Alumni & Family Engagement

The Hope Set Before Us

Greg Olgers ’87 is editor of News from Hope College and director of news media services at Hope. He has been writing about the college’s people, places and activities since joining the staff in October 1988.

It is a both rewarding and (for lack of a better word) strange experience, remaining at one’s alma mater some three decades after graduation.

I always think of generations at Hope lasting for four years, the time it takes for most of the student body to turn over completely. If that’s so, then I’m an artifact from an era long past, akin, perhaps, to having lived from the American Revolution to the present day. In any case, having graduated a decade before more than half of the college’s current students were even born, my frame of reference is clearly from an earlier epoch.

A Place Ever-Changing…

In some ways, particularly in terms of the physical plant, the college has changed immensely in that time. Where students “back in my day” talked of going to Peale or listened to the clatter of the photocopier from the open mezzanine of Van Zoeren Library, students today know the A. Paul Schaap Science Center (although they sometimes are still going to Peale, whether they realize it or not), and visit Van Zoeren as an office and classroom building. Long since, they’ve attended only a Hope graced with the Richard and Helen DeVos Fieldhouse and Martha Miller Center for Global Communication. For some, it already seems as if the Jack H. Miller Center for Musical Arts has always been there; Nykerk Hall, now replaced by the magnificent new Jim and Martie Bultman Student Center, lives on only in legend and in the memory of those who experienced it.

At left during the 1984-85 school year is the main floor of Van Zoeren Library (Van Wylen Library was just four years away). At right is the Jack H. Miller Center for Musical Arts during 2015-16 (the site formerly held a park and tennis courts/a skateboard park).

Then there’s student life. Completing term papers on a typewriter or (wonder of wonders!) the college’s Vax terminals? Now it’s laptops and wireless. Records and CDs? Now it’s iTunes and the like (unless in that I’m already out-of-date…). During my time as an undergraduate, every residence-hall room, cottage floor or apartment had a phone. By the time my son was a freshman in 2012, the college had removed the phones from the residence-hall rooms because students had their own. In the 1960s, Chapel was packed because it was mandatory. When I was at Hope it was less heavily attended (although very meaningful to those who went). Now it’s filled to standing-room-only by students who choose to be there. Yes, we had the Pull and Nykerk and Christmas Vespers, but Dance Marathon — itself legitimately a tradition at 18 annual installments and counting — wasn’t yet even a dream. When I was a student, downtown had a lot to offer but it wasn’t necessarily a mid-day destination. Today, students comfortably study and chat while enjoying multiple coffee shops’ sidewalk seating.

At left are hardwired Vax workstations circa 1984-85, truly things of wonder when the author was a student (no more completely retyping papers with EVERY DRAFT!). Today’s ubiquitous laptop computers allow students to work anywhere.

Ever-Changing, and Yet the Same…

So, that’s all part of the strangeness of hanging around like some sort of enduring sentinel, as the Hope of my undergraduate memory is ever morphing before my eyes. But, that transformation — and what doesn’t change — is also part of the wondrousness and the privilege in it, providing an opportunity to experience Hope as a continuum and to witness the on-going Hope story.

Sure, there have been tremendous changes in the past 30 years — and, indeed, in the past 151 — but the development of campus is what helps Hope serve new generations well (imagine if the Van Wylen Library, A. Paul Schaap Science Center or any number of other facilities had never been built). Of course as society, technology and the world change, students’ interests, experiences and needs reflect those changes, and Hope’s programs evolve to continue to best prepare the college’s graduates. In a way, the changes help enable Hope to be equivalent for new generations to what it was for those who attended before.

The March 17, 1986, groundbreaking for the Van Wylen Library, looking west toward Van Zoeren Hall. Pictured from left to right are Dr. Margaret and President Dr. Gordon Van Wylen with library director David Jensen (now retired).

There’s also constancy. Some of that’s due to enduring landmarks that we all have in common, like the Pine Grove and Van Vleck and Voorhees halls, and the traditions that serve as mileposts for each of us across the academic year. Some of it is because Hope remains, ever, committed to educating “students for lives of leadership and service in a global society through academic and co-curricular programs of recognized excellence in the liberal arts and in the context of the historic Christian faith.” Especially, though, it’s owed to the people who make the place what it is — and not only because some of the faculty have been here 35 years or more. As I’ve spoken with current students and recent and longer-ago graduates, all praise the faculty and staff who clearly care about them and invest in them as individuals. It’s also because of the students, who in 2017 to me seem to possess some of the same qualities as their parents in 1983-87: serious about doing well, yes, but not in a cutthroat way; they’re supportive of one another at the same time, and concerned with more than self.

That ethos carries through year after year, perpetuating itself even as the faces and times change. There’s some self-selection involved in that, of course. So often through the years, students (and faculty and staff) have said something like this: “When I set foot on campus, I just knew. People I passed on the sidewalk said ‘Hello’ even though they didn’t know me.” Those who value an institution of higher education that combines academic excellence with a welcoming and supportive environment (which owes much to how Hope lives the Christian faith) tend to be drawn to the college. Crucially, those who are then in the Hope community preserve, model and inspire the character for those who follow.

May Day, 1985. Held on the last Friday before final exams, which for decades has actually been in April, the event is now called Spring Fling.

Time-Traveling…

And so, when I’m visiting Lubbers Hall and I see a faculty member and student sharing a laugh as they walk by, when I watch a professor in the Martha Miller Center for Global Communication patiently answer a question from a student who’s stopped in because the door was open, or when I overhear the students working outside my office offer to help each other in solving a problem or just bantering good naturedly, I experience echoes of the past.

And sometimes, when I’m sitting with of one of my former professors, wave while walking through the Pine Grove to a classmate who’s also on staff, or hear Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight” playing on the PA in Phelps Dining Hall, it doesn’t seem like it’s been all that long.

Phelps Dining Hall following the 2014 renovation: different (and better), but in important ways also the same. (Photography by GMB)

Unique Reunion Celebrates Hope Professor and the Sciences

A unique reunion on Hope’s campus highlighted faculty-student rapport that time and distance could not shake or undo. On the 50^th anniversary of his arrival at Hope College, Dr. Sheldon Wettack, a member of the Hope chemistry faculty from 1967 to 1982 who served as dean of the natural sciences for the last eight of those years, was celebrated by his former Hope research students in July.

During his 15 years at Hope, Wettack mentored 21 Hope students — self-named the Wettack Research Warriors — in his physical chemistry laboratory in both Lubbers Hall and the Peale Science Center. Upon invitation from organizers Dr. Ken Janda ’73 and Dr. Charlie Bibart ’69, thirteen of those former students returned for the reunion on campus, a few for the first time in decades. What they found is a college that has grown in size and stature yet with a still-strong reputation in and mission for the natural sciences.

Not coincidentally, the Wettack reunion coincided with the first annual Schaap Chemistry Symposium, with Dr. Sylvia Ceyer ’74 as the keynote speaker. Ceyer is the John C. Sheehan Professor of Chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an elected member to the renowned American Academy of the Arts and Sciences. And she was a research student in Wettack’s p-chem lab. “There is no doubt in my mind that the encouragement and guidance of Sheldon, along with the warmth of his wife Marilyn throughout my student years, were crucial ingredients to my scientific future,” praises Ceyer.

Sheldon and Marilyn were “left speechless at the idea (of the reunion). We were both flabbergasted,” he says. But for Janda and Bibart, the notion of celebrating a person who affected the career trajectories of many Hope students made perfect sense. And to do so while that person is still an active scientist and professor on campus made the event even more meaningful. “Very few faculty get to hear from their former students after 50 years about what you meant to them half a century ago,” says Wettack. “The reunion was very special in that regard.”

Though Wettack left Hope in 1982 to become art and sciences dean at the University of Richmond, then president of Wabash College, and finally vice president/dean of the faculty at Harvey Mudd College in California, he returned to the college in 2004 to teach part-time. He was invited back to “help out around the chemistry department, and I thought it was be a good way to go into retirement.” Then he laughs, fully aware that he has never abided by the full definition of that r-word. He even became the announcer for Hope’s swim meets.

For Bibart, who spent his career in the pharmaceutical industry and is now retired, the reunion was a terrific way to reconnect with his former mentor and other Hope alums, some of whom he hadn’t seen in over four decades or had never met since the returnees spanned a decade of Hope years. With great affinity and technical jargon, they reminisced about all manner of memories and methodology, including the acquisition of a gas phase photon-counting fluorescence spectrometer that needed construction in Lubbers Hall. Though Wettack was its chief constructor, he allowed his research students to work right alongside him and learn the nuances of laboratory assembly.

The gas phase photon counting fluorescence spectrometer constructed by Wettack Research Warriors in Lubbers Hall.

“Almost anyone you talk to who worked with Sheldon was impacted significantly,” says Bibart. “The recurring theme is this: As we look back, we see how much we were impacted by Hope, Hope science, and Hope science with Sheldon Wettack.”

Janda, who has remained in contact with Wettack throughout their careers, concurs. Wettack opened doors for him and others, providing opportunities that steered him, and them, toward meaningful, reputable science career experiences whether in higher education or industry or public service.

“Sheldon seemed to pick me from out of the crowd to nurture me and mentor me. He was kind and forgiving, never perturbed with a mistake,” says Janda who is the dean for the physical sciences at University of California-Irvine. “He said we had to learn by doing, so mistakes were plentiful. But his patience was limitless.”

Working with those who have youthful exuberance and enthusiasm for chemistry seems to be a Wettack forte. Before finishing his doctorate at the University of Texas-Austin in the mid-70s, he taught high school science. After completing his degree there, he came right to Hope to instill in those slightly older the hard work and love of chemistry.

Patsy Meliere ’72 Janda and Ken Janda ’73 (far left) present a check to former President John Knapp (far right) to honor Sheldon Wettack (center) and benefit the Wettack Research Fellowship.

Janda, along with his wife, Patsy Meliere ’72, also paid homage in one more way to their former mentor. They contributed a significant gift to the Wettack Research Fellowship, a fund that supports Hope students in summer research experiences. “The strength of the sciences at Hope is what drew us here in the first place, and we want to see that continue,” says Patsy of their rationale for giving the gift to the fund’s endowment.

As their time together wound down, the Wettack reunion attendees presented Sheldon and Marilyn with a commemorative book filled with pictures and epistles detailing his former students’ life trajectories and Wettack’s effects on them. Each story — 17 in all — told a tale of determination, scientific passion, and a Hope education used well.

“Marilyn and I sat together and read those pages and lots of tears came to our eyes,” Wettack says. “We were blessed by this very special time with very special people.”

WETTACK’S RESEARCH WARRIORS

James Hardy ’68, Charles Bibart ’69, James Koert ’71, Mark Rockley ’71, Charles Kan ’72, Gordon Renkes ’72, Daniel Dethmers ’73, Ken Janda ’73, Robert Klapthor ’73, Sylvia Ceyer ’74, Bill McAndrew ’74, Mary Millard Mayo ’74, Doug Sluis ’74, Doug Worsnop ’74, James Garmirian ’76, Patricia Dwyer Hallquist ’76, Dave Bartels ’77, Elizabeth Hager ’77, Richard Wood ’77, Mary Koeppe Luidens ’75, Kathleen Stratton ’78

Make a gift to support the Wettack Research Fellowship.

Hope Experts Guide Alumni and Friends Through Tanzania

Photo of Tim Laman '83 — Tim Laman ’83 takes a photo alongside guests on the recent travel program trip to Tanzania.

By Lynne Powe ’86

The jubilant “whoop” on the plains of the Serengeti isn’t the call of the African black-bellied bustard. It’s award-winning wildlife photojournalist and field biologist Dr. Tim Laman ’83 celebrating the composition of a special photo. As he reviews the images on the back of his camera, he beams with satisfaction, and a brief nod confirms he’s enjoying his time photographing the national parks of northern Tanzania.

Photo of Eldon Greij — Professor emeritus Eldon Greij leads a safari vehicle of interested birders.

In a nearby Toyota Land Cruiser, Dr. Eldon Greij, professor emeritus of biology and founder of the magazine Birder’s World, focuses his binoculars on a pair of raptors, while calling out identifying characteristics. The local driver/guide joins in. When necessary, they consult, “The Birds of East Africa,” a field guide laying on the dashboard. The energy and enthusiasm is palpable as they confirm another species to add to the checklist that evening.

Photo of Eldon Greij and Tim Laman — The former faculty and student research team takes a break in Arusha National Park as colleagues and trip co-leaders.

An African safari has been my dream trip since I was a Hope sophomore and hoping to photograph wildlife found in that part of the world. When I heard that Eldon Greij and Tim Laman were co-leading a tour with the Hope College Alumni Association, I was the first to pay my deposit. Based on their expertise, I was confident it would be an exceptional experience.

Eldon taught in the Hope College Biology Department for 26 years, specializing in ornithology and ecology. He founded Birder’s World in 1988 and edited the magazine for 11 years. During that time he led birding tours to the Amazon and Africa for readers of the magazine. He also led Hope student May terms to Peru and Tanzania.

Tim has excelled as an international wildlife photographer and videographer. A contributing photographer for National Geographic, he was named Wildlife Photographer of the Year in 2016 by the world-renowned British institution, the Natural History Museum and BBC Wildlife Magazine. More than 50,000 entries from 95 countries were submitted for this prestigious competition. He has recently been a videographer for nature documentaries produced by the BBC.

For this Hope College tour, Eldon worked with his connections at Roy Safaris in Arusha to develop an itinerary that included a balance of national park game drives and cultural experiences. Highlights included Arusha National Park, making coffee at Tengeru Village, Tarangire National Park, an afternoon learning about an Iraqw tribe, Lake Manyara National Park, Serengeti National Park, NDUTU, time with children at the Nainokanoka Primary School, Ngorongoro Conservation Area and Crater, and a visit to a Maasai Village.

Twenty-eight alumni and friends from across the United States signed up for this adventure. Our ages ranged from 23 to 83. The reasons they shared for taking this journey were as varied as our ages. Some wanted to interact with people from other cultures. Some were drawn by the allure of so many animals. Many were eager to add new species of birds to their life list. Some came for the opportunity to improve their photography skills under the mentorship of a National Geographic photographer. Some sought the thrill of the adventure of traveling to another part of the world. We all had a common desire to see and learn as much as we could during this unique opportunity.

Travel Program Group — The full group and guides celebrate a successful safari at the African Tulip in Arusha.

We had four amazing local safari guides who led the way and answered our constant questions. As we traveled the bumpy roads, they proudly taught us about their beautiful country and shared their stories. Thomas, Nico, Emmanuel, and Salvatory, knew the national parks well and easily spotted a wide variety of mammals and birds. They loved their jobs and it showed.

It was just as refreshing to see Eldon and Tim enjoying their vocation with so much enthusiasm. They freely shared their knowledge. Tim helped us develop our photography skills during the day and shared his photos at night as another way for us to learn. I was eager to absorb Tim’s photography tips, but I was equally impressed by his natural history knowledge of Africa.

With stunning landscapes and assorted wildlife around almost every corner, photo opportunities were plentiful. The click of camera shutters in our vehicles seemed to be never-ending, and we were all a little giddy when reviewing our photos. I know my photography improved with each day’s shoot.

Agama Lizard — This agama lizard earned the nickname of the Hope College lizard for his orange and blue spirit.

We saw a plethora of animals — many I had never heard of before, including the black-faced vervet, large spotted genet, rock hyrax, klipspringer, eland, Coke’s hartebeest and topi. Within a 24-hour period, we were elated to see Africa’s big five: elephant, black rhinoceros, cape buffalo, lion and leopard. We even glimpsed the orange-and-blue agama lizard which we ceremoniously dubbed the Hope College lizard. The bird list also seemed to be endless, and I think most of us became enamored with the lilac-breasted roller and the Fischer’s lovebird.

Birds — Ficher’s lovebirds and a lilac-breasted roller.

More than a month after returning home from our travels, I’m just as excited about this safari now as I was during the trip. I am thrilled that I became a better photographer during the trip, especially because these images will help me remember such a wonderful experience in vivid detail. Thanks to Eldon, Tim, and our guides, each day on the trip was educational and inspirational.

Happy Travelers — Happy travelers at the end of their adventure.

I’m thankful for the opportunity to have traveled with other Hope alumni and friends, and I’m grateful for the leadership we had. The Alumni Office staff did an amazing job of coordinating all the details before, during, and after the tour. We could fully enjoy the trip because we didn’t have to worry about all of the logistics. A special thanks to Kasey Petro and Scott Travis for making it all run so smoothly.

As we set off in early May I know there were a lot of expectations to fulfill for this group. Personally, my expectations were exceeded on the first day and every day!

Check out video highlights and photos taken by various members of the group in the galleries posted below.
You can also learn more about Tim Laman ’83 and see a collection of his work from this trip at magazine.hope.edu.
If you are interested in joining the mailing list for the travel program, please email alumni@hope.edu.

Guest Photo Highlights

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Video Highlights

Milt Nieuwsma ’63 Brings History to Life

For this blog post, Hope student Grace Glagola ’20 interviewed Hope alumnus Milton Nieuwsma ’63, co-creator of “Inventing America: Conversations with the Founders.” Hope’s Knickerbocker Theatre will show the premiere of the second episode, “Making a Government,” on June 30 at 8 p.m. Tickets are free and available in the Events and Conferences Office.

With July 4th just around the corner, we are thankful for all those who fought for this country, and for the enduring spirit of compromise that has made our country what it is today. Milton Nieuwsma ’63 takes this level of gratitude to the next level with his show, “Inventing America: Conversations with the Founders,” which stars historical figures in a talk-show environment.

Nieuwsma, an English and speech graduate of Hope College, had been stewing over the idea of a Founding Fathers-themed talk show for about five years. His inspiration for “Inventing America” originated from a PBS show from the 80s, created by Steve Allen and titled “Meeting of Minds.” The show, presented in the format of an interview, starred professional actors who portrayed historical figures. Nieuwsma had this to say about the program: “…it was one of the most creative and intelligent things I had ever seen on TV.” He knew he wanted to recreate something similar to Allen’s show, but instead as a talk show.

“Inventing America” is going onto its fifth year of development, thanks to the collaboration of minds between Nieuwsma and Chuck Furman. Furman is one of the founders of WGVU, the PBS station in Grand Rapids, and original mastermind behind the idea. Furman pitched the idea to Nieuwsma as a reboot of Allen’s show. Nieuwsma’s and Furman’s intent was to revive the program that Allen created decades prior, but they quickly ran into issues. The quality of the videos they took were less than desirable, so they reworked “Inventing America” into a talk-show format instead.

To Nieuwsma, the best part about working on “Inventing America” is the cast and crew. He calls the majority of the cast members “historians in their own right,” adding that he has learned a lot just by working with them. Nieuwsma says the director, Hope theatre professor emeritus John Tammi, was delightful to work with, along with members from Hope’s History and Theatre Departments, such as Dr. Marc Baer, Dr. Fred Johnson and Perry Landes. Nieuwsma is also eager to recognize the WGVU film crew — Phil Lane, Zach Liniewski, and everyone else who works there.

Nieuwsma also went on to praise the executive producer, fellow Hope alum Darell Schregardus ’63: “One of my great joys was working with him on this project. Without Darell, ‘Inventing America’ wouldn’t have happened. He and I are friends going back to the first grade in Bellflower, California. His dad was a dairy farmer, my dad was a preacher. Then we both moved away. We reconnected at Hope as freshmen and graduated together in 1963. We decided that working on a show together in our old age was better than wasting away on a park bench (like Morgan Freeman and Alan Arkin in ‘Going in Style,’ that is, before they robbed a bank!).”

With the 4th of July weekend right around the corner, we can learn a lesson from the historical figures who star in the second episode of “Inventing America.” Nieuwsma believes that without compromise in public debates, neither the Declaration of Independence nor the U.S. Constitution would be the living documents they are today. These documents — and individuals like Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and George Washington, who developed them — teach us about the importance of compromise, something to keep in mind over this holiday weekend. So, at that family picnic, if your little cousin grabs that last piece of watermelon, let him have it, and go enjoy a popsicle instead. Happy Fourth!

Watch it! “Making a Government,” the second episode of “Inventing America,” is also being shown on WGVU-HD on July 2, at 2 p.m. and 3 p.m., and then on WGVU-Life on July 3, at 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. It has been made available nationwide to PBS stations over the 4th of July weekend.

Engaged with Hope

Keeping up with Spencer Westley is a challenge. He wants to make the most of every opportunity Hope has to offer, and scholarships have allowed him to do just that.

Call Spencer busy. Call him focused. Call him engaged. But don’t call him overcommitted. He can, and does, balance it all — so well, in fact, that he graduated a year early. In his final year at Hope, Spencer was president of Student Congress, director for the Business Club, career advisor with the Career Development Center, former Student Ambassador and intern for the Hope Academy of Senior Professionals.

Scholarships allowed me to participate in these different activities, all of which are molding me into the young professional I hope to become after graduation.

Not surprisingly, Spencer’s career aspirations are driven by a spirit of service that Hope staff and faculty have encouraged and cultivated.

Have an impact on students like Spencer and make a gift today.

Inspired by Hope

Meet Diana Gonzalez. After visiting Hope, she knew it was where she wanted to be. It seemed like the perfect place. During her high school years, Diana’s family worried about how they would pay for college. She applied to Hope but, fearing tuition was out of reach, dismissed the possibility of attending.

Fortunately, Diana was granted an amazing financial aid package with included scholarships that changed the course of her future.

As a freshman, she joined the Phelps Scholars program, which allowed her to live with students from a broad range of cultural backgrounds. She was inspired by her fellow Phelps Scholars as well as her professors to build lifelong relationships and experiences that would serve her well.

After declaring a major in Spanish and minor in psychology and ethnic studies, Diana went on to study abroad in Spain. Looking ahead, she is planning a career in social work. She is just one of many Hope students who rely on your generosity.

Your gift to Hope makes a significant and positive impact on the students of today and tomorrow. Visit hope.edu/give for more details on supporting student scholarships.

Anysie Ishimwe Brings Hope to Global Health

Anysie Ishimwe ’16 has received a prestigious fellowship with Global Health Corps. She will be working as a partnership coordinator with Gardens for Health International in Rwanda.

“Global Health Corps is a leadership development organization focused on health equity. We are building a global community of diverse young leaders changing the face of global health.”

Through Gardens for Health, Anysie will be working with district hospitals, health centers and the government. Anysie will be organizing events and programs such as community health centers for families. She is looking forward to the opportunity to teach and follow up with families in the community. Fighting against malnutrition with programs helping mothers with malnourished children, Gardens for Health provides a malnourished child what they need to maintain normal weight. For example, they provide seeds to mothers to start their own garden, equip families with the knowledge of what a balanced meal looks like and share instructions for cooking from their own garden.

In a sense Anysie is returning to her roots. Her family lives in Kigali, the capital city of Rwanda, where her dad works for Youth for Christ. Her three siblings are there as well. For the year she will be living with a co-fellow from Washington, D.C. in the fellows house.

She adds, “I want to immerse myself in the Rwandan community. I’ve been there as a child and as a student, I want to be there was a graduate actively thinking about what can I do? It’s eye-opening, to see what is really happening. I’m going to learn a lot, I want to contribute in any way that I can. I want to get to know people and network with people who are already doing the work that I aspire to do one day.”

At Hope, Anysie had the chance to do many things outside the classroom. She says “the classroom was amazing with so many wonderful professors, but I also had the opportunity to go on Immersion Trips, to study abroad in Switzerland, to go back to Rwanda on May Term twice.” She appreciates the relationships at Hope and how professors continue to go above and beyond. “I didn’t expect them to care so much about me even after graduation,” she adds.

“I’m taking Hope with me wherever I go. I’m training myself to think globally, to be competent in any environment. I am open to see what the future brings.”

18th Annual Bob DeYoung Hope Classic Golf Outing

Join us at the Ravines Golf Club on Monday, June 12, 2017 for the 18th Annual Bob DeYoung Hope Classic Golf Outing.

Golfers of all ages and skill levels are welcome at this 18-hole scramble with foursome play. There is limited space at this popular event and tee times are assigned on a first-come first-served basis.

Sign up as a single, with a friend, or as a foursome by downloading the form at hope.edu/alumni/golf or by calling 616.395.7250.

Two ways to play. Cost is $130 per person.

7:00 am Registration & Breakfast
7:45 am Early Bird Shotgun Start
12:00 pm Lunch
12:00 pm Registration & Lunch
1:30 pm Afternoon Shotgun Start

Thanks to our underwriters and golfers, proceeds from this outing have supported the Bob and Marcia DeYoung Scholarship Fund since 2007.

If you are interested in offering financial assistance to students studying at Hope, you may make a contribution on the registration form or contact Tricia Cranmer at cranmer@hope.edu.

Thank You!

Many of you participated in Scholarship Day of Giving and we are grateful for your support. Thanks to you, we raised more than $162,000 — all for student scholarships through the Hope Fund. The number of gifts and the total raised both exceeded last year’s day of giving.

On behalf of the Hope College community, and especially our students, thank you for your generosity!

Your support brings Hope’s mission to life for countless accomplished students, making a Hope education accessible for many who might otherwise deem it impossible.

Unlock $25,000 for Scholarships at 700 Donors

Scholarship Day of Giving is now over halfway to our overall goal. We were close to our goal of 500 donors by 5 pm, but came up just short. Help us reach the next goal of 700 gifts and an additional $25,000 will be unlocked and added to today’s total thanks to another generous group of challenge donors.

How can you help?

1) If you haven’t already, make a gift at hope.edu/give2hope.

2) Spread the word on social media and email using #give2hope.

To make your gift by phone, please call 616.395.6006. The students will be in the Outreach Center until 10 p.m. EDT.

Looking for a quick and easy way to help? Forward this update to a group of friends!

A Place Ever-Changing…

Ever-Changing, and Yet the Same…

Time-Traveling…

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