Issue 18, December 9, 2019 - Grand Valley Lanthorn

The Grand Valley Lanthorn’s

G R A N D VA L L E Y L A N T H O R N

Semester In Review

GV graduates reflect after 2019 Commencement SEE GRADUATION| A7

Return of the Rally: GVSU holds second annual Rally with the Rapids Basketball Game SEE CHARITY | A20

M O N D A Y, D E C E M B E R 9, 2 0 1 9 // VO L . 5 4 N O. 1 8

@ GV L A N T H O R N

LANTHORN.COM

A2 | NEWS

DECEMBER 9, 2019 GRAND VALLEY LANTHORN @GVLNEWS

SEPT. 9

Michigan bans flavored vaping products after increase in health issues

BY KYLIE ELWELL KELWELL@LANTHORN.COM

On Aug. 28, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) released a press announcement about an ongoing investigation: it has been found that e-cigarettes and vaping cause respiratory illnesses.

“The severity of illness people are experiencing is alarming and we want Michiganders to be aware (that) using e-cigarettes and vaping can be dangerous,” said state epidemiologist Sarah Lyon-Callo. “E-cigarettes (and) vaping products can contain harmful chemicals that can result in damage to a user’s lungs, heart or other body systems.”

With a wide age range using vapes regularly, individuals ranging from 19-39 have been hospitalized for severe respiratory illness. Symptoms and cases of respiratory illness have been reported in 23 different states since Aug. 23.

Michigan is the first state to ban flavored e-juices, being proactive in trying to stop the problem of people using vapes without any previous experience with nicotine. The amount of teens and young adults contribut-

ing to the sales of vaping products has skyrocketed over the past few years.

“Don’t start using nicotine if you don’t have a preexisting relationship with nicotine,” Juul CEO Kevin Burns said in an Aug. 31 interview. “Don’t use the product.”

Governor Gretchen Whitmer believes that banning flavored vaping products will reduce the amount of teens and young adults that are addicted to nicotine from the popular flavored juices. The ban gives Michigan businesses 30 days to comply to the ban on flavored products, which will span six months and can be renewed.

Students at GVSU are already feeling the changes, especially among e-cigarette and vape users.

“My friend vapes and as soon as she found out that Michigan was banning flavored vape juice, she went to the vape shop and the line was out the door,” said GVSU student Hannah Swain.

E-cigarette and vape users should seek immediate medical attention if they start to experience any symptoms of respiratory illness. The symptoms include shortness of breath, chest pain, cough, fever, nausea and vomiting. Symptoms may occur long after use of a device.

SAFETY MEASURES: The flavored vaping ban took place Aug. 28 to decrease chances of respiratory illnesses. This was followed by a warning from Juul CEO about product safety. GVL | BENJAMIN HUNT

SEPT. 16

GV updates Greek Life policies, lifts alcohol ban

BY SARAH EDGECOMB NEWS@LANTHORN.COM

DECISION: A temporary alcohol ban was put in place in order to revisit issues in Greek Life policies to enhance safety. GVL | MARC GREEN

After putting temporary sanctions on Greek Life events into effect in October 2018, Grand Valley State University officials have lifted the ban. The organizations’ policies have also been improved to make them more accessible for members. The decision came after months of discussion and updates to existing policies.

“Some of our organizations have had risk-management mishaps which resulted in probations, suspensions,” said President of the Greek Life Board Mikaela Padgen. “Seeing all that happen for the past five years made this happen.”

Beginning in January, a 14-member task force met each week to address issues with the Greek Life policies, with Greek Life officers sitting in on the meetings. Padgen said that this was key in the policy changes.

“The task force was really intentional about including student voices,” Padgen said. “It was really great to see the administration want our input.”

The discussion topics covered philosophy, procedures, policies, enforcement and education for Greek Life. Under the new policies, fraternities and sororities will only be permitted to have alcohol at an event if the organization’s officers have

been trained on the updated policies.

Padgen said that previous documents had terminology that was inaccessible, confusing or outdated, and that the task force aimed to improve this.

“Some of them were always there, but they weren’t able to be implemented as easily as they are now,” Padgen said.

With the regular circulation of graduating and incoming members, Greek Life cultures undergo changes often.

Because of this, policies and procedures must adapt with the membership.

In discussing issues with Greek Life, it’s important to mention that this is a nationwide issue, Padgen said. However, the updates at GVSU will help fraternities and sororities better understand the policies as these organizations now have clear guidelines.

Padgen said the culture of the Greek Life community will be benefited through more readable, student-friendly policies and procedures. She said that the updates also served to uphold the university’s Greek Life’s positive reputation, since organizations at GVSU are stricter about hazing and don’t hold rivalries.

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DECEMBER 9, 2019 GRAND VALLEY LANTHORN @GVLNEWS

CONTENTS NEWS

| A2-A7

OPINION

| A8-A9

SPREAD

| A10-A11

LAKER LIFE

| A12-A13

ARTS

| A14-A15

SPORTS

| A16-A20 VOL. 5 4

NO. 18

Lan thorn EDITORIAL STAFF

Layout Editor VIVIANA RUBIO

Editor-in-Chief NICK MORAN Associate Editor BRIANNE KERR

Layout Designer KHOI TRAN PROMOTIONS

Associate Editor AMY MCNEEL News Editor SARAH EDGECOMB

Promotions Manager HOLLIE PICKELMAN

SEPT. 23

Students collaborate with President Mantella in Grand Huddle sessions

BY AUDREY WHITAKER AWHITAKER@LANTHORN.COM

A new collaborative series called the Grand Huddle aims to open a dialogue among students, staff and faculty at Grand Valley State University this semester.

According to President Philomena Mantella, Grand Huddles are part of the Reach Higher Together initiative to build GVSU’s future.

“The idea is to spark creativity by working in agile, collaborative and diverse groups,” Mantella said. “I am relying on everyone to bring their best thinking to activate all our talent. Together, we’re going to strategize the best way for Grand Valley to serve students now and into the future.”

Mantella said she is hoping to harness the ideas and talent of everyone who lives, studies or works at GVSU to capture a culture of innovation.

“Change is inevitable in higher education,” Mantella said. “We must address change, and we must also stay true to the essence of Grand Valley. The ideas we all generate will help us plan our collective future.”

According to GVSU’s website, the series will feature 15 90-minute sessions beginning Sept. 25. Each meeting will be held at a different location on either the Allendale, medical or Pew campus, or online via Blackboard at

STUDENT INPUT: The Grand Huddles were installed to give President Mantella feedback from students. The information was then used to make a plan for GVSU’s future. COURTESY | AMANDA PITTS

varying times, making them accessible to a broad audience.

“We know that students from a variety of backgrounds experience Grand Valley differently,” Mantella said. “We’re hoping that these different kinds of opportunities will give us the best feedback for what students want to see from their university moving forward.”

The deadline to register for any session

was Sept. 18, but limited space is still available for some sessions, according to the website. Each session is limited to 50 participants, with virtual sessions on Blackboard open to those who are unable to attend in person.

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ADVERTISING STAFF

Sports Editor KELLEN VOSS Laker Life Editor YSABELA GOLDEN

A3 | NEWS

Advertising Manager JESSE BECKER

SEPT. 30

Michigan Secretary of State visits GV on National Voter Registration Day

BUSINESS STAFF

A&E Editor MARY RACETTE Image Editor BENJAMIN HUNT

Business Manager RACHEL RUTGERS Asst. Business Manager NEHEMIAH HUDGINS-LOPEZ

BY LUCAS SWARTZENDRUBER LSWARTZENDRUBER@LANTHORN.COM

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DEMOCRACY: Benson visited GVSU on National Voter Registration Day to emphasize the importance of voting. GVL | MEGHAN LANDGREN

On Sept. 24, the Community Service Learning Center (CSLC) and Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson promoted voter registration at the Cook Carillon Tower at Grand Valley State University’s Allendale Campus.

Associate Director of Student Life Melissa Baker-Boosamra described the event as celebratory. She considered it an honor for Benson to visit GVSU on National Voter Registration Day. “To me, that says she sees that we value student voter engagement and we value student voices,” Baker-Boosamra said.

Baker-Boosamra explained some of GVSU’s work behind promoting student voters. Last May, the university hosted the Michigan Student Voter Engagement Summit, representing 24 campuses across the state. According to the Office of Student Life, the summit contributed to GVSU earning the title of “voter-friendly campus” in 2019.

Benson said students’ votes are their voices. If youth do not make themselves heard, politicians at all levels of government will make decisions without their input. For issues that students care about, changes will not occur unless they vote.

“Young voters are the future of our democracy,” Benson said.

During her visit, Benson attended the voter registration drive for 45 minutes.

She said the Allendale Campus is vibrant with student life; Benson recalled enjoying energizing conversations with students already engaged in registering their peers to vote.

CSLC Civic Engagement Associate Kathryn Carey explained the event relates to her major in political science and minor in international relations.

She said students are key voices in how Americans deal with other countries and their own nation.

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DECEMBER 9, 2019 GRAND VALLEY LANTHORN @GVLNEWS

A4 | NEWS SEPT. 30

Making Waves About Water Initiative spurs interdisciplinary movement

BY SEAN CAUVET SCAUVET@LANTHORN.COM

At Grand Valley State University, a new movement is on the horizon: The Making Waves Initiative (MWI). The Initiative was created by Provost Maria Cimitile and has continued its push through the work of professors and co-leaders of the Initiative Peter Wampler and Kathryn Remlinger, along with over seventy students, faculty and staff.

GVSU Professor of English Kathryn Remlinger described the initiative as having four main goals.

“The first goal is interdisciplinary collaboration: creating cooperative learning for students, staff and faculty and within the community,” Remlinger said. “The second goal is geographic and institutional identity: defining traits of GVSU as a liberal education institution in West Michigan. The third goal is for the initiative to have good resources and activities: synthesizing learning across disciplines, locally, globally and with intention.

The last goal of the initiative is to empower students to make waves through advocacy and community engagement.”

To meet these goals, there will be ten teams of “WaveMakers” who will work on external funding, student research and creative projects, field trips and connections with campus and community partners.

A major factor and first goal in spreading the word about the Making Waves Initiative is interdisciplinary collaboration, and

Remlinger says that there are several ways to achieve this.

“I am a socio-cultural linguist and Peter (Wampler) is a hydro-geologist. I think the varied interdisciplinary backgrounds of the leadership team and all the WaveMakers is essential to its success,” Remlinger said. “As we collaborate, we learn from each other and share insights that strengthen our interdisciplinary awareness and collaboration.”

A range of water-based events are held throughout the year to support this goal, such as the Sept. 19 visit from Peter Annin, an expert on regional and global water diversion and author of “The Great Lakes Water Wars.”

“We also utilize films that draw on themes and approaches from a range of disciplines a well as gain steam from our Big Splash Week,” Remlinger said.

The Making Waves Initiative has had a strong start and they intend to build on it moving forward.

“We have events and activities planned each month. Some of these events and activities are developed and organized by the MWI teams; some are in collaboration with university colleges, departments and programs; while others are in collaboration with community partners,” Remlinger said.

“Another tactic that we are utilizing is compiling and publicizing a list of courses across our campuses that include water themes,” Remlinger said. “These courses range from anthropology to biology to zoology. The list of these courses is posted on our

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT: The Making Waves Initiative aims to educate students about water issues by incorporating collaboration between disciplines and holding water events. COURTESY | GVSU

website so that students can easily find water-related courses that meet their academic and personal interests.”

The website also includes sponsored interdisciplinary events and activities with university departments, colleges and programs such as “Poetry on the Rapid,” which is a month-long poetry exhibition inside the Rapid busses.

As the Making Waves Initiative moves forward and gains momentum, co-leader

Remlinger is excited about the opportunity to collaborate with students and colleagues across disciplines and across campus.

“The initiative reflects how I value liberal education, the environment, science, and a worldview that encompasses global and local communities,” Remlinger said. “Equally important is how MWI mirrors the interdisciplinary focus of my courses and research, and more personally, my passion for nature, the outdoors and the Great Lakes.”

OCT. 21

Water contamination in West Olive: What Consumers Energy and Sierra Club data tell us

BY OLIVIA FELLOWS OFELLOWS@LANTHORN.COM

INVESTIGATE: Conflicting data revealed that West Olive contamination is likely not from Consumers Energy. GVL | CALEB WORPEL

Last month, a report released by the Michigan Chapter of the Sierra Club detailed possible water contamination in four homes in the West Olive neighborhood. The environmental organization attributed the contamination through a public press release to coal ash pollution leaching into the private wells near Consumers Energy’s J.H. Campbell Coal Plant. However, data and testing from Consumers Energy’s reports appear to refute the Sierra Club’s claim assertion that the contamination was due to the plant’s coal ash ponds on its site.

The Sierra Club’s testing data was not released publicly along with its initial press release on the findings, and was made available to the Lanthorn after copies of the documents were requested.

The Consumers Energy coal ash testing information has been available to the

public through the company’s website, which provide testing results for the plant through their annual groundwater monitoring reports that go back a number of years. The dangers of water contamination are known to many Michigan residents due to the Flint crisis, but this contamination appears to only be affecting private wells and is less likely to lead to major contamination spread. However, even lower levels of contamination can cause adverse health effects.

Heightened levels of chemicals like arsenic, barium and lead in the bloodstream and body can cause severe gastrointestinal reactions and can lead to higher chances of bone, liver and breast cancer. Lead contamination in the body can damage the central nervous system.

Locating and verifying the potential causes of contamination in water sources is an important part of informing and protecting public safety.

The areas tested by Sierra Club re-

searchers were located on Croswell Shore Trail and Olive Shore Avenue north of the plant, as well as two homes on Lake Avenue Port Sheldon and Blair Street, south of the J.H. Campbell plant. These homes get their water from private wells.

Sierra Club’s testing showed heightened levels of contaminants like lead, arsenic and radium in the water.

According to the Sierra Club, water samples taken from three homes near the plant in West Olive in July showed arsenic levels over two and a half times the normal levels for safe drinking water. Sierra Club tested four residential wells, in which three of those four wells showed levels of constituents identified by Sierra Club below drinking water standards.

Only one well contained levels of arsenic and lead above drinking water standards.

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DECEMBER 9, 2019 GRAND VALLEY LANTHORN @GVLNEWS

A5 | NEWS

OCT. 21

Ottawa County acquires Ottawa Sands

BY NATHAN SLAUER NSLAUER@LANTHORN.COM

Ottawa County officials hosted a dedication ceremony celebrating their acquisition of the Ottawa Sands corridor on Oct. 15. The event marked the end of a yearlong effort to obtain the 345-acre property, connecting green space between Muskegon County to Grand Haven.

“The Ottawa Sands acquisition is the final piece of a puzzle,” said Land Conservancy Executive Director Joe Engel. “With a whole lot of work from a whole lot of people and a little risk, we acquired a property that will benefit everyone, not just people in Ottawa County. What an opportunity.”

What was once a sand-mining site now serves as a home for wildlife, including deer, hawks and a pair of bald eagles. The diverse landscape consists of 49 acres of dunes, wetlands, beech-maple forests and an 80-acre inland lake.

“Ottawa Sands offers a great chance to access nature, feel the wind and see natural beauty,” Engel said. “I hope that people come and become even more enthusiastic about protecting natural resources.”

Gaylen Byker, the previous owner of Ottawa Sands, approached Ottawa County about purchasing the property and donated 25 percent of the land value in 2017.

Ottawa County officials applied for and received an out-of-cycle $4.2 million Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund (MNRTF) grant to obtain half of the funding needed for the $8.2 million purchase.

The Land Conservancy of West Michigan obtained a low-interest loan from the Conservation Fund and launched a $400,000 fundraising campaign in support of the acquisition. MNRTF recommended a second $3.84 million grant to pay off the Conservation Fund loan in December 2018. Ottawa County finalized mortgage payments and received the property in July 2019.

“We were on the edge of our seats,” said Ottawa County Communications Specialist Jessica Van Ginhoven.

Ottawa County officials will conduct a feasibility study to determine if they should develop campsites and offer riverfront access. They encourage citizens to provide input throughout the master planning process.

Ottawa Sands is open for public use and includes a parking lot and three and a half miles of designated trails.

“People see value in this property,” Van Ginhoven said. “We’re excited to look at the possibilities for eco-tourism.”

To learn more about Ottawa County parks, visit https://www.miottawa.org/Parks/.

NATURAL RESOURCES: Ottawa County acquired Ottawa Sands Oct. 15. The land will be used for public use and hiking trails to give residents outdoor areas to enjoy. COURTESY | BOB WALMA

NOV. 4

Board of Trustees Recap: Public comment update, renovation approvals

BY NICK MORAN EDITORIAL@LANTHORN.COM

UPDATES: The Board of Trustees approved building renovations and changed public comment policies. GVL | VALERIE WOJCIECCHOWSKI

During the Board of Trustees’ quarterly meeting Nov. 1, members took action on concerns regarding public comment policies. The board followed President Philomena Mantella’s recommendation to reduce requests for comment from five days prior to meetings to two days. Additionally, the policy removed the requirement for the president or board chair’s approval for each speaker.

This decision follows Student Senate’s call for the Board of Trustees to eliminate any waiting period for public comment, challenging the previous policy.

The Board of Trustees also voted to approve the expansion and remodeling of the Simulation Center, which is housed within the Cook-DeVos Center for Health Sciences. Set to be completed August 2021 with a budget of $5.5 million, the project aims to support increased demand for programs that use simulation technologies.

The $5.5 million will come out of the Campus Development Fund. The approved proposal also selected Fishbeck, Thompson, Carr & Huber, Inc. to do the required engineering and architectural work on the project.

Renovations will also be coming to Mackinaw and Manitou Halls, as the Board of Trustees approved Integrated Design Solutions to enact $4.3 million in renovations, with the funds also coming from the Campus Development Fund. The Board also approved additional contracts as needed to complete the project.

The renovations are set to be complete August 2020. Included in proposed updates is a revamp to three air handling units, which all exceeded their service life. Changes to three classrooms will also be made.

Looking toward to administrative reports, Vice President for Enrollment Development Lynn Blue shared a report that highlighted winter term enrollment information, which indicated that between Winter 2018 and Winter 2019, enrollment dipped 1.7

percent. Looking at data from 20172019, the GVSU population gender skew also grew, from 40.3 percent male and 59.7 percent female demographic to 39.1 percent male and 60.7 percent female.

The report also compared financial aid from the 2018-2019 expenditures and the 2019-2020 approved budget.

Between the two, the percentage of students who received any form of financial aid increased from 90 percent to 91 percent.

Regarding administrative affairs, Vice President for University Relations Matt McLogan was voted secretary to the Board of Trustees.

The Board of Trustees also approved new directors to the Grand Valley Foundation. Guillermo Cisneros, Michael Goorhouse and David Hooker were appointed as directors and Peter Secchia was named to the foundation’s advisory cabinet.

The Board of Trustees will meet again Friday, Feb. 7, 2020. For full meetings and minutes, visit gvsu.edu/ boardoftrustees.

DECEMBER 9, 2019 GRAND VALLEY LANTHORN @GVLNEWS

A6 | NEWS NOV. 4

Education Empire: GV’s involvement with Michigan charter schools

BY AMY MCNEEL & SARAH EDGECOMB ASSOCIATE@LANTHORN.COM

Recently, Michigan has faced many challenges in K-12 education, such as teacher shortages and dwindling budgets. Teacher-to-student ratios have swelled, resulting in less individualized education.

While public education has progressively become more generic, the charter schools advised by Grand Valley State University remain focused on individual growth.

GVSU adopted an emphasis on K-12 education under the leadership of former President Arend “Don” Lubbers, who came to the then-college in 1969. Since then, the university’s focus on K-12 education has not only increased, but flourished.

Today, GVSU authorizes 78 charter schools throughout the state, making it the largest authorizing body in Michigan. While the main goal of these schools is to provide students and their families with different education options, there are many opposing thoughts and misconceptions surrounding charter schools. GVSU’s role as an authorizing body allows these schools to provide a community for future Lakers to connect with students of similar backgrounds.

“Charter schools are actual public schools,”

said Michael Cousins, Charter Schools Office Manager of Communications. “That’s one of the biggest misconceptions that’s out there — that charter schools are not public. That’s not true. They have to take any student that comes to them.”

Unless there are more applicants than available spots, charters can’t turn students away. When this happens, names are randomly picked during a public meeting through a lottery-system. The names that are not selected are added to a waiting list.

While charter schools are public, they do differ from traditional public schools. There are different rules for forming school boards, funding schools and in the flexibility of school curricula.

In traditional public schools, the board is elected. However, Cousins said that the process is very different for charters. The existing school board is responsible for finding a potential candidate and sending that recommended candidate to the authorizing institution — in this case, GVSU. The authorizer then runs background checks and has to approve of the candidate.

“Once Grand Valley approves, they take their names to the Board of Trustees, and if the Board of Trustees approves of all of the board members, then once they’re done with

REIMAGINING EDUCATION: GVSU authorizes the most charter schools than any public university in Michigan, giving students the chance to learn in a nontraditional way. GVL | SARAH EDGECOMB

that meeting, then that board member is sworn in, starts with their training and then is added to the board,” Cousins said.

Charter schools also face different funding challenges than public schools. While charter schools receive the same per-pupil funding that traditional public schools do, some self-managed schools rely on the

board, parents and staff to raise the funding. Cousins said that the parent involvement greatly differentiates charter schools from traditional institutions.

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NOV. 18

Student Senate outlines sustainability goals

BY LUCAS SWARTZENDRUBER LSWARTZENDRUBER@LANTHORN.COM

THINKING AHEAD: Student Senate set goals to eradicate single-use plastic on campus in two years and use electric buses. GVL | MARC GREEN

Student Senator Gavin Marlowe presented a proposal during Student Senate’s Oct. 17 general assembly meeting. He sought to reinstate the Sustainability Subcommittee while sharing sustainability goals for Grand Valley State University to pursue in upcoming years.

“I really started the Sustainability Subcommittee because there was an interest in sustainability for Student Senate to focus on that as one of our pillars,” Marlowe said.

At the beginning of fall 2019, Student Senate conducted strategic planning meetings to discuss ways to change campus, with sustainability as one of four themes. Sustainability goals were brainstormed during these sessions and the ideas from the meetings were condensed for the Sustainability Subcommittee.

The subcommittee was present to Student Senate last year. However, the previous senator who led it did not return this year. Once the Sustainability Subcommittee was reinstated by Marlowe, he and Student Senator McKenzie Gamage became co-chairs in the body.

Gamage said the subcommittee meets bi-weekly, describing it as a cross-com-

mittee collaboration since student senators from other committees can join. Here, members engage in sustainability projects.

Gamage said she is organizing a summit that will spread the sustainability conversation across GVSU next semester, with the goal to bring together ideas of how different organizations handle sustainability.

Marlowe said the Office of Sustainability Practices and student-run organizations would be helpful at the summit.

“I am so excited that they have this new subcommittee,” said Office of Sustainability Practices Director Yumiko Jakobcic. “I’m looking forward to working closely with them as much as they would welcome me.”

Jakobcic said the Sustainability Office helps educate students about sustainability.

She cited the Energy Competition as a program supported by her department, which allows student residential halls on campus to compete to accomplish the highest reduction in energy usage. The Sustainability Office, Jakobcic said, also works with student groups, informing them about current sustainability practices and actions to take for making a difference.

GVSU carries out various sustainable programs throughout the community.

Jakobcic said the university is fortunate to have composting because it further reduces waste. Campus Dining recently switched to compostable straws, which are noticeably colored green. Additionally, the Sustainable Agriculture Project (SAP) allows for students to participate in local food production, with volunteers from GVSU’s Farm Club and visits from different classes. Marlowe himself was able to grow radishes there.

Gamage said she thinks the university does a great job already on sustainability, even receiving awards. Nonetheless, she emphasized improvement.

“It’s more about keeping our momentum and keeping up the good work and furthering our sustainability practices,” Gamage said.

The Oct. 17 Sustainability Subcommittee proposal categorizes goals under two timeframes for completion. Some two-year goals include reducing paper waste by promoting digital communication, phasing out single-use plastics and reopening the Padnos Greenhouse, given it currently functions as storage space.

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DECEMBER 9, 2019 GRAND VALLEY LANTHORN @GVLNEWS

A7 | NEWS

NOV. 25

ONGOING CONTROVERSY: After Student Senate voted to remove the Pledge of Allegiance from meetings, it was reinstated due to push back from the community and internal reflection. GVL | MARC GREEN

Pledge of Allegiance returns to Student Senate agenda following public outcry, reflection

BY NICK MORAN EDITORIAL@LANTHORN.COM

Following an emergency cabinet meeting, Grand Valley State University’s Student Senate announced that they would be reinstating the Pledge of Allegiance. According to a memorandum sent to student senators, university personnel and the Lanthorn, the cabinet voted 4-2 with two abstentions to return the pledge to the body’s agenda.

The two abstentions put the eight members present into a tie, with President Eric-John Szczepaniak breaking the split and ultimately reinstating the Pledge of Allegiance.

Vice President of Public Relations Ryan Fritz said that the meeting was held to address the criticism against the body’s decision to remove the Pledge of Allegiance during their Nov. 14 general assembly. That decision prompted students, community members and alumni to reignite the debate as to whether or

not the pledge should be a part of the agenda.

“The waves of feedback came from both sides,” Fritz said. “The feedback we received from the various comments on all our social media platforms opened our eyes to viewpoints we neglected to address during the deliberation aspect of the vote that took place at the meeting where the pledge was taken off the agenda.”

According to the body’s bylaws, the president has the ability to change the agenda at their discretion. Initially, the vote to reinstate the pledge in October was done as a democratic courtesy to the body, but as matters escalated, executive action was taken.

“Our typical general practice is a democratic vote when voting matters are brought to the body,” Fritz said. “However, this was not a typical situation. We usually receive little to no feedback from the student body based on our internal operations, but this situation proved a point of serious contention for many students and potential students here at Grand Valley. Eric-John’s use of an

overruling is not common practice; however, he used this ability with the best interest of the students in mind.”

Fritz said that Student Senate did seek advice from university administrators, as he said the situation put the body into “foreign territory.”

This included work with University Communication on handling increased media presence.

“The administrators did not impact our decision,” Fritz said. “The most we got was additional feedback based on what folks were saying to the various departments they were calling into.”

During the body’s Nov. 21 general assembly, the first since the pledge was returned, Szczepaniak addressed the body to clear the air regarding the decision.

“Our administration, including our new president Philomena Mantella, welcomes these discussions and these dialogues,” Szecepaniak said. “They recognize that we have the ability and privilege to talk among ourselves and decide on issues of importance… It’s up to all of us to try to step our of our comfort zones to figure out how to make this a better

place.”

With the general assembly came more public comment, including community members from both sides of the issue. While some speakers said that the return of the Pledge of Allegiance highlighted hypocrisy in the university’s mission toward improving diversity, others said that settling this dispute allows for Student Senate to move on and keep working for students.

Following two rounds total of public comment, Student Senate went about business as usual, which was a goal of Szczepaniak. At the end of his address to the body, Szczepaniak said that the benefit of ultimately putting the issue to rest would be that Student Senate would now be able to focus on projects that had been overshadowed by this discussion.

“It’s time to move on and get back to all of the work that all of the students at Grand Valley deserve, and the work that we know we can accomplish if we do this together,” Szczepaniak said.

DEC. 9

GV graduates reflect after 2019 Commencement

BY SARAH EDGECOMB NEWS@LANTHORN.COM

On Saturday, Dec. 7, hundreds of Lakers crossed the Van Andel Arena stage to receive their degrees. Speeches from author A.C. Grayling and graduating student Nina Nguyen inspired students during the ceremony. With a handshake from President Philomena Mantella, they became Grand Valley State University alumni.

Among the graduating class, Nursing and Education were the most represented undergraduate programs, while Physician Assistant Studies and Speech Language Pathology led the graduate programs.

Of the 1,386 graduating students was clinical exercise science major Nick Ste-

vens, whose interest in physical therapy brought him to GVSU, while the campus climate inspired him to stay.

“After touring, I just fell in love with the campus and everything,” Stevens said.

“I knew it was where I wanted to be.”

His decision to go to GVSU was influenced by the opportunities available to students, Stevens said, mentioning that he was drawn to fraternity life because it allowed him to make strides against type 1 diabetes, a condition affecting his grandmother.

After joining the Honors College, Stevens joined the Athletic Training Club and took on leadership positions as well as volunteering.

Stevens said two of his honors courses opened his eyes to the struggles that

others go through, and that he will carry these lessons through life.

“Both of those classes combined helped me to understand more what everyone else is going through… how differences can create so much hate,” Stevens said, adding that he tries to spread this awareness to others in his daily life.

While his initial journey at GVSU has ended, Stevens is already looking to the future and remaining at GVSU for his graduate degree.

English major Ashley Hull also joined the ranks of GVSU alumni on Saturday. For Hull, coming to GVSU was an easy choice.

“We toured Grand Valley my sophomore year of high school… and just being here felt like I really belonged,” Hull

said. “I just couldn’t stop thinking about Grand Valley for the next three years, and it came time to apply and I was like, ‘Grand Valley.’”

Hull said her plans for after graduation are already underway, having submitted an application for a Library Science Program to earn her graduate degree.

Although her GVSU degree is complete, Hull said GVSU has impacted who she is.

“I was able to really find who I was,” Hull said. “High school wasn’t the best experience for me, so getting to come here and learning things I actually enjoyed and learning how real friendships worked and things like that, I really feel like I’ve grown into the person I’m supposed to be.”

A8 | OPINION

DECEMBER 9, 2019 GRAND VALLEY LANTHORN @GVLNEWS

GVL EDITORIAL CARTOON

By Athena Jasman

8/26/19

editorial@lanthorn.com

Two types of people in this world: weekend and weekday

BY EMILY EATON JUNIOR POLITICAL SCIENCE EDITORIAL@LANTHORN.COM

I don’t hook up with guys (“hook up” defined loosely and up for interpretation) often, but when I do, I see them on our campus the next day.

There’s a myth floating around Grand Valley that our school is actually big enough to prevent this. It’s truly a beautiful lie to tell yourself in the midst of the hookup that’s not going well in the first place.

At one point, I realized I had to stop fooling myself — we might have lots of students, but not enough land. Usually, they say, when you go to a large University, you never have to fear stumbling upon the guy you stumbled towards last night.

However, at GVSU, he’s probably behind you in the Einstein’s line. Or you have to hold the door open for him into Kirkhof.

Mackinac is confusing and crowded enough that you think you’d be safe, but think again. He’s rounding the corner of Hallway D. The very first guy I kissed here, which was at my first tailgate, was just like how I imagined it would be: absolutely awful.

It was so messy and sweaty that I was more thankful than disappointed that I didn’t hear from him the next day.

I heard from him again at the next party, of course, but the beautifully handcrafted frat boy stage caved in under us, and I took that as a sign to never do that again. He has the loveliest girlfriend now, and she always says hello to me.

One guy last winter left my lips swollen for the entire next day. I felt it happen during, so I did my usual, “Wow, I’m so tired” excuse to get out of it.

One man this summer knocked his teeth on mine, and once again, I got this strange wave of tiredness that I just couldn’t possibly ignore any longer.

That’s what I told all of them, anyways.

After every night out, once I lay in my bed alone (or with a drunk girlfriend next to me) at 3 a.m. and pulled the covers up, I find myself thankful I managed to ditch these fine gentlemen before they inevitably find themselves back at my apartment, and I find myself not-so-patiently waiting at 9 a.m. for them to wake up and leave.

LOG ON TO: www.lanthorn.com FOR THE FULL ARTICLE

Facebook: All of the glory, none of the guilt

BY XAVIER GOLDEN SOPHOMORE ART EDUCATION EDITORIAL@LANTHORN.COM

You know that friend you have? The friend that does really weird stuff ? And most of the time, you dismiss that weird stuff because your friend is probably just a silly person?

But sometimes you look into that friend’s eyes and you catch a glimpse of the depths at which they’re operating, and you wonder if they know exactly what they’re doing and if they’re doing it for some reason that you’ll never truly understand?

To me, the First Amendment can be that friend.

Sure, in the long run, it’s a good thing to have around, but it gets up to some really weird stuff sometimes. Like, when

it allows actual Nazis to goose-step down the streets of Charlottesville, Virginia, or when it’s used by Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook, as an excuse to profit off of misinformation campaigns.

A few weeks ago, at Georgetown University, Mark Zuckerberg spoke about the First Amendment, free speech and how things have changed.

“Movements like #BlackLivesMatter and #MeToo went viral on Facebook,” Zuckerberg said. “With Facebook, more than two billion people now have a greater opportunity to express themselves and help others.”

Zuckerberg is right; without social

media, activists wouldn’t have as wide of a reach as they do now. Platforms like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are critical for circulating messages and ideas to large groups of people. That is exactly why what he said later in that speech is very concerning.

“We don’t fact-check political ads,” Zuckerberg said.

“We don’t do this to help politicians, but because we think people should be able to see for themselves what politicians are saying.

LOG ON TO: www.lanthorn.com FOR THE FULL ARTICLE

DECEMBER 9, 2019 GRAND VALLEY LANTHORN @GVLNEWS

A9 | OPINION

GVL EDITORIAL CARTOON

By Xavier Golden

9/23/19

editorial@lanthorn.com

Presidential YouTubers gone wrong (clickbait)

BY ATHENA JASMAN JUNIOR FILM AND VIDEO EDITORIAL@LANTHORN.COM

Americans are and have always been ahead of every other country since the bombs bursting in air gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. What we red, white and blue-bloods are best at is imple-

menting democracy and doing so in the most effective way possible.

So it’s of no surprise that the American government is naturally ahead of the curve by soon using YouTube opinion surveys as our primary way of voting for the next elected official of our blooming federal branches.

I was a little taken aback when I first came across a YouTube ad that wasn’t a watchable commercial, but instead a multiple-choice opinion survey about which shampoo brands I trust the most. But I’ve since gotten used to those, I was much less shocked when I recently received my very first YouTube presidential candidate multiple-choice survey that replaced the Skip Ad button with a “Vote for Hillary” option.

I mean, what better way to get a youth such as myself to vote? Absentee ballots were okay, but it still required me to, like, buy a stamp? I wouldn’t know where to get one of those — I’ve never even seen an Instagram ad for stamps.

Anyway, I of course knew my choice would be binding, and that I had to cast my vote for the 2020 Presidential Election before watching the video I had clicked: “I Built a Giant Meatball in Minecraft (emotional).” So after I carefully chose the most obvious candidate out of the multiple choice list (the one with the most logical and sane approach to all the important policies. You know the one), and finished my very important architectural video, I decided to check up on what our current president was doing.

Trump’s Twitter had lost its luster and became too boring for my little millennial-smooth brain, so naturally I went to his YouTube channel instead. The first video of his I watched was “Donald Trump Plays Fortnite (Liberals Destroyed),” which was actually a part of a short series on his channel entitled “Donald Trump Fortnite,” or “DTF” as most refer to it.

It soon became clear that #NotMyPresident wasn’t getting very far in the battle royale

game — mostly because he still hasn’t figured out how to build a wall. So I moved on to another one of his videos entitled “DEM DISS TRACK (D-Trump)” where the incumbent had a drone take footage of him dropping bombs and flexing the White House, before sending it in Iran’s direction. Later in the diss track, he called the drones back to get more shots of himself instead.

I haven’t watched many videos posted on the channel of the president or any of the presidential candidates until the 2020 presidential election was finalized the following year, and I saw that the new democratic president posted a video.

It began with “Hey, whats up America?

Make sure to SMASH that vote button and click the liberty bell if you want to see more of me pulling EPIC pranks on the Republicans.” Once I finished watching, I clicked off of “PRANK ON PRESIDENT (GONE WRONG) (NOT CLICKBAIT)” and logged back on to Twitter.

If I die this week, please grade everything I turned in

BY BRIANNE KERR SENIOR WRITING EDITORIAL@LANTHORN.COM

If I die this week, it would probably be from exhaustion, or some exhaustion related incident. And before you freak out with your vigils or mourning, please, make sure that the projects and essays and exams I worked so hard on are still graded.

And then please, once those are graded, give them to my parents to remember me by, since these fragile accomplishments, these literary analyses and morphology exams are all I have really been able to do, if I die this week in my undergrad, without ever getting my shot at “the real world.”

Please have the professors’ comments on those grades be read at my funeral and printed in my obituary. Read aloud every “good point” and “source?” and “what does this mean?” and even try your hand at that

really illegible scrawl in the margins there, because even that is a testament to my last accomplishments.

Plus, if I die this week and you tell the professors that I’m dead, well, they’re probably gonna go pretty easy on me, huh? Would any of them be so cruel to not curve a dead girl’s grade? Which one of them is really going to say that her thesis is incoherent, or that she completely missed the project’s guidelines, or that the definition of morphology is “the study of the formation of words” not “the study of word formations.”

On second thought, don’t tell my professors that I’m dead. My legacy will be more honest that way. In fact, don’t tell my professors that I’m dead ever, let my

unsigned name pass around empty on attendance sheets, let the professors scan the room for someone who will never return, let my Blackboard be filled with zeros, everything that I would have done or skipped, would have passed or failed, let them all remain the empty lifeless zeros of missed opportunity of a life cut short.

Or maybe if I die this week, just see if you can pull one of those urban legend rules off, like that thing where if a classmate dies in a test you all get A’s, so you can all get A’s on those projects and papers and exams, and my legacy will be that like, totally tragic girl who really conveniently saved you from your procrastination even if she couldn’t save herself from hers.

DECEMBER 9, 2019 GRAND VALLEY LANTHORN @GVLNEWS

LOOK AT T

GV through the le

EYE ON THE BALL: GVSU soccer continues to have a dominant 2019 season. GVL | KATHERINE VASILE

PRODUCE THE JUICE: Boston band Ripe played their first GR concert in November. GVL | CALEB WORPEL

MAKING WAVES: A Grand Valley State swimmercompetes at the GVSU Fieldhouse Pool in a meet from earlier this season GVL | KATHERINE VASILE

GAP YEAR: Project 1 takes over GR’s art scene during ArtPrize’s biannual abscence. GVL | CALEB WORPEL

CELEBRATE GOOD TIMES: Special Olympic athletes celebrate at the GVSU Fieldhose Arena in the 2nd annual Rally with the Rapids. GVL | ELI ONG

VERTICAL LEAP: Setter and promising freshman Rachel Jacquay lept to prominence during this year’s season of volleyball. GVL | CALEB WORPEL

AGAINST THE ELEMENTS: Much like the post office, neither rain nor snow can keep the football team from their rounds. GVL | ALEXIS VELAZQUEZ

LEADERSHIP: Grand Rapids Mayor Rosalynn Bliss gave a lecture Oct. 30 about politics and her path to the mayorship. GVL | MEGHAN LANDGREN

TEAM ON THREE!: GVSU Volleyball players gather at GVSU Fieldhouse Arena. GVL | MEGHAN LANDGREN

A10&11 | PHOTO

THIS PHOTOGRAPH

ens of a Lanthorn photographer

HIDDEN GEMS: The Lanthorn editorial staff visted restaurants in Grand Rapids for the 2019 food and bar issue. GVL | BENJAMIN HUNT BRING IT IN: A group of Grand Valley State soccer players celebrate a win in the rain at the GVSU Soccer Field. GVL | KATHERINE VASILE

GOT HOPS?: GVSU Senior Jeremiah Ferguson looks for an open teammate at the GVSU Fieldhouse Arena. GVL | KATHERINE VASILE

BIG BROTHER: GV police watch security cams. GVL | CALEB WORPEL

#IKEPTLIVING: A hopeful collab between the Department of Music and Dance and the University Counseling Center. GVL | CALEB WORPEL

ROWING AGAINST EROSION: Members of GV’s oldest sport spoke against the Grand River Waterway Project. GVL | CALEB WORPEL

BIG SPLASH BEACH CLEAN: The sand was course, and rough and irritating. And it got everywhere. GVL | CALEB WORPEL

BUMP, SET, SPIKE: GVSU Freshman Mattie McCabe (No. 18) unleashs a forceful spike. GVL | KATHERINE VASILE

I LOVE ME SOME: FOIA Fest welcomed student journalists to learn about FOIA. GVL | MEGHAN LANDGREN

CULTURE: Indigenous Peoples’ Day was held Oct. 14 to celebrate Native culture. GVL | MEGHAN LANDGREN

A12 | LAKER LIFE

DECEMBER 9, 2019 GRAND VALLEY LANTHORN @GVLAKERLIFE

AUG. 26

GV musicians play national parks

BY AUTUMN BABAS LAKERLIFE@LANTHORN.COM

For most college level musicians, performing means playing in their hometowns.

But for some Grand Valley State University musicians, it means playing music in National Parks across the entire country.

The New Music Ensemble is polishing off their commercial CD featuring commissioned works that represent the attitude and beauty of national parks. The group strives to touch the lives of others through their contemporary classical music everywhere they go.

“We’ve been working on this project since 2014 where we ask composers to write for a specific park,” said Ensemble Director and Grand Valley Professor Bill Ryan. “Then we go to the park to play the music that inspired it. There will be 11 total compositions from Arches, Capitol Reef, Wind Cave, Badlands, Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks,” Their commercial CD, titled Dawn Forest, releases April 24, 2020. It showcases a collection of music that The New Music Ensemble has commissioned and played in the 14 national parks they have traveled to. The music on the CD reflects the immense diversity of the parks while capturing their breathtaking landscapes and nature.

Ryan started The New Music Ensem-

ble in 2006 with a vision for students to achieve more with their musical experience at GVSU. The ensemble is an undergraduate classical chamber ensemble that is dedicated to leaving an impact through music. The group promotes contemporary classical music through commissions, tours, recordings, collaborations, outreach events and workshops.

“I am a composer myself and advocate for new contemporary music,” Ryan said. “We have student compositions that we play as well as new professional pieces that are being written for us by composers. We didn’t have anything like that in place when I was hired.

I wanted to start something where we would have a vehicle in place and to bring in composers and play students new compositions.”

The ensemble not only gives students the opportunity to advance as musicians, but encourages them to be creative, display their passion for music and prepare them for a future in the musical field.

“I think it’s a unique opportunity for students to present new music that has never been presented before,” Ryan said.

“You don’t get that opportunity a lot with classical music.”

Students are able to work directly with the commissioned composer that wrote the pieces specifically for each instrument. This gives students insight to the direction in how each part is played. It also allows students to

NATURAL SPLENDOR: Grand Valley’s New Music Ensemble comissions composers to write music inspired by national parks, then plays those works at the parks themselves. COURTESY | BILL RYAN

understand the emotion and meaning the composer wants the audience to take away from the piece.

“I tell the composers the instruments and they write for them,” Ryan said. “If they are local, they will come in with rough drafts and performance material to work with the students on.”

Through fundraising, donations and grants, The New Music Ensemble has been

able to showcase their music to a wide variety of people across the country. They have performed in Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, New York and so many other fascinating venue’s.

LOG ON TO: www.lanthorn.com FOR THE FULL ARTICLE

SEPT. 9

Student Senate president elected to new office

BY KATHERINE ARNOLD LAKERLIFE@LANTHORN.COM

MULTITASKING: The Senate President and Kenowa Hills board member takes on yet another civic office. COURTESY | ERIC-JOHN SZCZEPANIAK

On Aug. 28th, the Michigan Center for Civic Education (MCCE) elected Student Senate President Eric-John Szczepaniak as its new president on the Board of Directors.

As a senior studying social studies and education, his interest in civic education has been evolving from his childhood to today.

“I grew up with a mother who was very engaged in the community,” Szczepaniak said. “I saw firsthand how her efforts helped other people in my community, and so I followed suit.”

MCCE is an organization that is invested in the future of civic education through its work with young students to become more involved in their communities, and seeks to aid K-12 teachers to give their students access to the best practices that they can.

“Civic education is about being active in one’s community and empowering others to do the same,” Szczepaniak said.

However, he stressed that the role of

civic education is more than just helping the younger generation to learn.

“I believe in the immense potential of every individual to be the change they want to see in the world,” Szczepaniak said. “I know that folks can work together to create change and I want to empower others to gain agency and ownership in their own communities.”

That ideal is the driving force behind his desire to become a social studies teacher in the future, as well as his motivation for the many roles in the community that he has undertaken.

Noting his position as GVSU’s Student Senate President, his new presidency with MCCE, as well as his position on the board of education at Kenowa Hills Public High School, Szczepaniak has many roles to fulfill. What is the key to balancing his busy schedule and maintaining relationships? He suggested that, “by surrounding myself with friends in the work that I do, I don’t get lonely.” Finding a support system is not only important, but also beneficial as students head into the professional world after college, he said.

Arising out of his plethora of experi-

ence as a role model in the community and student on campus, Szczepaniak summarized three key things that he has learned throughout his journey in civic education.

First: everyone is deserving of grace and space.

“When we focus on the health of others in our organization, they will naturally grow, innovate and succeed,” Szczepaniak said. “This is the mantra that I try to embody with all of my peers.”

Second: elevating the person who comes after you isn’t something to dread.

“We should dedicate ourselves to building up others around us to become those leaders and not feel threatened when a leader takes your work in a new direction,” Szczepaniak said. “It is incumbent upon us all to help grow those that will take our place and to be intentional that we are including more individuals at the table as often as possible.”

LOG ON TO: www.lanthorn.com FOR THE FULL ARTICLE

DECEMBER 9, 2019 GRAND VALLEY LANTHORN @GVLAKERLIFE

A13 | LAKER LIFE

SEPT. 23

PASS THAT PINK UMBRELLA: USPOC meetings involve a lot of brainstorming and free-writing, with prompts ranging from describing random objects to the zombie apocalypse. COURTESY | BREANN BARGE

USPOC welcomes creatives of color

BY YSABELA GOLDEN LAKERLIFE@LANTHORN.COM

Every Monday at 7 p.m., Untold Stories for People of Color (USPOC) gathers in 1247 Kirkhof. After settling in while listening to music and chatting about their days, the club gets to work on their first writing prompt of the night.

“We usually come up with them on the spot,” said Breann Barge, USPOC president and founder. “Last Monday, our first prompt was to write a description of an object up close, and we were looking around for something interesting so I just pulled out my pink umbrella. Later, the group came up with ‘write about a time you fumbled the bag,’ because earlier someone was talking about their bad luck with dates. One of my favorites that

a member came up with was, ‘You’re coming from a party where you haven’t been checking your phone, but when you leave, you see all your notifications and realize the zombie apocalypse happened while you were out.’”

The prompt filling and brainstorming process is very casual, and though members are encouraged to share writing done outside the club if they’d like, it’s by no means required. The club’s main purpose is to practice writing in a community with other people of color, and the informal and friendly atmosphere means conversations often run over their 8:30 p.m. end time.

“We have lots of writing clubs at Grand Valley and they’re all very great, but many are white spaces,” Barge said. “There’s nothing wrong with that — it’s just who goes to them — but you often feel uncomfortable because

you can’t always relate to what the group is writing. I’ve noticed that even in fiction, the content tends to be quite different than when I’m with other people of color. You have this sense that you’re invisible, and that makes you reluctant to share because you feel like a very small voice in a sea of many. That’s why I created the club: to amplify those small voices so that we can feel heard.”

Though Barge has worked hard to promote the club since she founded it during the winter semester of last year — even earning a nomination at the Office of Multicultural Affairs “Black Girls Rock” event for her efforts — she likes to take a step back during the meetings themselves.

“I’m a real behind-the-scenes person,” Barge said. “Our vice-president, Waverly Eubank, is the one who keeps us on track and

provides the energy. As president there’s a lot that you have to do footwork wise, because you’re the face of the club so you’re in charge of outreach. There’s a lot of work to do to get our name out there, but of course you’re going to do it. But just being in the club has helped me to always be in a creative mindset — being in school, there’s so much other work I’m doing, but with the prompts I can keep it fresh so I’m not beating a dead horse too much. I’m continuing to reflect on my writing and practicing the craft.”

Those interested in USPOC’s missions of bridging communities and nurturing the creativity of minorities on campus are always gladly received at their Monday meetings.

“We are always welcoming with music, laughter and creativity,” Barge said. “And sometimes, candy.”

OCT. 28

Drag 101 showcases WGS student talent

BY YSABELA GOLDEN LAKERLIFE@LANTHORN.COM

Traditionally, final exams are a somber affair. You study, you procrastinate studying, you wish you had done more of the former than the latter, and then you scream internally over a piece of paper for the better part of an hour. But for students taking the one credit class WGS 180, the process involved considerably fewer essay questions and considerably more strangers cheering them on as they demonstrated what they’d learned over the course of their shortened semester.

“WGS 180 is a class that covers the theory of drag, the activist history of drag performance, and the practical aspects of drag production,” explained Professor Jae Basiliere. “All of the students in the class learned the basics of developing a drag performance, including developing a drag persona, choosing music and learning how to lipsync. From there, the class split, and some students worked on fully developing a drag performance while others focused on the stage production aspects of a drag show.”

That show, performed in Kirkhof Cen-

ter’s Area 51, took place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 24. The small theater was positively packed. Audience members who hadn’t been able to fit inside dragged over chairs from the food court dining area to create a makeshift hallway of seats lining up past the entrance, so performers working the crowd had a highway through the overflow of spectators.

The two masters of ceremonies, one in a suit and tie and another in an extravagantly large fur coat, opened the evening with an appropriately groan-inducing pun — “hopefully this show won’t be a drag” — after a short introduction from their professor. The puns only got worse from there, but the show immediately picked up pace with a high-kicking performance to “A Natural Woman.” Drag shows may or may not be legally required to feature this song at least once during their runtime, but performer “Mary Con,” who definitely did not come across as someone who had only just learned the basics of drag, kicked it out of the park.

The night continued with performances from a number of charmingly outlandish personas. There was “Jack Honor,” who lip synced a Bowling For Soup song about girls not liking nice guys while brandishing a text-

book of media decked out in a beard made out of green glitter and a “Rick and Morty” t-shirt; “Chardonnay White,” who literally shone as she danced to Rhianna’s “Bitch Better Have My Money” in a ruffled open chest suit coat and body glitter; “Diamond Powers,” whose ponytail was so long that it whipped almost as hard as the ringleader’s tassel whip she brought out to perform “Circus” by Brittney Spears; “Miss Dorothy Grey,” whose dancing to “Liquid Lunch” got progressively drunker as she drank her way through a prop martini glass, drinking flask, and bottle of wine; the bombacious “Juicyy,” who managed to dance in a dark theatre to nearly all of Alaska Thunderfuck’s “Puppet” while wearing sunglasses before dramatically tossing them away to reveal some truly spectacular eye shadow; and “Serena Fuegatati,” who showed beyond a doubt that wearing layers is truly the Chekov’s gun of drag performance (if a drag queen in introduced wearing a kimono, the kimono must be swinging over her head by the second act).

LOG ON TO: www.lanthorn.com FOR THE FULL ARTICLE

SHIMMER AND SHINE: Serena Fuegatati (Huy Do) with fellow performer Chardonnay White (Courtney Dam). GVL | YSABELA GOLDEN

A14 | ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

DECEMBER 9, 2019 GRAND VALLEY LANTHORN @GVLARTS

OCT. 7

GVSU Opera collaborates with GR Ballet School Junior Company

BY ALLISON RAFFERTY ARTS@LANTHORN.COM

On Friday, Oct. 4 and Saturday, Oct. 5, Grand Valley State University’s Opera Theatre collaborated with the Grand Rapids Ballet School Junior Company and the GVSU Department of Visual and Media Arts to present Mother Goose and The Naughty Boy. The show began both nights at 7:30 p.m. at the Peter Martin Wege Theatre at the Grand Rapids Ballet, located down the street from Founders.

The show combined both children’s stories into one production. The story of Mother Goose being told through a short ballet with dancers from the Grand Rapids Ballet School Junior Company and the story of The Naughty Boy being told through a short opera that incorporated both dancers and singers. Both pieces are by the French composer Maurice Ravel, and the opera was sung in English.

For those unfamiliar, the story of Mother Goose is a collection of excerpts from classic fairy tales, as told through the imagination of

children. “It celebrates wonder and creativity as the children watch the stories come to life from the pages of a storybook and in the end, fantasy meets reality in the fairy garden,” said GVSU Professor of music Dale Schriemer.

The story of The Naughty Boy, hence the name, tells the story of a boy with a tendency to misbehave. At the beginning of the opera, the boy throws a tantrum and destroys his room. His world is then transformed into the world of his imagination where inanimate objects come alive to confront the child about his bad behavior.

His room again transforms into a garden with singing plants and animals. The opera ends with the boy conducting a good deed, and the animals rejoicing in the boy’s newfound goodness in song.

The performance lasted about an hour, and included approximately 60 performers, four professional musicians, four technical staff, and four artistic staff.

Schreimer noted that none of this could have been done without Assistant Professor in the Department of Visual and Media Art Julie Goldstein. Goldstein created the visual

landscape for both the ballet and the opera.

Her creation “takes the visual from the literal stage setting to a world of fantasy and make-believe,” Schriemer said. He added that it makes for “a very rich visual experience.”

The collaboration aspect of this performance is nothing new for GVSU Opera Theatre or Grand Rapids Ballet School Junior Company, as they have been collaborating for similar projects since 2013. Assistant Director of Grand Rapids Ballet School Junior Company, Attila Mosolygo, and the GVSU Opera Theatre have also put on Amahl and the Night Visitors in 2013, The Magic Flute in 2014, Dido and Anneas in 2015, and Masquerade in 2018.

Schriemer finds collaborations like these to be a part of modern culture. “I am motivated to do projects that include singers and dancers because we learn from each other and audiences enjoy the mixture of dance, music, singing and 3D projections,” he said.

Schriemer is encouraging of GVSU student performers to have these kinds of experiences because “it is the future of performing arts.”

SONG AND DANCE: GVSU students collaborate for performances of Mother Goose and The Naughty Boy. GVL | MEGHAN LANDGREN

OCT. 22

GV celebrates Indigenous Peoples’ Day MARY DUPUIS ARTS@LANTHORN.COM

On Monday, Oct. 14 the Office of Multicultural Affairs at Grand Valley State University held an Indigenous Arts Showcase to celebrate the Native culture on campus and draw more attention and recognition to Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Local Native artists were contacted by the

Office of Multicultural Affairs or reached out themselves, offering up their artwork to be showcased as a part of this brand new event at GVSU. The artists were excited and willing to introduce their differing styles of artwork, coupled by their shared passions for their respective heritages with the student body.

A total of five local Native artists as well as GVSU students who were interested in learning more about Native culture and witnessing an

NATIVE ART: The Office of Multicultural Affairs invited artists to celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Viewers gathered to explore the work in the Center for Performing Arts. GVL | MEGHAN LANDGREN

array of different art pieces gathered in the Haas Center for Performing Arts to be a part of two different events spread across the afternoon.

The primary event that was held was an art show that extended throughout the day from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Students could marvel at the artwork and bring forth any curiosities and comments they had to the artists themselves as they examined the room.

At 2:30 p.m., during the art show, a presentation that was approved for Lib 100 and 201 took place. Here, the artists were asked a number of questions to answer in depth and in front of a large group with open minds and eager ears.

Following this portion of the showcase was a time for the students to ask the artists any questions that they formulated throughout the discussion.

Once all of the questions were answered, students were able to revisit the artwork that they heard so much about.

This lead to an opportunity for students to engage in deeper conversation with the artists about their heritage–and especially the different reasons for their work.

For many of the artists, the ability to explore such meaningful conversations with those in attendance was their favorite part of the event. “…They feel something from (my artwork), a sense of peace or a sense of connection. Then, often that will cause somebody to start talking to you about the work. Then, it’s through the conversations that they can begin to get a deep-

er understanding of where my work comes from,” said artist Jason Wesaw. “In that, they learn about our tribal communities that are here and have always been here.”

Artist Brooklyn Lipponen agrees, and feels that talking to and making conversation with the students is the only real way to get the point that they are trying to make across.

“I think that the discussion was very beneficial. There’s no other way to describe things to people besides actually speaking to them; because people can interpret your art as much as they want but telling them what you meant is the biggest thing,” Lipponen said.

The artists said that they draw inspiration from their culture and the environment around them, and it helps them heal the intergenerational trauma that they and their people have had to face for so many years. It is this perseverance and willpower that the artists hope shine through their artwork to the students looking upon it.

“I hope that the students here took away a lot of the cultural knowledge and history, as well as the acknowledgment that Native people are still here, and that we are around campus.

This campus is even built on Aniishanabe land,” Lipponen said.

LOG ON TO: www.lanthorn.com FOR THE FULL ARTICLE

DECEMBER 9, 2019 GRAND VALLEY LANTHORN @GVLARTS

A15 | ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

OCT. 22

Cinespace connects members of film community through new film series

BY MARY RACETTE ARTS@LANTHORN.COM

A film professor and students took the initiative to introduce a new film series to Grand Valley State University’s campus. The new series, Cinespace, features a variety of films screened on Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m. in Lake Superior Hall.

GVSU film and video professor Spencer Everhart teamed up with film and video students Griffin Sheridan and Eric Peck to provide a film series that includes films catering to a range of interests and areas of study.

Everhart is a GVSU alumnus of the film and video program and is currently in his second year as a visiting professor on campus. He said the film series is something he has been wanting to start up since his first year instructing. The idea to have a program that brings students within the major was inspired by the psychology department’s film series that he helped with as an undergrad.

“Having a regular event every week that students can come to when they are available is something that should be part of the culture

of the film program on campus,” Everhart said.

Since the film major is fairly small compared to other areas of study of campus, students within the major often find themselves connecting through classes and student organizations. Cinespace is another way for students to meet and network with other film and video students.

After picking through an extensive list of films which he deemed worthy of student’s attention, Everhart chose 10 films that varied in era, genre and style to feature in the first semester of Cinespace.

John Cassavetes’ independent film “Faces” was shown at Cinespace on Wednesday, Oct. 16. Everhart said his goal is to include at least one independent film in each series because it gives students an example of what a director is able to do with minimal resources and money.

While Cinespace is beneficial to film students educationally and socially, Everhart emphasizes that students from any major are welcome to come and enjoy the film and discussion afterward.

Sheridan and Peck assisted Everhart in establishing Cinespace as a campus event by helping him brainstorm ideas, gauge student

interest and promote the series to other departments and groups on campus which potentially have an interest in the films. Sheridan keeps up Cinespace’s social media presence by running an Instagram account for the series. “(The discussion element is) a great way to sit down and figure out why a piece worked for you or didn’t work for you,” Sheridan said.

After each screening, Everhart and the students in attendance partake in about a 20 to 30 minute open-ended discussion about their thoughts on the film. This gives students an opportunity to not only express the impression the film made on them, but it expands their understanding of the themes present.

While Everhart encouraged students to share their thoughts on the movie, he said it is not required that students participate, or even stay for the discussion afterward.

“It is up to you to get the experience that you want to have,” Everhart said.

Everhart plans on continuing Cinespace onto the winter semester. His goal is to provide a space for students with a shared love of film to connect through analysis and discussion in a semiformal and voluntary environment.

DISCUSS: The film department introduces a new film series, Cinespace. GVL | MEGHAN LANDGREN

NOV. 11

Ripe closes the book on first Grand Rapids show

BY MARY RACETTE ARTS@LANTHORN.COM

Within the walls of Elevation at the Intersection, Ripe vocalist Robbie Wulfsohn led the seven-piece band in a funky performance that submerged the crowd in a dome of positivity and openness.

The Boston-based band Ripe performed in Grand Rapids for the first time in their career Friday, Nov. 8. The seven bandmates, all raised

in different corners of the United States and Canada, assembled as a musical force while enrolled at Berklee College of Music. Ripe was drawn to the Grand Rapids area because of their familiarity with bands whose early careers rooted back to Michigan, including Vulfpeck and Joe Hertler and the Rainbow Seekers.

Wulfsohn and his bandmates mesh brass instruments with electric guitars and wind instruments to create a funky sound that could not be pinned down to just one genre. Ripe in-

ROCK OUT: Boston-based band Ripe visits Grand Rapids for the first time to perform their set of jazzy, upbeat music. The concert took place at Elevation at the Intersection. GVL | CALEB WORPEL

cludes Jon Becker and Tory Geisbar on guitar, Sampson Hellerman on drums, Nadav Shapira on bass, Calvin Barthel on trombone and Josh Shpak on trumpet and EWI. Seven members in a band could potentially lead to conflict, however, Wulfsohn said they keep a solid dynamic by prioritizing the equal involvement of every member.

One way they distribute work is by alternating who makes the setlist for each show.

“Having this many people all equally committed, all close friends and ready to take on whatever our careers throw at us, is nothing but a positive,” said Wulfsohn.

Wulfsohn said he believes a concert should provide fans with an experience they cannot properly replicate by streaming the songs at home. Along with reviving their streamable songs with improvisation and samples from popular music, they performed a song that is not available online, called “Recent Buddhist”.

“A concert is a place where ideally people all get together and feel close to the same thing at the same time, and you come into it for a hundred different reasons, but you leave with bridges built between you and the band and the other people who are also there for the band,” Wulfsohn said. “I think if we can take that space and build these values into that space, I can get excited about what could happen.”

Throughout the concert, Wulfsohn praised the energetic and merchandise-clad fans for their enthusiasm. Some fans in the crowd showed their Ripe pride

by wearing green headbands.

In Ripe’s Spotify bio, it says “they are here to look at joy with the same depth as most people look at sadness.”

Elaborating on this defining theme present in their music, Wulfsohn said, “It feels like the methodologies of people, almost without realizing it, is to treat happy places as distractions and dark and intense places as the ‘real thing.’”

After providing examples of personal hardships, such as losing a parent or a job, Wulfsohn said looking at difficult life events through a different lens is important to the coping process.

“Those are the things that I think happiness needs to be best served, to actually bring you out of a dark place, not to just be the icing on top of an otherwise good day,” Wulfsohn said.

Ripe wrapped up the concert with one of their most popular songs, “Pretty Dirty (in the Fading Light).” This was one of the earliest Ripe songs and was first released in their debut EP, Produce the Juice. Wulfsohn said he was inspired to write this song after talking to his friends about their summer loves.

“Something clicked in me that everyone — at least the people in that particular conversations — were weirdly at peace even through a thing had ended,” Wulfsohn said.

The crowd was left with a similar kind of peace and positivity as the final encore closed the concert and they filed out of the venue, carrying along an experience that can not be streamed.

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DECEMBER 9 , 2019 GRAND VALLEY LANTHORN @GVLSPORTS

SEPT. 3

Row the Boat: Dan Martin ready for new role as sole head coach of GVSU Rowing

BY SEAN CAUVET SCAUVET@LANTHORN.COM

The oldest sport on Grand Valley State University’s campus has a new leader at the helm, as the GVSU Rowing Club Team has promoted former co-head coach Dan Martin to be its lone head coach.

Last year, veteran Rowing Club Team Head Coach John Bancheri left his post to be the head coach of his alma mater, Stockton University, leaving a substantial void. Assistant head coaches Dan Martin and Costas Ciungan teamed up to fill the gap last season, but now Martin will be taking over full-time.

Dan Martin was hired as head coach in August with one goal in mind: recruitment.

“Our main focus is growing the program,” Martin said. “This is a sport that most people don’t have access to in high school so we rely on developing athletes, teaching them the sport, and then making them good athletes and eventually good rowers.”

As of now, they only have enough rowers on the varsity level to fill out one boat, but Martin is hoping that changes.

“Where we want to go is to build the program back up to where we have three boats on the men’s and women’s teams,” Martin said.

“Our biggest challenge right now is ramping up the recruiting, getting the word out and making our presence felt on campus in a very positive and energetic way so that people want

to come out and do this crazy thing.”

Martin says that getting the word out is only half the battle because rowing is unlike many other sports.

“The reason we have to put so much effort into recruiting is because it’s an unnatural motion for so many people,” Martin said.

“Basketball, soccer, football, field hockey all have the same basic skills, but on the rowing team we’re asking you to do a horizontal deadlift while you’re hanging onto a 13-foot long pole.”

Given the uniqueness and difficulty of rowing, Martin says that many of the recruits come from other sports.

“A lot of kids play sports in high school but want to try something new in college.

We find many people that are looking for an athletic experience and a high-level athletic experience, but in a different sport,” Martin said. “Often times we find that our best athletes at the end of four years were the ones that were coming in with an extensive athletic background, outside of rowing.”

Martin loves rowing because it is easy to get better by putting in the work.

“I tried a lot of different sports before I settled on rowing,” Martin said. “I fell in love with how far the effort you put into getting better at rowing got you. You don’t have to have tremendous athletic gifts or be built like Cam Newton. If you show up and put in a lot of hard work, you can be really, really good.”

Another thing that Martin liked was the

different people he was exposed to and how the sport changed him.

“It was the first time I was surrounded by people who were really focused on something athletic,” Martin said. “All through high school I was the quiet nerd in the corner. I always had my nose in a book and was obnoxious about knowing everything. Then I started rowing and was introduced to people who weren’t like that at all and I actually became a better human because of it. It’s not even the camaraderie I got from working with my teammates for hours on end that was the best part, we’ve been best man in each other’s weddings and we’ll be pallbearers at each other’s funerals. It’s a life-long bond.”

Being a club team means that the rowers pay to be on the team, but the GVSU Rowing Team, similar to Martin’s Alma Mater the University of Virginia, is going up against other schools with varsity parties.

“In my first year as a collegiate rower at the University of Virginia, I was competing against guys that were literally getting paid to do what I’m paying dues to have the chance to do,” Martin said. “We’re going up against scholarship athletes and we’re not hoping to win but expecting to win. The best part for me was looking across at the scholarship athletes and saying to myself: I am a club athlete.

You are being taken care of by the university in ways that I can’t even imagine, but I’m still going to beat you because I want it more.

Having that sense of pride in your team and

what you can do is a source of power for us.

I give a lot of credit to the University of Virginia for getting me to understand that on a really visceral level.”

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SMILE FOR THE CAMERA.: Grand Valley State rowing coach Dan Martin poses at the Mary Idema Pew Library. COURTESY | GVSU.EDU

OCT. 8

Senior linebacker Isaiah Nkansah leads GVSU’s defense

BY KELLEN VOSS SPORTS@LANTHORN.COM

When looking through Grand Valley State’s football roster, one of the names that is hardest to pronounce is that of senior linebacker Isaiah Nkansah. Nkansah (pronounced NAH-KAHN-SUH) said that peo-

ple have been getting his name wrong for as long as he can remember.

“I get my last name mispronounced 99 percent of the time,” Nkansah said. “The one percent is probably family and close friends, couple coaches too, but it even took them a while.”

Nkansah makes a tackle or big play for the Lakers about as often as his name is mispro-

GANG TACKLE: Grand Valley senior linebacker Isaiah Nkansah (No. 3) gathers with a few fellow GVSU teammates to tackle a Delta State running back on Saturday, Sept. 14. COURTESY | GVSULAKERS.COM

nounced, as in his four years at GVSU, he has totaled 162 tackles, with 15.0 of those being tackles for loss, and has earned three varsity letters for his contributions.

Nkansah is having a stellar senior season at GVSU, as in five games, he has racked up 42 total tackles, 4.0 tackles for loss, 2 sacks and a blocked field goal. 20 of those tackles came in the Week 2 comeback win against Delta State, and for his efforts, Nkansah was named D2Football.com National Defensive Player of the week.

As good of a season as Nkansah has been having, the team hit a speed bump this weekend when they lost to the Ashland Eagles on a last-second hail mary, 20-17. Nkansah attributes that loss to the defense losing focus in the fourth quarter, since they were able to hold Ashland scoreless for the first three quarters.

“Obviously the loss hurt, and we got complacent on defense,” Nkansah said. “We were lights out for three quarters, but they put it on us in the last seven minutes.”

GVSU will look to get back to their winning ways this Saturday, Oct. 12, against the Cardinals of Saginaw Valley State, and Nkansah is excited to see the defense make

a statement in that game.

“We got a high sense of urgency,” Nkansah said. “Saginaw is going to come in here and they’re going to be live and ready to go, so we got to bring more intense energy.”

As one of the seniors on this defense, Nkansah feels a responsibility to be a leader. Thankfully for him, he learned how to probably lead thanks to fellow linebackers he has played with, one of which playing in the NFL now.

“We came in as freshmen and saw the guys go all the way to the national semi-final,” Nkansah said. “That was probably the best group of seniors I’ve seen lead, with Matt Judon and all those guys. Dylan Carroll last year was a big help as well.”

Playing football runs in the Nkansah family, as Isaiah’s older brother Elijah played college football at the University of Toledo, has played in games as an offensive tackle for the Seattle Seahawks, and is currently on the Houston Texans’ practice squad.

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OCT. 22

Midseason check-in: Thompson settles into leadership role for GV Volleyball

BY ROSEMARY BOOHER RBOOHER@LANTHORN.COM

It’s mid-season for the volleyball team here at Grand Valley State University, and the Lakers may have finally found the leader that they have been searching for all season long. Even though she is only a sophomore, Ali Thompson leads her team with 208 kills and 23 service aces, as well as being the runner-up for digs with 222. Her leadership was recognized, as she was recently named GLIAC South Player of the Week.

“I was not expecting to be named Player of the Week at all, but I was super excited when I found out,” Thompson said.

“It was really encouraging for me and my outside hitting because I’ve really been working on becoming more consistent on the outside. In high school and club I played middle, so switching to the outside in college has been a change for me.

My coaches keep telling me to trust the process and keep working at it, so getting named Player of the Week is encouraging that I’m finally getting to the place I want to be on the outside.”

One of the matches that led to her being named GLIAC South Player of the Week was against the Ferris State Bull-

dogs, the No. 1 ranked team in the conference. During this match-up, Thompson had a season high of 22 kills and the next day against the Northwood Timberwolves, she had 16 more, allowing her to total 36 kills in just two days.

Thompson intends to take her performance from these two matches and use it to better herself and the team as well.

“I’ll take those games and learn from the good and bad in them,” Thompson said. “I’ll figure out what worked well and try to keep doing it, and also learn from my mistakes. Also, I think the setters and I connected well last weekend. They gave me a lot of opportunities by putting me in great spots with their sets.”

Getting used to her new position of outside hitter at the collegiate level is one of the things that Thompson hopes to improve on, but it isn’t the only goal that she has in mind. Consistency and leaderships are two other aspects that she plans on focusing on.

“My goals for the season personally are to continue to get more consistent on the outside and to try to be the best leader I can,” Thompson said. “Overall, my main goal for the season is that we con-

tinue to improve as a team. We’ve taken a lot of steps forward, but we still have a ton of room for growth. We have so much raw talent and athleticism, I’d like to see us start to play more consistent and pull out some big wins.”

Having room for growth is one thing that GVSU’s volleyball team is certain to have in store for them. This season, almost the entire team is comprised of underclassmen, meaning that there is plenty to learn and because of that Thompson has taken on a leadership role to guide them.

“It definitely creates a larger leadership role,” Thompson said. “We only have one upperclassman playing on the court, two sophomores and five freshmen. We are super young, so that put more leadership responsibilities on all the returners.”

Even though the team is young this year, Thompson has faith that they will be capable of great things as soon as they become more consistent.

“I love our team this year and think we have a lot of skill and depth,” Thompson said. “We have had a lot of close games and a lot of moments where we do great things, we just need to play at a high level more consistently.”

FIGHT FOR THE SPIKE: GVSU Sophomore Alli Thompson hits a ball over the net at a practice at the GVSU Fieldhouse Arena. GVL | MEGHAN LANDGREN

OCT. 22

GV Swimming & Diving continues winning streak at Calvin

BY ZACK GOODROW ZGOODROW@LANTHORN.COM

This past Friday, Oct. 18, the Grand Valley State Swimming and Diving team competed against Calvin and Hillsdale in Grand Rapids. The Laker’s women’s team scored 168 points compared to Calvin’s 71. The women’s team also beat Hillsdale with a final score of 162-67. Grand Valley’s men’s team also topped Calvin’s, 149-86.

Sophomore Delaney Wihebrink had a standout performance at the meet. She won the women’s 200 yard breaststroke with a time of 1:04.65. The team’s performance in the breaststroke event was one of the key factors to beating Calvin and Hillsdale.

Sophomore Keegan Hawkins had a superb performance as well in the men’s 200 yard breaststroke, posting his best time of the season at 56 .97. Hawkins performance in the breastroke and winning

GLIDING THROUGH THE WATER: A Grand Valley State swimmer looks to stretch forward and outrace an opponent at the GVSU Fieldhouse Pool in Allendale, Mich. The GVSU Swimming and Diving teams got started on what is looking to be another successful season in 2019. GVL | KATHERINE VASILE

the 200 yard IM, with a time of 1:53.8, pushed the men’s team over the top.

The Lakers distance swimming was also dominant at the meet. Sophomore Jesse Goodyear and junior Moritz Bartels won the men’s 1000m and freestyle, with times of 9:32.32 and 9:42.99, respectively. They also finished with the same placement in the 500 yard freestyle, posting times of 4:44.34 and 4:47.10.

The dynamic duo continued their amazing performances to help the Lakers continue their win streak, as Goodyear beat his own personal best time from last week against Milwuakee.

“I’m happy with that,” Goodyear said.

“Every time I go faster in a meet it makes me feel better. It makes me feel like I’m going places,” Bartels had a very impressive performance in particular beating his season best time. After falling behind to begin with in the 500, he pushed himself and beat his Calvin opponent, junior Jullian Iturbe.

“Our endurance base right now is very solid,” said GVSU head coach Andy Boyce. “We spent the first month

of the season getting (our stamina) established… Our distance group keeps pounding away with the long distance and endurance,” The distance events for women were also won by GVSU swimmers. Freshman Neta Shiff took first yet again in the 1000 for the women, posting a time of 10:23.37, also beating her season best. Shiff also claimed first again in the 500 with a time of 5:06.74, and senior Melina Goebel finished second with 5:14.4.

Many other Lakers won their events, as sophomore Melina De Cort finished first in the women’s 100 backstroke with a time of 30.13 and senior Harry Shalamon won the same event for the men with a time of 49.59.

Goebel took first in the women’s 200 freestyle with a time of 1:56.72 and freshman Gabby Gnewuch took third with 1:59.52.

The diving side of the meet for the Lakers also showcased many strong performances. GVSU won the diving events on the one meter and three meter dives.

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Baker’s Dozen: GVSU Soccer captures 13th consecutive GLIAC Tournament title

BY ELI ONG EONG@LANTHORN.COM

The No. 2 Grand Valley State University women’s soccer team captured their 13th straight Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament championship with a 3-0 victory over the Ferris State Bulldogs Friday, Nov. 15 and a 4-1 victory over the Saginaw Valley State Cardinals Sunday, Nov. 17.

The Lakers advanced to the GLIAC Tournament championship match with a 3-0 semifinal win over the Ferris State Bulldogs Friday evening at the GVSU Soccer Field.

The Lakers improved to 18-1 on the season, claiming their 16th shutout of the year.

Ferris State got off to a fast start by consistently controlling the ball on GVSU’s half of the field for the first 18 minutes of the game, which allowed them to launch 3 shots and two on goal. Both shots-on-goal were stopped by goalkeeper Jessica Radice.

“We had to play a lot harder from the opening whistle than we did,” said GVSU coach Jeff Hosler. “Ferris is out there fighting, trying to extend their season and we didn’t match their energy early on.”

The Lakers settled things down with the go-ahead goal in the 21st minute when junior forward Ava Cook centered a ball for senior midfielder Riko Sagara, who played it through for freshman forward Chantel Car-

ranza to put the ball into the back of the net for the lead.

“My teammates have been doing a great job all year of setting me up in good situations and spots on the field,” Carranza said.

“Playing with some of the best players in the country has constantly helped me improve and it shows with every goal out there.”

Next, Sagara provided a brilliant cross in the 30th minute to set up Carranza for her second goal of the night and the Lakers took a 2-0 lead into halftime.

“We knew when Chantel committed to us that we had a special player on our hands,” Hosler said. “Once she settled in, she’s been on a tear. She’s got a real good feel for the game and knows how to put herself in dangerous situations.”

Late in the second half, junior midfielder Darline Radamaker lofted a ball over the Bulldogs back line and Greta DeLoach took advantage, hammering home the dagger to complete the scoring for the Lakers.

“Before I shoot, I pick out a spot and try to place it there with some pace and hope that it goes in,” said DeLoach. “It was a great ball in

by Dar’ and I was able to finish it.”

The stage was set. The weather was standard for November in West Michigan, and GVSU came away with a 4-1 win to earn their 13th straight GLIAC Tournament championship, even though the Lakers got off to a start that was about as cold as the weather outside.

I WHIP MY HAIR BACK AND FORTH: GVSU junior Ava Cook rises above a few SVSU defenders to try and head in a goal in the GLIAC tournament at the GVSU Soccer Stadium. GVL | CALEB WORPEL

Shortly after the opening kick, Saginaw Valley State blitzed GVSU with a goal in the first minute, a rocket from SVSU junior forward Sakura Bals that came on an assist from senior defender Jennifer Muana. Bals beat her defender easily, then blasted the ball home to give SVSU the early edge, 1-0.

“It was the third game in a row we haven’t been sharp from the kick,” Hosler said. “Sometimes it comes down to talent,

sometimes it comes down to execution, and then there are times like today where it came down to some heart and some courage and Saginaw showed that in the first half and we didn’t.”

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NOV. 18

GVSU senior center Cassidy Boensch makes a name for herself by dominating competition

BY SEAN CAUVET SCAUVET@LANTHORN.COM

LUCRATIVE LAYUP: GVSU’s Cassidy Boensch shoots at the basket. GVL | KATHERINE VASILE

Senior Center Cassidy Boensch, from Au Gres, Michigan, has continued to impress in her fourth and final year at Grand Valley State University.

Coach Mike Williams struggled to find words to describe the feeling, but he says his star player just gets it.

“She gets everything and she doesn’t have a lot of holes in her game,” Williams said.

“There was a learning curve for her in different aspects. From an athletic standpoint, it was probably a learning curve but other than that she always had it.”

As she’s grown up in her four years under Williams, he says that Boensch has gotten stronger, more balanced and more aggressive.

Although they’ve had some talented players at GVSU in the past, Boensch is a new animal.

She is the closest thing the school has ever had to Hakeem Olajuwon, physically dominating her competition and has the second-highest

field-goal percentage in school history.

“She’s pretty good,” Williams said. “We’ve had some pretty good players here. We have had players that were All-Americans and Cassidy is definitely in that boat.”

Boensch isn’t just talented, but she has also become a leader on the GVSU Women’s Basketball team.

“One of the things that she’s done, and the whole senior class has done is become tremendous leaders,” Boensch said. “I think you have to have that to be a good team and it doesn’t always happen. She’s become a great leader and mentor to our younger players.”

Although she is a talented player now, as a young girl, Boensch remembers where it all started for her.

“The first memory I have of playing basketball is when I was 6 years old and my brother set up stations in the kitchen,” Boensch said. “He had me dribble around a bunch of chairs and coached me through it.”

Boensch said she still remembers the people that got her excited about the sport. She ad-

mired their intensity and love for the game.

“We were just talking about that there was a group of girls that were way older than me back when I was in high school that first got me into sports, with how intense they took it and how competitive they were,” Boensch said.

“However, when it came to professional players, I always liked Brianna Stewart when she was at the University of Connecticut.”

As a senior, when Boensch looked back on her career at GVSU, she remembers a game against Ashland from last year.

“Coming out of timeout for that final possession and Natalie (Koenig) scoring a left-hand layup to the rim and then came down and got a defensive stop,” Boensch said. “That whole segment is a video that’s posted on Twitter all the time and it’s probably my favorite thing to watch.”

Williams helped Boensch with her mindset to be successful.

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NOV. 25

GVSU cross country finishes strong as season comes to close at National Championships

BY HOLLY BIHLMAN HBIHLMAN@LANTHORN.COM

This past Saturday, the Grand Valley State men’s and women’s cross country teams ran the NCAA National Championship race in California. The women finished up the season in second place and the men finished fourth place in the country.

On the women’s side, senior leader Allie Ludge took 12th place in the women’s 6k with a time of 20.34.1, followed closely by Hannah Groeber in 14th, Jessica Gockley in 18th and Klaudia O’Malley in 24th. GVSU finished in second place right behind Adams State with a score of 87, beating out the Colorado School of Mines in third.

RACE-WINNING PACE: GVSU junior Colin Herrmann tries to pass a Michigan Tech runner en rout to finishing the 10K race at the NCAA National Championships in California. COURTESY | AL STEBILE

“It was a solid effort and we ran fairly well,” said GVSU coach Jerry Baltes.

“At the end of the day, we could’ve ran perfect and still wouldn’t of beat Adams State — they were outstanding today. I thought overall our ladies did what they needed to do to be the second best team in the country and I’m very, very proud of all our women.”

On the men’s team, sophomore stud Tanner Chada finished in 24th place with a time of 30.20.8, followed by Noah Steffen in 27th and Ben Zaremba in 34th. GVSU placed 4th in the nation for the men’s 10k race with a score of 177, right behind the Colorado Mines, Adams State and Chico State.

“Fourth place, getting on the podium is a very positive day,” Baltes said. “Both our men and women competed hard.

They’re incredible groups.”

Baltes touched on the disadvantages they faced this weekend, going up against

some of the best cross country team in the nation in unfamiliar territory and why that might’ve hindered their overall success on the course.

“Everyone thinks California is the perfect condition coming from Allendale, but coming out here in the sun and 60 to 70 degree weather was less than ideal for us in the big scope of things,” Baltes said. “When you set high expectations for yourself and for your team, it’s hard to win a national championship and finish where you want to be.

I told them you have to appreciate what we have, be proud of what we did, and if you can learn from it, you’ll come back stronger.

When you’re disappointed in being the second or fourth best in the country, I think it says a lot about who you are and how you approach your passion and goals, and the purpose you have in racing.”

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NOV. 26

Thunder from Down Under: Senior Jayden Hodgson brings experience, leadership off the bench for GVSU basketball

BY KELLEN VOSS, SPORTS@LANTHORN.COM

The 2019-20 Grand Valley State basketball team looks a lot different than last year’s GLIAC champion squad, as the team features six freshmen and five transfer students.

Perhaps the most intriguing of those transfers is senior Jayden Hodgson, a Gosford, Australia, native who previously signed a developmental contract with the Sydney Kings on the Australian National Basketball League and played for the Australia U17 team, where he won a silver medal in the FIBA U17 World Championships in Dubai in 2014.

Hodgson fell in love with basketball in first grade at age 6, and idoled a few future NBA Hall-of-Famers who could score the ball at will.

“When I was getting serious was in 2010, when Kobe (Bryant) won his fifth ring backto-back,” Hodgson said. “The more I started to learn about the players, Steve Nash was another guy I loved growing up. And these days, I love to watch guys like Steph Curry, Kyrie Irving and all those type of household names.”

Shortly after Hodgson came state side, he started playing basketball at the University of Bradley, where he appeared in 86 games and started in 29, the last which being in an opening

round loss in the 2019 DI NCAA tournament to Michigan State.

In his time as a Brave, Hodgson averaged 19.8 minutes per game, 4.0 points per game and 1.4 assists per game while shooting 37.3 percent from three and 75 percent from three. He made a lot of good memories on and off the court in his time in Illinois.

“I had an assistant coach back home who used to coach at St. Mary’s, and he had a friend who coached at Bradley,” Hodgson said. “I was in a grey area, and I didn’t know what I wanted to do with a young team. The academics there were really prestigious, the coaches were great, and the team really felt like a family.”

When the Australian decided it was time for a change in scenery and entered the transfer portal, he put Grand Valley State at the top of his list and fell in love with the school on his very first visit.

“I heard about them from a coach at Bradley, and they were my first interest,” Hodgson said. “I developed a great relationship with (GVSU assistant) coach Johnson, and when I first came on a visit, I loved the facilities, and the team they had coming back from winning the GLIAC title was what really drew me here.”

While he was sidelined for two games with a sprained ankle, Hodgson has been doing his

DASH TO THE PAINT: Former Bradley Brave and current Grand Valley State Laker Jayden Hodgson dribbles to the lane in a game at Carver Arena COURTESY | @JAYDENHODGSON35 ON TWITTER.COM

best impression of Kobe Bryant in the four games he has appeared in for GVSU, averaging 8.3 points while shooting 50 percent from three, including posting a season-high 15 points in last Friday’s win against Cedarville.

Even though he is currently in the sixth man role as the first guy off the bench, GVSU head

coach Ric Wesley views him as much more than a scorer, as he impacts the game in many ways whenever he steps on the floor.

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DECEMBER 9, 2019 GRAND VALLEY LANTHORN @GVLSPORTS

A20 | SPORTS DEC. 4

Return of the Rally: GVSU holds second annual Rally with the Rapids Basketball Game

BY ELI ONG EONG@LANTHORN.COM

Different year, same amazing result.

Once again, students, Greeks, athletes, parents, coaches, and local fans came out to support Special Olympics basketball players from Area 5 (Ferris State) and Area 12 (GVSU) in what is one of the biggest highlights of the winter sports season at Grand Valley State University.

Armed with another talented and dedicated group of undergraduate students who successfully organized the event, Grand Valley State University professor Jon Coles helped guide his students through planning an event that raised $3,842.53 for local area Special Olympics, $579.74 more than was raised a year ago at the same event.

Rally with the Rapids is a once-yearly organized Special Olympics basketball game between players with special needs from the Allendale and Big Rapids area. Area 5 and Area 12, as mentioned above, are their Special Olympics designated sectors of the state.

Planning for the event is extensive and begins right away at the beginning of the semester. Coles immediately lays out roles and jobs that need to be filled by his students, who then choose amongst themselves who should do each job.

“I teach the class and help guide them, but the students deserve all of the credit when it comes to this event,” Coles said.

“They’re an extremely dedicated group of kids who have put their all into this event and it showed out there tonight.”

In terms of logistics, there are multiple lay-

POSING WITH THE PAPER: GVSU students, the GVSU cheer team and the Special Olympic athletes representing GVSU and Ferris State gather at center court of the GVSU Fieldhouse Arena. The 2nd annual Rally with the Rapids game raised $3,843.53, which is $579.74 more than last year. GVL | ELI ONG

ers to coordinating an event of this magnitude.

Students have to contact local companies for sponsorships, coordinate with GVSU Event Services, the cheerleading team, and dance team to find an appropriate date to reserve the fieldhouse, reserve all of the proper electronic equipment to run a basketball game, find referees, cater the event, raise public awareness of the event to attract attendance, raise money for donations, and more.

“There’s definitely a lot that goes on behind the scenes, but that’s the beauty of this class,” Coles said. “Everyone’s super motivated because at the end of the day, every single one of the students wants to put a smile on the face of every single athlete from areas 5 and 12 and give

them an experience they won’t soon forget.”

The experience was indeed one that will not be forgotten anytime soon, whether it be by the athletes on the court or those in attendance off of it. The players on the court made sure of that.

Shortly before the game started, Area 5 center Kim Kenyon sang an inspiring rendition of the Star Spangled Banner, then the starting lineups were announced and the action got underway.

GVSU and Ferris State got off to a quick start to open up the first quarter. Area 5 Small forward Nick Borders, power forward Matt Schlarf, and Kenyon each poured in a bucket to give the Bulldogs 6 points in the first two minutes of the ballgame. Area 12

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starting point guard Robert Taylor-Lezman score 2 baskets early on to help GVSU keep pace with Ferris State as the score remained 6-4 in favor of Area 5 moving past the halfway point in the first quarter.

From there, Borders showed his offensive expertise in the closing minutes of the first quarter, hitting a driving floater in the lane shortly before using a pick for a pull up mid ranger that hit nothing but net from 15 feet out on the right wing.

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Smartphone Addiction Addiction at at Smartphone GVSU Smartphone Addiction at GVSU GVSU A recent recent GVSU GVSU study study was was A conducted with a survey A recent GVSU was with study a survey conducted sample of 100 students. conducted with a survey sample of 100 students.

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