Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Here's what you find
at Grand Valley State University.
The community here
at Grand Valley is very welcoming.
You find big opportunities
in a close knit community.
There's also a commitment to excellence here
at Grand Valley.
Grand Valley State University --
the more you learn, the more you realize --
the world stretches out before you.
Amazing! Grand Valley State University
and you...
Lakers for a Lifetime.
Without that Grand Valley education,
I don't think I would ever had the guts
to leave what I loved doing
to start a new bank.
Grand Valley attracts the gutsy
and the talented.
If I am going to teach,
I want to do it at a place
where I can make a difference.
All your years at Grand Valley...
all your hard work have truly made a
difference, and today, we all celebrate!
Clarinetist and professor Arthur Campbell
came to Grand Valley in 1996.
There were just two clarinet majors
when he arrived...
that number quickly jumped to 20.
We had the opportunity to maybe look at it
in a different way
and not just teach exactly the way
that we were taught.
Campbell was taught
by the renowned clarinet teacher Robert
Marcellus, earning his master
and doctoral degree
from Northwestern University.
What I try to do in the lessons is to get away
from saying, "Do this
and do this and do this."
We say, "If you want to do this, I recommend,
as an expert in the field, that you do this
and that's going to produce this result."
Campbell's students have an amazing employment
record and he tells story after story
about who is where
and how his students are well-rounded
musicians after going
through Grand Valley's general
education program.
His former students have chosen him
as Grand Valley's Outstanding Educator.
If we've become really really good
at what we do, and we have the flexibility
to be able to respond
to whatever opportunities come,
or if we have the imagination
to create an opportunity,
then things are going to work.
Campbell works...
not only as a teacher,
but also as a performer.
He plays around the world
and in Michigan schools...
he's been recognized internationally...
earning top awards from Belgium, Spain,
France, and receiving Record of the Month
and Star of the Month recognition
in Germany I want to be a virtuosic player;
I want to be a virtuosic teacher.
I want to be really, really good at both.
There is a high expectation,
with a high expectation yields the necessity
for perseverance and hard work.
Jack Iott knows about height -
he was a high jumper for the Lakers...
part of a track and field program
that demands discipline and garners GLIAC
and NCAA titles.
My first year, I was strictly trying to focus
on school and be an athlete.
I kind of felt like I was missing something
and needed to branch out.
Iott branched and he blossomed...
he's the president of Student Senate
and a fellow with the Hauenstein Center's Cook
Leadership Academy.
Being able to be a leader on Senate
and through other organizations,
let me be able to get some real world
management experience,
and learn how to run an organization.
President and CEO of Founders Bank
and Trust Laurie Beard has learned a thing
or two about running an organization...
especially the one she founded
with a small group in the early 90s.
How could I talk about this bank without,
21 years into it now, without having a lot
of passion for what we do?
Beard is full of passion
for this west Michigan bank.
She became president and CEO in 2001.
Founders now has four branches
and 100 employees.
The employees really are
who make this bank great.
I just show up every day and try to do my best
as far as providing some leadership.
It's not unusual to hear me come
in the morning and say,
"Thank God it's Monday," because I believe it.
And the Alumni Association believes in Beard -
she has been named a Distinguished Alumna.
She received her MBA
from Grand Valley in 1981.
Back then it was unusual to have other women
in class with me.
And we didn't think of ourselves
as trailblazers, but I suppose we were.
She continues to blaze trails, at the bank
and through her service to Grand Valley,
serving on a number of boards
and keeping her eye
on Seidman students and graduates.
About 10% of our employee force are graduates
of Grand Valley.
I give Grand Valley a lot of credit
for where I am today,
and I'm very proud to be an alum.
Dimitri Westbrook is involved
in two theater groups on campus.
He got his biggest stage so far
when he was chosen to be in the Laker
for a Lifetime "I'm on a Boat" video.
It has more than 39,000 views on YouTube.
I can look back at it and say, "Wow,
that's a good video.
I just really love it.
It was just amazing to be a part of something
so big, yet so good for the representation
of Grand Valley.
He came to Grand Valley from Chicago
and is a Liberal Studies major.
Faculty members are amazing.
I had some hard professors and,
but when I had that one on one connection
with the professor, they helped me a lot.
That's just what Westbrook plans
for his future -- helping others.
I want to be able to back to my community
and help create change for a better cause
and help the youth there.
I'm the first person in my family,
other than my oldest sister,
to go to college V'Lecea Hunter
of Detroit was open to Grand Valley...
and the advisors, mentors and friends
who made a huge difference
in her college experience.
Coming to Grand Valley and taking
that initial step and facing the change,
and then seeing all of these people
that support you, because I don't think
that I would have made it this far
without accepting those people
that reached out to me.
Hunter worked several jobs on campus,
had a couple of internships and studied abroad
in South Africa.
She wants to get her master's
and become an academic advisor.
I also want to become a motivational speaker.
I believe that everyone should know
that they're capable
of doing anything they put their mind to.
And I learned that here at Grand Valley.
This is a day to acknowledge
lessons learned...
bonds made....
And doors you want to walk through!
Grand Valley has supported helping you find
what you want to do, but also opening up a lot
of doors for you.
I would not trade anything...my struggles...
my good times, hey I take it all
because in the end it helped me become a
better person.
I am so excited.
I never thought that I would finish college;
I'm very proud.
Congratulations!
You made it!