[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 128 (Wednesday, September 17, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1828]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    HONORING THE GRAND VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY PIONEER CLASS OF 1967

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                          HON. PETER HOEKSTRA

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 17, 2003

  Mr. HOEKSTRA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the Grand Valley 
State University Pioneer Class of 1967. The first graduating class of 
Grand Valley State University assembled on the Allendale Campus in 
September, 1963. There were 226 members of the class, with 156 
ultimately graduating with baccalaureate degrees from the institution. 
The college in that first year consisted of only two fully completed 
buildings: Lake Michigan Hall and the Seidman House student center. 
During the four-year journey of the Pioneer Class through Grand Valley 
State College (as it was then known), the campus was constantly 
changing as new buildings and facilities were added.
  The class was comprised primarily of students from the West Michigan 
area who were carefully selected for academic aptitude and other 
indicators of potential success at the new, largely non-residential 
college. They concentrated and succeeded in their college programs 
despite the distractions of the increasing turmoil of the Vietnam War 
and the American cultural revolution that began in the mid-1960s.
  The students were challenged by a rigorous curriculum, coupled with 
shortages of facilities and equipment, rudimentary library and audio-
visual resources, and a virtual absence of traditional student life 
opportunities during their four years on the campus. The college did 
not receive academic accreditation from the North Central Association 
until late in the Pioneers' senior year. Members of the Pioneer Class 
competed on Grand Valley's first intercollegiate athletics teams, and 
inaugurated new housing, arts, writing, intramural sports, and 
community service programs at the college. They truly paved the way for 
generations of Grand Valley students to come.
  Nevertheless, the Pioneer Class met all academic expectations and 
graduated in June, 1967. Class members have gone on to succeed in 
business, industry, education, religion, science and government. They 
met the challenges of life and study at the new college and are the 
first in a long line of distinguished, accomplished graduates from what 
has become a major regional institution of higher learning.
  They are saluted upon the occasion of the 40th anniversary of their 
arrival at Grand Valley with a gala reunion in connection with Grand 
Valley State University's Homecoming 2003 on Oct. 3 and 4. The theme of 
this year's celebration honors them and all those who came after them 
at Grand Valley: ``Grand Valley State University: A Pioneering 
Spirit.''

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