Calvin News

Calvin College will celebrate Commencement on Saturday, May 21 at 2 p.m. in its Fieldhouse. Commencement 2005 marks the 85th such conferring of four-year degrees in Calvin's 128-year history.

Calvin awarded its first bachelor's degrees in 1921 to a senior class of eight men. This year's ceremony will feature a graduating class of approximately 900 students from around the world, including 53 students who will graduate with honors.

The 2005 Commencement speaker will be U.S. President George W. Bush.

Calvin's 2005 Commencement Ceremony also will be marked by the presentation of Calvin's highest alumni honor -- the Distinguished Alumni Award -- to Edwin Bos and his wife Carol Yonkers Bos, both 1968 graduates of Calvin, and Richard Katte, a 1958 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.

Edwin and Carol Bos are being honored for their work as founders of Worldwide Lab Improvement, Inc., a non-profit ministry devoted to assisting mission hospital and clinic labs in developing countries with consultation, equipment, supplies and training. Katte has served as a mathematics teacher, coach, athletic director and assistant principal at Denver Christian High School since 1960 where his boys' basketball teams have won over 700 games and six state championships.

"In Edwin and Carol Bos and Dick Katte, President Bush will find three superb representatives of what we believe a Calvin education is all about," says Calvin President Dr. Gaylen Byker. "All three have made a difference in the world in very special ways."

And a trio of Calvin professors will mark their final Commencements as they move from the classroom into retirement. They are Carl Huisman (art), Derald DeYoung (music) and James MacKenzie (student academic services).

Commencement weekend actually begins on Thursday, May 19 with the department of nursing pinning ceremony.

Then things kick into high gear on Friday, May 20 when Commencement Rehearsal is held from 3:30 to 5 pm in the Calvin Fieldhouse. The rehearsal is mandatory for all graduates planning to participate in the Commencement ceremony the next day and originally was scheduled for May 21, but was changed so that the Fieldhouse can be properly secured the next day in preparation for President Bush's visit.

At 5 pm on Friday there will be a worship service in the Calvin Chapel followed by a celebratory cookout on the Commons lawn from 5:30 to 7 pm. That evening there will be an art department reception and a teacher commissioning ceremony.

Commencement day begins on Saturday, May 21 with the Senior Brunch Celebration from 10 to 11:45 am in the Commons Dining Hall. Nick Wolterstorff, a former Calvin and Yale professor who had been the scheduled Commencement speaker, has agreed to speak at that brunch in a talk tentatively titled "Reflections of a Scholar."

The actual Commencement ceremony is scheduled from 2 to 3:30 pm, to be followed by various Commencement receptions from 3:30 pm to 4:30 pm on the Commons Lawn.