Mayor Bliss speaking on campus this week

Grand Rapids Mayor Rosalynn Bliss will speak at Grand Valley State University on Wednesday, April 4, to share her experiences leading Michigan’s second-largest city.

Bliss will speak at 6 p.m. in the Kirkhof Center Pere Marquette Room for the Venderbush Leadership Keynote. The Venderbush Leadership Keynote has taken place since 1999 at GVSU to honor the memory of the late Kenneth Venderbush. 

Typically, there are multiple speakers at the keynote, but Bliss will be allotted the full time to speak. The event is LIB 100- and 201-approved and is sponsored by the GVSU Office of Student Life. 

It’s on Us as Lakers holding events for Sexual Assault Awareness Week

As part of national Sexual Assault Awareness Week (April is also Sexual Assault Awareness Month), Grand Valley State University’s student organization It’s on Us as Lakers will be holding various events throughout the week.

The student organization will host a panel of sexual assault survivors for an event titled “Survivor Speak” on Monday, April 2, at 8 p.m. in the Mary Idema Pew Library Multipurpose Room.

On Wednesday, April 4, the organization will host an open mic night labeled “Slamming the Stigma.” The event, which begins at 7 p.m., will take place in Area 51 of the Kirkhof Center (located in the basement).

On Friday, April 6, there will be a tie-dyeing event from 10 a.m. to noon, and then from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., on the Kirkhof Center North Lawn in front of the Mary Idema Pew Library. Shirts will be dyed purple and teal (the colors of the week). 

Finally, on Saturday, April 7, It’s on Us as Lakers will hold a “Slut Walk,” an event designed to protest rape culture, at noon. The event will begin at the Cook Carillon Tower.

Other events are being held by other student organizations. GVSU’s Campus for Consent is holding a panel on unpacking rape culture (see page A3) and a “Tea Talk” event on consent and healthy relationships on Wednesday, April 4, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the Kirkhof Center, Room 2266.

Dartmouth professor to lecture at GVSU

Grand Valley State University’s African and African-American studies and area and global studies departments will host Dartmouth College professor Derrick White for a lecture titled “MLK #WhereDoWeGoFromHere.” White will speak on Wednesday, April 4, at noon in the Kirkhof Center Pere Marquette Room.

Thursday is National Alcohol Screening Day

Grand Valley State University’s Counseling Center is hosting confidential drop-in alcohol screenings on Thursday, April 5, for National Alcohol Screening Day. The screenings involve filling out alcohol-use surveys. The locations and times are as follows:

Allendale Campus:

Kirkhof Center: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Kleiner Commons: Noon to 2 p.m.

Recreation Center: 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Pew Campus: 

DeVos Center, Building C: 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Cook-DeVos Center for Health Sciences: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.