Newly chosen to serve on the board are the Rev. David M. Bast '73 of Grand Rapids, Mich.; Dr. G. Oliver Patterson of Queens Village, N.Y.; and Cheri DeVos '82 Vander Weide of Windermere, Fla. Rev. Bast and Vander Weide have been appointed to four-year terms, and Dr. Patterson to a three-year term.

Those re-elected to four-year terms are: Joel G. Bouwens '74 of Zeeland, Mich.; Dr. Douglas A. Edema '73 of Grand Rapids, Mich.; and William H. Waldorf of Brookville, N.Y.

Retiring from the board is the Rev. Louis E. Lotz '72 of Jenison, Mich.

J. Kermit Campbell of Traverse City, Mich., continues to chair the board. Joel G. Bouwens continues to serve as vice chair, and Lynne Walchenbach '73 Hendricks of Grandville, Mich., continues to serve as secretary.

Rev. David M. Bast has been broadcast minister and president of Words of Hope since 1994. Words of Hope broadcasts gospel radio programs in approximately 40 languages worldwide, especially among the world's least-evangelized, hardest-to-reach peoples. As part of his work with the radio ministry, Rev. Bast preaches frequently in churches and conferences, representing Words of Hope across the Reformed Church in America and around the world.

Prior to joining Words of Hope, he held pastorates at Hamilton (Mich.) Reformed Church; First Reformed Church of South Holland, Ill.; and Fifth Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Mich. He completed his M.Div. at Western Theological Seminary in 1976.

His father was the Rev. Henry Bast '30, who taught at Hope and at Western Theological Seminary, and who preached on the Temple Time radio program -- predecessor of Words of Hope -- from 1952 to 1972.

Rev. Bast and his wife, Betty Jo Viel '73, have four children: Andrew, Peter, Jane '03 and Anne.

Dr. G. Oliver Patterson is a professor of literacy education at New York University in the Department of Teaching and Learning. He is principal investigator of the Revson Fellows program that supports the retention and development of beginning teachers. In February he was the featured speaker at Hope in conjunction with the college's celebration of Black History Month.

Before joining the faculty of NYU, Dr. Patterson was a member of the faculty of The City College, CUNY, from 1972 to 2000. While there he was on the Board for the Center for Distance Education, the Board of the Institute on the African Diaspora in the Americas and the Caribbean, and the Board of Review for CUNY's doctoral program in education.

Dr. Patterson is co-moderator of the Reformed Church in America's Commission on Race and Ethnicity, and is past president of the RCA's African-American Council.

His books include Learning from Textbooks, Strategies for Reading and Hand-in-Hand: Helping Children Celebrate Diversity.

He and his wife, Irma, have three children: Michelle, George and Vanessa.

Cheri DeVos Vander Weide is a member of the Board of Directors of Alticor Inc., parent company of Amway Corp. After graduating from Hope, she took a job as a Project Specialist for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C. She returned to West Michigan and joined the family business, Amway Corporation. She served in a variety of capacities with the company, including Director of Marketing-Health and Beauty, and Vice President of Corporate Affairs.

She moved to Orlando after the DeVos family purchased the NBA's Orlando Magic in 1991 and her husband, Bob Vander Weide, became a vice president with the organization. Her husband is currently President and CEO of RDV Sports, which includes the Magic, the WNBA's Orlando Miracle and the RDV Sportsplex. Cheri served for eight years as the Chair of RDV Sports Team Charities, which fundraises and distributes grants to the Central Florida community. She continues to serve as a member of that board.

Vander Weide's activities include serving on the Boards of RDV Corporation and RDV Sports. She also chairs the DeVos Children's Hospital Committee.

She and her husband have four children: Hannah, Katie, Benjamin and Jessa.  

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