In 1980, a small group of students walked across the stage as Trinity’s first four-year graduates. This milestone represented faith, resilience, and community. For alumni Paul Huesken, Robin Brinkman, and Dan Splinter, being part of this pioneering cohort shaped their lives in ways they never imagined.
Choosing Trinity: a leap of faith
Huesken grew up familiar with Trinity’s earliest days. His father was one of the trustees who purchased the original Seal Kap farm in the late 1950s. “I actually remember walking across the train trestle as a little child, walking across to have a look at the farm,” he recalled. By the time he enroled as a freshman in 1976, Trinity was still a two-year college. “When I finished my associate of arts in 1978, I had applied to different universities,” he said. “But Trinity added the third, then fourth year, so I decided to stay and complete a bachelor’s degree. It was a risk for sure because it wasn’t accredited yet, but by the time I graduated we had received those credentials from the provincial government, so it worked out okay.”
Dan Splinter’s path to Trinity came from a deep desire to attend a Christian school. “I looked at a few options, but Trinity’s location and size felt right,” he explained. “I just made a good decision with the faculties God gave me and the advice I received from people I trusted.”
For Brinkman, the decision was even more profound. A brand-new Christian from Washington, she longed to study at Trinity but needed financial help. “I pulled an envelope from the mailbox, and it was a $200 scholarship from women’s ministry just out of the clear blue sky,” she said. “I cried all the way home. My mom said, ‘It sounds like God wants you to go.’ And that was all I needed.”
Life on campus: faith, friendship, and foundations
All three alumni describe their time at Trinity as formative spiritually, academically, and relationally. Brinkman remembers arriving as a shy new believer and finding a close-knit community of about 380 students. “Faculty invited us over for dinner,” she said. “I stood next to the president’s wife in choir, singing Handel’s Messiah. I felt safe there. I was a brand-new Christian, and I was getting Christian influence all around me. It really grounded me.”
Splinter echoes this sense of safety and belonging. “I had to work very hard to be an average student. But Trinity gave me a safe place to figure out those critical years after high school. My life could have gone in a very different direction, and I’m really grateful for that,” said Splinter.
Campus life carried a wholesome rhythm. Social guidelines kept visiting hours between dorms structured, encouraging students to form friendships built on trust. “We were innocent,” Brinkman laughed. “The boys watched hockey, the girls studied or played pranks on each other. It was different from today, but it felt like family.”
Splinter, who sang in the touring music group Gentle Reign, fondly remembers choir tours that stretched across the United States. “We’d travel for a month, singing in churches and youth camps, sometimes two or three times on Sundays,” he said.
Huesken found similar community through friendships with faculty and classmates. “I really loved the friendship that I had with fellow students and with faculty and staff,” he said. “The dynamic of campus life really impacted my faith life. A place where there’s a bond and trust is a place where faith can grow.”
Milestones and memories
The Class of 1980 lived through an era of growth: new dorms, new buildings, and the expansion to four-year degrees. Huesken recalls rustic dorm life, where couches were dragged outside for impromptu music sessions. “We’d crank up Boz Scaggs or the Doobie Brothers full blast while people filed by on their way to class,” he said.
Brinkman’s highlight was an international choir tour with the Continental Singers during a gap year. “We went to Poland, Czechoslovakia, East Germany,” she said. “It was three months of singing gospel music in some of the hardest places, and God used it in powerful ways.”
Splinter’s defining memory was less about a single moment and more about the gradual transformation of character. “Trinity gave me the tools for critical thought and writing, but also a foundation of faith that carried me into adulthood,” he said.
Building lives of purpose
After graduation, Huesken became a public school teacher, spending 30 years in Abbotsford and Chilliwack classrooms, teaching English and coaching soccer. “I viewed my students as my flock,” he said. “They just didn’t know they were my flock.”
Brinkman later worked as a high school registrar, where she became known for her meaningful conversations with students about life and calling. One student, who had been torn between pursuing medicine or teaching, later told her, “That conversation I had with you was a turning point for me.” Brinkman had helped her see that it’s possible to pursue more than one passion in life.
Splinter’s career took him into the RCMP, where he served 35 years in roles ranging from policing to major fraud investigations and operations management. “There was always this theme of taking Christ into the marketplaces of life,” he said. “My conviction has always been that if the caliber of your life doesn’t speak well of your faith, you ought not say anything anyway.”
A legacy that continues
Today, these alumni continue to live out the values they discovered at Trinity: faith, community, and service. Huesken and his wife operate a Christmas tree farm and delight in their grandchildren. Brinkman and her husband celebrate over four decades of marriage and remain active in their church community. Splinter and his wife, whom he met at Trinity, raised three children, all of whom also graduated from the university.
Looking back, their advice to current students still resonates. “Aim high,” Splinter said. “Work hard. Don’t cheat yourself by being lazy. Learn to write, learn to analyze, and be flexible if your plans change.”
Brinkman’s encouragement is simple: “Get involved. It’s a safe place to be with God and to really strengthen that relationship with Him. He’ll use even the hard things to shape you.”
Huesken adds, “God doesn’t have a plan for your life. He has a purpose. Plans can change in an instant, but purposes endure. Keep doing your best, pray that it’s blessed, and He’ll take care of the rest.”
Marking 45 Years
As Trinity Western celebrates 45 years since its first four-year graduates crossed the stage, the Class of 1980 stands as a testament to the school’s enduring mission: developing godly Christian leaders who impact the world for Christ.
The stories of Paul Huesken, Robin Brinkman, and Dan Splinter, testify to God’s everlasting faithfulness. As we welcome the Class of 1980 back to campus this Homecoming, we celebrate not only their historic achievement but also the enduring goodness of God who carried them and continues to carry all of us from generation to generation.
Story by Netanya Castillo.
About TWU Alumni
We invite our alumni community to continue to participate in the life of the University. Our desire is to nurture an engaged and flourishing global community of alumni by cultivating meaningful relationships and creating engaging alumni experiences. Learn more at TWU Alumni.
About Trinity Western University
Founded in 1962, Trinity Western University is a global Christian liberal arts university dedicated to equipping students for life. Uniting faith and reason through Christian teaching and scholarship, TWU is a research institution offering undergraduate and graduate degrees in the humanities and sciences as well as in several professional schools. It has campuses in Canada in Langley, Richmond, and Ottawa. Learn more at www.twu.ca or follow us on Instagram @trinitywestern, Twitter @TrinityWestern, on Facebook and LinkedIn. For media inquiries, please contact: media@twu.ca.