Conversation with Alcatraz Warriors

Most students have probably heard about modern movements led Native American activists, like those at the Standing Rock Indian Reservation who protested the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) being built across their land without concern for their consent or safety. These movements aren’t just modern developments, however, as Grand Valley State University is encouraging students to discover at the upcoming event “A Conversation with Two Alcatraz Warriors 50 Years Later.”

Join activists LaNada War Jack and Lenny Foster on Monday, Nov. 4 as they discuss the occupation of Alcatraz in 1969 and 1970, the 1972 Trail of Broken Treaties Caravan and the Bureau of Indian Affairs takeover in Washington, D.C. The live interview will take place from 4-5 p.m. in the Kirkhof Center’s Grand River Room.

Fall Arts with Jill Lepore

Grand Valley’s annual Fall Arts Celebration is intended to share works of creativity with the university community and its surrounding locales, so it might seem a little odd to some that its event lineup, which features art shows, poetry readings and musical performances, would include a lecture from a Harvard historian. But Professor Jill Lepore — a regular writer for The New York Times, author of the award-winning “Secret History of Wonder Woman,” and specialist in interdisciplinary American studies — is not your average Harvard historian.

Her LIB 100/201 approved lecture, “American History from Beginning to End,” will take place Tuesday, Nov. 5 in the Eberhard Center on GVSU’s Pew Campus. Lepore’s talk will be preceded by a 5 p.m. reception with free appetizers and refreshments before the event begins in earnest at at 6 p.m. (book signing to follow).

Trans students “Wear the Rainbow”

One rarely discussed obstacle that every trans person faces when transitioning is acquiring an entirely new wardrobe that actually represents your gender identity. Add the costs of college to the mix and what was already expensive can become potentially overwhelming. That’s why the LGBT Center is hosting “Wear the Rainbow,” a free pop-up clothing shop intended to provide the trans and non-binary community with access to clothing items regardless of their financial resources.

If you have clothes or accessories you find yourself no longer wearing, consider donating them to this cause through the “Wear the Rainbow” boxes spread across campus or by bringing them in to the LGBT center itself. The event with take place Saturday, Nov. 9 from 1-4 p.m. in the Loosemore Auditorium of the DeVos Center on GVSU’s Pew Campus. In addition to the clothing, participants are invited to attend free workshops throughout the afternoon.