Calvin to Celebrate Honors Grads

April 10, 2008 == MEDIA ADVISORY

Summary: Calvin College will celebrate 55 honors grads and almost 2,000
dean's list honorees with a special ceremony on April 16, including a talk by a
49-year-old honors grad who heads up Catherine’s Care Center in Grand
Rapids.

Full story see
http://www.calvin.edu/news/releases/2007-08/honors-convocation.htm
 
Calvin College will hold its 54th annual Honors Convocation at 7:30 p.m. on
April 16 in the college's Fine Arts Center. The event recognizes not only the
55 students who will graduate with honors in one or more subjects, but the
1,905 Dean's List honorees, of whom 121 have been on the list every year of
their Calvin careers.

"This is the one occasion in the year when we celebrate, as a community,
academic achievement," said Calvin classical languages professor Kenneth Bratt,
the honors program director. "Certainly, we honor our athletes and musicians at
various times of year, and this event is recognition for the efforts of our
best students."

The event will follow the pattern it has since Bratt took over Honors
Convocation 10 years ago. The honors graduates, suitably attired in academic
gowns, will be seated onstage and will receive gold honors medallions. Dean's
List honorees will receive certificates. Two speakers—one faculty member and
one honors graduate—will deliver short messages to the students, faculty and
families who attend.

Karen Kaashoek, 49, will speak on behalf of the students almost 27 years after
her originally targeted graduation date. She is the director of Catherine's
Care Center, a free health clinic that strives to improve health in the Creston
and Belknap neighborhoods and beyond through screenings, education, referrals
and by acting as a gateway to primary health care services.

After exiting Calvin without a degree in 1980, Kaashoek earned a nursing
degree at Purdue University.

"But when people ask where's my alma mater, I always said 'Calvin,'" she said.
"It's where I felt a sense of connection."

She returned to Calvin for an interdisciplinary major in psychology, sociology
and education, and to graduate with honors she petitioned the college to
recognize honors credits earned nearly 30 years ago.

Bratt is looking forward to her talk.

"I try to pick a speaker every year who I know can address what it's like to
be an honors student at Calvin," he said. "And Karen brings a unique
perspective. She can talk about how things don't always work out the way we've
planned. And that's okay because sometimes things work out better than the way
we've planned."

In 1993, when Bratt assumed the directorship of the program, Calvin’s honors
graduates numbered only two. Since that time, Calvin has given more structure
to the program by strengthening requirements in all disciplines, while
recognizing and encouraging academic talent early on.

-end-
Received on Thu Apr 10 09:32:28 2008