From: Phil deHaan (dehp@calvin.edu)
Date: Tue Sep 02 2003 - 09:42:17 EDT
September 2, 2003 == MEDIA ADVISORY
Another school year begins this week at Calvin College. Below is a list of
events that might be of media interest.
As a bit of background, Calvin is expecting 1,050 first-year students and a
total enrollment for 2003-2004 of approximately 4,300 students. Both numbers
are among the best ever in Calvin's 127-year history (Calvin was founded in
Grand Rapids in 1876 and is the one of the city's oldest colleges). As usual
Calvin's student body will represent a wide variety of U.S. states, plus
numerous other countries around the world. In fact, 10% of the first-year
class is from outside the U.S.
EVENTS AT CALVIN TO START THE NEW YEAR
Tuesday, September 2
Calvin will begin the new school year with a special "commissioning" service
for all new student leaders. This service will begin at 8 pm at the new
Knollcrest East Apartments amphitheather and plaza. Student leaders from Campus
Safety, Community Partnership Coordinators, Student Senate, Resident
Assistants, Orientation Board and more will come together for a time of
fellowship, worship and food! The event will last from 8 pm to 9 pm and
include a message and a challenge from Calvin chaplain Dale Cooper.
Wednesday, September 3
This will be the main Move-In Day for Calvin first-year students. Calvin
expects about 1,050 first-year students from around the country to move into
the residence halls on Wednesday, beginning about 9 am. One cool thing is
something called We-Haul - a service Calvin provides for new students to help
them move their belongings to their room. Calvin has approximately 70
shopping carts (donated by Meijer a few years back) which are divided up among
the halls, and crews of t-shirt clad upperclassmen waiting to meet, greet and
move anyone who even looks like a new student. Hundreds of volunteers will be
working in two shifts throughout the day; those volunteers include residence
hall leaders, orientation leaders and other student organization leaders.
Calvin's John Witte says the school helps students move in "to keep traffic
moving on the main road, to ease the burden of the move-in process and to
provide a warm and friendly greeting to our new students." For We-haul pics
see http://www.calvin.edu/admin/housing/we_haul/2002/
Thursday, September 4-Saturday, September 6
StreetFest will be back for the 11th straight year! StreetFest is September
4, 5, and 6 from 9:30 am through 4 pm at over 70 locations throughout Grand
Rapids (the actual work is from 12-3 pm). StreetFest helps new students learn
right away that at Calvin education goes beyond the classroom. StreetFest 2003
will see most of the 1,050 first-year Calvin students, clad in distinctive
t-shirts, volunteering all over Grand Rapids. The approximately 70 worksites
include such places as Ranson Towers, Dwelling Place, GR Children's Museum,
Abundant Life Ministries, Second Harvest Gleaners, In the Image, Camp Blodgett,
Porter Hills and more . Work will take place at the various sites each of the
three days from 12 pm to 3 p.m. In keeping with the "learning" half of the
service-learning equation, students will prepare for their projects with
devotions and an hour of training and follow up the projects with a time of
reflection.
Monday, September 8
"Convocation 2003: Celebrating a New Year," will be taking place in the
Calvin Fieldhouse on Monday, September 8, at 9:45 am. New students sit on the
main floor of the Fieldhouse in chairs, while the faculty will sit around the
edges of the main floor on the first two rows of bleachers in a symbolic
enveloping of the new students. The new students' place is symbolic too; it's
where they sit four years later for Commencement. Says Calvin President Dr.
Gaylen Byker: "The purpose of this event is to rejoice in God's blessings and
to celebrate together with anticipation what God will do in this new year
through us, His servants." Byker will speak at Convocation on "Intellectual
Courage." After Convocation there will be refreshments outside the main exits
of the Fieldhouse, and there will be a cookout on the Commons lawn from 11 am
until 1 pm. See http://www.calvin.edu/convocation/
Saturday, September 13
Chaos Day and Mud Bowl are both on Saturday, September 13. Chaos Day begins
at 10 am on the women's softball field (behind the Fieldhouse) and the Mudbowl
begins at 2 pm by the Knollcrest East apartments. Chaos Day are fun games for
the residence halls - three-legged races, etc - while the Mud Bowl is for the
apartments and basically is an excuse to play in the mud. For Chaos Day pics
see http://www.calvin.edu/admin/housing/chaos_day/2002/
For Mud Bowl pics see http://www.calvin.edu/admin/housing/mud_bowl/2002
-end-
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