A Legacy Coffee: Kuyper Welcomes Former Faculty Members to Campus

The Kuyper community was excited to welcome a group of familiar faces back to campus when several emeriti faculty and staff members returned for a visit in late October. 

Included in the group were former professors Dr. Doug Felch, Dr. George Kroeze, Dr. Lyle Bierma and Dr. Dick Hartell; longtime Director of Library Services, Diane Zandbergen; Michelle Norquist, who began as Assistant Director of Library Services before becoming Director herself; Dr. Mel Flikkema, former Provost; and emeritus President, Dr. Nick Kroeze. 

The visit, said current Kuyper President Patricia Harris, had been in the works for some time.

“This came up this past spring, after getting in touch with a few former faculty members who wanted to meet with some of their former colleagues, so we made it happen,” she said.

She added that it was both a chance for old friends to share memories over cups of coffee and an opportunity for the Kuyper community to reflect on the legacy they left behind.

“Together, they represent well over 100 years of service to the College, and that’s a really remarkable thing,” she emphasized. 

Dr. Flikkema, who, along with Dr. Bierma, spearheaded the organization of the gathering, agrees.

Standing in the Vos Chapel after attending one of the twice-weekly services held there for the Kuyper community, he recalled being at the College during the 1990s and early 2000s.

“Kuyper was going through some pretty significant transitions then, with the name changing from Reformed Bible College to Kuyper College as well as creating lots of new programming,” he noted. 

Gesturing toward the Divine Servant statue that now rests outside, just behind the chapel, he indicated that he and his colleagues are proud to have helped shepherd Kuyper through that time into what it has become today.

“That statue right there sums up what this place is. It’s all about service,” he said.

Though more exciting things are surely in store for Kuyper in the future, Harris says, the visiting faculty show that the driving force behind everything done at the College remains the same.

“Words may change, but the heart of what we are and what we continue to do is constant,” she said. “What they really show is that our mission that was set 85 years ago is a mission that continues to endure.”