Dordt College

Thompson, John B.

SOWK 612: Psychopathology

Chesser, Marissa E.

STAT 133: Introduction to Statistical Programming

Koerner, Laurel A.

TA 371: Applied Theatre - Capstone Production Project

Badudu, Ray D.

WA 281: Worship Arts Ensemble Leader

Moss, Sarah

The Voice 
Volume 69 
Issue 1 Fall 2023 Article 3 
It's Hip to be in the Squares 
Sarah Moss 
Dordt University, sarah.moss@dordt.edu 
Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcollections.dordt.edu/voice 
 Part of the Christianity Commons, and the Higher Education Commons 
Recommended Citation 
Moss, Sarah () "It's Hip to be in the Squares," The Voice: Vol. 69: Iss. 1, Article 3. 
Available at: https://digitalcollections.dordt.edu/voice/vol69/iss1/3 
This News is brought to you for free and open access by the University Publications at Dordt Digital Collections. It 
has been accepted for inclusion in The Voice by an authorized editor of Dordt Digital Collections. For more 
information, please contact ingrid.mulder@dordt.edu. 
The “Every Square Inch Apartments,” or “the Squares,” were completed in 
August – just in time for upperclassmen 
to move in. The four new buildings are 
located south of Southview Apartments, 
adjacent to the Kuyper Apartments. The 
Squares house a total of 96 students. 
Each apartment includes multiple 
bathrooms, upstairs and downstairs 
levels, and a washer and dryer. 
Derek Buteyn ('11), associate dean of 
students and director of residence life, 
says the Squares bring an urban feel to 
campus.
“Every student I’ve talked with mentions 
that they love the open concept and the 
sunlight that comes through the huge 
windows,” he says.
Brady Fergen, a senior biology major 
from Menno, South Dakota, says the 
big windows and natural lighting create 
a feeling of openness. “We want our 
apartment to be a place where those 
walking by can pop in to say hi, and 
having big windows has been super 
helpful with that,” he says. 
Ryan Dyck, a senior business major from 
Brooks, Alberta, appreciates how the two 
levels have created a natural separation 
between sleeping and daily life for him 
and his roommates. 
“We chose to have all six of us in the two 
upstairs bedrooms, which has allowed 
us to use the extra room as a hangout 
space, guest bedroom, and storage with 
an extra freezer and refrigerator in there,” 
he says.
Kennedy Patterson, a senior business 
major from Saint George, Utah, initially 
wondered if the Squares Apartments 
might feel disconnected from the rest of 
campus, but she’s since found that to not 
be the case. “I have felt a strong sense of 
community with the other residents of 
these buildings,” she says.
The name “Every Square Inch” is 
derived from the well-known quote by 
theologian Abraham Kuyper: “There is 
not a square inch in the whole domain of 
our human existence over which Christ, 
who is sovereign over all, does not cry, 
‘Mine!’”  The name refl ects the infl uence 
of Kuyper’s life and work; it follows on 
the heels of other spaces on campus 
named for Kuyper, including the Kuyper 
Apartments and the Kuyper Scholars 
Program.
Dordt requires most students to live 
on campus for all four years, which is 
becoming a rarity in college life, says 
Chief of Staff  Rev. Aaron Baart ('99).
“Christianity is an embodied faith 
and in an increasingly isolated and 
individualistic world, we strive to 
create a community that fosters 
interdependence, not independence,” 
he says. “Time and again, we hear from 
our alumni the deep friendships formed 
and the lessons learned from living 
in community on campus. The more 
intentional the living spaces we can 
create for our students, the better.”
To Sarah Breukelman, a senior nursing 
major from Abbotsford, British Columbia, 
the Squares feel more like a home than 
an apartment complex. 
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IT'S HIP TO BE IN 
THE SQUARES
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The apartments include two levels, allowing 
for ample room arrangement options.
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Moss: It's Hip to be in the Squares
Published by Dordt Digital Collections,
Three full-time faculty and staff  members retired this past 
spring. Collectively, the retirees have dedicated around 69 
years of service to Dordt University.
Dr. Robert “Bob” De Smith, professor of English, has served 
at Dordt since 1983. Dr. Teresa Ter Haar, professor of theatre 
arts and De Smith’s colleague for many years, says that what 
she appreciated most about De Smith was walking past his 
classroom and hearing him engage with his students.
“He is so incredibly passionate about what he does. You could 
hear the energy in his voice. The ideas he brings forward 
in the classroom and the way he brings students into those 
conversations is absolutely inspirational,” she says.
Dr. Jay Shim, professor of theology, has served at Dordt since 
2004. Dr. Justin Bailey, professor of theology and a colleague 
of Shim’s, appreciates Shim’s passion for global mission work.
“He spends time visiting countries around the world and is 
very much a person who doesn’t want theology to stay in the 
ivory tower but to be shared broadly throughout the world,” 
says Bailey. “I appreciate his leadership and heart for the 
global church."
Mr. Howard Wilson, vice president for university operations, 
has served at Dordt since 2013. Robert Taylor, vice president 
for student success and dean of students, says that Wilson 
embodies humility and kindness. “He is so full of wisdom and 
is more well-read than anyone I know,” says Taylor. “He has 
fl oor-to-ceiling bookshelves, and in a conversation with him 
you can sense the wisdom he has gleaned from his books as 
well as his life experience.”
SARAH MOSS (’10)
THREE FULL-TIME 
EMPLOYEES RETIRE 
FROM DORDT
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Dr. Robert De Smith
“We have our own kitchen, living room, laundry room, 
bedroom, and bathroom. We even have our own welcome 
mat that sits outside our front door,” she says. “I love staring 
out the windows and watching the sunset. I appreciate how 
spacious the Squares feel. I really enjoy hosting friends over, 
since I believe the space is best when fi lled! Living in the 
Squares has been great, and I’m grateful for all the moments 
I’ve been able to share this space with others.”
SARAH MOSS (’10)
Dr. Jay Shim Howard Wilson
WHAT'S IN A NAME?
How did Dordt decide on the apartment name? 
Students, faculty, and staff  were invited to fi ll out a 
survey to share their name ideas; there were 345 names 
submitted.
Laura Grasman ('19), who works as a 
payroll administrator at Dordt, submitted 
the winning name to the survey. She will 
receive a designated parking spot for 
the 2023-24 academic year as a prize. 
Grasman says she was surprised and 
grateful when she learned her apartment 
name idea had been selected.
“We have so many talented people who submitted 
ideas for the new apartments, and to be chosen was 
fl attering,” she says. “Receiving a parking space for a 
year? That’s cause for skipping around the offi  ce!”
Grasman says the new apartments benefi ts Dordt 
greatly. “Living on campus provides community and 
inclusivity,” she says. “Dordt is well-known for student 
engagement. By building more apartments, we’re 
providing the opportunity for students to build stronger 
bonds on campus."
L. Grasman
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The Voice, Vol. 69, Iss. 1 [], Art. 3
https://digitalcollections.dordt.edu/voice/vol69/iss1/3


English

It\u27s Hip to be in the Squares

The Voice 
Volume 69 
Issue 1 Fall 2023 Article 7 
Dieleman Digs into History of Dutch Religious Life 
Sarah Moss 
Dordt University, sarah.moss@dordt.edu 
Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcollections.dordt.edu/voice 
 Part of the Christianity Commons, and the Higher Education Commons 
Recommended Citation 
Moss, Sarah () "Dieleman Digs into History of Dutch Religious Life," The Voice: Vol. 69: Iss. 1, Article 7. 
Available at: https://digitalcollections.dordt.edu/voice/vol69/iss1/7 
This News is brought to you for free and open access by the University Publications at Dordt Digital Collections. It 
has been accepted for inclusion in The Voice by an authorized editor of Dordt Digital Collections. For more 
information, please contact ingrid.mulder@dordt.edu. 
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Associate Professor of Theology Dr. Kyle Dieleman (’09) recently 
published a book titled Navigating 
Reformed Identity in the Rural Dutch 
Republic: Communities, Belief, and Piety. 
The book, published by Amsterdam 
University Press, explores the local 
dynamics of religious life in the early 
modern Dutch Republic by examining 
Dutch Reformed church records and 
theological texts. As is stated in the 
book summary, “the book argues that 
within the religiously plural setting of the 
Dutch Republic, church officials used a 
variety of means to establish a Reformed 
identity in their communities.”
For some time, Dieleman has been 
interested in how theology and practice 
intersected in the early modern Dutch 
Reformed 
churches. When 
he looked 
into how 
those churches 
observed the 
Sabbath, he found 
many complaints 
about Sabbath 
desecration in rural 
areas.
“So, I wanted to 
explore more fully 
how rural contexts 
might lead Reformed 
Christianity to be 
lived differently 
than in urban contexts,” he explains. 
“I’m one of a few scholars in the United 
States who can read hand-written Dutch 
consistory records, so I thought I could 
make a contribution to the field and to 
Reformed church history that otherwise 
might go unstudied.”
The book addresses issues such as 
religious pluralism, theological disputes, 
and church polity, which are “all still 
quite relevant today, especially in Dutch 
Reformed traditions,” says Dieleman.
Rural Reformed churches in the Dutch 
Republic were often on the receiving 
end of major theological or ecclesiastical 
decisions from church authorities, but 
that “top-down” process didn’t always 
match the experiences that individual 
churches had.
“For example, it’s one thing for a 
synod to say you couldn’t work on the 
Sabbath, but what about in rural farming 
communities when a storm was coming 
Monday and you needed to get a crop 
in or risk starvation?” says Dieleman. 
“Those rural Christians and churches 
needed to decide for themselves how 
they were going to think about and live 
out their Reformed identities. Sometimes 
that meant going against the more 
‘official’ versions of what it meant to be 
Reformed.”
Dieleman’s favorite part about writing 
the book was conducting the initial 
research. “I found it really exciting to go 
into an archive and look through pages 
of church records from the 1600s,” he 
says. “It’s a window into the lives of 
people who lived in such a different 
world and yet are brothers and sisters in 
Christ.” 
He wants readers to gain a stronger 
understanding of the complicated 
history of Dutch Reformed churches. 
“I hope scholars will better understand 
the complexity of Dutch Reformed 
communities, especially the multiplicity 
of ways in which theology was 
understood and lived in rural areas,” 
he says. “For lay readers, including 
those from Reformed traditions, I hope 
the book will help them consider the 
varied understandings of what it has 
meant to be ‘Reformed,’ and recognize 
the complex ways that theology gets 
adapted and used in differing contexts.”
SARAH MOSS (’10)
DIELEMAN DIGS INTO HISTORY 
OF DUTCH RELIGIOUS LIFE
“Having a book published brings lots of 
feelings: relief, anxiety, and excitement, to 
name a few,” says Dr. Kyle Dieleman.
ABOUT DR. 
DIELEMAN
Dieleman received his Ph.D. in 
Religious Studies at the University 
of Iowa and his undergraduate 
degree in theology from Dordt. 
He previously taught history 
and theology at Trinity Christian 
College in Palos Heights, Illinois. 
This fall, Dieleman taught courses 
such as Ancient and Medieval 
Theology and Gospel, Church, and 
Culture. In the spring, he will teach 
Theology of the Reformation and 
The Great Tradition.
He is enjoying his first year of 
teaching at Dordt. “My colleagues 
and students have been welcoming 
and also delightfully curious about 
theology and history,” he says. “I’ve 
also appreciated the intentional, 
passionate focus on a Reformed 
perspective.”
”I’m one of a few scholars in 
the United States who can read 
hand-written Dutch consistory 
records, so I thought I could make 
a contribution to the field and 
to Reformed church history that 
otherwise might go unstudied.”
— Dr. Kyle Dieleman, associate professor of theology
JA
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Moss: Dieleman Digs into History of Dutch Religious Life
Published by Dordt Digital Collections,


Dieleman Digs into History of Dutch Religious Life

The Voice 
Volume 69 
Issue 1 Fall 2023 Article 18 
A Different Atmosphere 
Sarah Moss 
Dordt University, sarah.moss@dordt.edu 
Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcollections.dordt.edu/voice 
 Part of the Christianity Commons, and the Higher Education Commons 
Recommended Citation 
Moss, Sarah () "A Different Atmosphere," The Voice: Vol. 69: Iss. 1, Article 18. 
Available at: https://digitalcollections.dordt.edu/voice/vol69/iss1/18 
This Alumni is brought to you for free and open access by the University Publications at Dordt Digital Collections. It 
has been accepted for inclusion in The Voice by an authorized editor of Dordt Digital Collections. For more 
information, please contact ingrid.mulder@dordt.edu. 
34
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After graduating from Dordt in 2013 
with a business administration major, 
he applied to positions all over the 
country, including in his hometown of 
Sheboygan, Wisconsin. 
Then he heard about a general manager 
position at Culver’s in Sioux Center. “I 
remember thinking, ‘Maybe this is what I 
am meant to do,’” he says. “I didn’t have 
a ton of service industry experience; I’d 
worked for the coffee shops associated 
with Dordt’s Business Club, but I was 
intrigued by what I saw at Culver's.”
During his interview, he and owner 
Angie Rodenburgh spent three hours 
getting to know one another. A few 
weeks later, Jensema moved to Sioux 
Center and began work as a team leader.
“Throughout the years, I moved from 
team leader to shift leader to general 
manager and now, to general manager 
and part-owner,” he says.
Culver’s in Sioux Center isn’t just any 
Culver’s. They have received many 
awards, including the prestigious Ruth 
Award, which “recognizes restaurants 
whose team members consistently 
exemplify superior hospitality each and 
every day.” Three times, they have been 
finalists for the Culver’s Crew Challenge, 
where locations compete against each 
other on quality, service, cleanliness, 
hospitality, and community outreach; 
they won once. Plus, they earned the 
Commitment to Excellence award 
for “consistently maintaining a high 
standard in restaurant operations, guest 
experiences, community relationships, 
and team development.” 
“We finished in sixth place last year, out 
of over 900 stores in the United States,” 
he says, beaming. “Our location is well-
known at company headquarters. When 
I went for franchisee training, Culver’s 
founder Craig Culver saw me and 
asked, ‘Hi, Zach, how are things in Sioux 
Center?’"
Jensema and his team know there’s 
something different about Culver’s in 
Sioux Center. The furniture, layout, 
recipes, and uniforms might be the same 
as at every other Culver’s, but he’s been 
told time and again that Culver’s in Sioux 
Center has “a different atmosphere.”
“We hire really good people,” he says. 
“We want to make sure our employees 
are kind, have good personalities, and 
mesh well with the rest of the team. 
I’ve also had customers tell me that 
our food is better than other locations, 
which is weird because we have the 
same suppliers, same food, same recipes. 
But it’s because our kitchen staff takes 
really good care of our produce, doesn’t 
use stuff that’s out of date, and keeps 
A DIFFERENT ATMOSPHERE
Of the 15 years that Culver’s has been serving frozen custard and ButterBurgers 
in Sioux Center, Zach Jensema has spent the last 10 years working there. 
“We care about the Sioux Center community, and we try to give back whenever we can,” says Zach Jensema. “We donate to schools, hold 
reading programs, give to auctions. If you invest in your community, your community will invest back.”
JA
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Moss: A Different Atmosphere
Published by Dordt Digital Collections,
everything in the kitchen ridiculously 
clean.”
They also try to wipe down tables right 
after customers leave, and more. “We try 
to keep everything super clean, because 
that invites more people to come back. 
We wipe out all our different cupboards, 
dip inside garbage cans, and keep our 
bathrooms very 
clean. It takes 
a lot of people 
to pull that off, 
but it’s paid off 
tremendously.”
Jensema’s work hours 
vary, but he often puts 
in long hours. His days 
generally consist of 
conducting interviews, 
providing training 
sessions, overseeing 
shift leaders, helping 
run orders both inside 
and through the drive through, helping 
people find seats, and more. “Wherever 
people need assistance to make the shift 
run smoother, that’s usually where you’ll 
find me,” he says. 
It’s exhausting work, but Jensema loves 
it. “People might think it’s just burgers 
and fries, it shouldn’t be that hard. But 
this business is about people. I love the 
people I work with. We’ve been told by 
our guests that we laugh too much at 
work, which I think is a compliment. 
We’re kind to one another and help each 
other out. It’s not the easiest job every 
day. But if you can bring joy to your 
workplace, that’s going to go right to the 
guest.”
Jensema describes himself as someone 
who’d rather be behind the scenes 
running a shift and making sure 
everything goes smoothly. “I don’t like 
being the center of attention at all,” 
he says. “But I feed off of giving other 
people joy. If I can make someone’s day, 
that’s awesome.”
Like any 
restaurant, 
Culver’s in Sioux 
Center gets 
its fair share 
of complaints, 
but they also 
get some really 
encouraging 
feedback. 
“Recently 
someone called 
in and said, ‘That 
was the best darn 
burger I’ve ever 
had,’” says Jensema. “I immediately told 
the kitchen staff, and each of the cooks 
said, ‘That was me, I made his burger.’ I 
like being in a workplace where we feel 
comfortable enough to joke around. 
Working in the service industry is 
difficult, but if you can smile and laugh 
your way through it, it makes it more fun 
and less stressful.”
Jensema credits Rodenburgh’s 
leadership for bringing Culver’s in Sioux 
Center to where it is today. He’s also 
thankful for her mentorship during some 
of the not-so-great moments of working 
in the service industry.
“You learn to have a lot more grace 
toward people. Employees who are 
late can be frustrating. But I have to 
stop and ask, ‘Why are they late? Is 
something going on in their personal life 
that I’m unaware of?’ If we can provide 
a safe, comfortable, and welcoming 
environment, which I believe God 
intended us to do, we have to be patient 
with people."
“If you’d told me when I was at Dordt 
that I would own a restaurant someday, 
I’d have said you’re crazy,” he adds. 
“The worldview that I learned at Dordt 
influences my work. Every square inch 
of the world matters, right? And that 
includes in the restaurant. I do my best 
to live that out every day, to have grace 
for people and do my best in my work.”
SARAH MOSS (’10)
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ALUMNI 
NOTES
Dr. Michael Miedema  
(’01), a cardiologist, 
researcher, and 
director of the Nolan 
Family Center for 
Cardiovascular 
Health at the Minneapolis Heart 
Institute Foundation, was named 
the recipient of the prestigious 
2023 Emerging Public Health 
Professional Award by the 
Harvard T.H. Chan School of 
Public Health. 
Jessica (Radsma, ’98) Ten Haken 
was named the 2023 GEMS 
Leader of the Year. Ten Haken 
served as GEMS coordinator at 
Pease Christian Reformed Church 
in Minnesota for 9 years. She now 
resides in Hudsonville, Michigan.
Joan (Tiemersma,  
’90) Enockson runs 
Tall Girl Publishing, 
where she seeks to 
blend “her passion 
for education, music, 
and writing to create captivating 
children’s books.”
Lori (Akers, ’87) 
Brandt was named a 
top five finalist for the 
2023 Iowa Teacher of 
the Year award. She 
has taught special 
education at Sioux Center 
Community High School for the 
past 23 years.
Leila Viss (’87) runs an 
independent piano studio in 
Centennial, Colorado. Through 
her blog leilaviss.com, she offers 
dynamic teaching tips, off-
bench activities, clever ways to 
teach with repurposed items, 
and original compositions and 
arrangements.
John Mulder (’86), who 
serves as city administrator 
of Hermantown, Minnesota, 
received the Credentialed 
Manager designation from the 
International City / County 
Management Association (ICMA). 
John Vis (’79) has taught math 
and science at Bulkley Valley 
Christian School in Smithers, 
British Columbia, for the past 43 
years. “A lot of that is just having 
the chance to work with a lot of 
good people,” he says. “My job 
was to just serve God while I was 
here.”
”It’s not the easiest 
job every day. But 
if you can bring joy 
to your workplace, 
that’s going to go 
right to the guest.”
— Zach Jensema ('13)
Jensema serves as general manager and 
co-owner of Culver's in Sioux Center. 
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The Voice, Vol. 69, Iss. 1 [], Art. 18
https://digitalcollections.dordt.edu/voice/vol69/iss1/18


A Different Atmosphere

Zonnefeld, Ryan G.

Leading Redemptively: The Heart of Christian Leadership

Keane, Vincent

Unity in the Church Across Traditions: How Abraham Kuyper\u27s Ecclesiology Helps Further Contemporary Ecumenical Engagement Between Protestants and Catholics

CORE 200: Introduction to Christian Philosophy