ALUMNI WEEKEND
Distinguished Alumni Banquet
Alumni Weekend will be held in combination with Parents Weekend October 18 and 19, 2013. The information below is from last year's event. We will update the information once it is available.
Come out to hear and honor the 2012 Distinguished Alumni honorees on Friday, September 28, at 6 p.m. in the De Yager Activity Center. Tickets to the banquet are free and can be obtained by calling (712) 722-6028, or by emailing wes.fopma@dordt.edu.
This Year's Distinguished Alumni
Gail (Stockmeier) Jansen ('74)
Jansen recived her Bachelor of Arts in history from Dordt College in 1974. She was a county and city prosecutor from 1977 to 1980, and has been in private practice since then with a focus on family law, probate, and adoption. She is also a past member and president of the Dordt College Board of Trustees.
Jansen believes her education at Dordt College gave her the understanding that every area of human endeavor is created by God for his glory. “At Dordt I came to understand that obedience to Christ required me to figure out what obedience would look like as an attorney. I reflected on what Scripture taught about justice, equity, peace, reconciliation, truth, and righteousness. I have attempted to implement these principles as an attorney.”
Dr. Mark Link ('82)
Link received his Bachelor of Arts from Dordt College in chemistry in 1982 and earned many post-graduate degrees between 1986 and 1997 from Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center and New England Medical Center. He is an electrophysiologist at Tufts New England Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts, where he installs pace makers. Link has also done research regarding the sudden death of children when playing baseball or other sports. He speaks at heart conferences nationally and internationally, and through his work has helped discover more about how God has created us.
Keeping a personal and caring attitude toward patients in the midst of a technology-driven world is what is most important for Link. He believes that “what Dordt, the Christian Reformed Church, my parents and the broader CRC community have taught me is that the whole person, mind and spirit, is important and deserving of my attention and compassion.”
Katie Haan ('65)
Daughter of Deb and B.J. Haan, Katie Haan attended the University of South Dakota and received her M.A. in 1981 after receiving her Bachelor of Arts in elementary education at Dordt College in 1965. She served as an educator for 45 years, traveling the world and even spending a year in Liberia serving as a teacher to missionary children. Haan has overseen more than 30 student-teachers and has served her church as children’s worship leader, choir member, education committee member, and organizer of the Friendship group. She also started the Grow project in Sioux Center Christian School, challenging her students to discover ways to make a small amount of money grow and then giving it to needy countries. Over the years she has helped students raise thousands of dollars.
Haan is a vocal supporter of Dordt and an avid fan of all that Dordt does, including music programs and sports. “Dordt College prepared me to fulfill my calling as a teacher. I was challenged to see students as image bearers of God with a calling to be active members of the kingdom. I also sought to help my students understand that the “The Earth is the Lord’s and everything in it; the world and all who live in it” (Psalm 24:1).
