Less than a week after Rebecca Konyndyk DeYoung received the top teaching honor bestowed by the university, the Presidential Award for Exemplary Teaching, Calvin students followed suit surprising the longtime philosophy professor on Wednesday, April 30, 2025, with the Professor of the Year Award—an award granted by the Student Alumni Association on behalf of the senior class to honor a current Calvin faculty member who has made an impact on the lives of his or her students. It’s believed this marks the first time that a professor has received both honors in the same year.

We talked to a handful of students who voted for DeYoung about why she’s deserving of this honor.

Student Reaction

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“I walked into Calvin not thinking I’d like philosophy at all and then I took her intro class and I thought ‘wow, I really enjoyed that’ so maybe I’ll take another class with her, so I did, and now I’ve taken four classes with Professor DeYoung and each one has been better than the last.”

~Catherine Kortman ’25, philosophy and music double major

“She cares about your academics and she teaches you things, but all of the classes I’ve taken with her she’s also helping you integrate the things you learn into your life in ways that can enrich and lead to your flourishing. She genuinely just really cares about students, always open for office hours and non-office hours for just long conversations about class, about life, super supportive and just loving person. Awesome professor.”

~Gabe Wood ’25, philosophy and psychology major

“Her mentorship and her teaching are expanding out of the classroom, and in every conversation, every interaction you have with her, she just displays this flourishing life and she loves to cherish her students and we all cherish her.”

~Marc Snyder ’25, philosophy and marketing double major

“Professor DeYoung is, I think, the embodiment of a Christ-like professor here at Calvin. She teaches the whole person. So, she is very invested in our academics and definitely academic rigor, but she also cares for us as people outside of the classroom … investing in who we are and who we want to be. And she’s very talented at seeing gifts in her students and taking those gifts and cultivating them into whatever discipline that they seek.”

~Aidan Hillman ‘25, religion, philosophy, and Spanish

“DeYoung has been my adviser ever since I joined the philosophy program. Her class [a reworked intro to philosophy course for the honors program] grew my love for philosophy in such a way that it actually convinced me to take a philosophy major add-on, and that class really started forming me as a person. When I took 251 with her, I was going through a bit of a rough patch in my academics and my personal life and she was so understanding, she was so helpful, but she made sure that I understood things and got the course work done. So not only is she a great professor, but she’s a great human being who is willing to work with you wherever you’re at and really come alongside you and support you in ways that are meaningful to us as students.”

~Ewan Parker ’25, international relations and philosophy double major