GV receives recognition for high level of voter engagement

Following the results the midterm elections earlier this month, Grand Valley State University has received recognition on the list of Most Engaged Campuses for College Student Voting curated by the nationwide ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge.

According to GVNext, GVSU is one of almost 400 college campuses participating in the program. As part of its efforts to participate in the program and increase on-campus voter engagement and turnout, GVSU has implemented tactics including the university’s Allendale Satellite Clerk’s Office that allowed students to vote via absentee ballot in the local Allendale precinct in the lead-up to, and on, Election Day.

Hundreds of GVSU students utilized the Satellite Clerk’s Office, where, according to results reported by the Ottawa County Clerk’s Office, students voted overwhelmingly for Democratic candidates in an otherwise heavily Republican county.

LGBTQ community, allies rally nationwide following Club Q shooting

Following the mass shooting at Club Q, an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs, members of the LGBTQ community and allies across the nation have begun to mourn and call for dramatic changes to a national dialogue rife with anti-LGBTQ policy and rhetoric.

Advocates in the community have pointed to such hateful messaging and a multitude of anti-LGBTQ legislation nationwide as factors encouraging violence against the community like that in Colorado Springs that killed five people and wounded 17 others.

Amidst growing violence, particularly targeted at transgender individuals, legislative efforts remain underway to further enshrine LGBTQ inclusion into the national culture. As the community continues to mobilize following the events at Club Q, the Respect for Marriage Act, enshrining same-sex marriage into federal law, is expected for its next vote in the U.S. Senate on Nov. 28.

International frustration grows following FIFA decision to penalize players’ support of LGBTQ at World Cup

Backlash has continued to grow after the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) announced earlier this month that it would issue yellow cards penalizing soccer players at its 2022 World Cup who wore “OneLove” armbands meant to symbolize solidarity with the LGBTQ community.

The decision came as this year’s FIFA World Cup is being hosted in the Middle Eastern nation of Qatar, a country where being a member of the LGBTQ community can carry the death penalty.

This reality pushed fans and captains of teams for the European nations of England, Wales, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Denmark to attempt to wear the armbands during games.

The teams have since backed off their plans to wear the armbands, but not without immense backlash from fans of the sport.