Calvin University (Michigan) Informations

Coordinates: 42°55′49″N 85°35′17″W / 42.93028°N 85.58806°W / 42.93028; -85.58806

Calvin University, formerly Calvin College, is a private Christian liberal arts university in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Founded in 1876, Calvin University is an educational institution of the Christian Reformed Church and stands in the Reformed tradition of Protestantism. Known as Calvin College for most of its history, the school is named after John Calvin, the 16th-century Protestant Reformer.

The Christian Reformed Church in North America founded the school on August 4, 1876, as part of Calvin College and Theological Seminary (with the seminary becoming Calvin Theological Seminary) to train church ministers. The college and seminary began with seven students, in a rented upper room on Spring Street, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The initial six-year curriculum included four years of literary studies and two years of theology. In 1892, the campus moved to the intersection of Madison Avenue and Franklin Street (Fifth Avenue) in Grand Rapids. In September 1894, the school expanded the curriculum for those who were not pre-theological students, effectually making the institution a preparatory school. In 1900, the curriculum further broadened, making it more attractive to students interested in teaching or preparing for professional courses at universities. In 1901, Calvin admitted the first women to the school.

In 1906, the literary department of the college became known as John Calvin Junior College and the college held its first commencement. The student newspaper Chimes was first published in 1907. Around 1910, the West Michigan cities of Muskegon and Kalamazoo fought to have Calvin relocate to their respective cities. Muskegon offered US$10,000 (approximately $260,000 in 2015 dollars) and a tract of land to attract the college. The city of Grand Rapids countered with its own $10,000 offer and the junior college chose to stay in Grand Rapids. In time, the two-year college became a four-year college, and the preparatory department was discontinued. In 1917, John Calvin Junior College moved to the Franklin Street Campus, which was the southeast edge of Grand Rapids at the time. Two years later the college appointed its first president, the Rev. J.J. Hiemenga. Then a year later, in 1920, the college officially transitioned into a four-year college following the liberal arts philosophy of the Free University in Amsterdam as laid out by Dutch theologian and statesman Abraham Kuyper. The next year the college awarded its first bachelor's degree. In 1924, with the opening of Grand Rapids Christian High School, the college offered its last year of preparatory education, turned its focus exclusively to higher education, and opened its first dormitory. In 1925, the college began a teacher training program and, in 1926, appointed its first female faculty member, Johanna Timmer, as Dean of Women. The college dedicated its library, the Hekman Library on March 8, 1928. The college later dedicated its seminary building at the Franklin Street Campus on October 29, 1930. Still under the leadership of Rev. Hiemenga the college faced significant trouble during the Great Depression as financial hardship beset the college.

Although the school grew slowly in these early years, by 1930 it had reached its pre-World War I size of 350-450 students. Like many colleges in the United States, the end of the war led to the fastest enrollment increase in Calvin's history. By 1950 the enrollment had climbed to 1,270 and Calvin joined the M.I.A.A.. The enrollment increase led to space limitations at the Franklin Campus. William Spoelhoef became president of Calvin in 1951.

In 1956, the Synod of the Christian Reformed Church authorized the college to purchase the Knollcrest Farm from J.C. Miller for $400,000 (approximately $3.6 million in 2018). Located beyond the Grand Rapids city limits at the time, the Knollcrest farm increased Calvin's campus from approximately one large city block to 390 acres (1.6 km2) with a 100 acres (0.40 km2) nature preserve. Many were reticent about the project and the college's ability to finance it, but Spoelhof pursued the initiative. The Theological Seminary was first to move to the new campus since it did not need to be close to the rest of college, building a new academic building and holding classes there starting in 1960. As space constraints became more noticeable on the Franklin campus, the college built its first academic building on the Knollcrest Campus and first held classes there in 1962. For the next 10 years, the college continued to operate at both the Knollcrest and Franklin campuses, until fully transitioning to the Knollcrest Campus in 1973. During the latter decades of the 20th century, Calvin grew to around 4,200 students. In 1991, the seminary and the college established separate boards of trustees.

At the turn of the millennium, Calvin began several new construction projects. Among these were a new communications and political science building, a conference center and hotel. In 2006, Calvin announced an expansion of the Fieldhouse which was completed in the spring of 2009. Shortly after, in 2010, Calvin completed an extensive renovation and expansion of the Fine Arts Center, thereafter rededicated as the Covenant Fine Arts Center.

The curriculum has expanded to include professional training in a variety of fields, but the college maintains a strong commitment to a liberal arts curriculum, which the college views as a means to develop students' understanding of God's world and their place in it.

The school made national headlines in 2005 when US President George W. Bush served as commencement speaker. Reactions among students and faculty were mixed. According to the Washington Post, more than 800 faculty members, alumni, students and friends of the school signed a full-page ad in the Grand Rapids Press, saying that Bush's policies "...violate many deeply held principles of Calvin College."

In the summer of 2008, The Capella of Calvin College, the concert choir of Calvin under the direction of professor Joel Navarro, earned two third prizes in the Mixed and Free Category at the 37th Florilege Vocal de Tours Competition in Tours, France.

In August 2009, the college's Board of Trustees issued a controversial memo to all employees that said that faculty were prohibited from teaching, writing about, or advocating on behalf of homosexuality or homosexual issues such as same-sex marriage. Many faculty members were critical of the policy and of the way it was adopted without consultation by the board. The Faculty Senate, by a vote of 36-4, asked the Board to withdraw the memo. The official policy of the college continues to be that the "proper place" for sexual relations is a "marriage relationship between a man and a woman".

In June 2012, the Synod of the Christian Reformed Church of North America voted to appoint Michael K. Le Roy as the president of Calvin College, succeeding President Gaylen J. Byker.Within months of assuming office, President Le Roy disclosed that Calvin faced a financial crisis, with $117 million in debt at the time. As part of the debt reduction plan, Calvin successfully raised $25 million in eight months to reduce its long-term debt to $90 million and continues to implement cost-cutting measures. In September 2015, four lightly enrolled majors were reduced to minors and one minor eliminated, marking the final step in academic division prioritization.

Calvin College rebranded itself Calvin University on July 10, 2019, a date that matches the birthday of John Calvin, the college's namesake. As a school that already had numerous departments and centers, it was determined that a name change to Calvin University would make the college more attractive to potential students, as internationally, colleges are considered a lower academic category than a university.

Calvin University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools. Calvin offers majors or minors in 109 academic or pre-professional fields. The most popular majors are engineering, business, and nursing. Calvin is a member of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities and as an institution in the Reformed tradition of Christianity, subscribes to a robust theology that produces a high regard for participating in and forming culture.

Because Calvin is a liberal arts college, it has established a core curriculum with three parts: Gateway, Competencies and Studies, and Capstone. The average student takes 45 hours of core courses in the course of a four-year degree at Calvin.

When students matriculate into Calvin, they begin their studies with a first-year, Core Gateway seminar which introduces students to issues of learning, identity, vocation, discernment, and awareness through discussions and presentations. Students also take Developing a Christian Mind (DCM) in the discipline of their choice, a course which (through the lenses of various academic disciplines) introduces the idea of Christian worldview and faith-based engagement with culture.

Calvin students are required to take a number of essential classes focusing on Core Competencies and Core Studies. Core Competencies, such as written rhetoric, world language, and information technology, develop skills essential to success in the academic and professional worlds. Core studies courses introduce students to a variety of disciplines, providing them with a greater understanding of the world and integration of ideas essential to a well-rounded liberal arts education. Typically a number of core courses will overlap with major and minor requirements.

The Capstone course, generally taken during the senior year, draws together themes and concepts from the core curriculum. Some Capstone course are intended for students of specific majors, while others may be unrelated to a student's chosen major(s) and minor(s), such as PHIL 205: Ethics, which can qualify as the capstone course for students of any major, including non-philosophy majors.

Calvin offers a large number of off-campus programs and ranks 2nd out of baccalaureate institutions for the number of students who study abroad each year.

Calvin runs 11 of its own off-campus semester programs. These programs are led by Calvin faculty to ensure that students receive the same caliber of education that they would receive on campus. These programs are currently offered in the United Kingdom, China, France, Germany, Ghana, Honduras, Hungary, Peru, Spain, and Washington, D.C..

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