In This Issue

"What we pay attention to grows—this is a hard world, but it is also a world full of love and pleasure. I am of that, attending to and growing that."

 --Adrienne Maree Brown, from Emergent Strategy

Our votes, our time and energy, our wallets. What we direct these to reflect our values, character, and our dreams for the future. Every year we are asked, and—awkwardly—we ask one another to donate to GVSU endowment funds. I have never seen this as giving hard-earned salary to one’s employer. I’ve always chosen to think of it as directing my money to what I value. Our students and our programs are one thing I value, and irrespective of my full-time job to serve and support them, I think our mission is so important that my spouse and I support them financially, too, just as we support elected officials whose positions we favor, and community organizations that advance causes we value.

When we choose to support endowments that help our neediest students, our employer happens to match every dollar. Our annual faculty/staff campaign, as well as the “Day of Giving” reminds us to pay attention to the things that are important to us.

The GameDay Football Zero Waste Touchdown Challenge, a program of the Campus Race to Zero Waste, is a nationwide competition among colleges and universities to reduce and recycle the waste generated at home football games. Grand Valley State University was named the winners of the Waste Minimization Per Capita. Congratulations to the Office of Sustainability Practices for their leadership in sustainability!

In February, Professor Laurence José and the Digital Studies Capstone hosted Zachary Waugh, a GVSU alum who works as a Healthcare Account Executive at Microsoft. Zachary gave a timely talk on AI in healthcare and the value of digital literacy skills and interdisciplinarity in today's workplace. Zachary shared his journey from healthcare to tech and described how he leveraged his clinical experience and digital literacy skills to be in his role at Microsoft AI. Look for more great events in the future and see what other Digital Studies alumni stories here.  

A Brooks College town hall meeting will be held on March 21st from 9:00-9:50 for all faculty and staff. Dean Schaub will provide College news and updates and there will be some time for questions. This will be held via Zoom and all faculty and staff will receive an email with more information.

SAVE THE DATE - The Brooks College startup meeting has been rescheduled to August 18th in the Pere Marquette Room in the Kirkhoff Center, Allendale Campus. More information will come closer to the date. 

 Hosted by the School of Interdisciplinary Studies (SIS), the SIS Community Connect event is an excellent place start networking with organizations looking to connect with students and alumni in our programs!

At this event, you will:

March 28th from 10:00 a.m - 1:00 p.m in the Kirkhof Center, Grand River Room 2250.

GVSU’s Day of Giving is coming up on Thursday, March 20.  Big things happen when Lakers Give Back, and we're excited to see what our community can do! Give to the program or activity that inspires you most, and your impact will be amplified as fellow Lakers do the same.

Brooks College is featuring the Sustainable Agriculture Project Fund for Day of Giving. The Sustainable Agriculture Project (SAP) is a living laboratory that educates and equips students with the experience and knowledge of regenerative agricultural practices by providing an empowering resource for students to critically engage with the interdisciplinary nature of farming through hands-on applications. 

If you make a gift of $30 or more, you can receive a pair of exclusive Grand Valley socks that are only available for Day of Giving. There are limited pairs available, so make your gift soon before they are gone! 

In a world where AI is transforming the future, this lecture serves as your gateway to understanding and leveraging the power of data-driven innovation. The lecture will focus on the following critical disciplines: economics, design thinking, data science (AI/ML), and cultural empowerment. These pillars help define value, drive solutions, transform data into actionable intelligence, and foster inclusive, data-literate environments. Join this lecture to learn key insights from Bill Schmarzo as well as engage in a lively question and answer session.

Date: Tuesday, March 18, 2025
Time: 10:00 - 11:30 a.m.
Location: Charles W. Loosemore Auditorium, Richard M. DeVos Center, Robert C. Pew Grand Rapids Campus

See more information and RSVP here

The Kutsche Office of Local History would like to invite you to the 16th Annual Local History Roundtable on March 19th, 2025. The Roundtable will run from 1:00pm - 8:00pm and will take place at the Richard M. DeVos Center on GVSU's Pew Campus in downtown Grand Rapids. After a welcome and the presentation from one of the Gordon Olson Award for excellent contributions in local history there will be two panels and a keynote address: 

Brooks College is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. All year long we are going to share memories and highlights from the past 20 years. Thank you to all who have contributed and shared memories and if you would still like to share you can fill out the form found here! From the beginning, Brooks College has offered expansive thinking and complex problem solving, offering students a place to integrate their expertise into the world. Thank you to donors and supporters, as well as all of the faculty and staff who are committed to students.

"When I walked into the Brooks College Padnos International Center for my job interview, I was struck by how intensely and immediately I wanted to work there. There were different languages and maps on the walls, photos of students abroad, very cool and international staff and student workers. I loved it. I was so nervous I stammered through the first part of my interview, but they took a chance on an art student with a kind of random interdisciplinary background. It changed my life forever. For the last 12 years I've done work I care about with people I care about. Brooks College is a good place for that, and I'm glad to have been a part of it." - Alissa Lane

March 12 - Is the Party Over? The Present and Future of American Party Politics

March 13 - Build Feminist Futures Symposium 2025

March 13 - The World Will Not Be the Same: How the United Nations International Women's Year Shaped Transnational Feminisms

March 14 - Sustainability Champion Awards Ceremony

March 19 - Taco Tuesday and Wing Wednesday

March 19th - 16th Annual Local History Roundtable Keynote Presentation

March 20th - A Conversation about Delivering While Black: A Screening with Director and Cast Q&A

March 21st - Brooks College Town Hall

March 21st - Brooks College Affiliate Luncheon

March 27th - "The First Jew in Canada: A Trans Tale" Performance & Q & A

March 28 - Community Connect Event

March 21-April 5 - ENS Winter 2025 Sustainability Showcase

*New events are posted regularly. Stay up to date on Brooks College events by checking the events calendar on our website.

March 17 - Registration Begins for 2025/2026 - see registration calendar

March 21 - Withdrawal Deadline by 5 PM for full semester courses

Classes that meet for only part of the session/semester have different refund deadlines. Those refund deadlines can be found by using the searchable course schedule

April 19-26 - Final Exam Week

April 29 - Final Grades due from faculty by 12:00 p.m

Fill out the form below to submit an event or announcement for the Brooks College Newsletter or email Kate VanDerKolk - vandkat@gvsu.edu

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