A planning grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. of Indianapolis, Ind., will enhance and focus Hope College's on-going exploration of the way that faith, learning and vocation can mix.

 A planning grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. of Indianapolis, Ind., will enhance and focus Hope College's on-going exploration of the way that faith, learning and vocation can mix.

          The $49,689 grant is one of 31 awarded to
  institutions nationwide through the Endowment's "Programs
  for the Theological Exploration of Vocation."  The colleges
  and universities that received grants applied by invitation
  only, and are charged with using the resources to develop
  proposals for additional funding from the endowment.
          The award will support Hope in a comprehensive
  review of current and potential approaches to blending faith
  perspective into the educational program.  According to Dr.
  William Reynolds, dean for the arts and humanities at Hope
  and the grant's co-director, the award will have a
  meaningful impact whether or not Hope receives further
  funding.
          "Hope's mission includes helping students to
  develop a theological understanding of God's call on their
  lives," Reynolds said.  "This award will support the on-
  going conversation that Hope always needs to be having about
  its identity and the way that its vision can and should be
  realized."
          Reynolds noted that the college already has
  several programs in place that link faith, learning and
  vocation.  Such efforts range from Senior Seminars that
  prompt all Hope seniors to confront questions of value and
  belief as they anticipate life after graduation; to the Pew
  Society for students interested in exploring graduate study
  and higher education as a Christian vocation; to service-
  oriented experiences arranged by several departments,
  including the popular Spring Break mission trips organized
  by the Campus Ministries Office; to programs to help faculty
  explore issues of faith and learning.
          Through the planning grant, members of the Hope
  faculty and staff will consider ways to enhance such
  existing programs as well as possibilities for the future.
  The discussion will continue through the forthcoming spring
  semester, leading to a proposal to the Endowment for a
  multi-year grant.
          "I'm confident that much of what we will propose
  will be things that we will want to do even if we don't
  receive the subsequent award," Reynolds said.  "But the
  additional grant, if we receive it, will allow us to do more
  and do it sooner than if we don't."
          Hope is the only college or university from
  Michigan to receive one of the 31 planning grants.  The
  others range from Baylor University in Waco, Texas, to
  Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Mass., to the College of
  Wooster in Ohio, to Davidson College in North Carolina, to
  Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minn., to the University
  of Notre Dame in Indiana.