Study Abroad Fair brings new opportunities for students

This week Grand Valley State University’s Padnos International Center will be concluding their series of in-person and virtual events as part of the Study Abroad Fair. These events aim to help students with deciding whether or not they want to study abroad during their time at GVSU.

To help show students how their time abroad could benefit their degree, as well as where to fit it into their schedules, the advising center will be hosting pop-up advising sessions in Kirkhoff on Tuesday, Nov. 9 at 1:00 and Wednesday, Nov. 10 at 11:00. Advising sessions for students on the downtown campus will be held at DeVos Place on Thursday, Nov. 11 from 12:00 to 4:00.

To read more of Clémence Daniere’s coverage of the 2021 Study Abroad Fair, click here.

Replenish Food Drive to help students struggling with food insecurity

One out of three students are dealing with food scarcity in the United States and some on-campus groups are hoping to confront the issue on Grand Valley State University’s campus.

“Food scarcity is hard to describe, but it is basically when a student is having a hard time getting enough food to be able to completely satisfy themselves,” said Kyle Hacomb, who helps run Replenish through the Gayle R. Davis Center for Women and Gender Equity.

While there are a lot of people that could be dealing with food insecurities at GVSU there are things that can be done in order to help fight this issue here on campus. One of those strategies is directly donating to Replenish, or one of the other on-campus groups that host food drives.

To dive deeper into Steven Lawrence’s deep dive into the Replenish Food Drive, visit this link. 

GVSU speaker explores loss, public health and immigration

On Thursday Oct. 7 the Office of Multicultural Affairs invited Dr. William D. Lopez to speak on campus in collaboration with their events for Hispanic Heritage Month. Lopez spoke on the importance of talking about deportation not only in the aspect of the people deported but also realizing how it impacts the people left behind.

Lopez works at the University of Michigan as a Clinical Assistant Professor in the school of public health. He often teaches about immigration and policing, viewing how that impacts people of color.

He wrote his first book last year, “Separated: Family and Community in the Aftermath of an Immigration Raid,” his presentation reflected back on his book and the people he interviewed in order to write it. The book features the stories of families impacted by the loss of their husbands and fathers, men who were taken away from their families by ICE. He interviewed those who were left behind after a raid in Ann Arbor in 2013.

To further explore Laker Life Editor Sabrina Edward’s coverage of Lopez’s talk, go to this link. 

The bias behind student evaluations

Contrary to many popular assumptions among students, taking the time to fill out your end-of-the-semester faculty evaluations does have a tangible effect on your professors. Far from being ignored, student evaluations can cross the desks of a faculty member’s colleagues, their department head, even the dean of their college.

“Different units, departments and colleges may have different practices,” said Ed Aboufadel, Grand Valley State University’s Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs. “But ultimately, the evaluation of faculty involves student evals, and faculty evaluates faculty. So, colleagues have to have access to your student evaluations— they become a part of your tenure portfolio and contract renewals.”

To read more about former Ysabela Golden’s examination of LIFT evaluations, click here. 

A Gay-ze into LGBTQ History: An Open Door Discussion

Last year, Grand Valley State University was named the best university in Michigan for LGBTQ students by Campus Pride and BestColleges. The ranking combines BestColleges’ criteria of academic support and affordability data in addition to the Campus Pride Index score, a national rating system that measures LGBTQ-friendly campus life.

Campus Pride considers eight LGBTQ+ inclusive factors to reach a measurement: policy inclusion, support and institutional commitment, academic life, housing and residence life, campus safety, counseling and health, recruitment, and retention.

Part of what makes GVSU such a good campus for LGBTQ+ students is the Milton E. Ford LGBT Resource Center. This center advocates for institutional equity, promotes community-building and provides educational opportunities to create an informed, cohesive, and just campus where community members of diverse sexual orientations, gender identities, and gender presentations are supported and welcome.

To further explore Kayla Worthy’s coverage of A Gay-ze into LGTBTQ History, visit this link.