Class of 2015 walks confidently into Commencement
On Saturday, May 23, 2015, more than 850 students will participate in the college’s 95th-annual Commencement ceremony, held at 2 p.m. in Van Noord Arena on the campus of Calvin College. The graduates represent more than 60 majors within the arts and humanities, social and natural sciences and professional programs.
Calvin’s multi-faceted core curriculum, experiential education opportunities and off-campus program offerings continue to serve students well, and employers and students alike see the liberal arts foundation that Calvin provides as crucial to their post-graduate success.
Part of that success is evidenced through the college’s most recent employment and graduate school report, which shows that 96 percent of 2014 Calvin graduates were either professionally employed in a position that requires a college degree or attending graduate school within nine months of graduation.
And this year’s class appears to be headed in the same direction. From being a process engineer for Exxon Mobil in Beaumont, Tex., to teaching English in Budapest, Hungary; from interning at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City to pursuing a PhD at the University of Michigan, students are finding opportunities and being accepted into top graduate schools around the corner and across the globe.
And while the outcome stats are encouraging, the 2015 class sets out in confident pursuit of fulfilling a responsibility to live out Calvin’s mission to think deeply, to act justly and to live wholeheartedly as Christ’s agents of renewal in the world.
“Calvin made me think more deeply about the world, and to realize that all aspects of life are important to God, not just the explicitly religious ones,” said Brianna Marshall, a geology major from Sacramento, Calif., who will intern at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., this summer. “I learned through my courses and experiences that God wants us to be passionate about bringing reconciliation and justice to every part of creation.”
“I remember the first time my advisor told me to apply to present my research at a conference—it seemed so impossible, but with his encouragement it became reality several times over,” said Maria Cupery, a linguistics major from Instanbul, Turkey, who was awarded the prestigious Lynn Fellowship at Purdue University.
“After I walk [on Saturday], I will join a network of alumni who aren’t just attentive to the hurt and pain in the world, they are passionate and hopeful that together we can bring about something better,” said Katerina Parsons, a writing major from Jackson, Mich., who will be a research and communications facilitator for the Association for a More Just Society in Honduras.
Mark Labberton, president of Fuller Theological Seminary will deliver the Commencement address on Saturday. Along with the ceremony at Van Noord Arena, a number of events will take place during Commencement weekend, including the Commencement worship service, the Commencement celebration cookout and a ROTC commissioning service, to name a few.