GVSU celebrates National GEAR UP Week as first cohort enters college
National GEAR UP Week in late September came during a significant milestone for Grand Valley's program: the first students from its current GEAR UP cohort have enrolled in college.
GEAR UP — Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs — is designed to help students prepare for education beyond high school. The GVSU program partners with Grand Rapids Public Schools to provide students with college preparation, mentoring, academic support and opportunities to experience college.
This fall, 33 students from the GEAR UP cohort enrolled at GVSU, representing the next step in a journey that began seven years ago when they were in middle school.
From left are Alexis Robles Vazquez ’25, Edith Reyes Justo ’20 and Angelina Quezada-Reynolds, director of Student Support and Belonging, during a panel discussion Sept. 24 before an audience of Michigan GEAR UP students. (Macayla Cramer)
B. Donta Truss, vice president for Enrollment Development and College Futures, said GEAR UP is an important part of the university's broader approach to developing future students.
“Enrollment development begins long before a student applies to college,” Truss said. “GEAR UP is an important part of our strategy because it allows us to engage students early, build pathways to higher education and stay connected as they move from college awareness to enrollment and degree completion.”
On Sept. 24, dozens of students from GEAR UP programs around the state visited the Valley Campus for a daylong program that included a panel discussion with GVSU graduates Edith Reyes Justo ’20 and Alexis Robles Vazquez ’25. Both alumni participated in GEAR UP programs.
Bobby Springer, director of GEAR UP, said the panel discussion with middle school students in the audience illustrates the long-term nature of the work.
“GEAR UP allows us to start early and help students see college as an attainable next step,” Springer said. “Seeing our first cohort now enter college is an important milestone.”