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Grand Valley State University

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Grand Valley State University - Grand Valley features a rich academic environment focusing on excellent faculty, outstanding students, hands-on research opportunities and nationally ranked graduate programs. Grand Valley offers over 200 areas of study, including 68 undergraduate majors and 25 graduate programs. A liberal arts emphasis teaches students critical thinking and problem resolution. Grand Valley's strong academic focus creates a challenging and rewarding educational experience.

Allendale, Michigan is home to Grand Valley's main campus, established in 1960, situated on 1,237 acres 12 miles west of Grand Rapids. Classes are also offered at the university's Pew Campus in Grand Rapids, Meijer Campus in Holland, and through centers at Muskegon and Traverse City established in cooperation with local community colleges.

Contents

Colleges

As of July 2004: During the 1970s, Grand Valley used a multiple college concept: College of Arts and Sciences, Thomas Jefferson College, William James College, and "College IV". The academic programs were placed in divisions from 1982 to 2004. The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences came from the merger of the Arts & Humanities and Science & Mathematics Divisions.

Presidents

Campuses

Grand Valley has four campuses. The main campus in Allendale and three satellite campuses in surrounding areas

Allendale campus

This is the University's main campus and opened in 1960, and is the location of most of the university's programs. Michigan State Highway 45 links the campus in rural Allendale to U.S. Highway 31 to the west and Grand Rapids, Michigan to the east. The football stadium (Lubbers Stadium) is located here as well as all other athletic facilities for the schools 19 varisity sports. The fieldhouse's basketball arena hosted many concerts before the DeVos Place Convention Center opened in nearby Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Pew Grand Rapids campus

The Pew Grand Rapids Campus is located in downtown Grand Rapids. It includes the Richard DeVos Center, L.V. Eberhard Center, Cook-DeVos Center for Health Sciences, The Depot (houses the Michigan Small Business and Technology Development headquarters), Keller Engineering Laboratories, Peter F. Secchia Hall (housing), and Winter Hall (housing).

Muskegon campus

GVSU has three locations in Muskegon: Lake Michigan Center and Michigan Alternative Renewal Energy Center are located along Shoreline Drive in downtown Muskegon.

Holland Meijer campus

The Meijer Campus in Holland houses continuing education programs. The land was donated to the university by the Meijer family. A Meijer store is located nearby.

Grand Valley has two carillons.
Beckering Family Carillon Tower
  • Cook Carillon (1994): Located on the Main Allendale Campus, near Kirkhof Center and Cook-DeWitt Center.
Cook Family Carillon Tower

Transportation

Interurban Transit Partnership operates several The Rapid bus routes under contract with the university. The public can ride these buses by paying the fare, but rides are free to Grand Valley students, faculty and staff while classes are in session on all Rapid routes.

The Rapid bus to the downtown (Grand Rapids) campus is numbered the "50," while another bus, the "37," takes students to off-campus apartment buildings. This bus was originally numbered the "36," which has led to a petition by several Grand Valley students to get the number changed back to its original "36."[Rapid petition]

Athletics

Grand Valley supports 19 Varsity Teams in the following sports: Baseball, men's and women's Basketball, men's and women's Cross Country, Football, men's and women's Golf, women's Soccer, Softball, men's and women's Swimming and Diving, men's and women's Tennis, men's and women's indoor and outdoor Track, and women's Volleyball. Grand Valley Athletics has recently enjoyed great success with three Team (Volleyball, Women's Basketball, and Football) and several Individual Division II National Championships in 2005-06. GVSU's athletic program has also won the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) Directors' Cup in 2004, 2005, and 2006 after finishing second the two previous years (2002 & 2003). The Director's Cup is awarded to the top athletic program in each NCAA division based on team overall finishes. Grand Valley is the first NCAA DII school East of the Mississippi to win this prestigous award.

Tim Selgo is the Athletic Director for Grand Valley. Tim was hired on February 12, 1996 as the fifth AD and has put his own stamp of leadership on the GVSU athletic department. A promotor of a well-rounded athletic department, Selgo has been a key figure in the Lakers' rise to national prominence in Division II athletics.

Football

The GVSU football team won its first Division II National Championship in 2002 and came back and did it again in 2003. They went to their first National Title game in 2001 losing to the University of North Dakota. The Team added a third National Championship in 2005, finishing the season 13-0 and tying the NCAA record for most wins over a 4-year period with 51 [3]. GVFootball.com is a Fan Website [4]. A separate page detailing Grand Valley Football history is also available.

Volleyball

The women's volleyball team won its first Division II National Championship in 2005 against host school Nebraska-Kearney in front of a NCAA D2 record crowd of 5,025 fans. The 2005 volleyball team is the first women's team to win a National Championship for the school. The Lakers ended their season with a 32-6 record. Coach Deanne Scanlon was voted the Tachikara/AVCA D2 National Coach of the Year for her efforts in guiding the Lakers. [5]. The Lakers have a 20-6 overall record for the NCAA D2 Playoffs and are currently in a streak of 13 straight years with winning seasons.

Women's Basketball

The GVSU women's basketball team won their first NCAA Division II National Championship in the 2005-2006 season with a 58-52 win over American International College. The Lady Lakers finished with a school best 33-3 overall record, which included a win streak of 22 games, also a school record. The Lakers in the 04-05 season lost in the Elite Eight going 28-6 over-all. Coach Dawn Plitzuweit was voted the Russell Athletic/WBCA National Coach of the Year in 2005 and after the National Championship season was voted both the BCAM and the Molten/WDIIB National Coach of the Year. She was also honored by being selected as the USA Women's Basketball Trials Court Coach. In both the 04-05 and 05-06 campaigns the Lakers were led on the court by their two time All-American Nikki Reams.

Men's Basketball

The GVSU mens' 2005-2006 basketball team had their outstanding season cut short when they were upset early in the NCAA D2 Regional Playoffs. GV men were ranked NO. 4 in the Nation in the final poll heading into the playoffs. The men ended their season with a 27-4 mark and second year coach Ric Wesley was named the BCAM College Coach of the Year for his efforts. Ric has lead the Lakers to a 45-14 record over his initial two years and it is the best two year total of any basketball coach in their first two years at GV.

Men's Ice Hockey

Members of the GVSU Ice Hockey team line up for the national anthem before a game in 2005.
Members of the GVSU Ice Hockey team line up for the national anthem before a game in 2005.

GVSU has had a hockey team since the mid 70's. Since the NCAA does not offer Division II ice hockey, GVSU participates in the American Collegiate Hockey Association and will participate in the Great Midwestern Hockey League [6]in 2006-2007, which is considered a top conference in ACHA Division II. Grand Valley previously was a member of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Hockey Association and was the GLIHA Tournament Champions in 2003 and placed second in 2005. The team is not affiliated with the athletic department, but is run by the office of student life as a non-varsity team. The team website is http://www.gvsuhockey.com.

Crew

GVSU supports a non-varsity coed crew team. Each year, the team travels around the nation and world to compete against other top collegiate crew teams. In addition to facing storied crew teams such as Michigan, Notre Dame, and many others. Each spring, GVSU hosts the Lubbers Cup Regatta on the Grand River on GVSU's Allendale campus. The cup is named for the former GVSU president, Arend Lubbers.

Wrestling

GVSU has a non-varsity wrestling team which has done well in National Collegiate Wrestling Association nationals the past few years. The 2006 NCWA national championships, which were held March 3-4, 2006 at the Deltaplex, were hosted by GVSU. GVSU won the team champsionship with 188 points.

Women's Soccer

GVSU field an NCAA Division II women's soccer team. The Lakers finished the 2005 season with a GLIAC Championship and a trip to the NCAA Elite EIght - the best finish in school history.

Community outreach

Special programs at Grand Valley include:

Media

The university owns and operates a PBS station, WGVU, and AM and FM radio stations with the same call letters, which feature a mixture of jazz, blues, and news, including local and NPR programming.

GVBN is the newly created student-run television station. It is launching in March 2006 and provides students with television shows and magazine style news. The shows are written, performed, and produced by students.

The Grand Valley Lanthorn is the student newspaper, published on Mondays (as of Fall 2005) and Thursdays (http://www.lanthorn.com/). WCKS-AM is the student radio station (http://www.wcks.org/). GVBN is the student-run television station on channel 7 on the university cable system.

Grand Valley Comic Association is another outlet for creativity. Publishing twice a year and frequently on its website, the association produces a pulp comic of collective stories. All artwork, writing, editing, inking and lettering is collaberated by Grand Valley Students.

Food service

Aramark operates all food services in Allendale and Grand Rapids.

Public safety

The Department of Public Safety is the police department for the Allendale Campus. While the department is self-empowered to enforce its jurisdiction, many officers are deputized by the Ottawa County Sheriff's Department. Because Allendale doesn't have its own police department, the Grand Valley State University Police handle cases anywhere in Ottawa County, mainly in Allendale and the area surrounding the campus.

The department handles other security issues, such as parking and driving violations, community policing, and lost and found.

Allendale's fire department serves the campus.

Pew Campus Security handles security issues and contacts Grand Rapids Police when necessary.

Bookstore

University Bookstore [link] serves the Grand Valley State University community. University Bookstore is owned and operated by Grand Valley State University.

Controversies

In 1969, the Grand Valley Lanthorn [link], the student-run newspaper on campus, printed an issue containing several vulgarities and obscenities. After complaints from some at Grand Valley State College and the surrounding communities, the Ottawa County, Michigan sheriff arrested the editor, and the prosecutor closed down the newspaper office. The university - then a college - sued the sheriff and prosecutor for closing the Lanthorn offices. Eventually, Michigan's Attorney General settled the case out of court, ruling in favor of Grand Valley State College.

In 1970, shortly after the shootings at Kent State University, Ohio, Vietnam War protests intensified on campus. In response, President Lubbers closed the college for three days to have discussions on what the college should do. A public forum was held in the college's fieldhouse, which was attended by a vast majority of the Grand Valley community. Everyone was granted five minutes to speak, but by the end of the day, only the most radical of students remained, who demanded that the college be shut down for the rest of the year in protest. President Lubbers refused to discuss that option, which brought chants of "Power to the People." The situation was ended by President Lubbers when he met with the leaders of the radical students, and explained to them that the power over the university does not rest with students, but with the administration and board, and both of those bodies refused to close the college for the rest of the year.

In 1995, a sarcasm based newspaper, the Harpoon, published a mock letter from GVSU President Arend Lubbers to the president of Western Michigan University declaring war on WMU. Despite being an obvious hoax, Student Senate yanked the Harpoon's funding citing unauthorized use of the university logo. The Harpoon staff spearheaded a political takeover of Student Senate the following year to have their funding reinstated.

In 2001, the reversal of then-president Arend Lubbers' stated intention to offer benefits to same-sex partners of GVSU employees was met with protest from faculty and many students, and accusations of undue influence by major donors to the college.

In 2005, College Republicans group sponsored an affirmative action bake sale by charging different prices based on the person's race and gender (with lower prices for members of suspect classes). This prompted criticism and even accusations of racism from many students and faculty, and resulted in the Student Senate voting to cut off funding for the organization for the remainder of the semester, and the organization voting to remove from office their president and vice president, who were responsible for the activity.

Famous alumni

External links

 

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