The new Grand Valley State University Alumni House and Visitors Center is filled with hundreds of names, each holding a part of the University's history.
Since the first class was graduated in 1967, GVSU has graduated nearly 45,000 alumni. Many of those graduates have given back to their alma mater in the form of donations for the new $2 million building.
The Alumni House will be dedicated Saturday, October 14, with a ceremony scheduled for 10:30 a.m., followed by an open house with food, music and tours of the building until 1 p.m.
Nancee Miller, Director of Alumni Relations, said the project has excellent support from the University community.
The Alumni House is filled with plaques recognizing the donors of rooms, landscape and various architectural features, and engraved bricks with donor names abound.
We're giving donors an opportunity to have their name live forever on this campus, she said.
With 54 percent of GVSU's alumni earning their degrees in the past 10 years, many graduates have not yet amassed the means to make large donations. That raised some challenges for fundraising.
The 13,000-square-foot building provides an environment for alumni activities and university events. In addition to office space for Alumni Relations, the building also has four overnight rooms for guests needing accommodations in Allendale. It also provides a base for alumni fund raising activities and has four guestrooms for Alumni needing overnight accommodations.
The facility has a banquet room, which seats up to 150 guests for dinner and meeting functions. The adjacent outdoor patio provides a gathering area in mild weather. The Emeritus Study provides a more intimate space for small groups. The building also serves as an information center for campus visitors.
The fundraising campaign continues, with $300,000 needed to meet its goal.
There is no state money in this building. This was built by the University community of alumni, faculty and staff, and friends. Tuition dollars were not used to fund this project, said Miller.
For information about donating to the project, contact Alumni Relations via e-mail at [email protected], toll-free at 1-800-558-0541, or at 616-895-3590.
It's been a national campaign, with donors from all over, said Miller, explaining that donations have come in from Colorado, Arizona and Wisconsin, as well as Michigan.
