Author: News from Hope College

Making Music with a Mission

As the world grappled with the intensifying COVID-19 health crisis last spring, there were those in the U.S. who began referring to the plague disparagingly as “the China virus” and the “kung flu.” Concurrently, according to Time magazine, the STOP AAPI HATE center founded by the Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council has received more… Continue Reading →

Bringing Back the Birds

Each year, we in more northern climes appreciate when various bird species return to our regions on the fresh wisps of spring. In fact, we eagerly anticipate their arrival with high seasonal acuity. After our muted long-winter life, “Hey, I saw my first robin today!” is as much a rite of spring as spotting college… Continue Reading →

Playing Toward the COVID Endgame

Just two months into 2021, a year that rang in with oxymoronic anxious optimism, heavy reality struck the Hope College athletics program with the force of a 500-pound barbell dropped from 1,000 feet. One of the longest-standing, tradition-laden staples in Hope athletics’ diet was removed from a limited menu of competitive offerings on its plate.… Continue Reading →

Outstanding Ensemble

Nineteen longtime members of the faculty are retiring this year. How to celebrate 19 tenures totaling 600+ years? It starts here, with these winsome portraits. But then, please, visit the college online for photographs and biographical sketches. And most of all, if you get a chance, say to them, as we do here: THANK YOU!… Continue Reading →

Global Learning in the Era of COVID-19

If you want to put yourself in the shoes of a COVID-era international student, try on these scenarios from spring 2020 — the early months of the worldwide pandemic. You need a visa to fly from the Philippines to Michigan to start your freshman year at Hope College. You line up an appointment at the… Continue Reading →

Hope Mourns Death of Jennifer Hampton

1973–2021 Hope is mourning the death of Dr. Jennifer Hampton of the physics faculty, who was killed in an automobile accident in Holland on Sunday, March 14, 2021. Hampton, who was 48, was a professor of physics and department chair at Hope, where she had taught since 2007 and was a dedicated mentor of students… Continue Reading →

Quote Unquote: Kwame Alexander

Quote, unquote is an eclectic sampling of things said at and about Hope College. In conjunction with national Black History Month, Hope hosted a virtual visit with Kwame Alexander, the New York Times bestselling author whose most recent book of 35, Light for the World to See: A Thousand Words on Race and Hope, was… Continue Reading →

Remembering an Icon: Maxine DeBruyn

Retired dance professor Maxine DeBruyn’s energy was limitless and legendary, and her impact reflects it in lasting tribute even as she is mourned. DeBruyn, who pioneered the creation of the college’s nationally accredited dance department beginning in the 1960s and was active in dance education internationally for more than half a century, died on Wednesday,… Continue Reading →

Distinctive Hope: A Bridge at the Heart

Hope and its hometown have traveled together since the college’s beginning. It’s a relationship reflected by close connections and cooperation between the college and Holland communities. It’s embodied even more literally by Hope’s proximity to downtown, and particularly by the college’s Haworth Hotel. Located between 9th and 10th streets, the hostelry was envisioned as a… Continue Reading →

From the President: Matthew A. Scogin ʼ02

Dear Friends and Family of Hope College, Four years ago, about the time that I felt God calling me to apply to become president of the college, I was having dinner with a trusted friend in New York City. The ever-increasing cost of college education was on my mind. My friend, himself a proud graduate… Continue Reading →

Campus Scene

TOP-10 FINISH Hope College Formula Racing earned a top-10 finish in the Formula SAE competition held at Michigan International Speedway earlier this month. The college’s team earned 9th place overall out of the 45 teams participating in the competition, held on Wednesday-Saturday, July 7-10. Among the events that make up the score, Hope placed first… Continue Reading →

Window to Hope’s History: Timeless and Timely

Although from an earlier era, this image is timeless in the ways that matter: students enjoying one another’s company in the Pine Grove — one of the most iconic and beloved spaces on campus. The year in which it was taken, 1968, also shares a link to the present not visible: It was the last… Continue Reading →

More Than a Buzzword

Sus•tain•abil•i•ty (suh-stey-nuh-BIL-i-tee) noun 1. The ability to be sustained, supported, upheld, or confirmed. 2. One of the most overused, yet frequently misunderstood buzzwords of the 21st century. Just what exactly is “sustainability,” anyway? At Hope College, it appears the meaning is well defined: it is a coordinated, multifaceted, campus-wide effort to engage and impact the… Continue Reading →

Coffee Shop a First but also Familiar

With the addition of the Biggby Café, overnight and conference guests aren’t the only ones invited to spend time at the college’s newly renovated Haworth Hotel. Cafés operated by major regional and national chains are a staple of hotels, but it’s a new feature for the Haworth Hotel, which previously had a lightly staffed nook… Continue Reading →

Quote Unquote: Class of 2020

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Hope wasn’t able to hold a traditional Commencement for the Class of ’20. With a year having passed by the time a large gathering could take place, the college instead held a celebration for the class in the Pine Grove on Saturday, May 22, that blended elements of the ceremony… Continue Reading →

Distinctive Hope: Hope’s Winning Ways

As the season began in November, the Hope women’s basketball team held a one-of-a-kind national record: the longest active winning streak of any collegiate or university basketball program, men’s or women’s, at the Division I, II or III level. The tally began at 45, a run originating with the 2019-20 season, and as of this… Continue Reading →

From the President: Matthew A. Scogin ʼ02

Dear Friends and Family of Hope College, As I write this message, we are completing the final weeks of our semester, Christmas Vespers will soon be here, and we are looking ahead to final exams and forward to Christmas Break. Wherever you are in the rhythm of your life during this Advent season, we hope… Continue Reading →

Quote Unquote: Convocation 2021

The members of the incoming Class of 2025 were encouraged to “Listen to the Empty” during the college’s Opening Convocation on Sunday, Aug. 29, at the Richard and Helen DeVos Fieldhouse. “Put simply, I am asserting that there is much more power and potential in the unknown compared to the known. The empty, if you… Continue Reading →

Campus Scene

JEVON WILLIS NAMED DIRECTOR OF CDI Jevon Willis has been named director of the college’s Center for Diversity and Inclusion, selected following a national search for the position that he had held on an interim basis for the past year. Willis joined the Hope staff as CDI’s assistant director in 2018 having had several years’… Continue Reading →

Hope Forward to Travel South by Southwest

President Matthew A. Scogin ’02 and the Hope Forward initiative will take the national stage this spring during the South by Southwest (SXSW) EDU Conference & Festival in Austin, Texas. Only 180 presentations were chosen out of more than 800 applications for this year’s event, which will run Monday-Thursday, March 7-10. Scogin will present “Hope… Continue Reading →