The 31-member Calvin College Board of Trustees concluded its spring meetings May 19 on the school's campus in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The spring meeting is one of three annual sessions for the Calvin Board. The Board also meets annually in October and February. 
The May meeting coincides each year with Calvin's Commencement ceremonies, scheduled this year for Saturday, May 20 at 3 p.m. in the Calvin Fieldhouse. 
The Board participates in Commencement and this year will be part of a ceremony that includes the presentation of bachelor's degrees to 850 graduates (about 500 women and 350 men), the 80th such conferring of four-year degrees in Calvin's 125-year history. In fact, Calvin awarded its first bachelor's degrees in 1921 to a senior class of eight men. 
The Board also will listen to 2000 Commencement speaker Dr. Alvin Plantinga, a renowned Christian philosopher who is a professor at Notre Dame, a former Calvin professor and a 1954 graduate of Calvin. He will speak on the importance and necessity of Christian scholarship. 
And the Board will witness the presentation of Calvin's highest alumni honor -- the Distinguished Alumni Award -- to James Haveman of Grand Rapids and Elmer Yazzie of Rehoboth, New Mexico. Haveman is Director of the Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH). Elmer Yazzie has for 25 years been a teacher at Rehoboth Christian School in Rehoboth, New Mexico. 
In business prior to Commencement the Board ratified the reappointments of Corwin Smidt as Paul B. Henry Chair in Christianity and Politics, Dean Ward as Director of the Writing Program, John Witvliet as Director of the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship and Marv Zuidema as Director of Men's Athletics. It also recognized a trio of retirees -- Warren Boer, director of the Broene Counseling Center; Beverly Klooster, professor of biology; and James Lamse, professor of Germanic Languages -- to whom it conferred emeritus status. 
And it celebrated six professors -- Thomas Hoeksema, James Penning, LeRoy Stegink, John Tiemstra, Peter Tigchelaar and Glenn Weaver -- each of whom is marking 25 years of service to Calvin. In other academic business the Calvin Board of Trustees ratified the awarding of 12 Calvin Research Fellowships. These Fellowships cover a variety of academic terrain, from professor of English Gary Schmidt's research on 18th and 19th century captivity narratives to professor of political science James Penning's work on term limits. The Board also approved a preliminary budget for 2000-2001 of approximately $57 million. 
Internal business saw the election of Board officers for 2000-2001. Milt Kuyers, a Milwaukee area businessman, will stay on as Board chair; Charles DeRidder, pastor of Shalom CRC in Sioux Falls, S.D. will be vice chair; and Ed Blankespoor, pastor of Beckwith Hills CRC will remain secretary. The Board also bid farewell to three retiring members: Jason Chen, Miriam Schaafsma and Jan Veenstra. 
And it approved the appointments of two new trustees: Orin Gelderloos, a 1961 Calvin graduate who is a professor of environmental studies at the University of Michigan at Dearborn; and Noberto Wolf, a 1964 Calvin graduate who is regional director of race relations for the CRC in Southern California. Calvin's Board of Trustees next will meet in October 2000 for an off-campus retreat.