History is made today, Nov. 5, 2025, as the shutdown of the federal government stretches into its 36th day, becoming the longest shutdown in US history. Though the shutdown is the result of decisions made in Washington DC, the effects of this shutdown are being felt here on Calvin’s campus.
The shutdown — which began at midnight on Oct. 1, 2025 — is the result of Congress failing to pass 12 appropriations bills that authorize money for federal departments and agencies. When lawmakers can’t agree on those bills — or even on a short-term patch called a “continuing resolution,” which the government has been funded by for most of the last three decades — the funding expires.
For the past several weeks, by law, most civilian federal employees have been forced to stop working, national parks and museums have closed, and government operations deemed nonessential have been suspended. Some workers, like air traffic controllers and members of the military, continue to report for duty but won’t be paid until the shutdown ends.
The federal government’s work touches every community, including Calvin’s. Student aid, scientific research funding, environmental oversight and more all rely on those appropriations. When the federal system falters, so do the institutions that depend on its stability.
Associate Professor of English and Communication Jesse Holcomb (who also serves as faculty advisor to Chimes), encountered an unanticipated shutdown-related challenge in a Master’s-level Audience Analytics Communication course when data from the US Census Bureau became unavailable to students for an assigned task in class. “At least one student got stuck when they realized essential portions of the website were down due to the shutdown. Students were able to pivot to other sources of data, but it was a curveball,” said Holcomb.
Holcomb says he is now “rethinking some coursework for the remainder of the semester, because I can’t assume we’ll be able to rely on the Census data,” adding that “it made me realize how much we tend to count on certain services to just be there when we need them.”
The situation is similar for Jason VanHorn, professor of geography in the department of geology, geography and environment and director of the Master’s in Geographic Information Science (GIS). VanHorn said he sees the effects of the shutdown specifically in “geospatial courses, like GEO 260 GIS & Cartography and GEO 362 Remote Sensing of Earth, primarily because we need to access publicly available spatial data.”
VanHorn is finding government shutdowns to be a more frequent occurrence in his fall semester courses, forcing him to make sure to prepare ahead of the shutdown by downloading specific data ahead of time “to allow student learning to continue, but often I will have to tweak my lab instructions to reflect the constraints,” said VanHorn.
VanHorn added that “some branches of the US government have decided to keep servers on because of the importance of data access to essential services, research and education. This most recent shutdown has had less of an impact for my geography students than in past years.”
Still, data is not being updated from certain sources, including “the most current data about Earth observation from Landsat 8 and 9, which allows us to analyze geographic areas by revisiting them every eight days, is not being updated. But the geostationary satellites like GOES East and GOES West, which give us a view of the entire eastern or western USA at all times, that satellite data is live and available,” said VanHorn.
For Dave Warners, professor of biology and director of Plaster Creek Stewards, the shutdown has only added to existing uncertainty concerning federal grant funding for the organization. “We have been partners with regional representatives with the EPA and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation but with the government shutdown, we’ve had some of those meetings cancelled, causing a loss of momentum and a great deal of uncertainty,” said Warners.
Calvin’s financial aid office, which handles federal student loans, has noticed “very minimal impact on Calvin students” due to the shutdown, according to director of financial aid, James Koeman.
“Federal aid (both grants and loans) for eligible students was disbursed to Calvin in mid-September, before the shutdown began. Even students who may have finalized some element of their aid after the shutdown have not seen any delay in receiving federal funds,” said Koeman, continuing on to assure that “students and families are still able to access the federal website to apply for aid for both the current academic year as well as the 2026-27 academic year.”
Concern remains if the shutdown continues; an extended shutdown could result in delays from the Department of Education in response to questions or requests for help submitting a FAFSA application. “We have been told those types of inquiries may see a delayed response,” said Koeman. For now, according to Koeman, “We are not hearing from families who are unable to complete the application process.”
“No one likes the uncertainty for students and parents created by the shutdown, even if it appears relatively minimal at this time,” Koeman told Chimes.
