Issue 35, January 18th, 2018 - Grand Valley Lanthorn

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GRAND VALLEY

BASKETBALL PREVIEW:

A L L E N D A L E & G R A N D R A P I DS , M I C H I G A N ST U D E N T- R U N P U B L I C A T I O N S // P R I N T · O N L I N E · M O B I L E // L A N T H O R N . C O M

T H U R S D A Y, J A N U A RY 1 8 , 2 0 1 8 // VO L . 52 N O. 3 5

INITIATIVES

GV awarded grant for high-tech innovation BY DEVIN DELY NEWS@LANTHORN.COM

In downtown Grand Rapids, anchored by the Van Andel Research Institute, is the Grand Rapids SmartZone. Created in 2001, it has been a pillar of technological innovation and research in West Michigan, empowering businesses and researchers to grow and make advancements in their fields. The SmartZone Local Development Finance Authority (LDFA) has recently given Grand Valley State University a chance to experience that same technological growth, awarding them over $1 million for several initiatives and projects. The applied Medical Device Institute (aMDI), which is a part of the Cook-DeVos Center for Health Sciences in Grand Rapids, received $680,000 to advance the program. The institute works on developing medical devices and advancing medical technology. LDFA also awarded a $700,000 grant to a collaboration project between the Padnos College of Engineering and Computing, Spectrum Health Innovations, and the Kendall College of Art and Design. The grant will be awarded over three years. Additionally, LDFA also gave money to Future State, a community and development project that GVSU partners with. Linda Chamberlain, Meijer endowed chair of entrepreneurship and innovation in the Frederik Meijer Honors College, discussed the importance of these financial awards. “The donors are primarily focused on student jobs and engaging students in their work,” said Chamberlain, who is involved with the development of Future State. “There’s a lot of research to be done. We’re going to prototype the model (of Future State) around workforce development skills and employability skills. It’s very clear to our regional employers that they can’t find people to employ fast enough and that there’s a gap in employability.” In addition to GVSU, Future State is closely partnered with the organization Talent 2025 and Fred Keller, whose namesake is lent to GVSU’s engineering laboratories on the Pew Campus. SEE GRANT | A2

DEMONSTRATION: GVSU students, faculty and staff walk through the Allendale Campus in a Silent March on Monday, Jan. 15. Following the Silent March, speaker and activist April Reign delivered a keynote speech in the GVSU Fieldhouse as a part of GVSU’s commemoration of Martin Luther King Jr. GVL | DYLAN MCINTYRE

Honoring MLK’s legacy April Reign delivers keynote following Silent March BY KARINA LLOYD NEWS@LANTHORN.COM

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undreds of feet crunched through the freshly fallen snow on Grand Valley State University’s Allendale Campus, united in silence as a call to remember the life and work of Martin Luther King Jr. By taking part in the annual Silent March at GVSU, participants were able to step into his shoes while silently reflecting on the impact his legacy continues to have. On Monday, Jan. 15, walkers passed by signs marking significant moments in King’s life, such as his work to create the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and significant acts done to remember him, such as the creation of his memorial in Washington, D.C.

“I wanted to expose my kids to some MLK activities,” said Tiesha Shankin, one of the participants. “It is important so they can understand how everything is connected and so they can (start) building the framework to make change in the future.” This year marks the sixth year that GVSU students have been given the day off of classes to participate in MLK Day events. This year’s festivities include a service and solidarity event, a silent rally, keynote speakers and other events later in the week. “I think it is very important for not just African-American people but the community as a whole to take their education in their own hands and learn more about other people,” said GVSU student Chasity Brooks. “It’s a big problem in America and ev-

erywhere else to be able to accept and learn about somebody else. It helps us better as a race to be able to accept and love one another. “I hope (those who participate in the MLK events) have a better understanding of not just African-American people but other races and how our history is different. ... We’ve all struggled, and there are still problems today that we still have to face.” As the walk came to an end, participants were welcomed into the Fieldhouse to hear a keynote presentation by April Reign, who discussed the idea of uniting behind a cause and coming to understand the realities of being a minority in 2018. Reign is most famously known for her creation of the viral Twitter hashtag “#OscarsSoWhite,” which trended and started a national

conversation about the lack of minorities represented in the famous awards show. In addition, through social media, she has been able to play a role in some of the nation’s most talked-about public protests. “I was not able to be in Ferguson, but I was able to do my part at home,” Reign told attendees. “I was able to coordinate and communicate with folks that were on the ground and those who were trying to get there. We were able to provide information and resources. ... When the cops were trying to crack down on certain areas and so the protest needed to be moved somewhere else, you could come to my timeline and see ‘OK, this is where we’re going to (relocate).’” SEE MARCH | A2

MLK COMMEMORATION

Bree Newsome speaks about consciousness, activism at GV BY ARPAN LOBO NEWS@LANTHORN.COM

UP FRONT: Bree Newsome speaks at GVSU on Wednesday, Jan. 17, for MLK Commemoration Week. Newsome spoke to the audience about the history of white supremacy in the U.S., as well as their ability to promote equity. GVL | DYLAN MCINTYRE

On Wednesday, Jan. 17, Grand Valley State University continued its honoring of the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. by hosting Bree Newsome for a keynote speech on the Allendale Campus. Newsome is an activist who gained notoriety in 2015 for climbing a flagpole at the State Capitol of South Carolina to remove a Confederate flag shortly after the mass shooting of nine black parishioners by a white supremacist. Her message to GVSU students and community members consisted of being conscious of the societal roles that are assigned to people based on the color of their skin. “From the time we are babies, as we interact with society and grow, we are socialized into holding thought patterns, beliefs, customs and social roles, and we act these roles out, often unconsciously,” Newsome said. “So, what does it mean to be conscious? In this most basic sense, it means to be aware of our unconscious behavior. “I’m aware that I am a black woman. But I am also aware that race as it is understood in the United States is largely a social construct with no real basis in biology.” Newsome explained the role of white supremacy in the history of

the trans-Atlantic slave trade, historical perceptions of people of color and the American Civil War. Newsome, whose ancestors were slaves in South Carolina, reminded listeners that the Confederate symbolism of the Civil War had meaning deeply rooted in white supremacy. Newsome added that the Confederate flag she took down in 2015 had flown over South Carolina since 1961 as a symbol of defiance against the civil rights movement of the 1960s. “Being a child of the South myself and descending from family that has been in the Carolinas for hundreds of years, the meaning of this flag and the social order that it represented was never lost on me,” Newsome said. She read quotes from Confederate figures, repeating lines of racially charged hate and intolerance, reminding listeners again of the causes of the Civil War. “The Confederacy was formed in the belief that African-Americans should remain in a perpetual state of bondage,” she said. “And so the Confederate flag was a banner that first represented slavery, and then, after the South lost the war, it became emblematic of the Jim Crow laws that would govern the South for the next hundred years.” SEE NEWSOME | A2


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Issue 35, January 18th, 2018 - Grand Valley Lanthorn by Grand Valley Lanthorn - Issuu