The Alumni Association Board of Directors at Hope College has chosen its officers for 2003-04 and appointed five new members.
The board has also made three reappointments.
James Van Eenenaam (pictured right) of Dana Point, Calif., is continuing his two-year term as president, and Beth Snyder of Arlington, Va., is continuing as vice president. Ray Vinstra of Kalamazoo has been appointed secretary, succeeding Marion Hoekstra of Laurel, Md.
The board's new members are: Jan Hoffman of Schenectady, N.Y. (New York Region); Betsy Jasperse of Traverse City (Northern Michigan Region); Karen Navis of Grandville (West Michigan Region); Ben Sanders of Evanston, Ill. (Junior Class Representative); and Todd Soderquist of Superior Township (Michigan Region).
Chad Carlson of Holland, formerly Senior Class Representative, was appointed representative of the most recent graduating class. Elizabeth Tyndell of Livonia, formerly Junior Class Representative, was appointed Senior Class Representative.
Those reappointed to three-year terms on the board were: James Bursma of Stow, Mass.; Eva Gaumond of Bridgewater, N.J.; and Snyder.
The board members who have concluded their service to the board are: Bruce Brumels of Lake City; John Hensler of Royal Oak; Andrea Korstange of New York, N.Y.; Karen Rion of Schenectady, N.Y.; and Mary Vanden Berg of Grand Rapids.
Jan Hoffman, a member of the Class of 1971, has been pastor of First Reformed Church of Scotia for the past nine years. She is also currently serving a three-year term as stated clerk for the Schenectady Classis. She sings with Albany Pro Musica, the premier choral group in the Capital District.
She majored in sociology at Hope. She completed her M.Div. at New Brunswick Theological Seminary in 1979.
Hoffman's father, the Rev. Herman E. Luben, is a Hope graduate. She and her husband Craig have two sons: John, who is a Hope junior, and Judson.
Betsy Jasperse, a member of the Class of 1977, has worked extensively in children's ministry. She was director of children's ministries at Community of Joy, an RCA church, from 1994 to 2003, and at First Congregational Church of Onekama from 1984 to 1993. She was also director of vacation Bible school at Community of Joy from 1995 to 2000, and served on the Board of Trustees of Camp Geneva during 1999 and 2000.
Since graduation, she has also been a guest teacher in Onekama; a dean and counselor at Crystal Camp and Conference Center; and an elementary teacher in Hastings. She was also a resident director at Hope from 1981 to 1983.
Jasperse was a language arts composite major at Hope. She completed a master's in theology at Fuller Theological Seminary in 1990.
She is the daughter of two alumni, Connie Boersma and the late Max Boersma, and the granddaughter of longtime Hope faculty member, coach and administrator Milton "Bud" Hinga. She and her husband Thomas have two sons, Jimmy and Scotty.
Karen Navis, a member of the Class of 1981, is the administrator of corporate compliance and quality assurance at Wedgwood Christian Services, a non-profit human services organization that provides foster care, residential treatment, outpatient and prevention services to youth and families in Michigan.
She had previously worked with the RCA, as director of diaconal ministries for the Grand Rapids Classis. She had also worked with Bethany Christian Services for 11 years, including as program manager of adoption and post-adoption services in their Grand Rapids office for eight years.
She was a psychology/sociology composite major at Hope, and completed her MSW in social work at Western Michigan University in 1985.
Her community activities include serving on the boards of The Other Way Ministries of the RCA, the Adoptive Family Support Network of West Michigan, City Hope Ministries, and on the Steering Committee of G.R.O.W. (Grand Rapids Opportunities for Women). She chairs the Mission Committee for the RCA's Grand Rapids Classis, as well as the Classis Urban Impact Team, and is an active member of the RCA Regional Synod's Urban Ministry Committee.
She and her husband, Rick, have been married for 20 years and have two children, Britt and Cameron, ages 16 and 13.
Ben Sanders, a Hope junior, is a religion major who plans to go into youth ministry. His activities have included the Cosmopolitan fraternity; the Black Student Union; the Pull tug-of-war; the student-organized Dance Marathon charitable fund drive for DeVos Children's Hospital; mission trips through the Campus Ministries Office; and intramural athletics. He also participated in the college's Phelps Scholars Program, a residence hall-based initiative that focuses on diversity issues.
He is the son of Tonia Jackson of Evanston, and is a 2001 graduate of Evanston Township High School.
Todd Soderquist, a member of the Class of 1996, is a program management supervisor with the Ford Motor Company, where he has been employed in a variety of engineering positions for the past six years. He is also president of the Prospect Woods Community Association.
He majored in physics and engineering at Hope and minored in mathematics. He completed a master of engineering degree at Cornell University in 1997.
His wife Karen, a Hope classmate, practices general dentistry.