Hope College - Definition and Overview

Hope College is a small liberal arts college located in Holland, Michigan. It was opened in 1862 (received state charter in 1866) by Dutch immigrants only 15 years after the community was first settled and is historically associated with the Reformed Church in America. Hope offers 80 majors at bachelor's level. It has a student population of about 3,000. Seventy-five percent of its students come from within the state. The school still attracts a large percentage of students of Dutch and Reformed heritages. It is known for its undergraduate student research programs. In 2003 U.S. News & World Report's college rankings listed it 4th in undergraduate research after the University of Michigan, Stanford University, and MIT. The school has no graduate program but has shared its campus with Western Theological Seminary since 1884.

Hope's motto is taken from Psalm 42:5: "Spera in Deo" ("Hope in God"). The college's emblem is an anchor. This is drawn from a speech made by Albertus C. Van Raalte, the leader of the community, on the occasion of the founding of the Pioneer School in 1851: "This is my anchor of hope for this people in the future." (an allusion to Hebrews 6:19). The primary-level Pioneer School was later expanded to secondary and soon after, college level education as Hope College. Van Vleck Hall, now a dormitory, predates the college to these earlier schools and is the second oldest building in the city.

Housing is provided by 11 dormitories, 15 apartment buildings and 72 houses (called cottages) that the college has purchased nearby campus. Few students live off-campus.

The college admitted its first female students in 1878.

Hope College participates in the MIAA athletics conference. The school's athletic teams are called the Flying Dutchmen (men) and the Flying Dutch (women). Their school colors are blue and orange (possibly chosen because the Dutch royal family is the House of Orange-Nassau). It is traditional rivals with Calvin College in nearby Grand Rapids, Michigan which is associated with the similar Dutch heritage Christian Reformed Church in North America.

Hope College is a member of the Great Lakes Colleges Association.

Notable Alumni

• Pete Hoekstra
• Terry Lynn Land
• Rob "CmdrTaco" Malda
• A. J. Muste
• Robert Schuller
• Richard Smalley*
• Guy Vander Jagt

* indicates attended but did not graduate from Hope