Archives: News Stories

For 60 years, generous donors have shaped Trinity to what she is today and laid the foundation for our next 60 years. The blessings of planned giving have played a critical role here, allowing for benefits that touch lives across generations.

For those who are utilizing planned giving approaches, or are considering it, there have been several significant changes that will impact giving in 2019. Those changes include:

–IRA charitable rollover

For many Americans 70 1/2 years old and older, the Individual Retirement Account (IRA) charitable rollover allows for gifts from their IRA. Some IRA administrators offer checkbooks that simplify the giving process. If you use this type of checkbook, the deadlines for processing payments have changed. In order for IRA checks from these checkbooks to be counted as a qualified charitable donation (QCD) for the 2019 tax year, they must be delivered to and processed by your designated charity by Dec. 31. In previous years, donations needed to only be postmarked, not processed, by the end of the calendar year. IRA gifts processed after Dec. 31 will be counted as a distribution for 2020, and you may incur a tax penalty if you have not met the required minimum distribution (RMD) for 2019.

–Charitable gift annuities

Charitable gift annuities are another popular method of planned giving, The American Council on Gift Annuities recently unveiled a new schedule of suggested maximum gift annuity rates for gifts established on or after Jan. 1, 2020. Under this new schedule, rates will decrease between 0.3% and 0.5% on average.

For questions about these changes, and for further information about planned giving, visit Trinity’s planned giving page.

Women’s volleyball, women’s soccer, and men’s cross country concluded their seasons over the weekend with competitions in the NAIA Nationals.

The Trinity women’s volleyball team hosted the NAIA Opening Round on Saturday for the second consecutive year as they were paired with the Indiana University Kokomo Cougars. IU-Kokomo came out on top, beating Trinity in four sets.

In the first set, the Cougars won 25-18 . Trinity fought back in the second set, squeezing out a 25-22 win against the Cougars. The third set resulted in another win for IU-Kokomo as they took a late lead, winning 25-20 against the Trolls. And in the fourth and final set, the Cougars came back and took the lead from the Trolls to win in extra points with a score of 26-24.

This concluded the women’s volleyball team’s season. They finished with an overall record of 28-8 and a conference record of 17-1.

The Trinity women’s soccer team also competed in a NAIA Opening Round match on Friday, hosted by the Indiana Wesleyan Wildcats. The first match was played between the Trolls and the Georgia Gwinnett College Grizzlies. Although Trinity kept possession for a great deal of the game, the Grizzlies ultimately scored in double overtime to defeat Trinity, 3-2.

The game concluded the 2019 season for the women’s soccer team. They finished the season with an overall record of 17-3-1 and a conference record of 12-2.

Andrew Dobrescu of the men’s cross country team competed in NAIA Nationals on Nov. 22 in Vancouver, Wash. On the 8K course, the sophomore finished in 250th out of 335 runners in the tournament. This is his first appearance at NAIA Nationals. This was the last meet for the team this season. He will compete in the spring with the track and field team.

Students and professors in Trinity’s Physical Education, Recreation, and Kinesiology (PERK) Department are working with Trinity alumnus Ryan Hesslau ‘18 to be the first college to pilot an app his company recently developed, The Waves App.

Above the Waves is a student management technology company that is “helping guidance counselors better manage their students.”

The Waves App is a student management tool that allows guidance counselors to message students, schedule sessions, and make referrals – all from one central location. Although the platform was built for a high school setting, PERK agreed to partner with Hesslau to test run the platform in a college environment.

With the approval of the Institutional Review Board, students in all PE classes have been given access to the app and have been asked to provide feedback. PERK department professors have encouraged students to ask questions about health, wellness, and physical activity. This might include questions about things like nutrition, proper weightlifting technique, or stress management.

Department Chair Dr. Shari Jurgens, who is one of the PERK Department professors working with Hesslau and Above the Waves, says, “Trinity alums are doing some really cool things with technology, and The Waves App is a great example. We are currently using this app in the PE Department as a test run and we are really hopeful that this will be expanded across the campus in the future.”

The vision for The Waves App on a college campus is to become a helpful plug-in tool for faculty advisers that allows them to message students, schedule sessions, and plenty more.

In addition to being the founder and CEO of Above the Waves, Hesslau is also the Founder and Executive Director of ForeverU, a not-for-profit youth development organization that offers personal development programs to 7-12 grade students that empower them to overcome adversity. He also serves Trinity as a Startup Coach in Fusion59, Trinity’s on-campus innovation hub.

–Paige Rogers ’21, Health Communication Major

Trinity is pleased to announce that Indira Escalante ’19 has been named Trinity’s Lincoln Laureate. Escalante was honored at the Lincoln Academy Student Laureate Convocation Ceremony on Nov. 16 in Springfield, Ill.

The annual Lincoln Academy Student Laureate Ceremony recognizes excellence in curricular and extracurricular activities by seniors from each of the state’s four-year, degree-granting colleges and universities, and one student from the community colleges in Illinois.

An accounting major and theology minor from Hoffman Estates, Ill., Trinity’s selection committee lauded Escalante for her leadership roles at the College, including as an intercollegiate student-athlete in golf, a member of the multicultural student leadership team, a founding member of a campus club called Women Empowered, vice president of administration of the Student Government Association, a student representative on the Campus Diversity and Unity Committee, and as a student mentor for incoming transfer students in Trinity’s Foundations 111 class. “She possesses a rare combination of gifts that span excellence in the field of accountancy, a complex understanding of social justice, a commitment to public service, and diverse contributions to the communities she serves,” the committee noted. “She has demonstrated a commitment to the public good for all people in ways that have garnered the respect of her peers, faculty, and staff in every context in which she serves. This is a remarkable gift to the Trinity Christian College community.”

Escalante, who was joined in Springfield by Becky Starkenburg, Vice President for Student Life, and her parents Lesly and Jose, said she was surprised and honored to be named Lincoln Laureate. “My first reaction was that I don’t deserve it,” she said. “There are so many students here at Trinity to choose from.”

After graduation, Escalante plans to sit for the CPA exam and go to work as an accountant with a major firm.

Trinity Christian College Lincoln Laureates

2018 – Mallory Boyce

2017 – R. Josiah Rosario
2016 – Courtney Kalous
2015 – Hallie Wisse
2014 – David (Woody) Lucas
2013 – Megan Anderson
2012 – Adam Perez
2011 – Alberto LaRosa
2010 – Joseph Wydra
2009 – Jon Vander Woude
2008 – Caitlin Fillmore
2007 – Elizabeth VanderSpek
2006 – Allison Backous
2005 – Erin Marshalek
2004 – Rachel Van Oort
2003 – Yvana Hansen
2002 – Evan VanderZee
2001 – Nate Bosch
2000 – Laurie Johnson
1999 – Hanna Vancer Zee
1998 – Kristen Devine
1997 – Heidi Boeck
1996 – Julie Tinklenberg
1995 – Keri Dyksterhouse
1994 – Mark Mulder
1993 – Kristen Hart
1992 – Sarah Ver Velde
1991 – Aron Reppmann
1990 – Nathan Van Der Male
1989 – Drew Sweetman
1988 – Erik Hoekstra
1987 – Kimberly Dykema
1986 – Edward Wiener, Jr.

The Trinity women’s soccer and volleyball teams secured bids to NAIA Nationals, and now, both teams are scheduled to compete in opening round competition this weekend.

The women’s volleyball team will host the opening round in the DeVos Gymnasium against Indiana Kokomo on Saturday evening at 5 p.m. When the two teams faced each other in the regular season, the Cougars won in five sets.

Ticket prices: $15 family, $5 adult, $3 student/child. Please note, since this is an NAIA National Championship event, regular season free pass holders, including Trinity Athletics Club members and Trinity students, faculty, and staff, will be expected to pay at the gate.

Trinity’s Athletics Department will be hosting a live stream commentator for play by play coverage of the match. The livestream link is https://portal.stretchinternet.com/tcc/.

For women’s soccer, the team will travel to Taylor University, where they will play Georgia Gwinnett on Friday at 1 pm CST, with the winner of that match playing Indiana Wesleyan on Saturday at 1 pm CST. Whoever wins this opening round will move on to the final round starting on Dec. 2. The live stream link is https://portal.stretchinternet.com/Indianawesleyan/

Along with the women’s soccer and volleyball teams advancing, Andrew Dobrescu will race in the NAIA National Championship Cross Country Meet in Vancouver, Wash., on Friday, Nov. 22.

More updates will be provided once they are available.

Go, Trolls!

The value of Christian higher education, the impact of student debt, the ESPN effect—Pres. Kurt Dykstra talked about all this, and much more, on the radio show “The Common Good” on Nov. 13

Hosted by Brian From and Ian Simkins every weekday afternoon on 1160 AM, “The Common Good” looks at “rolling up our sleeves and creating space for hard conversations about real issues that impact our lives.”

You can listen to the entire discussion here.

Trinity is pleased to announce the launch of the Center for Teaching and the Good Life. For 60 years, Trinity has been shaping the imaginations and gifts of students so that they might extend flourishing as they engage their neighborhoods, churches, communities, cities, and wider global contexts. This center marks Trinity’s ongoing commitment to education that is for God, for good, and for the world.

The mission of the Center for Teaching and the Good Life is to deepen Trinity’s capacity to help all students discover and articulate the joy of their vocation in ways that include and extend beyond career and work. Fundamentally, the Center resources faculty and staff in pursuit of the questions “What does it mean to be human?” and “How can we help each student live fully into being the particular human God has called them to be?”

To accomplish this purpose, the Center will house a resource repository surrounding questions of teaching and the good life, convene faculty and staff seminars, workshops, and colloquia, and engage external experts and constituencies. Alongside this work, the Center will coordinate Trinity’s Thinking & Writing courses, a suite of courses that give all Trinity students the opportunity to think, discover, and write in response to questions about the good life.

Leadership of the Center will be provided by its Director, Dr. Mark Peters, Department Chair and Professor of Music, and Associate Director, Mallory Boyce ’19, Executive Assistant to the Provost.

According to Peters, “The Center’s name signals that every interaction faculty and staff have with students presents us with an opportunity for teaching and learning. And it reminds us that every such encounter can be understood in the context of what it means to live now as humans in God’s world.” To that end, Boyce noted that the Center will accelerate work Trinity’s staff and faculty are already undertaking, “Trinity’s faculty and staff are already cultivating an expansive understanding of vocation with students – the Center is naming that work and providing greater institutional support to deepen the opportunities faculty and staff have to engage these themes and to guide students in doing the same.”

Support for the center comes in part from a Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education (NetVUE) “Vocation across the Academy” grant administered by the Council of Independent Colleges with support from Lilly Endowment Inc. These grants are designed to support institution-wide initiatives that deepen and expand the conversation on vocation.

Dr. Craig Mattson, Professor of Communication Arts, recently took part in the SOCAP 2019 conference in San Francisco as part of a panel discussion on “The intersection of money and meaning.”

Amy Butler, a public theologian and former pastor of The Riverside Church in New York, moderated the panel, which also included Angie Thurston,  author and Ministry Innovation Fellow at Harvard Divinity School. During the discussion, Mattson shared the results of his interviews with 36 social entrepreneurs about what role spirituality is playing in their field.

“The panel was very well received,” said Mattson. “At least two audience members spoke up in the Q&A time about how the panel spoke to things they’d wished they’d heard earlier in the conference. I feel very grateful for the support of Prof.  John Wightkin and Fusion 59’s Innovation Grant for being able to go to this conference.”

SOCAP (Social Capital Markets) focuses on the emerging global impact economy and convenes ideas and capital to catalyze world change. Its network of investors, entrepreneurs, and social impact leaders works to address the world’s toughest challenges through market-based solutions.

On Nov. 8, Trinity capped off a week of honoring and celebrating our first generation students with a gathering in the Bootsma Bookstore Café. The day was organized by Emily Bosscher, Director of the Office of First Year Experience, and Nicole Saint-Victor, Director of the Office of Multicultural Engagement.

A first generation student is one who is the first in their family to attend college or graduate with a Bachelor’s Degree.

“On this day, we joined colleges and universities nationwide to celebrate our campus’ commitment to unity and acceptance of all students, especially those who are pursuing a college degree without the experience of family to rely on,” said Bosscher. “We partnered with various offices across campus to highlight these students through events that included: a 1st Gen button campaign, alumni visits, Chapel representation, and an interactive display in the library. It all culminated at the BBC with music, appetizers, an open mic, and all types of campus fun!”

Nov. 8 was selected as the date for the annual National First-Generation College Celebration to honor the anniversary of the signing of the Higher Education Act of 1965. The Higher Education Act (HEA) emerged out of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty. Much like other hallmark legislation of that era, such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, HEA was intended to help level a playing field that for too long had been weighed against Americans from minority and low-income backgrounds. In addition to creating federal grants and loan programs to help students finance their educations, the legislation made key investments in institutions of higher education. Additionally, HEA ushered in programs, particularly the Federal TRIO programs, necessary for postsecondary access, retention, and completion for low-income, potential first-generation college graduates.

As its fall Mainstage production, Trinity’s  Theatre Department will perform “Eurydice,” by Sarah Ruhl, directed by Dr. John Sebestyen on Nov. 15, 16, 22, and 23.

“In Eurydice, playwright Sarah Ruhl reimagines the classic myth of Orpheus through the eyes of its heroine,” according to Samuel French, the play’s publisher. “Dying too young on her wedding day, Eurydice must journey to the underworld, where she reunites with her father and struggles to remember her lost love.”

“With contemporary characters, ingenious plot twists, and breathtaking visual effects, the play is a fresh look at a timeless love story.”

Eurydice, and her new husband, Orpheus are celebrating their wedding near the beginning of the play. But at the end of that scene, things take a turn. When Eurydice enters the Underworld, she discovers a place where the dead have been dipped in the River, in order to forget their previous lives. But Eurydice’s father is there, and has been resisting the water. He remembers his daughter, and takes it upon himself to help her remember him, too. And to remember herself.

The play was written in the early 2000s, and it honors the original ancient Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice while adapting it to the contemporary style of magical realism, where supernatural things happen to everyday people – but those supernatural things aren’t questioned as being out of the ordinary.

One of the ways the play hearkens back to its ancient Greek origins is by the inclusion of a “chorus of Stones” in the Underworld: a big stone, a little stone, and a loud stone. They experience the Underworld with Eurydice and her Father, but also comment upon the story as both insiders and outsiders.

Due to some death-related themes, this production is recommended for audience members of high school age and older.

Click here to purchase tickets.

CAST & CREW

Cast:

Kyli Ayers, Bethany Dadisman, Benjamin Friesen, Ryan Howey, Mateo Perez, Jonah VanderNaald, Bethany VanderPloeg

Crew:

Production Manager: Sam Jankosky

Assistant Stage Manager: Sydnie Tiemens

Production Assistants: Dani Daujatas, Hannah Last

Scenic Designers: Dr. John Sebestyen & Rick Schuler (’08)

Lighting Designer: Larissa Mulder

Sound Designer: Jake Szafranski (’09)

Costume Designer: Machaela Whitlock

Hair & Make-up Designers: Dani Daujatas & Evie Dykhouse

Properties Master: Sam Jankosky