[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 7]
[House]
[Pages 9711-9712]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




RECOGNIZING 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF GRAND VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY'S PIONEER 
                                 CLASS

  (Mr. HUIZENGA asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. HUIZENGA. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to recognize the 50th 
anniversary of Grand Valley State University's pioneer class.
  In June of 1967, in a tent on its Allendale, Michigan campus, Grand 
Valley held its long dreamed of first commencement ceremony. On that 
day, 138 seniors, including 86 members of the pioneer class that 
started in 1963, received their diplomas from Michigan's newest 
college.
  These first graduates laid the foundation of a university that would 
grow to offer 124 degrees, enroll students from 82 different countries, 
and boast a 94

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percent employment rate for its graduates--always a good thing.
  After that first graduation ceremony in 1967, GVSU had 138 alumni. 
Today, the university has over 110,000 proud alumni throughout Michigan 
and, frankly, around the globe.
  Under the leadership of its first president, James Zumberge, followed 
by the continued guidance of Arend Lubbers, Mark Murray, and current 
president, Thomas Haas, Grand Valley has come to be a renowned 
institution and one of the 100 largest universities in this Nation.
  During the very first commencement address, a speaker noted: ``No one 
could ever possibly chart your course through these years.'' And it is 
hard to imagine that the pioneer class could have dreamed of the role 
that they would be playing in helping Grand Valley State University 
achieve such great heights.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring Grand Valley 
State University's pioneer class of 1967, the original ``Lakers for a 
Lifetime.''

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