Alumni eNews

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Professor Cella Bosma remembered

Marcella Bosma, a professor of education at Dordt College, died Sunday evening, March 29, at the Dougherty Hospice House in Sioux Falls. Professor Bosma had been courageously fighting a battle with cancer for two years.

A Dordt campus memorial service was held on Friday, April 3, in the B.J. Haan Auditorium.

To read more about Professor Bosma's life and work in Christian education or to view the recorded campus memorial service, click here.

Also in this issue . . .

Students Show Research at Conference

IdeaFest Displays Variety of Work

Katie Haan Hangs Up her Hat

Darrell Ulferts Named AD of the Year

Five Marathons in Eight Months

11 PLIA Teams Serve over Continent

Students present at national conference

Six Dordt College students presented research at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR), after having their abstracts accepted for this honor. The NCUR conference took place April 16-18 at the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse.

Dr. Carl Fictorie, who accompanied the students, said the conference benefits students both by placing them in a professional setting and exposing them to work from a wide range of disciplines and perspectives.

For more information click here.

IdeaFest 2009 held on campus

IdeaFest 2009 took place at the Dordt College Campus Center Thursday, April 30, with 60 students doing oral presentations and/or PowerPoint shows, and 17 others contributing poster displays.

Ideafest is an event at which students in a wide variety of majors present their research. It showcases to the campus and surrounding community the exciting research being conducted by Dordt students.

Photos from the event are found here.

Haan to retire from teaching

At the end of the present school year, Katie Haan will be retiring from the classroom. She has taught for 45 years, 38 of which were at Sioux Center Christian.

Haan is the oldest daughter of the late Bernard and Deborah Haan, who were instrumental in Christian education in Sioux Center and the founding of Dordt College. She was in seventh grade when Dordt College opened its doors for the first time with her father as its first president.

She attended Dordt College as a member of the last two-year graduating class, and returned to be in the first four-year graduating class in 1965. After two years of teaching in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, she returned to Sioux Center, where she taught fourth, fifth, and sixth grades. Haan has also stayed closely connected to Dordt College and its education department. She has had 38 student teachers, one every year she's taught.

A feature story by Kirbee Nykamp for the Sioux Center News is posted here.

Darrel Ulferts named 2009 Minnesota athletic administrator of the year

Darrel Ulferts, Dordt Class of '72, was recently named the Minnesota Class A athletic administrator of the year. Ulferts is the activities director and vice-principal at Southwest Christian High School in Edgerton, Minnesota. He earned his degree in physical education at Dordt in 1972, then earned an MA in health, physical education, and recreation at Winona State University. Ulferts has been at Southwest Christian for 36 years, and has been activities administrator for the past 23 years. He was selected athletic administrator of the year by a committee of his peers.

Dordt College alumnus conquers world's top distance races

Howard Van Mersbergen, Dordt Class of '80, is trying to complete five marathons within an eight-month span as part of the prestigious World Marathon Majors Series. It is a stretch that challenges world-class distance runners for a shot at $500,000 through a two-year points system as they try to conquer the Berlin, Chicago, New York, Boston, and London marathons.

His latest accomplishment was the Boston Marathon in a time of 3:29:16.

Van Mersbergen, Hudsonville, Michigan, is the vice president for employee benefits at Christian Schools International in Grand Rapids. A native of Pella, Iowa, he never considered himself to be athletic in school or during his college years, but got into running because his wife (Myra) wanted to become a runner and kept asking him to join her. Ten years later, Van Mersbergen has run in nine marathons.

See a feature story which ran in the Grand Rapids Press here.

100 Dordt students serve on PLIA mission teams across North America

This year during spring break at Dordt College, 100 students chose to serve on 11 PLIA (Putting Love Into Action) teams with the college's student-run mission outreach program. This year's sites included Atlanta, GA; Birmingham, AL; Camden, NJ; Cary, MS; Chicago, IL; Denver, CO; Inez, KY; Jackson and Mendenhall, MS; Shiprock, NM; and Toronto,ON, Canada. The PLIA trips took place March 12-21.

For a closer look at these projects click here.

Alumni and friends events

Summer Alumni Events Planned

July 25, 2009 in Seattle, WA - Dordt alumni get-together at a Seattle Mariners vs. Cleveland Indians baseball game.

August 8, 2009 in Denver, CO - Dordt alumni get together at a Colorado Rockies vs. Chicago Cubs baseball game.

August 15, 2009 in Minneapolis, MN - Dordt alumni get together at a Minnesota Twins vs. Cleveland Indians game.

August 16, 2009 in Manhattan, MT - Sendoff for Dordt students heading to school. Potluck dinner, games, and a chance to visit with President Zylstra.

For more information on these and other alumni events, click here or contact Wes Fopma.

See you this summer at an event near you!

Commencement

The 2009 Dordt College Commencement Ceremony will take place on Friday, May 8, at 10:00 a.m. in the B.J. Haan Auditorium. The ceremony will available via webcast on the Dordt College commencement information page.

Where are Our Alumni Now?

We love hearing what our alumni are doing with their Dordt College education. If you or an alumni you know is doing something interesting or is putting that reformed world and life view to work in a unique or compelling way, we'd like to know about it.

We need to compile several alumni profiles that give us a diverse mix of majors, career paths, and locations to choose from. Perhaps we can use your story to help a prospective student who is considering Dordt College or a professor may be able to use your insights in the classroom. This is a great way for you to reconnect in a meaningful way with your alma mater.

Our alumni are our most valuable asset, please consider submitting a name--yourself (don't be shy!) or someone you know--and some background information (grad year, major, current job, etc.) if known. Please send your suggestions to alumni@dordt.edu. Your help and input is always appreciated.

Job Openings

To check out current employment opportunities at Dordt College, click here.

Also, please contact us if you or someone you know would be a good match for one of our available positions. We appreciate your tips and recommendations of great candidates who could serve with us at Dordt.

Photo Album

Interested in seeing what's happening on campus? Check out the Dordt College Photo Album for recent photos of classroom building construction, Ag Day, athletic and music events, and much more. Pictures are added weekly, so bookmark it and check back often.

Alumni Notes

Please remember to include information about yourself when sending in birth announcements for the Voice. Your classmates like to hear what you've been doing. Send us an e-mail at alumni@dordt.edu.

The most recent Voice

Connect with other Alumni

This is the place to connect and network with other Dordt College alumni. The directory is available only to Dordt College alumni, who must register to gain access to contact information for other Dordt alumni. Those who register can update their own profiles and hide any information they do not want listed. The directory has a simple search function and an advanced search function, allowing you to search for other alumni, based on various criteria. For more information contact the alumni office at 712-722-6022 or email: alumni@dordt.edu.