Final Graduation Marks End Of Trinity Christian College, But Its Legacy Carries On

PALOS HEIGHTS, IL—Trinity Christian College’s decades of Christ-centered education came to an end Friday on a minor league baseball field outside of Chicago as the class of 2026 became the last class to matriculate.

After the initial shock and confusion wore off from last November’s bombshell announcement that Trinity would close at the end of the 2025-2026 academic year, students continued about the business of college. They wrote papers, attended classes, and pursued sports and other extracurriculars with the school's impending closing at the back of their minds.

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“It’s been pretty somber here, to be honest. It’s not very lighthearted or fun,” said John Kvek, a junior from Grant Park, IL. “Up until the last couple of weeks, people were going through their thing. Now it’s settling in that the college is closing.”

Kvek, who attended Trinity on a basketball scholarship to play for the Trolls, has accepted a teach-out transfer to Saint Xavier University. He hasn’t given any thought, however, to continuing, or trying to continue, his collegiate sports career.

“I haven’t reached out to the [SXU] coach, really,” Kvek said, a junior from Grant Park, IL, who we also spoke with last fall. “I don’t know if I want to play. The Trolls had one of the best seasons we’ve ever had.”

His teammate, Quinton Hunter, of Lockport, plans to finish his senior year in the fall at Wisconsin Lutheran College in Milwaukee. Meanwhile, everyone is soaking in the memories in the very last week of Trinity Christian College.

“It’s sad to see the college turn out like this, but the positive side is that there’s a whole new chapter,” Hunter told Patch.

He added that other colleges in their conference have been reaching out to the Trinity players and offering spots on their teams.

“We had one of our best seasons in 15 years,” Hunter said. “We had a fire in us. It was our last time to play as Trolls on the court. We set records and made the conference playoffs. We hosted the first [playoff game]. It was Trinity’s last home game ever, and we won. It was great for our fans. We wanted to give Trinity our best representation.”

On Friday, families, friends and alumni gathered for Trinity’s last commencement at Ozinga Field in Crestwood, with a mixture of grief and celebration.

“Tonight, we're going to gather, and we will celebrate. We're going to celebrate you,” said Jennie Mozie, the college president. “We will mark this together, and we will celebrate the community that's been with you every step of the way, carrying you through to this point.”

The evening was unlike any other in Trinity’s “long and faithful history,” remarked Kenneth Drythroat, chair of the board of trustees and a 2003 Trinity alum

“As our college prepares to close after decades of Christ-centered education, this commencement carries a special weight in significance,” Drythroat said. “While this chapter may be closing, the impact of Trinity Christian College will continue through your lives, your work and your Christ-like service to a waiting and watching world. Thank you for being part of this story today.”

During the invocation, Anika Wicker, a 2026 graduate majoring in special education, thanked students and faculty for the “legacy of Trinity Christian College.”

“We know the needs of each of our hearts right now, those of us who are losing their alma mater, those whose time is cut short, those who are having to look to new schools, and those who have lost a workplace that has felt more like a home,” Wicker said. “Yet we remember that you have been faithful to this institution across generations, and we trust you will remain faithful still.”

Elementary education major Carvelle Anderson, who came to Trinity from Chicago’s West Side, was voted by the student body to deliver student remarks. He reminisced about the second-floor lounge and 3 a.m. Bible study sessions—the kind of memories that will still make old friends roar with laughter decades later.

“I don’t have an alma mater to go back to, but I have a community,” Anderson told his fellow graduates.

Meanwhile, the last Trinity graduates walked across the stage to receive their master’s and bachelor’s degrees in nursing, fine arts, communication, philosophy, business, library science, education, music, science (natural and social), law, health science, public health, theology, and arts and humanities. Some students hammed it up, accepting their diplomas as proud families cheered their students from the stands, along with intermittent chants of “Let's go, Trolls.”

Jon Brouwer, a 1996 Trinity alum, told Patch he came down from Cedar Lake, Ind., for the final commencement and to walk around Trinity one last time, which has retained a listing agent for the 60-acre campus at 6602 W. College Drive in Palos Heights “for reuse or redevelopment.”

“The best four years of my life,” Brouwer said. “When I woke up Nov. 4, 2025, and saw the announcement on Facebook, I was in tears. It was tough. I've made lifelong friends. We still golf together, and we all watch sports together.”

After Mozie dismissed the graduates, Trinity Christian College went out with a bang, with a 10-minute fireworks display over Ozinga Field, as the college drifted off into a memory of the heart.