Trailblazers Highlight Founders Day Event
Seven African Americans, who were trailblazers at Grand Valley, led a Founders Day event for students. “Paving the Way for Future Generations” was held on October 24 at the Alumni House on the Allendale Campus. The trailblazers included Cheryl Franks, representing her father, Dr. Julius Franks, the only African American among our university founders; Curtis Joseph Jones, first African American male professor; Julianne Vanden Wyngaard, first African American female professor; James Moore, first African American male student to enroll at Grand Valley in 1963; Betty Burton Groce, first African American woman to serve on the Grand Valley Foundation board; Danny Poole, first African American student athlete to earn a scholarship; and Ron Gates, first African American to portray the Great Laker.
