“I believe that everybody should understand how to tell a story and how to tell a story with truth and accuracy and without bias,” Mary Kramer ‘79 said. “Storytelling is a skill that anybody can take with them for the rest of their lives.” The tools may continue to change – from print and radio to video and digital media – but Kramer believes the fundamentals remain the same. "It's how you tell a story factually, accurately, in an interesting way that is compelling to the person who’s consuming that piece, whether it’s video, words on paper, or digitally.” 

How it all began 

Kramer’s own story with Grand Valley began in 1972 as a student during her sophomore year, when she was offered a financial aid package that she could not refuse. Majoring in Arts and Media, she quickly discovered a community where professors and staff knew her name, recognized her potential, and helped her turn an interest in storytelling into the beginning of a 40-year career. 

Kramer began working at The Lanthorn almost as soon as she arrived on campus. She also landed a work-study job in the university’s public relations office, where she met Jerry Elliott, a retired editorial writer from The Grand Rapids Press who helped her secure her first internship there. Professor Ron Dwelle opened another door, helping her land an internship writing early morning radio news at a local FM station. 

“What I liked about Grand Valley was that I wasn't a number,” Kramer said. “People knew who I was. You could create relationships with professors and administrators, and they were very student focused.”  

Her internship at The Grand Rapids Press went so well that she was offered a full-time job before anyone thought to ask whether she had finished her degree. She took the job and began attending night classes. “The Grand Valley experience and how they let me tailor my coursework was enormously helpful,” she said. “I carried it through to all other jobs that I had after the Press.” 

Shaping the future of Grand Valley 

As Grand Valley grew, so did Kramer’s relationship with the university. She eventually returned to serve on the Board of Trustees, later chairing the board during the selection of Grand Valley’s first female president, Philomena V. Mantella. 

For someone whose own life had been changed by professors and mentors taking the time to notice her potential, serving on the board gave Kramer a chance to help ensure future students received that same experience. “We have a lot of alumni who have served as members of the board,” she said. “It’s a very cool thing to be able to take that successful experience we had at Grand Valley and then be part of the board that ensures that experience continues.” 

Watching Grand Valley grow while maintaining that student-centered culture has been a source of pride for Kramer. She has seen programs expand into downtown Grand Rapids, watched the university strengthen its health professions education and, more recently, observed Grand Valley prepare students for a future being reshaped by technologies such as artificial intelligence. She sees that willingness to evolve as essential to the university’s mission. 

“Lifelong learning is exactly what we are all doing,” she said. “I’m in my 70s. I’m still learning.” 

Trustworthy storytelling

Now, Kramer is bringing that desire to life as an opportunity for students. After a career spanning more than four decades in media – 32 of those years as editor and publisher of Crain's Detroit Business – she has watched the way people consume and share information change dramatically, and she wants to make sure Grand Valley students are staying ahead of the game. 

When the internet first emerged, she imagined a world in which more people would have the tools to report what they saw and share the stories that mattered in their communities. Instead, she has seen misinformation make it increasingly difficult for people to know which sources to trust. That reality helped inspire her support for the Future Storytellers Endowed Scholarship at Grand Valley focused on students pursuing storytelling and media. 

Kramer also hopes students understand that meaningful journalism does not have to begin with national headlines. Some of the most important stories are unfolding within neighborhoods, schools, and communities – stories that help people understand one another. 

“There are all kinds of terrific journalism reporting on corruption or other misdeeds. But storytelling can also be uplifting,” she said. “There are all kinds of stories out there. Stories that bring a sense of community, that you have a shared experience in your town or your county or your city.” 

Through the scholarship, Kramer hopes to give students the same kind of opportunity Grand Valley once gave her: the chance to develop their skills, find mentors who believe in them, and begin building meaningful careers before they even leave campus. 

“I give to Grand Valley because Grand Valley gave to me and gave me such terrific opportunities that I can honestly say were life changing,” she said. 

Her hope extends beyond the students who will directly benefit from the scholarship. She would also like it to become something fellow alumni from Grand Valley’s journalism and media programs can build together. 

“There are students that came through in the ’70s and ’80s that had similar experiences to me,” she said. “It is my fondest wish that alumni of those programs would look at this scholarship and think, ‘I got a lot out of Grand Valley. I’d like to give back.’” 

 

Anyone interested in supporting the Future Storytellers Endowed Scholarship can visit our website.

 

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