Calvin to Celebrate Honors Grads

Calvin to Celebrate Honors Grads

Calvin College will hold its 55th-annual Honors Convocation at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 22 in the college's Fine Arts Center. The event recognizes the 55 students who will graduate with honors in one or more subjects and also the 140 students who have been on the dean's list for their entire Calvin careers.

Among the honors designees is Eric Bratt, who honored in three subjects: Asian studies, German and history. Bratt is the first student in Calvin history to earn honors in three different departments. He also participated in two Calvin off-campus semester programs in China and Hungary.

Bratt said it took a lot of dedication: "Most vital was making a point to plan ahead from the beginning."

In accordance with tradition, Honors Convocation will feature two speakers: one faculty member and one honors graduate. Corey Velgersdyk, an international relations major from Bloomington, Minnesota, will speak on behalf of the honors students. Chemistry professor Crystal Bruxvoort will represent the faculty.

"I follow student recommendations for the speakers," said classics professor and honors program director Ken Bratt, who helped pioneer the two-speaker format when he took over the program in 1993.

In 1993 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.

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Received on Tue Apr 21 09:35:03 2009