Hope College will host its 72nd annual Nykerk Cup competition on Saturday, Nov. 4, at 8 p.m. at the Holland Civic Center, located at 150 W. Eighth St.
The event, one of a variety of activities scheduled during the college's Parents' Weekend, will feature more than 200 members of the freshman and sophomore classes competing in song, plays and oration. The participating classes this year are the freshman Class of '10 and the sophomore Class of '09.
The public is invited. Admission is free.
The competition, first held on March 16, 1936, is named in honor of the originator of the program, John Nykerk, a professor, college dean and founder of the Hope College department of music. The event is continuously staged before a large audience.
The planners are making arrangements to have the competition carried live on local cable channel 15.
The freshman play will be "Back to the Future," written and coached by
juniors Erika Oglesby of Castro Valley, Calif., and Calista Peterson of Hudsonville.
The freshman play morale coaches are juniors Andrew Denniger of Winfield, Ill., Andrew Liang of Holland, and Brian Eisinger of Grand Blanc.
The freshman song will be "Our Favorite Things." The freshman song will be coached
by juniors Chelsea Stephenson of Salt Lake City, Utah, and Lauren Stacks of Concord.
The freshman song morale coaches are juniors Jon Oegema of Lawton, and Kyle Clarkson
of Midland.
The sophomore play is "Knightmare on 9th Street," written and coached by seniors Lauren
Grumm of Grand Rapids and Jennifer Stults of Wyoming. The sophomore
play morale coaches are seniors Adam Carpenter of Auburn Hills, Matt Dannenberg of
Zeeland and Josh Payne of New Baltimore.
The sophomore song will be "Happily Ever After." The sophomore song
will be coached by seniors Ana Frikker of Troy and Kristen Greshel of Trenton.
The sophomore song morale coaches are seniors Matthew Boote of Deerfield, Ill.,
Billy Statema of Zeeland and Daniel Wizner of Hemlock.
This year's oration theme is "Letters to the World." The freshman orator will be Laura Kay Stritzke of Granville, Ohio, whose speech is titled "We Are the World." She is coached by junior Courtney Vredevoogd of Hudsonville. The sophomore orator will be Ayannah Abiade of Kalamazoo, whose speech is titled "Proceed at Your Own Risk." She is coached by seniors Lara Wagner of Northville and Deborah O'Connell of Wyckoff, N.J.
The general chair of Nykerk is senior Laura Johnson of Grand Rapids, and
general chair-elect is junior Kelsey Hinkle of Cadillac. The senior treasurer is Anna
Marshall of Levering, and the junior treasurer is Heidi Snyder of Flushing. The senior
publicity chair is Katy Eagen of Highland Park, Ill., and the junior publicity chair
is Claudia Klimkowski of Carmel, Ind. Senior Becky Kolak of Des Plaines, Ill., and
junior Abby DeVuyst of Webster, N.Y. are the production coordinators. The secretary
is junior Jessica Krassow of Niles.
The weekend will feature a variety of other performances and presentations in addition to the Nykerk Cup competition.
The gallery of the De Pree Art Center is featuring "La Vida Brinca," an exhibition of pinhole photographs by Bill Wittliff from the Wittliff Gallery of Southwestern and Mexican Photography at Texas State University, San Marcos, through Friday, Nov. 17. The De Pree Art Center is located on Columbia Avenue at 12th Street. The gallery is open Mondays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free.
The men's and women's swimming program will host Kalamazoo College on Friday, Nov. 3, at 6 p.m. and Carthage on Saturday, Nov. 4, at 1 p.m. Both meets will take place in Kresge Natatorium of the college's Dow Center, located on 13th Street at Columbia Avenue. Admission is free.
The college's Wind Symphony will perform on Friday, Nov. 3, at 7:30 p.m. in Dimnent Memorial Chapel, located on College Avenue at 12th Street. Admission is free.
A senior voice recital will be presented on Saturday, Nov. 4, at 2 p.m. by Jeff Brown of Colts Neck, N.J., and Kristin Stoops of Walworth, N.Y. in Wichers Auditorium of Nykerk Hall of Music, located in the central Hope campus along the former 12th Street between College and Columbia avenues. Admission is free.
A junior piano recital will be presented on Saturday, Nov. 4, at 6 p.m. by Sam Adams of Fort Wayne, Ind., in Dimnent Memorial Chapel. Admission is free.
The three-day Parents' Weekend, running Friday-Sunday, Nov. 3-5, will also feature activities geared toward parents of current students specifically, including a variety of open classes and discussion sessions focused on various aspects of college life.