The All-America Wall
Walk down the Varsity sports locker room hallway in Van Noord Arena, and you won’t only be walking among Calvin’s current athletes, but also among Knight legends of the past.
Lining that hallway are photo montages and framed pictures of Calvin’s All-America athletes from every era. “We had an All-American wall in the Knollcrest Fieldhouse before construction … ,” said men’s athletic director Dr. Jim Timmer, Jr. “When we committed to the new fieldhouse, we wanted to honor those who have had success nationally in some way, and the donors supported the project.”
Throughout Calvin’s history as a Division III college, the Knights have experienced large success in athletics. Calvin has earned nine NCAA Division III national team championships as well as 87 College Sports Information Directors of Academic All-American selections.
The wall represents four eras in Calvin sports: the 1950s and ’60s, the 1970s and ’80s, the 1990s and the 2000s. The individual plaques of the honored All-Americans are hung chronologically to represent the eras, and they are divided by pillars covered with duotone print sports collages. “We wanted the collages to have a nostalgic kind of look,” said Gary Lepsch, the senior designer in Calvin’s communication and marketing department who designed the wall.
Moving down the wall
At the end of the wall is a case that will contain photos of current All-Americans. As new All-Americans are honored, they will take the places of past honorees—who will move down the wall. “It's not a Hall of Fame, but a way to recognize the past and inspire the future,” Timmer said. “It shows those currently playing sports at Calvin the long tradition of All-Americans at Calvin.”
It has been a yearlong process to find the right images to fit into the wall and the pillars. “You have to get the pics, arrange them, then get the composite of how they fit together. It took a lot of air brushing and blending one photo into another,” said Lepsch. Sports information director Jeff Febus, Jim Timmer, Sr. and Jim Timmer, Jr. all worked at finding the best pictures. “It was a pretty good team effort,” Lepsch said.
He praised those involved, including Dean Gunnink and the physical plant staff, who helped design the layout and sizes of the pillars as well as facilities manager Justin TenBrock.
Lepsch said: “(The athletes) were first class performers; I wanted to make a first class presentation. It’s an honor to be part of their legacy. I know they’ll be on the wall for a long time.”
