Hope for the Future

 

Last week I attended a scholarship luncheon at Hope College in Holland, Michigan. The purpose of the event was to give scholarship sponsors the opportunity to meet the recipients. During the luncheon, the college president spoke about the school as a source of hope for the world. The school symbol is an anchor, which is seen in the above photo in front of Graves Hall. I had always heard that the founder’s quote referred to Hope College being “the anchor of hope for the future,” but “the anchor of hope for the world” works, too.

My father believed in education, and I grew up assuming that I would go to college. Looking back, I know that my parents would have been disappointed if I didn’t go but would have supported whatever choice I made. At the time, however, doing anything else just never crossed my mind.

I believe in education, too, although my definition is broader than just college. Not everyone is cut out for college, and we need plumbers more than we need lawyers. Daddy’s definition may have been similar, and it definitely including broadening your horizons through travel.

That said, he believed in a college education for everyone who wanted and was capable of it. He showed his dedication to that principle by working his way through Hope College  and Westminster Theological Seminary in the 1940s.

From 1948 though the 1950s, Daddy sponsored three Arab students from the Middle East, making arrangements and providing some financial support for them to come to this country to go to college. One of them returned to Jordan and spent his career working for its government. The other two stayed in the U.S., and one, Michael Suleiman, became a professor in the political science department at Kansas State University.

When my father died, Michael suggested starting a scholarship fund at Hope College in Daddy’s name. We did so, with initial contributions from Michael, my older brother Donald (Hope Class of 1970), and myself (Hope Class of 1972). I’m the only one of the three still alive and am the official contact for the Oliver S. Page Memorial Scholarship Fund, although I hope my daughter Caroline (Hope Class of 2005) will take over that role when I’m no longer able to fill it.

Scholarships are one way to support education. We can’t all afford the financial contributions to provide one, but we can all support college students in other ways, even if it is as simple as encouraging their dreams.

Because education is the anchor of hope for the future

Back to the Future

 

Fifty years is a long time.

Or a very short one.

On Saturday, I went back to my alma mater for my 50-year college reunion. Hope College in Holland, Michigan, has changed a lot in that time, and so have I. But a lot has also stayed the same.

During the Class of ‘72’s reunion brunch, the college president pointed out that of the 4,000 colleges in the United States, we are one of the few that is named after an idea rather than a person. When Rev. Van Raalte started the school, he remarked that “This is my anchor of hope for this people in the future.” And the school motto is “Spera in Deo,” which translates to “Hope in God.” The photo at the top of this post shows Hope College’s symbol, the anchor in front of Graves Hall.¹

When I attended Hope, there were a few buildings—such as the library—that were considered modern for that day, but most Spear were majestic older buildings, such as Graves Hall and Dimnent Memorial Chapel and it’s oldest one, Van Vleck Hall, where I lived my freshman and sophomore years. The next two photos show Dimnent and Van Vleck.

The historical buildings are still there, with the exception of Van Raalte Hall, which burned down just after I left. But now the old architecture mingles with newer styles, such as the Jack H. Miller Center for Musical Arts in the last photo.

The important things have not changed, however. Hope is still a Christian liberal arts school known for its academic excellence and its Christ-centered focus. Well, one important matter has improved. When I went there the vast majority of students belonged to the Reformed Church and came from Michigan or New York. (So as a Presbyterian from Michigan, I met half of that criteria.) And anyone who wasn’t white stood out. I don’t think the lack of diversity was intentional, but Hope College is affiliated with the Reformed Church in America, which was founded by immigrants from the Netherlands, and the Dutch weren’t a diverse group at the time. Besides, a Hope College education wasn’t cheap.

There is significantly more diversity these days as well as a focused effort to make a Hope College education affordable. Yes, the tuition is still steep (around $50,000 a year), but between scholarships and other efforts, the college is committed to finding ways to mitigate the expense for students.

During the last fifty years, I also changed—and stayed the same. When I started college, my dream was to become a lawyer. By the time I graduated, I was planning on becoming a psychology professor. But it was the first dream that came true. Then it changed again, and now I am a writer.

A lot can happen in fifty years, but it doesn’t have to change the important things. In spite of all the changes on campus, Hope’s mission to provide an excellent Christian education remains firm.

So I’m proud to be a Hope College graduate.

__________

¹I took the first three photos in 2014. The last one is from Saturday’s visit.

 

A Tale of Two Rivalries

In 2003, Roland, John, and I spent New Years week in New Orleans. Although we probably knew there was a Sugar Bowl game on New Years Day, we didn't pay much attention. Before we went, that is. Once we got there, we couldn't avoid the Georgia Bulldog fans. Not only were they everywhere, but they were loud and rude. They also kept us sleep-deprived, coming in drunk at 6:30 a.m. the first night (or morning) we were there and throwing a loud party in the hotel courtyard the last night. And based on they way they acted in public, I'm guessing that they weren't very courteous to the Florida Seminole fans either before the game or after the Bulldogs won. Not a good advertisement for the University of Georgia.

Contrast that with Saturday, when I attended a Rivalry Party at one of 80 locations around the world. These parties were set up to watch the 2011-2012 season's second basketball game between Hope College and Calvin College, and fans from both schools attended. Over the years, the wins and loses have been fairly even, and this year the better team won, with Hope beating Calvin 83-70. (For those of you who don't know, I'm a Hope graduate and the daughter and mother of Hope graduates.)

Hope and Calvin are Division III teams, and they have a lot in common. Hope is located in Holland, Michigan, and Calvin is 30 miles away in Grand Rapids. Both schools have Dutch roots, and they are affiliated with sibling Christian denominations--Hope with the Reformed Church of America, and Calvin with the Christian Reformed Church. These commonalities feed the rivalry, and even the NCAA has recognized the rivalry's strength. (Read the NCAA article here.)

Still, the hallmark of the Hope-Calvin rivalry is not the fierce competitiveness it generates but the sportsmanship and respect that each team and its fans have for the other team and its fans. That's why I'm proud to be part of it.

Last Thursday I listened to my fellow Toastmaster Carol Kelly give a speech titled "Competition." The gist of the speech was that competition is good because it fosters teamwork and perseverance and other good values. But I especially liked this line: "Winners and losers are products of competition, but they're not the outcome."

Because it isn't winning or losing that defines a rivalry. It's the attitude.

Intrepid

I had a busy weekend, and it seemed to carry a message: Don't give up. Now, I'm not sure why that message came at this particular point in time. Yes, I'd just exhausted the obvious publishers for a particular book proposal, but I had already decided to buy the current Writer's Market and seek out the less obvious ones.

Still, the message was there.

On Friday afternoon, Roland and I went into Chicago to attend "Strictly Sail," the annual sailboat show. Since we weren't in the market for anything, we managed to leave with minimal financial damage. I bought a $6 book, and Roland bought a DVD documentary about Zac Sunderland's circumnavigation. We also heard Zac talk about his experiences as the youngest person to sail around the world alone (16 when he started and 17 when he finished just over a year later).

Zac's boat was named Intrepid, which means "fearless" or "courageous."* But it's also a good word for someone who doesn't give up when things don't go his way. In Zac's case, things like rough seas, multiple equipment failures, and a close call with pirates.

Then on Saturday, I saw another example of people who refused to give up.

That's the day my Alma Mater, Hope College, and its near neighbor, Calvin College, televised their men's basketball game. Fans from both schools gathered at satellite locations around the country to watch the game, and I attended the local rivalry party.

There seem to be more Calvin alumni than Hope alumni in this area, and I was feeling outnumbered. It got worse when the game began with Calvin running up eight unanswered points. And even worse at the half, with Calvin up by twelve or thirteen.

The Hope players could have given up. They must have been tempted to say, "That's too big a lead to overcome," or "We're too tired to give it our all." But they didn't. Hope won 76-70.

Zac Sunderland and the Hope basketball team showed what people can do when they don't give up.

If the message is for me, I get it.

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* No, that isn't Intrepid in the picture. It's our boat, Freizeit. No copyright issues that way.