Though the university’s covenantal ecclesiastical partnership with the Christian Reformed Church in North America (CRCNA) has not changed, the Reformed proportion of Calvin’s student body has been declining steadily since the 70s, due both to declining numbers of CRC students and increasing numbers of students from other backgrounds. This is a change the university has embraced. Calvin’s Vision 2030 Strategic Plan visualizes Calvin as a global influencer and an institution for “learning across religious and cultural differences,” according to Calvin’s website.

Many non-CRC students were drawn to Calvin because they liked the idea of a small Christian community and were not picky about denominational affiliation.

“When I toured other bigger public universities, it felt impersonal,” said Rummana-Mary Ryan, a senior in the nursing program. Ryan is Catholic. Although some Reformed beliefs conflict with Catholicism — like the Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation where the Eucharist is the literal blood and body of Christ while the Reformed tradition believes in a spiritual partaking — overall Ryan feels that her faith experience at Calvin has been positive. “Coming to Calvin has strengthened my beliefs,” she told Chimes.

Evan Gray, a junior majoring in education, also came because he wanted to be part of a Christian community. “It was exhausting interacting with people who did not share the same values as me. I had to constantly explain why I don’t do certain things,” said Gray.

As a nondenominational Christian, Gray said he has learned a lot about Reformed traditions from his theology classes at Calvin. However, Gray told Chimes he feels that CRC teaching has not helped him to grow his faith in college.

According to the Census Day Report, 39.6% of students identified as nondenominational in 2022.

For some students, the appeal of Calvin did not have anything to do with faith. “I came here with an open mind [to] see the world from a different perspective,” said senior chemical engineering student Audrey Tran, who is Buddhist. She said, “My family practices Buddhism through being good people. The basis of Buddhism is karma: If you do good things, then good things happen to you, and the same goes for bad things.”

After moving to Michigan as part of a high school exchange program from Vietnam, she decided to go to Calvin after hearing of its academic excellence. “I was just thinking of getting my degree, and it seemed like a good place to do it,” Tran said.