Distinctive Hope: Where Ideas Begin

Hope’s emphasis on serving not only its students but the community is exemplified in the NEA Big Read Lakeshore that the college has organized each fall since 2014. The program invites all ages across the area to read a specific novel and then get together to discuss it and the issues it explores. Winning funding annually through the National Endowment of the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest and involving multiple local partners, the effort has thus far engaged an estimated 38,000 people, including thousands of students from pre-school through college.

This year’s NEA Big Read Lakeshore will begin on Oct. 28 and continue through Dec. 3. For details about this year’s events, which will feature In the Time of the Butterflies and two books for younger readers, please visit hope.edu/bigread