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MESSAGE FROM THE FIFTY-YEAR REUNION CLASSDear Calvin College Class of 2011:The Class of 1961 extends its congratulationsand best wishes.Our class reunion has brought back memoriesof our time at Calvin and our own graduation.Although much has changed in 50 years, graduation remains one of life’s major milestones. Wetake pride in your accomplishments and shareyour excitement for the future. Those of us ableto attend our class reunion are honored to be withyou on this day.The congratulations offered to graduates areoften accompanied by advice. After all, graduationis the last time a class assembles. A captive youngaudience is an irresistible target for elders withwisdom to share. What have 50 years taught usthat might be useful to you?You undoubtedly have goals for your lifeand have made plans for achieving those goals.Thinking ahead is always a good idea. We wishto tell you that despite your plans, life will befilled with surprise. That has been our experience.The only certain thing about the future isits uncertainty. God’s will is that we live as faithfuldisciples, but we are given no schedule of times,places, and tasks.The world of the future, your world, will beas different from the world of today as today’sworld is different from the world we inheritedfrom our parents. You may be tired of hearing tales of round TV screens, slide rules, and30-cents-a-gallon gasoline. But the world has,indeed, changed, and changed profoundly, overthe last 50 years. Some change is for the betterand some is for the worse. We have measured thescope, shape, and history of the universe, but weare beset by poverty, hunger, and war as much asever. We have discovered thousands of stars withplanets. Some appear to be earth-like raising theprobability of other civilizations in our galaxy, butwe have yet to discover how to conduct civilizedpolitical discourse among ourselves. We havedecoded the recipe for replicating many life forms,but the health of most of our fellow world citizensremains desperately tenuous. Sadly, many of yourchallenges are remarkably similar to those wefaced. We hope you are more successful in yourefforts to foster a just society.We urge you to live with confidence. An uncertain future and a world of seemingly unendingtrouble represent opportunity for those called toestablish heaven on earth. Your faith can be morethan an anchor of stability in your life; the perspective it provides can guide you in making life’schoices. You may not know the future, but youdo have the sure knowledge that no matter where,when, and how you are called to serve, there willbe grace sufficient to the task. This one truth mayturn out to be the most important of all the thingsyou learned at Calvin.Sincerely,Paul Vanden Boutfor the Class of 1961

DISTINGUISHED ALUMNIThe Calvin Alumni Association is proud to present three alumni with the Distinguished AlumniAward. Persons honored in such a way have beenchosen by an independent selection committeecomprised of alumni, faculty, and staff and are endorsed by the Calvin Alumni Association Board.Recipients of the Distinguished Alumni Awardhave made significant contributions to their fieldsof endeavor, are recognized by their associates foroutstanding achievements, and manifest a Christiancommitment that reflects honor upon Calvin College.Mary A. Andringa, B.A., Class of 1972She was steeped in Reformed teaching from anearly age, lived in the Dutch town of Pella, Iowa,and faced a college choice that was either Calvinor Dordt College. Yet Mary Andringa credits herworldview—a perspective that has guided her lifeand work to this day—to a Calvin Religion 101class with the late professor Gordon Spykman.“The idea that the whole world belongs toGod, He is sovereign over all and calls us to serveHim whatever and wherever the gifts He has givenus take us—it is a bedrock conviction that servesas a constant guide,” she said.Andringa’s original intent was to study nursing at Calvin, but she soon changed to elementaryeducation with a music emphasis.She remembers the excellent professors atCalvin, names such as Stanley Wiersma andHoward Slenk coming quickly to mind. “Calvinhas outstanding scholars who really want to teachundergrads,” she said.Andringa met her future husband, Dale, in Radio Choir, and they’ve been married for 40 yearsnow. She followed Dale to medical school at theUniversity of Iowa and landed a position teachingmusic and then kindergarten in the public schoolsystem of Iowa City. Son Jason was born there.Moving to Omaha, Neb. for Dale’s residency,she directed a church preschool program part-timeas daughter Mindi joined the family.At this time, Andringa was asked if she had an interest in joining the family business, then known asVermeer Manufacturing, in her hometown of Pella.The company was founded in 1948 by Andringa’s father, Gary Vermeer, an entrepreneur andinventor who began Vermeer as a one-personendeavor. Vermeer Corp. is now an internationalcompany that manufactures agricultural, construction, environmental and industrial equipment and employs more than 2,000 people andgenerates over 500 million in business each year.Andringa started with the company in 1982 asa market researcher and became more and moreinvolved. She was named chief operating officerat Vermeer in 1989 and later co-CEO with herbrother, Robert Vermeer, in 2003. Six years later,that title was changed once more, to president andchief executive officer.“One has to be intentional about working in afamily business,” said Andringa. “Family businesses have their own brand of opportunity andstress. We work through the tough issues and wehave trusted outside-the-family advisers. There isa strategy and structure for family members entering the company and for transitions.”It turns out the former elementary musicteacher has a gift for business and executiveleadership. She is the first woman to be elected as

chair of the board for the National Association ofManufacturers, the nation’s largest industrial tradeassociation. In 2010, President Obama namedAndringa to a White House export advisory council, one of only 18 business executives across thenation so appointed.“I am a strong believer in manufacturing in ourcountry,” said Andringa. “Our national associationadvises on policy and can be influencers for futurejobs in manufacturing.”Of the Washington appointment, she said,“About 30 percent of our business is in exports.We’d sure like to see government policies that goin the right direction.”Her visits to the nation’s capital have beenrewarding and frustrating. She has been able tomeet and network with other national businessexecutives, members of Congress and White Houseadministrators.“I appreciate the challenging task of nationalpolitics much more than before. There are a lot ofdedicated people in Washington, but it also seemseasy to get caught up in the bureaucracy,” she said.“We do have a form of government in thiscountry that can work; there are checks andbalances,” she noted. “It is our responsibility ascitizens to contribute and make our voices heard.Free trade agreements, for example, are importantfor exporting. It has made a difference that peopleare speaking up.”Andringa has been asked numerous times in thelast few years to run for public office, but she politely and consistently declines. She sees her primarytask as a business owner to help provide a positiveplatform of transition to the next generation.She sees many intersections between faith andbusiness, and she credits her family’s unswervingadherence to biblically based values as a primaryreason Vermeer Corp. draws business partners.“Clients come to us because they see us as acompany of integrity,” she said. “We want to beknown that way and we try to interact with everyone that way.”“I’ve observed particularly how Mary integratesher Christian faith with her values in life as CEOof a family owned company,” wrote her pastor,Tony Vis, of Meredith Drive Reformed Churchin Des Moines. “Mary would want it clear thatthe placement of Christian values in the Vermeerbusiness is a family decision, a tradition handeddown from her parents and fully embraced by herand her siblings. She leads a company that caresfor its people, those it serves and those who serveit, as much as it values profit.”Andringa mentions the Vermeer “Four Ps,” thecore values of the company: principles, people,products and profit. Each value is described withwords such as stewardship, uniquely gifted, honesty, integrity, sustainable, quality and reinvestment.“We stand behind our values,” she said. “We’renot perfect, but we are dependable and stand byour word. Other business partners tell us we’reunique. Even internationally, with different religions and customs, our straightforward, valuesoriented approach resonates.”Running a business these days is no small matter. Challenges abound. But Andringa describesherself as a “glass half-full person,” optimistic thatthe problems of the day, the year and the futurecan be overcome.“My dad used to approach difficulties by saying, ‘That’s not really a problem; we’ll get thatworked out,’” she said. “That’s become my viewfor whatever comes up in business, or at church

or school. That’s not to minimize the challenge,but only to say, ‘We have a lot of resourcefulpeople here. There’s work to do, but we can rallythe troops and get it accomplished.’”Mary and Dale Andringa’s son, Jason, is a 1999Calvin graduate, with an aeronautics degree fromMIT and an MBA degree from the University ofSouthern California. He is Vermeer’s vice president of global distribution and global accounts.Daughter Mindi graduated from Calvin in 2000,received her MBA at Davenport University andserves as Vermeer’s marketing fleet manager. TheAndringas have four grandchildren.Robert E. Rooy, M.F.A., Class of 1970When in the late 1960s Robert Rooy ’70 firsttold his Iowa farm parents he was strongly considering a career in theater, his parents contactedthen-Calvin chaplain Bernard Pekelder and askedhim if this was something a young, Christian mancould successfully pursue. “I think he said something like, ‘Yes, there is nothing in our traditionthat this would go against; it all depends on theindividual,’” Rooy said.During his ensuing 40-year career, Rooy hasflourished in a field where the perception is that it isdifficult to have a Christian influence: filmmaking.Upon graduating from Calvin with degrees inEnglish and speech and an emphasis in theater,Rooy went on to Yale University School of Drama,where he earned an MFA in theater and was firstintroduced to the film industry.He followed a career path to Los Angeles, wherehe was accepted into the Directors Guild of AmericaTraining Program, and eventually into work as a firstassistant director in movies and television.Over the years, he worked on more than 40Hollywood productions, including Gods and Generals, Minority Report, The West Wing, The Fugitiveand Lonesome Dove.But it was his work in between each largeproduction that most inspired him. “When I wasin my 20s, I did a travel series in some of the mostbeautiful places in South America,” he said. “Butit was also the most shocking juxtaposition ofpoverty and wealth I had ever experienced. There’snothing like shooting on a beautiful beach in Riode Janeiro with the slums only a few blocks away.You can see them, hear them, smell them. Thathad a big effect on me. I felt that in one way oranother I had to address the inequity that I saw.“At that time I had the naïve notion that Icould build these types of issues into feature filmscripts,” he said. “Once in Hollywood, I becameless and less confident that this would work out.”So, in the intervals between jobs, Rooy beganvolunteering his services to nonprofit organizations, making short films advocating for socialjustice in various areas.In 1991, Rooy was introduced to MuhammadYunus, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, and his organization Grameen Bank, which works to reducepoverty in Bangladesh through microfinance.Since then, he has worked in more than20 countries, creating dozens of broadcast andDVD programs profiling this promising strategy.Of this work he said, “Service toward othersis very strong in our family. But I confess that Ialso do what I do for selfish reasons—becauseit feels good. And I’ve connected with so manyremarkable people whom I would never havemet in any other way.”

It is this recognition that drew Rooy to hiscurrent project, one that he has been workingon for four years.“I’m telling the story of an uncommon teenager who has all of the challenges of a regularteenager exponentially multiplied; it’s a profileof coming of age in a pressure cooker,” said Rooy.Rooy first heard about D.J. Savarese, a youngman with autism, on a National Public Radio show.“It really intrigued me,” said Rooy. “On an impulseI got in touch with his dad; his story won my heart.”Savarese is an intelligent, gifted person whodemonstrates some typical symptoms of autism,including extreme anxiety, an inability to speakand difficulties in social interaction. He types withone finger to communicate.“I thought autism meant a person had no wishto socially interact,” said Rooy. “That’s one of themyths that has been perpetuated in the past. I’velearned through D.J. that he cares tremendouslyabout other people; he’s more passionate thanmany neurotypical people. It’s the traffic controllerin his brain that doesn’t work properly.”Rooy has learned much more through Savareseand hopes to help dispel some myths in his film, butemphasized that it is not, per se, an educational filmabout autism. “More than anything, I just want totell an intensely personal story that audiences willconnect with. The educational uses will follow.”What makes the film unique is that it is acollaborative effort with Savarese, Rooy said.“This is not just about D.J.; it’s being made inpartnership with him. I consult with him oneditorial decisions, and he has the right to objectto anything he feels is not an accurate portrayalof autism,” he said.“He really loves and understands me,” Savarese confirmed. “Whenever I worry about Robnot coming to film, I just remind myself that he isbusy filming hopeful solutions to poverty in theworld. I hope to do such meaningful work as Robwhen I grow up.”Rooy believes this work is not much differentthan his former international work. “It’s easy totake an egocentric approach toward developmentwork and fail to give a voice to those you’re intending to help,” he said. “In the same way, there area lot of well-intentioned people who fail to giveautists a voice and simply view autism as a scourge.They have not viewed autists with the full potentialthat they may have.”Highly supportive of the work is RalphSavarese, D.J.’s father: “The film is of a piecewith Rob’s documentary work as a whole,” hewrote, “his commitment to a better world. Theclips are beautifully made AND they are spiritually and politically instructive: they have a point. The world needs more men like Rob Rooy.”Passionate about his work, Rooy credits Calvinfor preparing him to be a lifelong learner. “Calvinequips people to be open to the exploration ofnew possibilities,” he said. “At Calvin I had professors who challenged me to always turn the coinover and look at the other side. It was less aboutarriving at conclusions and more about openingeverything up to rigorous personal examination.”When he isn’t working on a film shoot, Rooy livesin Frederick, Md., with his wife, Sally. Their daughter, Andrea, is a PhD candidate in political scienceat the University of Michigan. Their son, Gerrit, is afifth-grade reading specialist at KIPP Believe CollegePrep, a charter school in New Orleans.

BOARD OF TRUSTEESRegional TrusteesAlumni TrusteesRoger N. Brummel, PhDHolland, MIRonald E. Baylor, JDKalamazoo, MIRandall D. Engle, PhDTroy, MIRalph Luimes, MACaledonia, ONWilliam J. Katt, JDMilwaukee, WICraig B. Klamer, MBAGrand Rapids, MIRuth M. Palma, MEdSun Valley, CAAt Large TrusteesMoses Chung, DMinGrand Rapids, MIMichael D. Koetje, MDivGrand Haven, MIBradley W. Haverkamp, MBAGrand Rapids, MIDaniel S. Meester, MASan Jose, CAHarry W. Lew, MDivGrand Rapids, MIThomas J. Nobel, CPAGrand Rapids, MIAlyce A. Oosterhuis, PhDEdmonton, ABMary Poel, MDGallup, NMRichard L. VandenBerg, EdDMunster, INLaurens Vandergrift, PhDOttawa, ONChristine A. Metzger,MAHoboken, NJScott A. Spoelhof, MBAHolland, MITerry L. VanDerAa, BAHinsdale, ILDavid Vander Ploeg, JDSt. Joseph, MIMichelle L. Van Dyke, BAGrand Rapids, MIJanice K. VanDyke-Zeilstra, BAHinsdale, ILJack Van Der Slik, PhDPort Saint Lucie, FLJack T. Veltkamp, DDSLynden, WAWytse van Dijk, PhDHamilton, ONThelma F. Venema, BACrown Point, INAndrea G. Van Kooten, BAPella, IAAssistant to the Board of TrusteesDavid J. Van Randwyk, BSGrandville, MIDale H. Venhuizen, BSManhattan, MTDarlene Meyering, BA

CANDIDATES FOR DEGREESAND CERTIFICATES 2010-2011MASTER OF EDUCATIONAbraham Ceballos Zapata,MEdCurriculum & InstructionShelley M. Feddema, MEdLearning DisabilitiesJenny L. Geuder, MEdCurriculum & InstructionCaitlin C. Gottlieb, MEdLearning DisabilitiesMelissa K. Lambers, MEdLearning DisabilitiesSara L. Leo, MEdCurriculum & InstructionPamela P. Marissen, MEdCurriculum & InstructionEllen Mora, MEdLearning DisabilitiesJames L. Peterson, MEdCurriculum & InstructionKate J. Poortenga, MEdCurriculum & InstructionOlive Sidharta, MEdLearning DisabilitiesNathan E. Siebenga, MEdEducational LeadershipJulie A. Thrower, MEdCurriculum & InstructionSusan M. VanKoevering,MEdCurriculum & InstructionCiarra C. Adkins, BAPsychologyCarolyn J. Affholter, BSWSocial Work, PsychologyChan Young Ahn, BAPsychology, SpanishCaitlin M. Alexander, BSBiologyRebecca J. Allen, BSBiologyKrista R. Anderson, BASpanish with Honors,Elementary CertificationChantale E. Andree, BACAS-Media ProductionJesse P. Antuma, BABiologyJan Alvin S. Aquino, BSBiochemistryIsaac O. Armistead, BSBiology with HonorsAmanda L. Armour, BAInterdisciplinary withHonorsMelissa C. Armstrong, BAEnglish, PsychologyMuriel A. Arrowsmith, BSNNursingKatherine G. Artz, BASpeech Pathology &Audiology with HonorsTimothy L. Atallah, BSChemistry with Honors,Physics, MathematicsJulie A. Aupperlee, BABusiness-Human Resources Concentration,SociologyDanielle T. Ayeh, BAPsychologyAndrea M. Baas, BAMusic, EnglishShoshana L. Bailar, BAJapanese with HonorsTeresa A. Bailey, BAEnglishJacob J. Baker, BSBiology with HonorsKatherine M. Baker, BAEnglish with HonorsTimothy A. Baker, BACAS-Media ProductionDirk R. Bakker, BABusinessNicholas P. Bakker, BABusinessBACCALAUREATEDavid R. Aardema, BSPAAccountancyHannah T. Abma, BFAArtRachel A. Abma, BSBiologyCheri M. Ackerman, BSBiochemistry with Honors,SpanishMatthew R. Ackerman, BASociologyNicole M. Adams, BALanguage Arts, ElementaryCertificationTanya R. Adams, BAPsychologyGabriel Adhikary, BABusinessAndrew B. Adkins, BSEnvironmental Science

Hallie S. Balcom, BAEnglish, SecondaryCertificationAmy L. Ball, BSEEngineering-Electrical &Computer ConcentrationTimothy J. Bangma, BSEEngineering-MechanicalConcentrationAaron D. Bardolph, BCSComputer ScienceAmanda J. Bareman, BAEducation/Three Minors,Elementary CertificationCarissa J. Barents, BABusiness-OperationsConcentrationStephanie N. Barron, BASpecial Ed-CognitiveImpairm’t, ElementaryCertificationHeather A. Bartlam, BSBiotechnologyZenia M. Bates, BSWSocial WorkBriana N. Bauman, BAPsychologyAshley N. Baumann, BSNNursingSarah M. Baumann, BSNNursingBethany A. Beachum, BAInternational Dev StudiesJonathan D. Behm, BACAS-RhetoricAbigail L. Belford, BAInterdisciplinary withHonorsJennifer L. Bengtson, BAInterdisciplinaryHanna L. Benson, BSRRecreation, PsychologyJonathan J. Bentum, BAEnglishAnne R. Bentz, BABusinessHillary J. Berg, BSNNursingNathan J. Beukema, BSPAAccountancyJana L. Biegel, BAEducation/Three Minors,Elementary CertificationKyle R. Billin, BABusiness-OperationsConcentrationKathleen H. Block, BABusiness-MarketingConcentrationCharles

the NMSU Alumni Association Outstanding College of Arts and Sciences Senior, the Emerson Outstanding Undergraduate Writing Award, and the Simon F. Kropp Outstanding Senior in History. She then attended the University of Washington, where she received her MA in English in 1991 and her PhD in English in 1997. While at Washington,