Imperishable Inheritance

Pro­fes­sor David Hoekema couldn’t believe his ears when news spread in April that Pres­i­dent George W. Bush would deliver the com­mence­ment address at Calvin Col­lege. He’s thank­ful for the national atten­tion focused on the 4,300-student Chris­t­ian liberal-arts col­lege in Grand Rapids, Michi­gan. But that doesn’t mean he’s happy with the visit.

Hoekema and about 100 other Calvin pro­fes­sors plan to pub­li­cize their protest of Bush admin­is­tra­tion poli­cies with a let­ter to The Grand Rapids Press on the date of his visit, Sat­ur­day, May 21. Roughly one-third of the college’s full-time fac­ulty endorsed the let­ter. In addi­tion to the Iraq war, the sig­na­to­ries fault Bush for bur­den­ing the poor, fos­ter­ing intol­er­ance, and harm­ing cre­ation. Another protest let­ter, signed by more than 800 stu­dents, alumni, fac­ulty, and friends of the school, ran in Friday’s Press. That note calls on Bush to “repu­di­ate the false claims of sup­port­ers who say that those who oppose your poli­cies are the ene­mies of reli­gion.” Many let­ter sign­ers plan to wear “God Is Not a Repub­li­can or a Demo­c­rat” pins dur­ing the com­mence­ment cer­e­mony.¹