For at least the last decade, Calvin University’s world languages department has hosted a German Foreign Language Teaching Assistant (FLTA) through the Fulbright program. This initiative brings native speakers to campus to immerse students in both language and culture. Now, following the official elimination of the university’s German minor, that long-standing tradition is coming to a close.
The FLTA program is facilitated by the International Institute for Education and a subgroup of the Department of Education. Assistants work a maximum of 20 hours a week for the hosting department, receiving room, board and the opportunity to take two courses per semester. The program comes at no cost to Calvin University as the Max Kade Graduate Fellowship has covered the funds to house the FLTA.
Professor Herman De Vries, the German and Dutch professor in Calvin’s world languages department, noted that the FLTA leads conversation groups and arranges cultural events for the students. “It’s a huge blessing to the German program,” De Vries said.
Serin Ökce, a 26-year-old from the town of Lemgo, Germany, serves as Calvin’s final FLTA. Currently pursuing a Master of English and Philosophy at Paderborn University, Ökce applied for the highly competitive FLTA program with a longing to return to the U.S. after previously studying abroad in Alabama. When her placement arrived, she didn’t second-guess the opportunity.
“I accepted it without hesitation,” Ökce recalled. “I didn’t really choose Calvin. They kind of chose me, which is such an honour, to be honest”. Upon arriving, Ökce was struck by the university’s interconnectedness, noting that “the community goes beyond the campus.”
For Calvin students, the presence of a native-speaking assistant offers an irreplaceable academic and relational resource. Freshman Mimi Van Santen appreciates the unique perspective Ökce brings to the classroom.
Van Santen said she appreciates Ökce’s real-life experiences that she shared in the classroom. “Conversation groups were always really fun,” she added. “We do them every week, and it’s cool to be able to talk to her as a peer.”
Ben Pietrzak highlighted how Ökce’s expertise improved his fluency. “It’s so good having her here; she speaks German better than any teacher that I’ve had. She also has teaching experience with languages, which I think is the only reason she can understand me, honestly,” Pietrzak said.
The experience is equally transformative for the FLTAs themselves. Chiara Calitri, a former FLTA at Calvin, noted that the university provided the perfect environment to experience a different educational system. “Being part of the Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant Program was an incredibly enriching and formative experience,” Calitri said, adding, “It felt like a true exchange rather than just a professional role.”
De Vries echoed this benefit, noting how the assistants shaped his own work. “I’ve been a better teacher through having them here, and I’ve also had the opportunity, I think, to mentor them, in some small way,” De Vries said.
Recent budget cuts, however, spell the end of the academic exchange program.
As professor De Vries stated, “Students who are in the minor program will be working on teaching out programs for them, teaching out possibilities … there will be no German minor for any incoming students from here and out.” This presents logistical issues for students like Van Santen, who explained that she will have to finish her program at Grand Valley State University. “I don’t know how it’s gonna work, though, because I don’t have a car and the bus is around an hour and twenty minutes,” Van Santen said.
In an email to De Vries forwarded to Chimes, Director of the Fulbright Program, Derek Cook, wrote, “We are truly sorry to hear about the broader programmatic changes at Calvin University.” Cook continued, saying, “We are deeply grateful for the care, mentorship, and professional engagement you and your colleagues have provided to successive FLTAs over the years.”
For Ökce, learning she would be the last teaching assistant was a hard realization.
“The first emotion I found was definitely sadness because I know that the students want to learn German,” Ökce said. “Everything about that is so unfortunate … another aspect was, ‘oh, I’m the last FLTA.’ Calvin always had one every academic year for decades, so that just stops. What now?”
Ökce recently described the final German club event as a “eulogy” and a “burial”. For many students, the loss of the program directly contradicts the university’s stated values.
Briar Stonehouse, a history major and German minor, told Chimes, “Calvin claims to be this globally-minded campus. We’re very proud of the number of international students we have here … But without actual academic exchange, without students from other countries coming here and teaching, and students from here learning languages and going abroad, that global connection just doesn’t really exist on the same level.”
Though the FLTA program is ending, Ökce has encouraged students to keep engaging German language and culture by keeping their events going amidst her absence, hoping that even in spite of the program’s loss, students can still find community.
