As a project set to be launched in the fall semester of 2025, the Perkins Living-Learning Community will merge its activities with Calvin’s Service-Learning Center (SLC). This joint effort comes after six months of assessing how the two offices should address their goals for Christian development in the greater Grand Rapids area.

Existing relationships

The SLC has long been an integral part of Calvin’s mission to help students learn more about their community outside of the university. Along with posting potential service opportunities, the Center also connects students with local organizations for hands-on experiences. With these enterprises, the SLC aims to offer Calvin’s undergraduates a way to learn who their neighbors are and an opportunity to practice Christian service. 

Similarly, the Perkins Floor — currently situated on the second floor of the van Reken residence hall — is committed to exploring racial reconciliation, restorative justice, redistribution and reparation, both in the Calvin environment and the broader region of Greater Grand Rapids. Currently, the Perkins cohort falls under the oversight of the Center for Intercultural Student Development (CISD), but recent dialogue has led to the planned change.

According to Annie Mas-Smith, the director of the SLC, the decision came after the CISD and the SLC recognized that working together would more effectively build up the strengths of the various organizations. “I definitely see it as like a matrix, or like a collaboration between all of these offices,” she said. Mas-Smith noted that the SLC and CISD are both passionate about their work for pursuing social justice, so the union seemed logical for promoting their shared efforts at Calvin.

Daisy Mwangi, co-RA of the Perkins floor, further commented that the merge allows for the improvement of concrete learning opportunities, since it will “in turn increase the outreach in the context of enhancing community engagement, while creating role models with a better sense of civic responsibility.”

Future plans

With these objectives in mind, several future activities for Perkins students are currently being planned, including a spring trip to Chicago to visit Sunshine Gospel Ministries. As a non-profit organization, Sunshine Gospel Ministries shares a strong affiliation with the Christian Community Development Association (CCDA), a nationwide network focused on restoring shalom, or human flourishing, in the United States. 

Rozalyn Terry, a program coordinator with the CISD and the co-Resident Director of KHvR, noted that Grand Rapids has a strong relationship with the CCDA, with its conference coming to the city next year. Since Perkins members are obligated to complete 10 service hours a semester, the conference represents a prime opportunity for them to fulfill these guidelines. Terry said that the service-learning “beautifully represents why it’s integrated so well [at Calvin] because that is a huge part of the Perkins Foundation.”

Alongside the Chicago trip, Mwangi noted that several other activities are in the works for Perkins students, such as restorative justice workshops, cultural diversity and awareness programs, research projects and reflections on the communities visited. From these ventures, the SLC and CISD hope that the merger will encourage Perkins students to form a stronger sense of self and form collaborative networks. This will in turn enhance their learning and prepare them for applying their academic experiences outside of Calvin.

Mas-Smith also emphasized that the merger is an invitation to all students interested in being part of Perkins — not just to an exclusive group — and who are excited about the revitalized goals. “We want any student that wants to be a part of this … to know more about it and get plugged in — it’s for everybody,” she said.