Learn about Campus Resources
Both the downtown Pew Campus and the Allendale campus are rich in scholarly resources, as well as every day necessities to make your participation in the summer institute seamless.
Dining options
With several options available, you will be able to dine on-campus easily whether you are able to purchase a structured meal plan or pay per meal at select dining locations across campus.
Apartments are furnished with a set of basic pots and pans, table service, and utensils so you may want to consider carefully how to budget meal expenses. Grocery shopping is available along all bus lines including the downtown Market, Meijer, and Kingma's. If you have transportation, Grand Rapids has several grocery options including Aldi, Trader Joe, and D&W.
Library facilities
The Steelcase library is conveniently located on the downtown campus across from summer institute apartments. Participants will be granted full access to the library's scholarly resources and online databases. Just a short shuttle bus ride away is the Allendale campus Mary Idema Pew library, as well, which contains a larger volume of resources, meeting spaces, and media.
Computer Labs
The downtown Pew Campus has two computer labs immediately accessible to institute participants:
- DeVos Center (Windows) Rooms 203A, 204A, 205A, 127 (MAC) 211A
- Eberhard Center (Windows and MAC) Room 514
Learn more about Grand Rapids
Grand Rapids is home to the country’s largest all-volunteer art festival, the world’s largest art contest, countless community organizations, public museums, coffee shops, libraries, colleges, and is nationally known as Beer City USA for all its craft breweries and local distilleries. Its restaurants thrive on farm to table sustainability, and its neighborhoods flourish with community-driven activity from ethnic gatherings where all are welcome to hubs of spontaneity the likes of which can be found in Rosa Parks Circle.
Downtown Grand Rapids is a bicycle- and pedestrian-friendly city with clearly marked bike lanes and widely used public transit within city limits. Spokefly is the official bike share in Grand Rapids.
Learn more about West Michigan
Traversing beyond Grand Rapids, West Michigan’s lakeshore is host to several traditional warm-weather pastimes that include hundreds of miles of public beachfront, state and national park campgrounds, and cozy towns with shops and galleries. Travel time between Grand Rapids and the immediate lakeshore locations vary between thirty to forty-five minutes.
A favorite family summertime quest is Michigan’s Adventure, an amusement and water park located in Muskegon. Just down the road from Michigan’s Adventure is Hoffmaster State Park, a regional camping destination with over three miles of Lake Michigan shoreline, towering lake dunes, and miles of hiking trails that offer stunning views at every turn.
For those who enjoy spending time on the water, a thirty minute drive takes visitors to the Muskegon river where kayak, paddle board, and inner-tube rentals are available for low-risk but fun adventure on a calm waterway. Other water ways in the Greater Grand Rapids area offer similar opportunities in Rockford, and Lowell.
Holland and Grand Haven are connected with bike trails that run along the dune line. Both cities offer state parks for camping as well as local vacation lodging. Holland Michigan is home to the early summer Tulip Time festival and Grand Haven is home to the annual Coast Guard Festival. Both locations offer heavily trafficked beaches, channel and piers, as well as two of Michigan’s lighthouses.
Learn more about the Lakeshore and beyond
Traveling beyond Grand Rapids and its closer lakeshore partners can provide a rich and reflective experience. Whether hiking in the Manistee National Forest or exploring the wonder of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and the Platte River, Northern Michigan in summer has no shortage of beauty. In addition to nature, northern sites include wineries, shops, galleries, and other travel destinations. Most Northern Michigan locations are accessible within a couple hours making day trips a realistic possibility.