Archives: Initiatives

At the May 2020 commencement, Trinity announced the retirement of two beloved, long-time professors, Professor of Education Liz Rudenga, Ph.D., and Professor of Music Helen Van Wyck, D.M.A. Both professors were awarded emeriti status by Trinity’s Board of Trustees.

Dr. Liz Rudenga

Rudenga taught her first Education Department course at Trinity in 1981. She went on to impact the College in countless ways as a professor, department chair, provost, interim president, mentor, and friend.

She joined Trinity after teaching high school and upper elementary level students, with a focus on special education. She started teaching part-time and in 1992 joined Trinity’s faculty full time. Rudenga quickly began taking on more administrative roles. “In 1992, Vice President Burt Rozema asked if I would chair the Education Department. I agreed to do it for one year. But then, I liked it, and ended up chairing the department for eight years,” she said. Rudenga became provost in a similar way, when that one-year assignment lasted for 14. Rudenga also spent a year as interim president in 2014-15 before returning to the classroom when Trinity’s current president, Kurt D. Dykstra, was named.

“Some of my best memories involve the relationships with students. Being an advisor was a joy,” she said.

At the May 2020 commencement, Trinity announced the retirement of two beloved, long-time professors, Professor of Music Helen Van Wyck, D.M.A., and Professor of Education Liz Rudenga, Ph.D. Both professors were awarded emeriti status by Trinity’s Board of Trustees.

Dr. Helen Van Wyck

Since 1987, Van Wyck has taught Trinity students how to make a joyful noise to the Lord through music classes, Christmastide, choral concerts, Honors Choir, and in so many other ways.

She came to Trinity after teaching at the K-12 level for 10 years. “It was kind of love at first sight—I got to Trinity and thought, this is what I want to do for the rest of my life.” When Van Wyck joined Trinity, she was the only full-time music department professor and one of the few female faculty members outside of the Nursing Department. Among her many accomplishments, she helped to launch the Honors Ensemble, created Christmastide, and impacted countless lives.

She said she has been blessed as well. “One reason I’ve been so happy over the years at Trinity is the caring atmosphere, a willingness to try things, an incredible ‘We’re pulling for each other’ attitude on campus,” she said. “It comes from the top, it’s true of our faculty and staff, and it’s true of our students.”

Trinity is pleased to announce that our Nursing Program has once again been recognized among the best in the state!

According to RN to BSN, Illinois is a prime state to earn a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree in and practice as a nursing professional, and Trinity was ranked second among all Illinois BSN programs.

The ranking noted the hands-on experience and simulation labs that Trinity nursing students have access to.

For four of the last five years, Trinity’s BSN graduates have scored a 100% first-time pass rate on the NCLEX-RN exam, the highest five-year NCLEX average of any BSN or ADN program in Illinois.

The baccalaureate degree in nursing at Trinity Christian College is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education.

Trinity is pleased to announce that the 2020-21 Professor of the Year is Yudha Thianto, Ph.D., Professor of Theology.

“It’s an honor,” said Thianto. “Trinity is just a great place for teaching and learning. This award is about the community recognition of who we are at Trinity.”

Thianto’s nomination cited his deep caring for all his students, particularly his work with international students. “When Yudha teaches, he offers himself, his identity, and his scholarship to the students for the sake of their growth as scholars and their formation as followers of Christ,” according to the nomination.

As Professor of the Year, Thianto will offer the message at Trinity’s 62nd Annual Convocation this fall. He will also be honored on Dec. 19, when Trinity celebrates commencement for the Spring 2020 graduates.

Thianto said being named professor of the year came as a complete surprise. At the time he learned of the honor via a Microsoft Teams call with Provost Aaron Kuecker; Prof. Mark Jones, who chairs the Faculty Development Committee; and previous professor of the year honorees Kara Wolff and Clay Carlson, he was more focused on Trinity’s transition to online learning as part of the College’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Along with Trinity’s shift to online learning for the spring semester, Thianto said the pandemic has also changed his summer schedule. He planned to spend part of the summer in the Netherlands conducting research on one of his projects, the history of psalm singing in the Reformed tradition. He is also working on another project, writing an introductory book on John Calvin. Then, he planned to travel to his native Indonesia and continue work with Trinity’s partner institutions there.

Instead, Thianto is spending the summer researching and writing his book and looking forward to the return of fall classes. “Students bring joy to me,” he said.

Thianto has been on the faculty of Trinity for 19 years and his courses include History of Christianity and Calvinistic Tradition.

Recent Professor of the Year Award recipients:

2012: Bob Rice (History)

2013: Brad Breems (Sociology)

2014: Lynn White (Business)

2015: Dave Klanderman (Mathematics)

2016: John Sebestyen (Communication Arts)

2017: Michael Vander Weele (English)

2018: Clay Carlson (Biology)

2019: Kara Wolff (Counseling and Psychology)

–By Christy Wolff ‘10 

During Shanna Grigoletti’s ‘05 time at Trinity, God laid on her heart the idea of opening her own gym and using it as an outreach to the community. Through a handful of job changes, moves, and other life experiences, Grigoletti saw how God prepared her for the career she is in today. 

Grigoletti was raised in west Michigan and grew up attending Calvary Christian Reformed Church (Wyoming, MI) with her family. Through Sunday school, youth group, and attending church twice on Sundays, Grigoletti was fully immersed in the CRC but desired to experience something new. 

Along with that desire came an adventure in a new city. Grigoletti enrolled at Trinity–where her sister attended–with a track scholarship. Sports have always been a big part of Grigoletti’s life, so it was natural for her to major in exercise science. God began moving Grigoletti in the direction of opening her own gym and community center, beginning with an internship working at a corporate gym on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile. “Trinity was really helpful in connecting me to this internship,” Grigoletti says. 

After graduation, Grigoletti got married and the couple moved to St. Louis, where her husband found work at an inner-city church planting ministry. “We jumped into family life really quickly and had kids early on,” Grigoletti shares. 

When Grigoletti was pregnant with her fourth child, her family decided to move back to Michigan to be closer to family. Grigoletti soon found herself reengaging in the Calvary CRC community, this time with a fresh perspective.  

Looking for a part-time job, Grigoletti agreed to fill the custodian role at Calvary. “It was the best thing that ever happened to me,” Grigoletti recalls. She enjoyed interacting with others during the week and seeing what Calvary was like outside of Sunday worship. 

During one of her shifts at the church, Grigoletti had a meaningful conversation with the pastor and shared that she longed to do more with her life. The pastor told Grigoletti that he wanted to open a community center but couldn’t find anyone to lead it. That’s when Grigoletti stepped up and became the Executive Director of Lighthouse Community Ministries, located on Calvary CRC’s campus. 

Lighthouse serves its community through physical wellness, nutritional wellness, mental wellness, addiction recovery, and poverty mitigation by offering classes, activities, and other programs. 

Thinking back to her time at Trinity, Grigoletti reflects on an interim experience where she worked with women who were transitioning out of rehab. The program connected men and women to different volunteer opportunities, including helping at an after-school program and serving at a thrift store. “It was eye opening to have that kind of ministry right in your own neighborhood,” Grigoletti shares. “I was able to take what I learned during my interim course at Trinity and apply it to the community center I started.” 

 More than 15 years have passed since Grigoletti was a student at Trinity, and she’s grateful for the ways God grew her faith during her college years. “Trinity showed me that you need to step out of your bubble, love those around you, and open your eyes to the immense amount of opportunity that’s outside your front door.”

Recent shelter-in-place requirements offer the opportunity to get to know our own backyardw, according to Associate Professor of Biology Abbie Schrotenboer, Ph.D., in a recent interview with “Christianity Today.”

Schrotenboer was one of several national experts quoted in the article, “Can Staying Home Help Us Regain a Sense of Place?” As part of the article, she describes how her students explore natural areas at Trinity and in the surrounding neighborhoods.

She also describes how communing with creation allows her to draw closer to God. “The more I appreciate creation, the more I give glory to God as the Creator.”

You can read the entire article here.

Trinity’s accounting graduates continued the College’s tradition of excelling on the certified public accounting (CPA) exam in 2019, leading the state of Illinois with both pass rates and average scores on the most recent test.

The Illinois Uniform CPA Examination consists of four sections, and candidates must pass all four sections in order to become a CPA: audit; business environmental concepts; financial accounting & reporting; and regulations.

Among the graduates from the 56 Illinois colleges and universities that took 16 or more sections of the 2019 CPA exam, Trinity graduates took 31 sections with a pass rate of 68%. That represents the highest pass rate in the state and well above the average pass rate of 53%. Trinity graduates also scored on average 79, which was the highest average score on the exam of any institution.

These scores are a testament to how Trinity prepares students for their vocations, according to Professor of Business and Department Chair Deborah Windes, Ph.D. “Our incredible accounting students leave Trinity prepared to succeed on the CPA exam and in their careers,” she said.

The CPA exam is administered by the Illinois Board of Examiners, a state agency that evaluates academic credentials, approves candidates to sit for the Uniform CPA Examination, monitors CPA examination testing activity throughout the year, and issues the Certificate of CPA Exam Completion upon passing the exam.

Trinity’s Accountancy Program is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP).