Community Reading Project Sparks Conversations About Immigration

The ninth annual community read, The Distance Between Us, by Reyna Grande, brought to the forefront a timely discussion of immigration, citizenship, and family as it details the author’s childhood spent torn between two parents and two countries. Grande’s parents leave Reyna and her siblings behind in Mexico to make the dangerous trek across the border in search of a better life. When Grande arrives in California at age nine, she adjusts to life as an undocumented immigrant and learns that life in America is far from perfect.

Grande spoke on campus on March 25 about her award winning book. Published in 2012, The Distance Between Us was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. The School Library Journal named it One of the Best Adult Books for Teens in 2012, and The Christian Science Monitor listed it that year as one of the 15 best books.

Grande said she wrote her memoir because she wanted to contribute to the country’s conversation about immigration. “I wanted people to understand that immigrants have families,” she said.

During her presentation, Grande discussed her difficult transition to life in Los Angeles. What was most difficult, she said, was not learning a new language or understanding a different culture, it was learning to live with her broken family. “The family I longed for in America no longer existed,” she said. “Then I realized what immigration had done to my family.”

Brian Jbara, director of Integrative Learning and Advising, said about 40 courses and many other discussion groups on campus used the book. The Community Reading Project (CRP) was established at Grand Valley in 2005. Since then, many authors have visited campus to engage in discussions of the book outside the classroom, including visits to community partners like the Herrick District Library in Holland.

This year, CRP also partnered with youth in the area to enrich the experience for community members. Students from Allendale High School and the Grandville Avenue Arts and Humanities Center created artwork in conjunction with The Distance Between Us. Prior to and during Grande’s visit, the artwork was on exhibit at the exhibition gallery at the Mary Idema Pew Library Learning and Information Commons.

Jbara introduced the 2014-2015 CRP selection following Grande’s lecture: Five Days at Memorial, by Sheri Fink. The Pulitzer Prize-winning author will visit campus in 2015 to discuss her book, an unforgettable story about the investigation of patient deaths at a New Orleans hospital ravaged by Hurricane Katrina.

Students Lend a Helping Hand in Ghana

Through an established faculty-led study abroad program in Ghana, West Africa, Grand Valley State University students are directly changing the lives of residents, especially children, of that country. 

For seven weeks last summer, students from the Frederik Meijer Honors College worked with children who have been trafficked and enslaved in West Africa. The Ghana Honors
Service Learning Program (GHSLP) began in 2009 when Janaan Decker, student services coordinator for the Frederik Meijer Honors College, developed a relationship with a nongovernment organization (NGO), Challenging Heights. 

Challenging Heights, founded by James Kofi Annan, helps to rehabilitate and rescue children who have been trafficked into slavery in the illegal fishing industry in Ghana. After learning about Ghanaian culture and Challenging Heights, GHSLP students have an opportunity to work in the organization’s rescue center, the Hovde House, where the children are reintroduced to society.

Joe Verschaeve, affiliate professor of Sociology, has served as the GHSLP program director for the past two years. “We ask what they need the most because, ultimately, we’re there to
help,” Verschaeve said. He said he and others were enlisted to paint the house, transforming it from drab to colorful. “Our work was immediately celebrated by the kids,” he said.

Opportunities for GHSLP students go beyond working with Challenging Heights. Students also have an opportunity to help educate Ghanaians about clean water. Verschaeve said Grand Valley’s Annis Water Resources Institute (AWRI) has provided water filters and water quality education to the region for the past two years. 

Verschaeve said the GHSLP will partner with a new NGO, International Sustainable Health Education and Water, to continue clean water education there. Rick Rediske, professor of Water Resources at AWRI, was a past program director and continues to be involved with GHSLP.

Throughout the year, Grand Valley students raise funds and work with West Michigan and national partners to collect supplies for the annual trip to Ghana. EverGreen Ministries in Hudsonville, for example, provided support that will continue the small-scale cassava project that began last year in the village of Atekjedo, Verschaeve said.

In 2012, Grand Valley engineering student Ross Ezinga led efforts for villagers to install a cassava press to produce milk, which is made into glue and then sold. Verschaeve said it’s an example of a micro-economic approach to help keep the village sustainable. 

Through his work with GHSLP, Verschaeve has seen students transformed by their study abroad experience. “Students who want to go on this trip have a strong desire to help others,” he said. “They are not there for themselves. They have a sense of maturity; I’ve seen them come into themselves.”

Alumni Event in So Paulo, Brazil; Dual-degree Program in Concepcin, Chile

In March 2014, President and Mrs. Haas of GVSU, and Chief International Officer Mark Schaub of the Padnos International Center, met with GVSU alumni who live in São Paulo, Brazil, along with parents of current GVSU students who are also from the São Paulo area. This event is the second such gathering of GVSU alumni outside the U.S. and a focus for future engagement of GVSU alumni living abroad. 

President Haas added the Brazil visit to his delegation trip to GVSU’s comprehensive partner institution in South America: Universidad del Bio-Bio (UBB), in Concepción, Chile. While at UBB, President Haas and his counterpart, Rector Gaertes, signed a pledge to develop and approve a dual-degree program in Liberal Studies (GVSU) and Humanities (UBB).
 

Model Organization of American States Travels to Nations Capital

A group of Latin American Studies (LAS) students capped a semester of learning about independent states of the Americas with a trip in April to Washington, D.C., where they created, presented, and debated proposals to resolve the hemisphere’s urgent issues. 

Andrew Schlewitz, assistant professor of LAS and Political Science, served as advisor to the Model Organization of American States (MOAS). 

Student Rebekah Watkins called MOAS an incredible learning experience: “After one day in D.C., my conceptual thoughts on the OAS completely changed. I saw an organization of delegations representing most of the western hemispheric countries working together to try to better their hemisphere by ways they deemed the best.”

Student Tim Hofmeister said the informal talks with other MOAS delegates were equally as important as the formal sessions. The informal caucuses, he said, presented opportunities to dig deeper into the issues and meet students from all the Americas. 

Read more comments from participants at gvsuwmoas2014.blogspot.com/.

Students Participate in Model Arab League

In March, a group of students enrolled in Middle East Studies courses attended the National Model in Washington, D.C. While in D.C., the students visited the Palestinian Liberation Organization and heard talks by the ambassador from Qatar. The students also heard presentations from West Point Military Academy officials and role-played in the model simulation of the Arab League.

Earlier in the year, Grand Valley hosted the Michigan Model Arab League in the Russel H. Kirkhof Center, which provided Grand Valley students with the opportunity to discuss Middle Eastern issues with fellow undergraduates across the state. Sponsored by Middle East Studies, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Modern Languages and Literatures, and the Padnos International Center, the annual event brings to campus students and faculty members from nine other institutions.

It’s an important learning opportunity for the students enrolled in MES 380: Model Arab League course. As Coeli Fitzpatrick, coordinator of the Middle East Studies program and instructor of the Model Arab League course, explains: “In this class, students not only learn how to research current problems affecting the Middle East, but to suggest realistic solutions to those problems and have them vetted by their peers. They gain confidence in public speaking, they practice thinking on their feet, and they learn diplomatic language and procedures. It is really a hands-on, problem-based class, which requires both independent learning and collaboration. 

“In addition, participating in the model makes students eligible for programs sponsored by the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations, including internships and study visits to the Arab world. For the past five years we have sent students on fully funded study visits to Saudi Arabia and Lebanon with other U.S. students. This is a tremendous opportunity for our students!”

Environmental Studies Partners with French University

The Environmental Studies program in the Brooks College reached a bilateral partnership for a student exchange with Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ) in France. The university, located near the Haute Vallee de Chevreuse et des Boucles de la Seine natural park, benefits from a rich natural environment. UVSQ offers a highly reputable interdisciplinary program in sustainability and environmental studies, which is open to all majors.

GVSU Ranks Fifth for Study Abroad Participation

Grand Valley ranks fifth in the nation for the number of students who participate in study abroad programs, according to the Institute of International Education. 

In the 2012-2013 reporting year, 730 students studied abroad. Among master’s degree-granting institutions, Grand Valley has ranked as high as number eight in recent years. Mark Schaub, chief international officer for the Padnos International Center, said the increase is due to several factors such as more academic departments supporting international education, scholarships for participants and study abroad alumni, and faculty advisors talking to students about the benefits of study abroad.

Grand Valley offers more than 4,000 study abroad programs to students, ranging from faculty-led programs to independent study. Schaub said about one-third of study abroad participants choose faculty-led programs of two to six weeks in length, mostly during the spring/summer semesters. 

Top destinations are the United Kingdom and Spain, and Schaub added that programs in Ghana and West Africa have seen an increase in popularity.

Back to Main Page