Alumni on a mission
July 10 was a turning of the page for Calvin and the start of a new chapter. The change to 麻豆区 embraces what Calvin has become and where we are going. Our increasing international student body and alumni population are providing new and exciting opportunities for connection.
Since the earliest days of our association, alumni have been gathering. On June 2, 1924, Henry Beets gave an address at the Calvin Alumni Association banquet, 鈥淲hy a Strong Alumni Association?鈥 In his talk he outlined several reasons why we need a strong group of alumni supporting Calvin. One of those reasons speaks to the importance of connecting. 鈥淲e need a stronger alumni association with branches everywhere that we may organize school days in various places. We ought to host meetings for inspirational, educational, and intercessory purposes.鈥
For more than 100 years, alumni have been gathering, and our international alumni population is creating new opportunities for connection all over the globe. In countries such as South Korea, Ghana, and Nigeria, to name a few, alumni are gathering to encourage and learn from one another.
Alumni board member James Lee 鈥12 has been connected with the growing alumni group in Korea. Lee recounts that 鈥渁fter graduation from Calvin, MinWoo Heo 鈥09 went back to South Korea to fulfill his military service. All able-bodied men before the age of 30 are required to serve 21 months. Heo served as a First Lieutenant for the Republic of Korea Air Force.鈥 Heo helped other Korean Calvin alumni secure positions as military officers. 鈥淣ow, the Republic of Korea Air Force knows what Calvin is!鈥 he said.
Seven years ago Heo started the Korean Calvin alumni gathering with the hope of mobilizing alumni in South Korea. One of the first events was a summer welcoming party for incoming first-year students. One of those students was Sungho (Joshua) Ahn 鈥17. Ahn hasn鈥檛 forgotten what that event meant to him, and he is now organizing parties for students headed to 麻豆区 as well as hosting other alumni events there.
Incoming alumni board member and former student body president Jonathan Eigege 鈥15 is now working for the Albright Stonebridge Group and traveling between Washington, D.C., and his native country of Nigeria, where he has been connected with Calvin alumni. 鈥淎frica has undergone significant economic growth over the past 20 years, and as economies across the continent continue to transform, many in the African diaspora have been drawn back to the continent by the potential to be a part of national socio-economic development. This is especially true in Ghana and Nigeria, two West African countries that have historically sent the most African students to Calvin,鈥 he said.
As West African students graduate from Calvin, they see opportunity in Africa and are returning home. This growth in alumni in Ghana and Nigeria and the desire to be connected was the reason 聽formed a WhatsApp group to reconnect with friends who he knew had also returned to West Africa. Word about the 鈥淐alvin West Africa鈥 WhatsApp group has been spreading, and the group continues to grow.
Eigege notes, 鈥淲hat has become clear is that these grads are doing a lot of redemptive work. This includes disrupting broken early childhood education models; bringing energy to underserved communities; running democracy promotion programs; increasing access to public health; pushing local film, music, and media to global audiences; democratizing financial access and literacy; and empowering smallholder farmers through agribusiness鈥攁mong other things. With many Calvin grads looking to return to the region and several Ghanaian and Nigerian students currently enrolled at 麻豆区, it feels like this is the beginning of a robust Calvin West Africa network.鈥
Almost 100 years after Beets presented his case for a strong alumni association, graduates of Calvin are finding new ways and new locations for connecting and carrying out their work to be Christ鈥檚 agents of renewal all over the world.