Hope College's 136th Commencement ceremony will be held on Sunday, May 6, and nearly 600 seniors will be participating.
Hope College's 136th Commencement ceremony will be held on Sunday, May 6, and nearly 600 seniors will be participating.
The Commencement speaker, chosen by the graduating class, will be Maura M. Reynolds, who is director of advising and associate professor of Latin at Hope. Her address will be "Survivor."
The Baccalaureate address will be delivered by Dr. Jacob E. Nyenhuis, who is provost and professor of classics at Hope. He will present "Let Your Life Speak."
Hope will present three honorary degrees during the ceremony. Leonard and Marjorie Maas of Grandville, active in the life of the college for many years, will each receive the Doctor of Humane Letters (L.H.D.). Nyenhuis, who is retiring at the end of the year after 26 years at Hope, will receive the Doctor of Letters (Litt.D.).
Commencement will be held on Sunday, May 6, at 3 p.m. in Holland Municipal Stadium. Baccalaureate will be held on Sunday, May 6, at 9:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. in Dimnent Memorial Chapel.
Reynolds joined the college in 1974 as director of the Academic Support Center, a position she held for four years, also teaching introductory expository writing. She began teaching Latin at Hope in 1980.
She was appointed director of advising in 1988. She also served as coordinator for pilot sections of Hope's "First-Year Seminar" program. She delivered the college's Opening Convocation address in August of 1998.
Reynolds has helped plan and implement New Student Orientation at Hope since 1987. Since 1989, she has been a member of the staff of the college's Teaching Enhancement Workshop, which is geared toward faculty members about to begin their first year at Hope.
She has made several presentations at professional conferences, discussing advising and teaching, including during multiple years at the National Academic Advising Association National Conference and the American Classical League Conference.
Reynolds holds bachelor's and master's degrees in Latin from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Prior to coming to Hope, she had taught Latin at West Ottawa High School and at Thornton Township High School in Harvey, Ill.
Nyenhuis joined the Hope faculty in 1975 as dean for humanities. He was appointed dean for arts and humanities in 1978, and was appointed provost in 1984.
Internationally recognized as an expert on the Greek myth of Daedalus, he served as a consultant to the successful 1988 recreation of the legendary inventor's 74-mile flight across the Aegean Sea. His book "Myth and the Creative Process: Michael Ayrton and the Myth of Daedalus, the Maze Maker," will be published in 2002.
Nyenhuis co-authored the textbook "Latin Via Ovid" and editions of "Plautus: Amphitruo" and "Petronius: Cena Trimalchionis." He led the effort to have the statue of the Rev. A.C. Van Raalte, founder of Holland and Hope, cast and installed in Centennial Park in conjunction with the city's 1997 sesquicentennial, and co-authored a book about the project.
He is past chair of the Michigan Council for the Humanities, and past president of the National Federation of State Humanities Councils. He is also past chair of the Deans' Council of the Great Lakes Colleges Association (GLCA).
Prior to joining the Hope faculty, he taught at Wayne State University from 1962 to 1975. He has also held several visiting professorships.
Nyenhuis holds his bachelor's degree from Calvin College, and his master's and doctorate from Stanford University.
In recognition to his commitment to the ideals of a liberal arts education, Hope's chapter of Phi Beta Kappa will induct him as an honorary member during the group's initiation ceremony on Sunday, April 22. In addition, Hope's Alumni Association will present him with a Meritorious Service Award during the annual Alumni Banquet on Saturday, May 5.
In the event of rain, Commencement will be held at the Holland Civic Center. Admission to Baccalaureate, and to Commencement if indoors, is by ticket only.