The White House announced yesterday that President Bush will give two commencement addresses next month, one at the U.S. Naval Academy and one at Calvin College in Western Michigan.
The Naval Academy is not a surprise. Bush has been maintaining the tradition of rotating between the military service academies, and this year it's Annapolis's turn.
But Calvin College? It's a small Christian college with 900 graduating seniors in Grand Rapids. Why's he going there?
Well, although Calvin is little known amongst the general public, it is nevertheless a highly regarded center of evangelical intellectual thought.
And on campus, they're all excited about the honor. In a press release, Calvin College President Gaylen Byker declared: "We want our students to leave this place challenged and motivated to renew God's world in whatever they do. For our graduates to hear from President Bush as they prepare to leave Calvin and make a difference in the world is an extraordinary opportunity for them.' "
So just how did the Calvin selection come about?
The official story, out of Calvin, is that it's all thanks to the persistence of an alumnus, U.S. Rep. Vernon Ehlers, along with college booster, Republican donor and former ambassador Peter Secchia.
But the Grand Rapids Press says it happened this way: "About a month ago, Karl Rove pulled aside a West Michigan congressman with an idea.
" 'Would Calvin College be interested in having the president as a speaker?' the Bush adviser asked U.S. Rep. Vern Ehlers, R-Grand Rapids.
"The result: The president will speak May 21 at the college's 85th commencement ceremony. It is a major coup for the Christian Reformed-based liberal arts school."
Kathleen Gray writes in the Detroit Free Press: "Bush will encounter a college officials describe as 'unapologetically Christian.' Students must take religion courses, including biblical liturgy and theology and developing a Christian mind. Spiritual activity coordinators live in each dorm. There is no alcohol allowed on campus."
Alan Wolfe wrote in the Atlantic Monthly in 2000 that Calvin College is "part of a determined effort by evangelical-Christian institutions to create a life of the mind."
