In 1958, the Michigan state legislature declared Grand Rapids Michigan’s second-largest metropolitan area, was in need of a four-year college. So businessman Bill Seidman organized a committee to look into the report and begin to create the institution we know now as Grand Valley State University.

By 1961, Seidman and a team of 281 individuals had raised over $1 million and choose a plot of land in Ottawa County to begin construction. By 1963, the first 255 students arrived on campus.

Jump forward 53 years and GVSU students still celebrate the founding of the university and the people that helped make it a reality.

Every Oct. 25, GVSU celebrates the 282 people who helped come together and create the university. The Laker Traditions Team publicizes and spreads the word of the event on campus to students and faculty alike.

“This year was actually the first year the event was able to be held on the actual Founders Day itself, which was pretty exciting,” said Danielle O’Connor via email, campus programming assistant for the Laker Traditions Team. “The first year, it was held on Oct. 10 to allow for Bill Seidman’s family to attend the unveiling of his statue, and the past two years the 25th was on a weekend, so it was celebrated on the Thursday before.”

Each year, students have the opportunity to participate in a fundraiser known as “Buck-A-Brick.” Students were able to donate $1 and in exchange, they could write their name on a “brick” on a large poster that had ‘GV’ written on it. This fundraiser is a callback to the campaign of the same name that ran during the late 1950s and early 60s to raise money for GVSU’s campus.

“The money raised from this fundraiser went to the Student Legacy Scholarship, while in 1960 the Buck-A-Brick campaign raised money to fund Grand Valley,” O’Connor said.

A very popular aspect of Founders Day is the handing out of free cupcakes, something O’Connor says is “definitely a positive reaction.”

Founders Day also included a time capsule, dubbed the “Power of 10″ time capsule, where students can write an under 10-paragraph essay, create art under 10×12 inches or write a 10-word tweet explaining why they like GVSU. The time capsule is to be opened when the next president of GVSU reaches his or her 10th year..

“It is important because without those 282 individuals, we wouldn’t be here,” O’Connor said. “We wouldn’t be Lakers for a Lifetime. Founders Day is a day to appreciate and celebrate all that they have done for us by simply having a vision and creating a foundation.”