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On Wednesday, November 19, the President's Cabinet hosted a Thanksgiving meal for faculty and staff of ������Ƶ. More than 300 people joined together in the Great Hall of the Prince Conference Center to fellowship with colleagues, enjoy a full Thanksgiving meal, and then to reflect with gratitude.

As President Greg Elzinga provided opening remarks, dozens upon dozens of words and pictures cycled through on four large screens—each representing an expression of gratitude from a member of the Calvin community. Many of the words shared centered on the supportive and caring community at Calvin.

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Sarah Visser, executive vice president for student experience and strategy, along with fellow members of the president's cabinet served faculty and staff a Thanksgiving meal on November 19, 2025.

“I am so thankful for my new job here at ������Ƶ. The people here have made Calvin feel like home and helped me finally find a career I am so excited about.”

“I am thankful for the fellow like-minded individuals I have found on campus that align with my spiritual beliefs and encourage my growth in the Lord Jesus Christ.”

“Thankful for the people I get to work with. Respectful, open, kind—just really good humans.”

After enjoying the meal, President Elzinga opened up the floor for others to add their expressions of thanksgiving, which included gratitude for specific people—many of whom work faithfully in the background. Here are a handful of those reflections:

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Sharolyn Christians expresses gratitude for the facilities team.

“I’m thankful for Sharolyn Christians. She is the glue in this university, and she loves staying behind the scenes,” said Jodi Cole Muyskens, senior director of advancement services. “She does amazing work for this university. She is a silent partner to so many of us and she is so gracious and generous with her time.”

“I’m thankful for the people around this table right here—the facilities crew,” said Sharolyn Christians, executive assistant to the president. “I’m just very thankful for what they do around campus.”

“I’m thankful for all our partners in CIT. They do so much unsung work behind the scenes,” said Caitlin Finch, assistant director of coordinated care & first-year advising.

“I’m grateful for the team of people who could not be here today because they are out at Trinity Christian College walking alongside the students who are navigating some very difficult things around the closure of their school,” said Lauren Jensen, vice president for enrollment strategy.

“Like all of you, I get by my days and weeks because of the people I work with most every day. I’m grateful for my colleagues in GEO and thankful for a phenomenal team over at the Preserve,” said Jamie Skillen, professor of GEO and director of the Calvin Ecosystem Preserve & Native Gardens. “And I’m really thankful that a donor has funded a cool new rock garden.”

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Doug Vander Griend, a professor of chemistry and director of the Clean Water Institute at Calvin, expresses gratitude for the Plaster Creek Stewards during the 2025 Thanksgiving meal.

As the time was drawing to a close, Elzinga offered a few concluding remarks expressing his gratitude for each person in the room:

“I think when I started in this role in February 2024 one of the first things I thought about is what makes this place so incredibly special are each of you. It’s the work you are doing every single day,” said Elzinga. “It’s the way our faculty pour into our students and walk alongside them, mentor them, encourage them, disciple them, teach them. It’s the way staff do the same, sometimes indirectly with students. There’s a video we are using for the 150th anniversary that we take out on the road and there’s a piece from Dale Cooper and he reflected upon his time at Calvin, and he says, ‘sometimes my best teachers weren’t the people who were paid to teach.’ So, I never want to underestimate the role that staff also have in pouring into the lives of our students in many different ways, sometimes directly and sometimes indirectly.

“My prayer is that you are feeling God’s peace in your life whatever your circumstances may be. My hope is that you have an absolutely wonderful time with family and friends over Thanksgiving,” said Elzinga. “Now I hope that you have that long weekend to disconnect from work, to enjoy God’s goodness, to enjoy the blessing of family and friends and that we can finish out this semester strong, serve our students well, and rejoice in the goodness of God … Thank you for everything that you do for our students and for the mission of Calvin. I’m deeply, deeply grateful.”