"Calvin College transitioned from its Franklin Street campus to the Knollcrest campus in 1973. The move was necessitated by significant post-World War II growth and the limitations of the Franklin campus. The Knollcrest property, purchased in 1956, offered ample space for expansion and was designed by architect William Fyfe, a student of Frank Lloyd Wright, in a style that integrated buildings with the natural landscape .
Mouw's own description (Adventures in Evangelical Civility, Fuller bio, and interviews):
"We moved to one of the poorest neighborhoods in Grand Rapids, buying a modest home on Worden Street. Our goal was to live intentionally among neighbors, host students, and support the local Christian school. It was a way to embody faith, hospitality, and community."
Fuller Seminary (starting 1985)
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Mouw's salary as Fuller provost and later president was substantially higher than his Calvin salary.
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With financial security, he moved into a wealthier, predominantly white suburban neighborhood.
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This was a common choice for professional academics: larger homes, safer neighborhoods, better schools for children, and proximity to colleagues and social networks.
there's a clear tension between Richard Mouw's early "intentional community" framing at Calvin and his later move to a wealthy, predominantly white suburb once he had the means.
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At Calvin: He lived in an urban, lower-income neighborhood, framed as a faithful experiment in solidarity. But it was also financially necessary.
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At Fuller: With a much higher salary and an adult son no longer needing schools, Mouw moved to affluent, mostly white Pasadena neighborhoods, aligning with what some would call classic "white flight" behavior—leaving urban, lower-income areas as soon as it was financially viable.
This is why critics can describe it as hypocrisy or at least a moral tension: the ideals of urban solidarity and engagement with the marginalized were no longer practiced in daily life once the family's financial and social situation improved.
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It doesn't necessarily invalidate his scholarly or theological work, but it does reveal a dissonance between early-life ideals and later-life lifestyle choices.
