GVSU announces speakers for MLK week

Grand Valley State University announced the two guest speakers for its annual Martin Luther King Jr. commemoration in January 2018.

On Monday, Jan. 15, April Reign will speak at GVSU, and Bree Newsome will speak Wednesday, Jan. 17.

Reign is an attorney currently residing in Washington, D.C. Reign gained attention in 2015 for her creation of the Twitter hashtag #OscarsSoWhite in response to what she perceived to be a lack of people of color in the 88th Academy Awards. The hashtag ended up going viral, and her efforts led to an eventual update in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ membership policies and voting rules.

Newsome is a filmmaker and activist who received attention in 2015 for her removal of the Confederate flag from the state capital of South Carolina after a mass shooting of African-American parishioners in Charleston, South Carolina. Newsome was arrested for her actions but received tremendous support. The Confederate flag was eventually removed from the state capital.

GVSU’s 2018 Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration Week will be held from Monday, Jan. 15, through Saturday, Jan. 20.

Fall Arts Celebration concludes

Grand Valley State University’s 2017 Fall Arts Celebration will come to a close Monday, Dec. 4, at 7:30 p.m. with “Noel, Noel, Joyeux Noel: A Celebration of French Music for the Holiday Season.” The event will take place at Fountain Street Church, located at 24 Fountain St. NE in Grand Rapids.

GVSU students, as well as students from East Grand Rapids High School and Hudsonville High School will be performing. Both secular and religious songs dating back as far as medieval French times will be performed, including Guillaume Du Fait’s “Magnificat” and “Pat-a-Pan; Il est Né, le divin Énfant” and “Minuit, Chrétiens (O Holy Night).”

Admission for the event is free and open to the public.

Seidman alumni to hold sales training event

Grand Valley State University will be host to a sales training event sponsored by the alumni of the Seidman College of Business on Tuesday, Dec. 5, and Wednesday, Dec. 6, both at 6 p.m. The Tuesday event will be located in the L. William Seidman Center, Room 1013, while the Wednesday event will be located in the Seidman Forum.

The event, titled “Real World Sales Training by Seidman Alumni,” entails a partnership with the Grand Rapids Drive. Participants will have to sell Drive tickets. First place will receive two courtside tickets to a Drive game as well as a table side at the game. Second place will receive courtside tickets, and third place will win tickets to a game.