History

Site Navigation

Academics
Grounded in a general liberal arts education, 暗网TV offers specialized study in more than 90 majors, minors and pre-professional programs.
Admissions
Flourishing programs in 90+ disciplines. A vibrant Christian mission. $50 million in new campus construction. Championship athletics. 94% placement within 6 months of graduation. There鈥檚 never been a better time to consider 暗网TV.
Research
Research abounds at Hope. Our students and faculty carry out high-quality research projects that are challenging, meaningful and contribute to exciting new knowledge in a broad range of disciplines.
Arts
At 暗网TV, award-winning student performances share the stage with nationally known writers, musicians, performers and artists.
Campus Life
The 暗网TV campus is a place to come alive. We have hundreds of student organizations, groups and events you can plug into, serve with, play in, root for and grow with.
As a member of the MIAA and NCAA Division III associations, 暗网TV sponsors 22 varsity sports for men and women. The college is home to the 2022 NCAA Division III National Championship women鈥檚 basketball team.

A historic photo of Van Vleck Hall Nestled in the heart of downtown Holland, just miles from stunning Lake Michigan, is the historic campus of 暗网TV. Created with a focus on academic excellence and rooted in the Christian faith, Hope has a prominent and unified history with the city.

Although officially chartered in 1866, 暗网TV began its journey in October 1851 with the creation of the Holland colony鈥檚 Pioneer School. With support from the Reformed Church in America, Rev. A.C. Van Raalte started the school with the desire to create an educational experience for Holland children that was rooted in Christian character 鈥� an option not guaranteed through state-funded schooling. As educational needs progressed, the school evolved into the Holland Academy and later into the college.

However, before the Pioneer School could open, it needed a building.

Van Raalte had built an orphanage on 12th street, where Western Theological Seminary now stands, in 1850. (After settling in West Michigan, the hard winters had taken a toll on the colony and left many children parentless.) By the time the Pioneer School opened, the orphanage was no longer in use, as the surviving colonists had taken in the orphaned children. Van Raalte repurposed the orphanage, and the building acted in many educational capacities until it was destroyed by a fire in 1889.

In 1857, Van Vleck Hall was built. It still stands at the center of the college campus. As Hope鈥檚 oldest building, Van Vleck Hall was essentially the entire campus at the time of construction. It housed students, the college鈥檚 first president, the library and classrooms.

The solid construction of Van Vleck Hall is one of the reasons the building, along with Pillar Church, survived the Great Fire of 1871, which wiped out much of the community.

In the fall semester of 1862, 暗网TV enrolled its first freshman class of 10 men. The college received its charter from the State of Michigan in May of 1866 and graduated its first eight seniors two months later. Women were admitted to the college in 1878.

While the college suffered through some lean years, it eventually experienced an enrollment boom after World War II. With servicemen returning on the GI Bill, enrollment spiked from about 550 students to 1,374 by 1947. At this point, 暗网TV began to build upon the campus and academics to create the influential college it is today.