Calvin Set for May 22 Commencement

MAY 13, 2004 == MEDIA ADVISORY

Calvin College will celebrate Commencement on Saturday, May 22 at 3 p.m. in
its Fieldhouse. Commencement 2004 marks the 84th such conferring of four-year
degrees in Calvin's 128-year history.

This year's ceremony will feature a graduating class of approximately 900
students, including a record 71 students who will graduate with honors. Calvin
awarded its first bachelor's degrees in 1921 to a senior class of eight men.
The 2004 Commencement speaker will be Calvin professor of English Susan Felch.

Calvin's 2004 Commencement Ceremony also will be marked by the presentation of
Calvin's highest alumni honor -- the Distinguished Alumni Award -- to Dr. James
Gage, a 1960 graduate, and Lois Ackerman Raap, a 1968 graduate. Calvin College
has presented its Distinguished Alumni Awards -- intended to honor those who
have made significant contributions in their field of endeavor -- annually
since 1966.

Gage is professor of orthopaedics at the University of Minnesota and a former
medical director of the Gillette Children's Hospital. He specializes in walking
(gait) problems in cerebral palsy patients, developed the first computerized
gait analysis laboratory and regularly does analysis and surgeries on children
with cerebral palsy in Quito, Ecuador.

Ackerman Raap hails from Los Gatos, California, where she has been an adoptive
and foster parent and advocate for over 40 HIV-positive and other special needs
children. After a career teaching and serving her children, in 1997 she
enrolled in law school so she could better represent the rights of foster
children and parents. In 2001, she graduated with a J.D. degree in the same
class as her daughter, Rachel Raap Bouman.
 
And a quintet of Calvin professors will mark their final Commencements as they
move from the classroom into retirement. Together the five - John Hamersma (50
years), Beverly Morrison (25 years), Larry Nyhoff (41 years), Davis Young (26
years) and Marvin Zuidema (43 years) - have served Calvin for a combined 185
years!

Commencement weekend actually begins on Thursday, May 20 with the department
of nursing pinning ceremony from 7 pm to 8 pm in the Fine Arts Center. Just
this week Calvin learned that its new nursing program has earned a full
five-year accreditation from the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education
(CCNE). The class of 2004 will be the first graduates from this new Calvin
program (for more see
http://www.calvin.edu/news/releases/2003_04/nursing_accreditation.htm

At 5 pm on Friday, May 21, there will be a worship service of thanksgiving and
celebration in the Calvin Chapel, followed by a Commencement Cookout from 5:30
to 7 pm on the Commons Lawn (the rain location will be the Knollcrest and
Commons Dining Halls). Also, there will be an ROTC Commissioning Service in
the Calvin Chapel from 6:15 to 6:45 pm for four Calvin students in the ROTC
program. From 7 to 9 pm there will be an art department reception in the
Spoelhof Center and at 7:30 pm in the Fine Arts Center there will be the
education department teacher certification ceremony.

Commencement day begins on Saturday, May 22 with the Senior Breakfast
Celebration from 9 am to 10:45 am in the Commons Dining Hall. Commencement
Rehearsal will go from 11 am to noon in the Calvin Fieldhouse and the actual
Commencement ceremony is scheduled from 3 to 4:30 pm, to be followed by various
Commencement receptions from 4:30 pm to 5:30 pm on the Commons Lawn.

For all the details see http://www.calvin.edu/commencement/

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Received on Thu May 13 13:46:47 2004