[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 161 (Friday, November 7, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2284-E2285]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   TRIBUTE TO SAGINAW VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY ON THE OCCASION OF ITS 
                          FORTIETH ANNIVERSARY

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. BART STUPAK

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, November 7, 2003

  Mr. STUPAK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the mission 
and accomplishments of Saginaw Valley State University in Saginaw 
County, Michigan as it celebrates forty years of educating students for 
a modern world.

[[Page E2285]]

  I can attest to the quality of the learning experience that Saginaw 
Valley State provides its students, because I received a bachelor's 
degree from SVSU in criminal justice in 1977 while I was a Michigan 
State Trooper. As a returning adult student who also worked full time 
as a Trooper, it was particularly important to me to have accomplished 
professors and to be enrolled in classes that were academically 
challenging but also geared to practical accomplishment in the real 
world.
  SVSU was chartered as a private college on November 13, 1963. In 1965 
it was made part of Michigan's system of state supported colleges. The 
first class of ten students graduated in 1966.
  That small but dedicated graduating class led the way for student 
enrollment that had grown to more than 8,000 students by the end of the 
millennium. International students by the hundreds now walk the campus.
  SVSU is known for its programs in teacher education, an engineering 
program that is well-recognized in the area's automotive serving 
industries, programs in nursing and allied health sciences, business 
administration and the humanities, to name just some of the 
university's successful curriculum efforts.
  In the past ten years, the university campus has grown by leaps and 
bounds, adding Founders Hall and the West Complex with its Performing 
Arts Center, Rhea Miller Recital Hall, Groening Commons, new classrooms 
and faculty offices, as well as conference facilities. Curtiss Hall, 
the new Herbert Dow Doan Science Building and the Student Center and 
Fitness Center were all completed. A Regional Education Center, the 
Zahnow Library addition, additions to the Marshal M. Fredericks 
Sculpture Museum and to student housing also were dedicated in 2003.
  It would be understandable if the faculty, staff, students, alumni 
and supporters of Saginaw Valley State University took a moment to rest 
on their laurels, but my understanding is that all of the new 
facilities and programs are instead powerful motivation for the SVSU 
learning community to continue to grow and to seek excellence in all 
its endeavors.
  I heartily congratulate everyone involved in the dramatic success of 
Saginaw Valley State University. As an alumnus of SVSU, I take personal 
pride and pleasure in its forty years of achievement.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask that you and my colleagues join me in offering 
congratulations to Saginaw Valley State University on its fortieth 
anniversary.

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