Parents & Family Newsletter
August 31, 2021

Campus Calendar

September 1: Applications due for spring semester off-campus programs
September 1: Cokes & Clubs student clubs showcase
September 3: Chaos Night dorm competition
September 4: Labor Day weekend concert
September 4: Cross Country Knight Invite
September 6: Labor Day—no classes; lawn games, movie, cookout
September 15: Accounting & Finance Career Fair
September 19: Monthly all-community communion service
October 1–2: Homecoming & Family Weekend
October 2: Calvin Classic 5K Run/Walk and Fun Run
October 11–12: Fall Break

Full events calendar »

Full academic calendar »

Student jobs

Students use Workday to search for on-campus jobs and Handshake to search for off-campus employment, as outlined on the student employment website.

Do you have an internship opportunity, local or remote part-time job, or local household work to offer to Calvin students? Use Handshake or the private households job form to make these opportunities available to students.

Ongoing COVID-19 response plans

The COVID-19 Response Team’s general FAQs answer questions about classroom and academic support, while the August FAQs provide additional context for Calvin’s current policies. Periodic Response Team updates will be emailed directly to students, but parents can find a copy of any all-campus messages on the communications archive.

Families are welcome to visit campus and attend athletic events, following our current guidelines for mask-wearing inside buildings or whatever later visitor/spectator guidelines are in place.

Sports news for Knights fans

Looking for the latest athletics news? Subscribe to the Calvin Knights Sports Report for an email recap of each day’s athletic contests. You can also follow the Knights on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter all found on the Knights website.

Prayer guide, chapel, local churches

Our monthly prayer guide (PDF) suggests 31 ways to pray for the Calvin University community as we equip students to think deeply, act justly, and live wholeheartedly as Christ’s agents of renewal. Will you support this work with your prayers?

We also invite families worldwide to join our Chapel services online each weekday at 10 a.m. (except for a few Tuesdays this fall when we’ll be worshipping outside)!

To assist students in finding a local church home, campus ministries is hosting a church info fair on September 1, and they also provide a directory of local churches from a wide variety of denominations.

Flexible meal-to-go dining option

If your student has class and work responsibilities which overlap meal times, they can use the Green2Go program to pick up a meal in advance. All students with a meal plan will be receiving a Green2Go container (distributed soon!) which allows them to use a meal swipe to take a full meal out of the dining hall for later. When they return their container, they’ll receive a new one for their next to-go meal. (This replaces the sack lunch program.)

Note that Uppercrust, on the top level of Commons, is open until 8 p.m. Monday-Thursday to provide a later dining option for students, too.

Campus safety tips, emergency communications

CalvinAlert sends students text and email messages about severe weather alerts, campus closings, and other on-campus safety concerns. Student emails are automatically enrolled but they should add/verify their cell phone for text notifications. If they wish, parents are also able to subscribe to such alerts.

Students are also strongly encouraged to program the Campus Safety dispatch non-emergency (616-526-6452) and emergency (616-526-3333) numbers into their phones for quick access.

KnightGuard is an app for all safety-related resources. Students can notify campus safety or a friend to virtually watch over their walk home, use the “mobile blue light” to share their location with campus safety in an emergency, and report suspicious activity. Encourage your student to download this app from the Apple App or Google Play stores.

Our campus safety team proactively promotes a safe campus by managing ID card access to residence halls, providing escorts, and teaching self-defense classes. Students can request escorts from academic buildings and parking lots to residence halls by contacting Campus Safety dispatch.