In June, Calvin president Michael Le Roy highlighted the great achievements of faculty and staff. His cabinet then awarded individual honors. All award winners were nominated by their peers.
Michael Van Denend, who recently retired from the college, received the William Spoelhof Mission Award. It recognizes a staff member who lives out the college’s mission in their work, following the example of former president William Spoelhof.
Van Denend served his alma mater for 35 years, all but two of those years as the director of alumni relations. He served as the chief liaison for many of the college’s nearly 65,000 alumni. Said one nominator: “Mike has consistently communicated the mission of Calvin to alumni all over the globe. For more than 30 years he has not only communicated this message through his own actions of thinking deeply, acting justly and living wholeheartedly, but he has celebrated it in the lives of alumni and students.”
Other awards given to staff members included Diversity and Inclusion, Creativity and Innovation, Unsung Hero and Team Spirit.
See calvin.edu/go/staffawards2017 for winners.
