 |
|
|
|
JULY 2020
Grand Valley alumni often ask the Alumni Relations Team how they can help their
Laker community. In this month's e-newsletter, there are multiple stories on how to do just that. I encourage you to read below on how you can take action against racism, do business with a fellow Laker for a Lifetime, and make a gift to Grand Valley's
Student Support Fund.
As we move forward as a university, let’s find ways to help one another, collaborate, and make long-term change, rather than temporary fixes, our goal.
Together, we Lakers can make a difference.
| |
Chris Barbee '88
Director, GVSU Alumni Relations
| |
| Grand Valley President Philomena V. Mantella announced the first of several action steps that GVSU is taking to support the charge for social and racial justice, to ensure that our own house is in order, and that our words are not simply rhetoric, but rather forces for positive change. At gvsu.edu/inclusion/action you can read her full message, learn how you can take action, and find anti-racism resources.
Some of the key action steps include:
- Appoint a campus-wide network of advisors to ensure our full community shapes and commits to this work and that Black faculty, staff, students, and alumni voices are elevated to the highest level of engagement with President Mantella and all university senior leaders.
- Convene a Grand Valley Campus Safety task force to review current policing practices and recommend any needed change.
- Identify opportunities and look to implement the formation of greater and clearer promotional, developmental, and recruitment pathways for
employees of color. - Identify structural changes and opportunities that strengthen accountability across the organization for leadership and supervisors in advancing inclusion and equity, including in our recruitment, evaluation, and promotion processes, campus climate metrics, and their own education.
- Provide universal training for all members of our university community to enable each of us to build the necessary understanding, knowledge, and skills for social justice, power, privilege, and anti-racism.
| |
| We've compiled a directory to highlight the extraordinary accomplishments of GVSU Alumni Owned Businesses! To view a growing list of these businesses, or to submit your own, visit gvsu.edu/alumni/business.
| |
| Join Elisa Salazar, LMSW, and fellow Lakers for a conversation about self-reflection on July 28. Using a car as a metaphor, check-in with yourself and bring attention to your needs. You'll learn to ask yourself questions like “how full is my tank?” and “how fast am I going?” For more virtual and in-person events, be sure to check out the GVSU alumni events calendar at gvsu.edu/alumni/events.
| |
| Do you know that your 2020 charitable giving is now tax-deductible? Through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, even if you do not itemize, you will be able to take a special tax deduction of up to $300 per person. The needs of GVSU students are great during this unprecedented time. To those alumni who are able, please consider making a gift to Grand Valley’s Student Support Fund. Gifts go directly to immediate student needs, and a little goes a long way to help students stay in school and create a better future.
| |
| In June, Grand Valley announced a record conclusion to the Laker Effect campaign, which raised $130 million for students, from 35,000 donors. The funds raised during the campaign are hard at work helping students and building talent for our communities, our state, and our nation. Thank you, Lakers!
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
