career before politics, so we bring our experience and knowledge of different sectors to our work in politics.”

DORDT ARCHIVES

to lead the Senate,” says LeMahieu. “It is exciting and sometimes terrifying knowing that I am ultimately responsible for leading the Wisconsin state senate.”

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shopper that serves Oostburg and surrounding areas. He had gained some experience in local politics before he ran for a seat in the Senate, serving on the Human Resources and Finance Committees of the Sheboygan County Board from 2006 to 2015.

Katsma has served on the Dordt College Board of Trustees, finishing his term in 2006.

family to attend college, chose Dordt because of the good reputation of its business administration program. “I am so thankful and grateful for the impact of Dordt College at a formative time in my life. I have fond memories of my time in Dr. John Visser’s finance classes and Professor Henry De Groot’s accounting classes.”

In addition to preparing him to be a banker and a member of the Wisconsin state Finance Committee, Katsma feels that Dordt shaped his worldview. “My time at Dordt prepared me well to be a Christian politician, Christian banker, husband, father, grandfather, and elder,” says Katsma. “The political sphere, as every sphere of God’s creation, needs Christians to be of influence. My faith affects everything I do, and when it comes to the political sphere, it impacts the principles I follow.”

LeMahieu also appreciates his training at Dordt and has found it to be useful in his current role. “I really enjoyed the political science courses and the discussions led by Professor King,” he says. And the business courses he took have helped him understand the economics and tax policy he needs to craft budgets and make broad policy decisions.

“As I learned at Dordt, all decisions should have the redemptive work of Christ at their foundation,” LeMahieu says. “I think being a Christian in politics is no different from any other vocation or career. Whether crafting legislation, speaking at an association meeting, running a business, or shopping for groceries, it should all be done through the lens of Christian service. The main difference is that I am in the public spotlight.”

Devin LeMahieu was elected to the Wisconsin State Senate in 2014 and elected its majority leader in 2020.

LYDIA MARCUS (’17)

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JANE WOLTERSTORFF’S LIFETIME OF LEARNING J

ane Wolterstorff (’82) has worked and learned in the social work profession since she graduated from Dordt. That summer, just as she had previous years, she headed to Michigan to work at a youth camp. She’s been working in her major field ever since she marched down the center aisle of the B.J. Haan Auditorium in 1982.

Jane doesn’t remember making a conscious decision to major in social work. What she came to understand in a high school sociology class was that she cared a lot, even loved thinking about— and studying—people.

“At that minute,” she says, “I knew that’s what I wanted to do.” So, when she packed her bags for Dordt, she had an idea of her academic plans, even though she didn’t know exactly how things might go.

Wolterstorff’s interest in sociology found a fitting home in a brand-new degree program at Dordt. The college had recently recruited Social Worker Ken Venhuizen, who was working in Korea at the time, to teach courses and create a program that would lead to a social work degree. Four years later, she was one of 10 of the institution’s first social work graduates.

After graduation, knowing her career would last a lifetime, her dad told her, “Just go back to camp. Have a great time.” She had worked at Michigan’s Camp Roger for several summers during her college years and loved it.

“You know, I spent time outdoors all day long—I was waterfront director, taught swimming lessons at Dordt, was a lifeguard all through high school,” she recalls. Camping for one more summer was almost a dream.

Meanwhile, she looked around Western Michigan, put in one application at a place called St. John’s Home, and, just like that, come fall, had a job.

St. John’s Home was a residential

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Jane Wolterstorff's 40-year social work career has spanned several institutions and many types of programs.

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treatment center, and Wolterstorff lived with girls who were either removed from their homes or had some delinquency on their records—a tough bunch of clients for a recent college grad. Her shift was in the afternoons, which meant hanging out after classes with as many as a dozen girls, who would be doing homework, eating dinner, watching TV. She loved it. “I liked people. Social work, I thought, is going to be about people— and I liked people,” she says.

The mission at St. John’s was to get kids back into their own homes. “I learned a lot there because, after every shift, we’d sit down and describe what we did and how it went—and we’d evaluate our own behavior,” she says. “Some of it was correction too, for us, I mean; but it was great training every night.”

Those moments were a valuable part of her education, she says. But then, Jane Wolterstorff would say that life is all about learning. A diploma never meant education was completed.

Two years later, Jane and a colleague at St. John’s began teaching lifeguarding to other staff members because taking kids canoeing or swimming required a registered lifeguard to be present.

Staff from other area agencies who wanted and needed lifeguarding joined in, including staff from a place called Wedgwood Acres, an agency that dealt primarily with kids who didn’t require lock-up but could come and go.

Not long after, she moved to Wedgwood.

She got poached and says “that kind of poaching goes on often. These days, I know someone almost everywhere in the city.”

At Steepletown, Jane Wolterstorff worked with clients to pass their GEDS and train for jobs.

emotionally impaired kids, boys, the kinds of communication skills that would enable them to get along, kids who were often either abused or neglected as children. The mission was similar to St. John’s’ mission: help the kid heal to the extent that he or she could move out and back, not stay.

Outdoor activities did wonders for many kids. She’d create group tasks to teach trust and team building—like making rope swings or building 12-foot walls.

You’re trained with all kinds of knowledge, but what I had to learn was that I didn’t have the answers.

— Jane Wolterstorff

Wedgwood needed a Jane W-type, and Wedgwood was an upfront faith-based institution, a place she thought she’d feel at home, faith-wise.

After six months there, two positions opened at Wedgwood boys’ homes. “I always loved the outdoors—backpacking, canoeing, swimming. So, ‘activity therapy’ looked really good to me.” An activity therapist is what she became—at two boys’ homes, almost like going back to camp.

Wolterstorff and her colleagues taught

She and the kids had great fun out in the woods making things.

By the early 1990s, the “experiential education movement” had begun, she says. Wedgwood Acres sent her to Georgia for advanced training for the types of outdoor activities she was already doing. Research indicates, she says, that experiential education in the outdoors yields positive changes in emotionally impaired kids, changes in self-concept, social adjustment, academic achievement, and group cohesion. What’s more, it was fun—like camp.

WHAT'S IN A NAME? Yes, Jane is a Wolterstorff. In the last few decades, the name has been closely associated with Dordt, especially on athletic scoreboards.

Her brother Kevin (’81) played basketball at Dordt for all four years, a strongman on the boards.

Sister-in-law Bonnie (DeBoer, ’82), got the family name by marriage but holds Iowa high school records in the sprints that still stand.

“I have to make a choice when people hear my name for the first time because they get a certain look on their face,” she says. “If they’re Dordt people, they're thinking sports. If they’re Calvin people, they’re thinking philosophy” (she’s referring to great-uncle Nick Wolterstorff).

And there are more Dordt Wolterstorffs—Kevin and Bonnie’s kids. First, Trevor (’13), then Tyler (’15), both basketball stars during their college years. Then the girls, Brooke (’17, volleyball) and Abby (’19, soccer), just as competitive as their older brothers. Let’s just say Wolterstorffs have been a Dordt presence.

Wedgwood soon began to offer its experiential outdoor education programs

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to other agencies. When a friend wanted to bring her group of sexual abuse survivors into the program to see how they might profit from outdoor experience, Wolterstorff was more than ready. What she discovered was that the abused suffer a physical wound that can be significantly helped by physical programs like ropes courses.

traveled to Russia with a church group, determined to find work there. She found herself in the dark of a steep Russian winter, with no exit, and suffered alone through difficulties in a world of ice.

That experience was a kind of trauma that created and carried its own dark memories. When she returned home, she did data entry for a while, then slowly edged back into social work, eventually ending up at place called Steepletown. Once again, she became a case manager (now called an “advocate”) in a program designed to get clients help to pass their GED exams and then offer specific job training in a number of trades. Steepletown was a great learning experience—“a nonprofit, on the street, with people who really needed help.”

Stretch two cables between two trees, for instance. Ask the kids to each step on one cable, then grab each other’s hands for balance as they slowly move down the cable. Sexual abuse, Jane says, destroys trust. Two cables across a chasm requires teamwork that can help the abused recover something of what they’ve either lost or never had. It was, she says, a joy to discover.

The activities were followed by intense conversations about what the campers had experienced, deep questions that begged them to open up feelings long ago locked in some corner in the mind and heart, to relate the cables trek to what it was they felt at the hands of their abusers.

“I’ve spent hours in the woods with a group of kids,” she says, “trying to help them figure out what happened.”

“Social work,” she says, “is incremental.”

Unwinding from trauma is not at all easy; it requires time to open up and to heal.

It was tough work, but she stayed with it.

“I like people,” she still says. It shows.

One of the toughest lessons she learned was about herself.

“You’re trained with all kinds of knowledge, but what I had to learn

Jane celebrates the accomplishments of her Steepletown clients as enthusiastially as they do.

was that I didn’t have the answers.”

Counseling didn’t mean delivering answers but helping kids find their answers to adverse childhood experiences.

Anything that happens to a child that is highly emotional and affects day-today life can be traumatic, and “trauma disrupts the emotional health of all of us.” Examples? “Being a latch-key kid can be a trauma. To some kids it is, while to others it’s not. A family member goes to prison—that’s a trauma. All kinds of things are traumatic and disrupt the emotional processing system.”

After 18 years at Wedgwood, Wolterstorff

At Steepletown she had to be a cheerleader to kids who believed themselves to be losers. Time and time again, she’d say, “You aren’t failing—you aren’t dumb.” And she’d meant it. Always she’d meant it.

At Steepletown, she confronted mental and emotional health issues that arose from poverty and racism. There was, for instance, the gang member who snuck into the place because he didn’t want his buddies to see him working on his GED. He wanted the degree, and eventually, years later, got it and could get into the Army. “The day he came back into the office dressed up in his uniform—Wow! Some tears were shed,” she says.

Learning has continued to be a lifelong process. She has learned firsthand the ugliness of racism. She experienced it herself when accompanying a client into a bank and watching the clerk turn down the young lady’s request for cash even though she had an account. She witnessed that—and more.

Racism is trauma, too. “Generational poverty does things to you,” she says.

Going with clients to the Department of Human Services, and seeing firsthand how broken the system is were lessons that were difficult to navigate, almost impossible for some.

Throughout her long career as a social worker, Wolterstorff never pursued management opportunities or supervisory positions; she always preferred being with people, “always did, always have.”

Jane currently works with Grace's Table, a program for young moms.

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Amy Westra, who today is Dordt’s

She has shown me how to love and serve those on the fringes in a way that speaks life into them personally as she strives to create a more equitable society.

— Amy Westra, speaking about Wolterstorff

associate director of career development, worked with Wolterstorff for several years at Wedgwood and has known her for years. “She is a social worker who loves people, walks alongside them, and believes in them,” says Westra. “She has shown me how to love and serve those on the fringes in a way that speaks life into them personally as she strives to create a more equitable society.”

Since March of 2021, Jane Wolterstorff has been with Grace’s Table, a program for young moms, married or single. She oversees a team of staff and volunteers who offer programs and care for the individual needs of participants. Part of her job description includes facilitating and participating in continuous, shared learnings.

“Sharing learnings” seems an apt description of Jane Wolterstorff’s long and social work career. She hasn’t just been a provider, an answer book, a dispenser of wisdom. She’s spent 40 years in the muddle of abuse and poverty and racism.

She’s learned that neither quick cures nor ideological yelping can touch the trauma in human hearts that are pierced by emotional wounds. Through her learning, she has come to understand that social workers have to listen, have to serve, have to love. Really. Love.

As all of us do.

JAMES CALVIN SCHAAP ('70)

Dordt's Social Work Department has grown significantly over the years and now offers a master's degree as well as a bachelor's degree. In September, department members (l-r) Erin Olson, Kara Nutt, and Leah Mouw hosted social worker Ken Venhuizen, who began the program 35 years ago.

Carter Wyatt (’21) and Caleb Kroese (’20) completed the 250 Day Across Minnesota in midAugust. It is a one-day 250-mile unsupported gravel bike race from the western to the eastern borders of Minnesota.

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ALUMNI NOTES

Miyu (Kawasaki, ‘17) Roskamp received the Florence Nightingale Award through Sanford Health in Sioux Falls. She was selected from among hundreds of other nurses who were nominated from surrounding Sanford locations in Minnesota, Iowa, and South Dakota. The Florence Nightingale Award recognizes nurses for outstanding involvement in the practice of the art and science of nursing, as evidenced by strength of character, commitment, and competence.

Andrew DeYoung (’05), a writer and editor living in Minneapolis, will release his second novel in March 2022. In The Temps, “desk workers are trapped in an office complex as a global catastrophe unfolds outside.” The book has been optioned for film / television.

Published by Keylight Books, The Temps is available for pre-order at andrewdeyoung.com.

Eric Haveman (’01) recently graduated from the Graduate School of Banking at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

He also earned a Certificate of Executive Leadership from the Wisconsin School of Business Center for Professional and Executive Development. Haveman works as an ag loan officer at American State Bank in Hull, Iowa.

Dr. Brian Wilgenburg (‘96) was appointed to the position of Animal Program Director/Comparative Medicine section chief at the National Institute on Aging at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). His staff assists scientists with more than 100 studies focused on Alzheimer’s research, immunology, behavioral research, and other projects to benefit geriatric patients.

Recently, his team has also been involved with antivirals and vaccine refinement for aged populations against Covid-19. Other work includes studying normal brain aging, a project that began with seed money from the NFL. Wilgenburg also serves as a guest lecturer at North Carolina State University to train veterinarians who are preparing for the ACLAM board exam. After Dordt, Wilgenburg earned his DVM at The Ohio State University, an M.S. in Comparative Medicine at the Penn State Medical Center in Hershey, and finally his ACLAM board certification in 2008. Prior to the Aging Institute, he worked at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke at the NIH, at Merck and Penn State.

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700 7th Street NE Sioux Center, IA 51250

Leona (Faber) Noteboom’s history with Dordt University spans five generations.

From her mother and father’s years serving students, faculty, and staff in the snack bar, to her three children deciding to attend Dordt, to the graduations of numerous grandchildren—including a great-grandchild in 2021—from Dordt, Leona’s commitment to Reformed Christ-centered education is a testament to God’s faithfulness.

Leona and her husband Peter’s faithful support began in 1955 with a gift to Special Subscribers—a group of men and women dedicated to the success and promotion of the newly-founded Dordt College. In response to a personal visit from then Dordt president Rev. B.J. Haan, Leona and Peter committed to an annually recurring gift—a lasting promise with a lasting impact.

Today, a new generation of supporters are following in the faithful footsteps of Special Subscribers. United in their ongoing commitment to helping future Defenders, Defender Forever participants have chosen to make a recurring gift of $100 a year or $10 a month. Like Leona, those who participate in Defender Forever believe that each gift makes a difference—helping future Defenders for generations to come.

Learn more: dordt.edu/forever