Dordt University dedicated the Rozeboom Family Athletic Center and the spaces inside on Saturday.
Dordt University brought together students, families, alumni, and major donors Saturday to dedicate the renovated Rozeboom Family Athletic Center and the new spaces inside. The project broke ground 6-months ago to improve the overall experience for practices and games. Darin Keizer, the Athletic Director at Dordt, lays out the construction and thanks the people who worked on the center.
“The Rozeboom Family Athletic Center didn’t just happen this way. I know when we started the groundbreaking of this facility at the end of March. So when you think about a building, you’ve often talked to the Californians, um, about a building that hasn’t happened in six months in California, but a building in northwest Iowa does. And so we have a lot of people to thank for making that all possible.”
Keizer lays out the Defender Way, which drives Dordt’s athletic program and reminds players and coaches where their gifts come from.
“Defender Way is something that we talk about regularly and often. I, as an athletic director, get a privilege to evaluate my coaches on, and that’s uncommon in the world of sports.”
New spaces in the athletic center include new classrooms, a renovated Vos Gymnasium, a new overlook area, and new People’s Bank concessions.
Erik Hoekstra, President of Dordt University, explains the Rozeboom Family Athletic Center isn’t the end, but only the end of one phase.
“In that passage in Exodus, it also talks about Moses calling on the Israelites to bring gifts. Bring your gold, bring your silver, bring their yarn to the tabernacle. And at a certain point Moses says, that’s enough. We have enough for the tabernacle, for its finished. The Advancement Department never says that’s enough, because we still have phase four to go. We can talk about that when their’s time.”
The dedication was ended with a prayer and a singing of the Doxology by members of the Dordt choir and attendees. After the dedication ceremony, Dordt held an alumni event as part of the larger Defender Days weekend.
