Archives: News Stories
During the 2012 Interim, students came with drafts of novels-in-progress, personal essays, and even cover letters, ready to participate in a student writing community led by Dr. Michael Vander Weele ’73, professor of English.
The workshop-structured course “Conference, Writing, and Application Projects” was one of the many on-campus courses offered during Interim.
In this course, Vander Weele worked to “give back” to students what he has gained from his experience in various types of writing, including academic, business, and grant writing, as well as the creative forms of poetry and memoir. The professor, who accompanies students to English language and literature undergraduate conferences each year, said the course was also a way to provide support for students planning to present work at conferences this spring.
Jessica Sylvester ’15 of Tinley Park, Illinois, completed 40 pages of a novel she is currently writing, and she appreciated Vander Weele’s teaching approach.
“He made me feel as if we were all learning something about ourselves,” she said. “When he had us display our work on the wall, it made me more proud of it than stacking it on a desk.”
Students participating in the workshop brought a wide variety of writing to share and develop, including science fiction novels-in-progress, pulp fiction, and sports articles. They spent class working on their writing and offering feedback to each other.
“The Interim taught me to think about writing in ways I had never thought of before,” said William Miller ’13 of Chicago, Illinois. “I learned to budget time for writing every day. You only get better with practice. If you devote time to writing on a consistent basis, you will learn to enjoy creating your work.”
Each semester begins with Convocation, a time for all on campus to stay their hearts and minds on Christ, to worship, and to pray.
President Steve Timmermans, Ph.D., delivered the Convocation message on Friday, January 20, sharing family stories of breakthrough moments leading to physical transformation to illustrate the words of 2 Corinthians 3: 16-18 and the transformative work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of those who turn to the Lord.
While breakthroughs are necessary for transformation, Timmermans said that transformation can be a long process.
“Mount Sinai was a breakthrough experience for the Israelites soon after they escaped from Egypt: God’s expectation made clear and immediate. But they needed 40 years in the wilderness to travel in the direction of God’s promises. … Look at verse 16: ‘But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.’ That’s a breakthrough experience: turning to the Lord, making a decision to respond to Christ’s call, and follow him…the veil is taken away. But keep reading to verse 18, and there we learn that this transformation is a process of ever increasing glory, changing from one degree of glory into the next.”
Timmermans concluded with this: “My hope is that in this new semester and new year, we as individuals and we as a community, living in God’s beautiful and broken world, more and more reflect God’s image, as we are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.”
Every year students, professors, and staff members commemorate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day with a special time of worship in the Ozinga Chapel.
On January 16, many gathered to celebrate the 83rd birthday of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at the campus event, “Reflections on the Effects of Dr. King’s Legacy.”
Dr. David Brodnax, Sr., associate professor of history, presented the main message, highlighting King’s work in the area of economic justice.
“Less frequently…do we discuss King’s work to achieve economic justice and the linkages that he saw between racism, poverty, and war. And yet this was a vitally important part of his public mission, particularly in the last few years of his life,” said Brodnax. “King also began drawing attention to the problems faced by poor whites, Native Americans, Latinos, and residents of Third World countries. In short, he was drawing attention to something that Americans often want to overlook or ignore: class.
“It is appropriate that today, as we think about the applications of his message in our world, we remember this part of his legacy.”
Following the presentation, several students, professors, and staff members, offered their personal reflections on King’s life and his influence on their lives. Tabitha Matthews, coordinator of pre-college programs, read excerpts from King’s speeches and served as Master of Ceremony.
An inspirational time of worship was offered by Sylvia Turner ’10 in the form of a praise dance and by Trinity’s Gospel Choir, who sang “Speak” and “God Is Great.”
A music video, commemorating the life and work of King and created by Justin James ’12 of Riverside, Illinois, was shown as guest enjoyed refreshments.
The event was sponsored by Trinity’s Office of Ethnic Diversity, the history department, and the Ethnic Diversity Committee.
Students in the Organizational Consulting course recently presented projects to local organizations and companies who they worked to serve while learning real-world business skills.
According to Vanessa Shropshire, assistant professor of business, the course provides students with an opportunity to integrate their knowledge of previous accounting, business, economics, and ethics courses.
In particular, the students learn to relate the separate disciplines to the macro and micro environments of the industry and business organization.
This year, eight senior teams worked with eight local client businesses and organizations, including:
Argires Nuts
Bethany Christian Services
Harvest Thrift Store
IMA Calumet
Salina’s Pizza
Simplify with Smith
Triedstone Church
Village of Worth
For the majority of the clients, the students completed tactical communications plans. For the Village of Worth, students completed a survey of residents. Another team implemented a holiday advertising campaign for Argires Nuts.
Putting their communication skills into practice, the students presented their plans to their clients in December.
Each January, we pause for a moment to look back on the year, reflecting and giving thanks for the countless blessings God has bestowed on Trinity Christian College.
We invite you to enjoy the 2011 Year in Review photogallery, a collection of pictures capturing events from graduation to the grand opening of the Trinity Athletics and Recreation Complex.
Rejoice with us over the blessings of the past year as we prayerfully, and with thankful hearts, enter 2012.
The Nursing Department at Trinity Christian College is celebrating the recent accomplishment of Assistant Professor of Nursing Elizabeth Chang.
Chang has received a $10,000 Nurse Educator Fellowship from the Illinois Board of Higher Education. She is one of 18 faculty members from 18 different institutions to receive the award.
The fellowship helps institutions recognize well-qualified nurse educators and helps the state continue to address the high demand for well-trained nurses.
“All of the department will benefit from her participation in events throughout the spring semester that will enhance learning opportunities for our students,” said Dr. Laurel Quinn, chair of the nursing department.
Chang joined the nursing faculty in 2010 with a background in family practice. Her love for teaching is matched by her desire to serve others, and she has traveled overseas on various medical mission trips. Her academic and professional achievements have earned her three Clinical Excellence Awards and the opportunity to co-author several short courses for the nursing school of the International Hospital Kampala in Uganda, Africa.
Recent nursing department milestones and profiles
During an open house on October 8, the newly constructed nursing laboratory, combined with the previous nursing department area, was officially dedicated and named the Cynthia Sander Nursing Lab. Read more…
In 2010, Emily (Buter) Rusticus ’10 graduated from Trinity’s nursing program and answered a call to the health care industry. She now works in the Pediatric Neuro unit at Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago. Read more…
Since the time Jennifer Vander Veen ’12, a nursing major from Alton, Iowa, was a junior in high school, she held onto the goal of attaining and completing an externship with Mayo Clinic. Read more…
Nursing students traveled to Ecuador during the January Interim to provide health care to urban and jungle-based populations. Read more…
.
Trinity Christian College celebrated the graduation of 99 baccalaureate students and Adult Studies students during the Commencement ceremony on Saturday, December 17, 2011.
Families and friends of the graduates gathered in the Ozinga Chapel Auditorium to witness the presentation of the diplomas by Provost Liz Rudenga and to hear Dr. Bill Boerman-Cornell’s Commencement address “The Things You Carry.”
With humor and poignancy, Boerman-Cornell, assistant professor of education, shared the story of his separation from home and family after he graduated from college. Painting a vivid picture of his father over-preparing him for the move and his mother running alongside his van to gush a torrent of last minute advice, Boerman-Cornell said, “The position my parents were in on that day is the position that your professors find themselves in today, myself included. So I am afraid that, for just a couple of minutes today, I am going to shout advice through the open window of your moving van before you pull away.”
His advice, which echoed the principles of the College’s mission statement, was delivered with the insistence of a loving parent, a caring professor. His main points included:
Everything always comes back to our relationship to God and his creation.
Life is not all about you; it is about how you serve others.
God loves diversity. You should, too.
Keep learning!
Boerman-Cornell closed by saying, “So drive carefully. Take care. Email us when you get there. We are proud of you, and we know that you are going to do amazing things.”
The invocation was delivered by Dr. Mary Webster Moore, assistant professor of education; the song of response and the song of prayer were sung by the Trinity Gospel Choir; and the Commencement litany was led by Adult Studies graduate, Ronald Brown. Alumni greetings were offered by Joyce Schulting ’74, a member of the alumni board, and the benediction was given by Chaplain Willis Van Groningen, Ph. D.
The Things You’ll Carry: Commencement Address 2011
Trinity Christian College
17 December 2011
Dr. Bill Boerman-Cornell, assistant professor of education
Dear Parents, Friends, Faculty, Staff, and members of Trinity Christian College’s class of 2011,
Moving day, 1988. The U-haul truck is parked in front of the house I grew up in. Inside the van is everything I have ever owned: books, bike, clothes, desk, and so on.
I am standing in the driveway with my Mom and Dad. College is over, and I am about to drive to Chicago where I will be living. My dad, hoping to equip me for anything life might throw at me, has filled up about a third of the van with lumber, tools, more lumber, hardware, some 2 by 4s, a wood tabletop, additional lumber, plumbing supplies, a couple of sheets of plywood, and various other things he found in the garage. I am sure that he knows, at least since my pathetic attempt to build a birdhouse in junior high, that I am incapable of making anything with lumber other than firewood. It is okay, though, I know this is his way of saying that he loves me.
It is at this point that my Mom begins offering advice – lots of advice – on how to deal with everything from the common cold to defective merchandise. She covers basic information like laundry and cooking, and also more obscure issues, like water safety during electrical storms, and the importance of seeking professional help when attempting to fix a toaster. She continues to offer advice for a long time. This too is okay, because I know it is her way of saying that she loves me and also that she is afraid that she might have missed something somehow during all the advice she has given me over the past two decades. Much of what she is saying, she had told me before. But I listen and I nod and finally, I hug them both, and get in the truck. My mother, however, continues to offer advice – about travelling, hygiene, comparison shopping for fruits and vegetables, and the importance of not buying knives from door-to-door salesmen. After some time has passed, I, still nodding, shift the truck into reverse and back out of the driveway. My mother walks along with the truck, reminding me to get a regular check-up, to dress warmly in the winter, to take it easy when shoveling snow, to brush my teeth after every meal, and to call home regularly. I say goodbye, and pull away from the house I have grown up in. With my mother still shouting advice through the open window, I drive off down the block and out of the town I grew up in.
The position my parents were in on that day is the position that your professors find themselves in today, myself included. So I am afraid that, for just a couple of minutes today, I am going to shout advice through the open window of your moving van before you pull away. I would give you a pile of lumber, (I still have some left over from what my dad gave me twenty some years ago), but I am hoping the advice might be more useful.
Philippians 4:8 says ~ Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
I want to concentrate on the end of that message. If anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things. It is my hope, and the hope of the rest of the faculty and staff, that you will not merely be good teachers, social workers, nurses, historians, biologists, church workers, business people, musicians, writers, public relations people, actors, administrators, ecologists, mathematicians, historians, counselors, criminologists, chemists, IT specialists, coaches, artists, designers, missionaries, or whatever calling you answer . We also hope that you will think about being what you are called to be and that you will lead others to help make a difference in your workplace, church, local community, and other aspects of God’s creation.
So picture yourself behind the wheel of a large truck. Then picture your professors, all of them, still wearing their academic regalia, running alongside that truck. Got that in your mind? Good. Now, this is the window of your truck. As I am running along, I am going to speak for all of us, at least until I am out of breath.
Just like my mom’s advice, none of this is new. You have heard these refrains from your professors again and again, but we think they are important, and we are going to repeat them one more time. So here we go…
Everything always comes back to our relationship to God and his creation.
All the decisions we make, the way we are thankful for the grace by which we enjoy the world, the direction we turn to in times of trouble, even the way we see the world around us, all of it relates back to God. This affects the way we do our jobs, the way we take out the trash, the way we spend money, what we eat, how we hang out with our friends, how we raise our children, where we choose to live, how we root for our kids’ little league team, who we vote for, how we work for justice in our communities, how we facebook, the way we handle money, the music we listen to, the compassion we show for those around us, how we shop, who we marry, and pretty much anything else you can think of. All of it comes back to our relationship to God. And that relationship is a relationship of gratefulness.
He made us,
He forgave us,
He died on the cross to save us from our sins.
And so, we live our lives not out of obligation or out of fear, but, in our best moments, out of a deep, deep gratefulness.
This also means that you can approach your life with confidence and without fear. Again and again God tells us in the Bible to not be afraid. Sometimes life will seem scary. So how can I say that you should not be afraid? Well, for the same reason that God told Gideon and Moses and Esther and Mary to not be afraid – For God is with you.
Life is not all about you; it is about how you serve others.
Our world is in need of those who can heal the brokenness, work to shelter those who do not have shelter, feed those who do not have food, bring justice to the wronged, teach God’s children, learn about our creation from top to bottom, think faithfully about the issues that we are presented, and build understandings between people through art and music and drama, and other ways of communicating. The world needs you. And doing these tasks out of a sense of service means that we do not do so merely out of a desire to make money, or to do what we need to in order to survive. But we do what we do because we want to help others.
So we have no time for worrying about whether your office is bigger than the next person’s, or whether this or that task falls under your responsibility, or whether you have been wronged or insulted, or whether your paycheck is big enough, or whether you get your own parking spot. Rather, respond to the cry of the world for help. God will take care of you, and the rest of that stuff will work itself out eventually.
God loves diversity. You should, too.
While you were at Trinity, you got to know a lot of people who were different from you. They ate different food from you, came from different sorts of neighborhoods, had different opinions, perhaps worshipped differently, had different ideas and organizational styles and tastes and wardrobes, and so on. And that made our community all the richer. As you seek to fulfill your calling, remember that, and try to interact not only with those who are just like you, but also with those who are different. Live in a diverse neighborhood. Worship at a church with more than just people who are exactly like you, volunteer and coach little league and do other things in ways that keep you in touch with all of God’s children.
And keep a particular eye out for those who are different from you economically or socially and who need to be cared for. Jesus, throughout the New Testament, seems to have gone out of his way to spend time with those who are desperate, despised, different, and destitute. We need to do the same.
Keep learning!
We have strived at Trinity to create a community of scholarship. Whether that meant having discussions in your classroom or your dorm room, or in the library or the BBC; or talking with your cohort about what really matters in life, and how we should live, and what justice means, and how God put the universe together, and how it works – Trinity has been a place where we have tried to think things through.
That also means that you need to keep reading. God gave us the Bible as a way to directly understand him. Because the Bible is a book, Christians don’t have the option of saying that they don’t read much, or that they don’t like to read. It is the way we can listen to God.
Your professors showed you how reading is also a way we can listen to and talk with people who may have lived long ago, or may be far away. So you need to read. Read about your discipline, about God and politics, and about science and education. You need to read about art and medicine. You need to read stories that matter. You need to read about other places in the world and try to understand those places and their people. Read online and off-line, read that which is fun and that which is serious. Read books and magazines and read God’s creation all around you. Read words and images. Read that which challenges you and that which gives you rest. And, of course, you need to read the Bible. The world needs you to have a clear, strong mind. So read.
I mentioned at the beginning of this jog, that you would be hearing that which you have heard before. I was right. The outline from my speech is right in the College catalogue. And it is on the College website. I have been working from the College’s mission statement. And if you have read it, you know that Trinity’s mission statement is the most complete, and we might say lengthy, mission statement that any college has ever had. Hang on to it. You may find it useful.
Okay, you are pulling away down the street. It has been nice of you to idle the truck like this. It has allowed me to keep up pretty well. But that road up there looks pretty busy, and I am pretty tired, so I am going to drop off to the side and breathe for a while. Our long distance runners, Dr. Craig Mattson, Dr. Kuecker, Dr. Browning and Dr. Commeret and a few others may be able to keep up with you until you get on the highway, but I am just about done.
So drive carefully. Take care. Email us when you get there. We are proud of you, and we know that you are going to do amazing things.
Thank you.
In December, Trinity’s Ethnic Diversity Committee welcomed Dr. Yanina Gomez ’95, a school psychologist. She presented “Diversity: From Here to Where We Want to Be,” for faculty, staff, and students.
Gomez first shared her personal story of coming to Trinity in the ’90s when she moved from Puerto Rico with her family after her father accepted a position at The Back to God Hour. Gomez discussed the challenges she faced, including having to learn the language and adjusting to a new culture, school, and community of peers.
Building on this, Gomez discussed diversity on campus today, recognizing the efforts of Trinity’s office of diversity and Don Woo, dean for ethnic diversity and multicultural programs. She encouraged faculty to continue their personal commitment to cultural sensitivity and relationship building with students in their classrooms and urged an emphasis on preparing students for careers in diverse workplaces and global competitiveness and connectedness.
Following the lecture, Gomez led a student-focused workshop. Senior Liz Fiala of Minneapolis, Minnesota, who serves as a Student Association representative on the Ethnic/Diversity Committee, said of the event: “We had a solid group of students who are committed to promoting diversity on campus. The questions and discussion were very open and honest, and we were all really encouraged by it.”
More about Dr. Gomez
Dr. Gomez has been practicing as a school psychologist for 11 years. She currently practices in Indiana where she provides psycho-educational services to children and their families, as well as supervision for school psychology practicum students and interns.
Gomez serves in the Counseling Psychology Program Advisory Board at Trinity and was a presenter at the College’s fourth annual Psychology Alumni Conference. She is a board member of The Light and Leadership Initiative, a nonprofit organization servicing children and women in shantytowns in Peru. She and her husband Sergio are actively involved in the fine arts via their art gallery, 33 Contemporary Gallery, located in Chicago, IL.
The Trolls were one of 10 teams from around the nation that qualified for the NCCAA National Volleyball Championship held at the Kissimmee Civic Center in Kissimmee, Florida, December 1-3.
Seeded at No. 3, Trinity won their first five matches to advance to the championship match. There they lost to No. 1 California Baptist University to finish as runner-up.
The national championship appearance was the 14th time Trinity has participated in the event. Last year, the team made it to the Final Four before being eliminated. The Trolls conclude their season with a 38-10 overall record, setting a school record for most match wins in a season.
For details about the championship games, click here.
Students, faculty, and alumni recently attended a Trinity event that showcased the work of education and special education students and provided professional development on a new educational reform, the Common Core standards.
Guest speaker Gail Bohnenstiehl presented on the Common Core standards for language arts and mathematics, adopted by most states, including Illinois. Bohnenstiehl has 35 years experience as a classroom teacher, is a member of the Illinois State Language Arts Assessment Advisory Committee, and serves as an Illinois Standards Achievement Test item writer and validator of both reading and writing assessment.
Event attendees also enjoyed presentations from students, who showcased the unit plans and technology projects they completed for their General Methods class.
The unit plan highlighted students’ competence in planning for instruction. In the second project, students used various forms of technology to present their research on such topics as the Common Core standards, online learning, and service learning in the classroom.
The event benefited students in multiple ways, said Dr. Rhoda Mattson, associate professor of education and director of the education unit.
“My students were able to talk about their projects to faculty and alumni and practice professionalism and good communication. An unexpected benefit was that they were the technology experts and were able to explain their use of technology to teachers who hadn’t used it before. Faculty who previously had these students in education courses were able to see them again and affirm the good work their former students are doing.”