2003 COMMENCEMENT Saturday May Twenty-four Three O’Clock NOW THANK WE ALL OUR GOD Martin Rinkart Johann Cruger Now thank we all our God with heart and hands and voices, who wondrous things has done, in whom his world rejoices; who from our mothers’ arms has blessed us on our way with countless gifts of love, and still is ours today. O may this bounteous God through all our life be near us, with ever joyful hearts and blessed peace to cheer us, to keep us in his grace, and guide us when perplexed, and free us from all ills of this world in the next. All praise and thanks to God the Father now be given, the Son and Spirit blest, who reign in highest heaven; the one eternal God, whom heaven and earth adore; for thus it was, is now, and shall be evermore. THE CALVIN ALMA MATER Dale Grotenhuis Celia Bruinooge Calvin, Calvin, sing we all to thee, To dear Alma Mater we pledge fidelity. Forever faithful to maroon and gold, Thy name and honor we ever shall uphold. Calvin, Calvin, God has been thy guide; Dear Alma Mater, thy strength He shall provide. Be loyal ever to the faith of old. God’s name and honor we ever shall uphold. ORDER OF COMMENCEMENT Prelude: Flourish for Wind Band Ralph Vaughan Williams Processional: Sine Nomine Ralph Vaughan Williams Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1 Edward Elgar Calvin College Band, Derald De Young, Ph.D., Conductor Performing in the Fine Arts Center *Opening Hymn: Now Thank We All Our God *Invocation: Milton Kuyers, M.B.A., Chair, Calvin College Board of Trustees Introduction of Commencement Speaker: Gaylen J. Byker, Ph.D., President Commencement Address: “A Road Map for Life” John M. Perkins, L.L.D., D.D., Ed.D., et al. (H.C.) President, John M. Perkins Foundation for Reconciliation and Development Presentation of Awards: Craig A. De Witt, Ph.D., President, Calvin Alumni Association, to Robert P. Swierenga, Ph.D., Class of 1957 and to Paul A. Vanden Bout, Ph.D., Class of 1961, Distinguished Alumni Remarks on Behalf of the Senior Class: Elizabeth A. Cooper, Student Senate President *Litany for Commencement Conferring of Degrees: Joel A. Carpenter, Ph.D., Provost, and Gaylen J. Byker, Ph.D., President Presentation of Diplomas *The Calvin Alma Mater †Recessional: New Mexico March John Philip Sousa March from "Suite in E Flat" Gustav Holst * Audience standing † The audience is requested to be seated until the faculty and graduates have exited. The commencement ceremony is being professionally videotaped and photographed. Each graduate will have an opportunity to purchase videotapes and photographs of the event. Thus, we ask that friends of the graduates keep walkways clear for the camera crews. LITANY FOR COMMENCEMENT Liturgist: People: We praise and thank you, Heavenly Father, We thank you, Lord, for your great faithfulness, for lavishing your glorious riches and we praise you for the lives of the on Calvin College and on this graduating class. distinguished alumni we honor today. We thank you for years of increase, Liturgist: for decades of development and maturing. We thank you today for the strength you give us through the Spirit, We thank you for students for the gift of Christ dwelling in our who hunger for the knowledge of your will and purposes, hearts and lives and programs, and for the communion of all the saints, People: in whom we catch a glimpse of how wide for professors and administrators and long and high and deep is the love of Christ. who nurture and lead, We thank you for opportunities to ask more Liturgist: boldly and to imagine more confidently for supporters and constituents as we move into the future, who have caught the vision of your glorious kingdom, and of the tasks we can do for the King, a future in which your full glory will be on blazing display to all peoples and to all generations. for prophetic voices to warn, chasten, and correct when we lose our way, People: On this glad day, we praise your name, O Lord. for graduates whose lives of joyful service and liberating To the God who has already graced our lives obedience bring the kingdom in, with vision, sacrifice, and learning, in times and ways and places far beyond we come with this bold plea: our best planning and our boldest hopes. Grant unto us the joy of your salvation. Amen. COMMENCEMENT SPEAKER Dr. John M. Perkins was born in Mississippi, the cooperative farm, a thrift store, a housing development, son of a sharecropper. When he was seventeen, his Genesis One School, a health center, and a senior older brother was murdered by a town marshal, and citizen facility. John fled to California, vowing never to return. John and Vera Mae Perkins, along with two other However, in 1960, after his conversion to Christ, he families, moved to Jackson, Mississippi, in 1972 to returned to his boyhood home to share the Gospel. His focus on the needs of inner-city families. They outspoken support of and leadership role in civil rights founded Voice of Calvary Ministries, which is devoted demonstrations resulted in repeated harassment, to urban families through housing development, year- imprisonment, and beatings. Despite these hardships round youth programs, health care, and home- and in spite of dropping out of school in the third ownership training programs. In 1982, they moved grade, Dr. Perkins has received significant recognition across country to Northwest Pasadena, a neighborhood for his work, with honorary doctorates from institu- that once had the highest daytime crime rates in tions such as Wheaton, North Park, and Huntington California. While in Pasadena, Dr. Perkins began the Colleges. Harambee Christian Family Center. Harambee serves a In 1960, Drs. John M. and Vera Mae Perkins began twelve-block target area, working with African- Mendenhall Ministries, which helps the poor in rural American and Latino children and their families. Rudy Mississippi to meet their own needs. Seeking to show Carrasco and Derek Perkins now head this ministry. God’s love in action, Dr. Perkins saw his vision grow In 1983, John and Vera Mae Perkins, along with a few into a ministry that is known for providing progressive friends and other major supporters, established the John local leadership within the community to address M. Perkins Foundation for Reconciliation and Develop- issues of poor housing, segregated education, lack of ment to support them in their mission of advancing the employment opportunities, and lack of capital. principles of Christian community development and Currently, this ministry offers child care, legal racial reconciliation throughout the world. Dr. Perkins assistance, and youth development programs; through currently serves as president of the foundation, and Mendenhall Bible Church it offers adult education, a speaks and teaches internationally on these issues. MESSAGE FROM THE FIFTY-YEAR REUNION CLASS Greetings from the Calvin College Class of 1953 In my post-Calvin experiences, I have met, studied, and congratulations to each new graduate as you worked, and played with many people who were graduates receive your degree from Calvin College! of other colleges and universities across our country and The college you are leaving is considerably different from from other countries. Never have I felt that my education at the school we attended. The campus is beautiful, the buildings Calvin was inferior. I am proud that I can say this, and I am are modern and new, and your class is more than triple the sure that as the years pass, you will also feel the same way. size ours was. Yet over the fifty years some things have not Now, at your graduation, a most important time and changed at all. The dedication of the administration, the a very significant event, I would like to suggest to each interest in each student by devoted faculty, and the love, of you that before you leave the Calvin campus and support, and pride in your accomplishment from your family Grand Rapids, you take a moment to thank those most are the same today as they were at the time of our graduation. significant in your life—family, professors, and others— The opportunities, responsibilities, and challenges that for helping to make your Calvin experience what it has you face are all far greater than when our class graduated. been and for their sacrifices and support over the past The world is a far different place, and life is much more four years or more. You are the recipient of a priceless complex now than it was fifty years ago. Members of your treasure, a degree from Calvin College! You now Class of 2003 will scatter to many countries around the automatically become a member of a very exclusive and globe and represent many and varied professions and proud group—the Calvin College alumni. The members occupations, but they will always bear proudly the common of the Calvin Class of 1953 welcome you warmly. bond of having had a Christian, Calvin College education. Roger W. Postmus, Class of 1953 DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI The Calvin Alumni Association is proud to present these recognition, including the fitting and signal honor of alumni with the Distinguished Alumni Award. Persons a knighthood in the Order of the Netherlands Lion. honored in such a way have been chosen by an independent “Within the historical community, the name of selection committee composed of alumni, faculty, and staff Robert P. Swierenga clearly ranks among the most and are endorsed by the Calvin Alumni Association Board. respected. Historians have acknowledged his contribu- Recipients of the Distinguished Alumni Award have tion in many fields over the decades.