Tag Archives: Hauenstein Center

GVSU, Ford Foundation’s Veterans Day event hosts veteran/author who inspired ‘Black Hawk Down’

Image taken from promotional material for the Veterans Day Celebration, with U.S. Army Rangers First Sgt. Matt Eversmann (Ret.) speaking. (GVSU)

By K.D. Norris

ken@wktv.org

U.S. Army Rangers First Sgt. Matt Eversmann (Ret.), whose battlefield experiences in the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu in Somalia led him to become an author, is also an advocate for “teaching the next generation of leaders through his experience with the atrocities of war.”

In that and many other ways, Eversmann is the perfect person to be the featured guest at a Veterans Day Celebration hosted by the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation, Grand Valley State University’s Peter Secchia Military and Veterans Resource Center and GVSU’s Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies — a center named for Col. Ralph W. Hauenstein.

Hauenstein — a journalist, war hero, entrepreneur, philanthropist and so  much more — was also a strong advocate for educating leaders on the impact and aftereffects of military conflict.

The Veterans Day Celebration, with Eversmann speaking, will take place Thursday, Nov. 11, at 7 p.m., in GVSU’s Charles W. Loosemore Auditorium, 401 West Fulton St., Suite 134 E, DeVos Center, Grand Rapids. For more information and to register, visit this gvsu.edu page. Free parking is available at the nearby Seward Ramp.

U.S. Army Rangers First Sgt. Matt Eversmann (Ret.), now an author and speaker. (Supplied)

“In October of 1993, First Sergeant  Matt Eversmann led a group of Army Rangers in a UN peacekeeping operation in Somalia,” it states in event promotional material. “Having been trapped, outnumbered, and marked for death, Eversmann’s survival and heroism earned him a Bronze Star Medal with valor device. He’s since been immortalized in the film Black Hawk Down.

“Upon returning from Somalia, Eversmann committed to teaching the next generation of leaders through his experience with the atrocities of war – not unlike our namesake, Colonel Ralph W. Hauenstein. His story highlights the importance of leadership, followership, and responsibility in our age of tribalism.”

While the Veterans Day Celebration will be a live event, the Hauenstein Center continues to offer a digital alternative for all of their events “as we consider the health and safety of our members, students, and the community.” The program is available virtually by visiting  https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87222394732 or call 929-205-6099 to gain access to the webinar ID: 872 2239 4732  to view the live broadcast.

In addition to members of the Hauenstein Center, all community members who are veterans or military-connected are invited to an hors d’oeuvres and drinks event at 5:30 p.m.

Eversmann — soldier and author

Eversmann is the co-author of two military-related books, The Battle of Mogadishu and Walk in My Combat Boots, and he knows what he writes about. But he is also a strong advocate for veterans rights and post-military employment and other services.

In Eversmann’s supplied biography, it states that: On October 3, 1993, Matt was placed in charge of a group of Army Rangers to lead a daytime raid against an eager enemy militia. His inspiring story of survival was immortalized in the epic film, Black Hawk Down, which recounts the harrowing experience. For his actions on the battlefield he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal with valor device.

During his remaining time in uniform, he worked at the Army War College, taught at The Johns Hopkins University and was finally deployed to Iraq where he lived with the Iraqi Army for 15 months during The Surge. He remained on active duty until May of 2008, when he retired after 20 years of service.

His frustration with the typical hiring process for veterans fueled his desire to help others avoid the “veterans predicament,” where servicemen and women are overlooked because of a broken hiring system. Since his retirement from active duty, he has worked in several industries in mid-level to senior-level positions. He was an operations officer in healthcare, an executive director in a non-profit and a VP of leadership development for a data management company.

Snapshots: Wyoming and Kentwood you need to know

WKTV Staff

joanne@wktv.org

 

 

Quote of the Day

"Life is like riding a bicycle. In order to keep your balance, you must keep moving."- Albert Einstein

 

 

Love to Ride His Bicycle

 

Kentwood resident and avid bicyclist Ken Smith, 70, whose father was a fireman and son is a fireman, is riding from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean — Seaside, Oregon, to Boston, Massachusetts — in hopes of raising $30,000 to provide for possible care of and therapy for his grandson Jakob. He returned home last week, riding more 2,500 miles. He is set to continue the journey soon. Ken Smith has set up a Facebook page (facebook.com/rideforjake/) and a GoFundMe page (gofundme.com/ride-pacific-to-atlantic-for-jakob) to detail his journey and raise the funds.

 

 

Food for Thought

 

 

Hank Meijer

Meijer Chairman Hank Meijer, along with Richard Norton Smith, will be the featured lecturer this Friday for the Grand Valley State University’s Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies. The topic is “Mackinac Conference at 75,” which will be presented at 7 p.m. at L.V. Eberhard Center, Room 215, 301 W. Fulton St. The series, which continues through Dec. 5, will feature eight speakers who will encourage meaningful discussions about leadership and the search for common ground at a deep level, without the heated political rhetoric of the day.

 

 

 

And While We’re Talking Food

 

You might want to put a big food truck doodle on Sept. 15 as that is when Kentwood will be hosting its third annual End of Summer Food Truck Festival. Nearly 30 trucks are expected to participate at this year’s event. We know it will be the end-of-summer celebration you won’t want to miss because Managing Editor Joanne Bailey-Boorsma is still talking about last year’s event and all the food choices. Oh, and for the beer lovers, there will be a beer tent running from noon to 10 p.m. featuring a selection of craft beers.

 

Fun Fact:

88 Years Old

And the Grand Rapids Symphony is still going strong. Started in 1930, the orchestra kicks off its 88th season on Sept. 14 and 15 with the classical concert "Beethoven, Barber, and Bernstein" - which is quite the mix of music. For more on the Symphony's season, visit grsyhphony.org.

Hauenstein Center to host eight events during fall speaker series

Debra Furr-Holden

By Nate Hoekstra

Grand Valley State University

 

Speakers hosted by Grand Valley State University’s Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies will generate meaningful discussions about leadership and the search for common ground at a deep level, without the heated political rhetoric of the day.

 

The Hauenstein Center will feature eight speakers on topics ranging from contemporary politics to history to public health, featuring authors, policy experts, journalists and historians to explain many facets of public leadership and political difference.

 

The events are a cross-section of the Hauenstein Center’s two main speaker series: Wheelhouse Talks and the Common Ground Initiative. Wheelhouse Talk speakers will focus on leadership experiences while Common Ground Initiative speakers will cover history and the shifting terrain of American civic life today.

 

The series kicks off with Debra Furr-Holden, Director of the Michigan State University Flint Center for Health Equity Solutions, who works on structural and policy interventions to improve public health for the city’s residents following the Flint water crisis.

 

Other speakers will include noted West Michigan historians Hank Meijer and Richard Norton Smith, who will discuss the enduring significance of the GOP Mackinac Conference 75 years ago; Dean of Yale Law School Heather K. Gerken, who will discuss how, in a polarized political environment, members of the left and right can use federalism to address their differences productively; and George H. Nash, a presidential biographer and historian who will address “American Conservatism and Populism in the Age of Trump.”

 

The full fall schedule is as follows. Event descriptions and free registration are available at www.gvsu.edu/hc/events

 

Debra Furr-Holden: Leading for Public Health in Flint

A Wheelhouse Talk event

Friday, August 31, 4 p.m.

Charles W. Loosemore Auditorium, Richard M. DeVos Center, 401 Fulton Street West, Grand Rapids, MI 49504

 

Hank Meijer

Hank Meijer and Richard Norton Smith: The Mackinac Conference at 75

A Common Ground Initiative event

Friday, September 7, 7 p.m.

L.V. Eberhard Center, Room 215, 301 Fulton Street West, Grand Rapids, MI 49504

 

Heather K. Gerken: Federalism in the 21st Century

A Common Ground Initiative event

Tuesday, September 18, 7 p.m.

Charles W. Loosemore Auditorium, Richard M. DeVos Center, 401 Fulton Street West, Grand Rapids, MI 49504

 

William Deresiewicz: What is Art in the 21st Century?

Partnership with Grand Valley’s Fall Arts Celebration

Monday, October 1, 7:30 p.m.

L.V. Eberhard Center, Room 215, 301 Fulton Street West, Grand Rapids, MI 49504

 

Joe Jones: Empowering Grand Rapids

A Wheelhouse Talks event

Friday, October 5, 4 p.m.

Charles W. Loosemore Auditorium, Richard M. DeVos Center, 401 Fulton Street West, Grand Rapids, MI 49504

 

George H. Nash

: American Conservatism and Populism in the Age of Trump

A Common Ground Initiative event

Tuesday, October 16, 7 p.m.

Charles W. Loosemore Auditorium, Richard M. DeVos Center, 401 Fulton Street West, Grand Rapids, MI 49504

 

Kathy Crosby: Leading to Build Goodwill

A Wheelhouse Talks event

Friday, November 30, 4 p.m.

Charles W. Loosemore Auditorium, Richard M. DeVos Center, 401 Fulton Street West, Grand Rapids, MI 49504

 

Gleaves Whitney: Seeking Common Ground: A Dumb Idea — or the Best Hope for America?

A Common Ground Initiative event

Wednesday, December 5, 7 p.m.

Charles W. Loosemore Auditorium, Richard M. DeVos Center, 401 Fulton Street West, Grand Rapids, MI 49504

All events are free and open to the public, but registration for each is requested at gvsu.edu/hc/events.

For more information, visit gvsu.edu/hc

Hauenstein Center to host debate on constitutional interpretation

The rules of American democracy and governance are controlled by the Constitution — a document that contains fewer than 8,000 words and is 230 years old. The Constitution’s concise nature, along with the unlimited appetite for change in the United States, has created an ongoing debate over the fundamental principles that the document represents and what its authors intended it to mean more than two centuries ago.

 

In honor of Constitution Day, Grand Valley State University’s Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies will host a debate on constitutional interpretation.

 

Debating the Constitution

 

Thursday, September 14, at 7 p.m.

 

Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum, 303 Pearl St. NW, Grand Rapids

 

Free and open to the public

 

Registration requested at hauensteincenter.org/rsvp

 

The event is presented in partnership with the Koeze Business Ethics Initiative, the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation, and the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library & Museum.

 

The debate will be between Nathan Goetting from Adrian College and John McGinnis from Northwestern University. Victoria Vuletich from Western Michigan University Cooley Law School will moderate.

 

McGinnis is the George C. Dix Professor in Constitutional Law at Northwestern University and he has served in the U.S. Department of Justice. He is a past winner of the Paul Bator Award given by the Federalist Society, and has clerked on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. He is a graduate of Harvard Law School where he served as an editor of the Harvard Law Review.

 

Goetting is the editor-in-chief of the National Lawyers Guild Review and an associate professor of criminal justice and jurisprudence at Adrian College. He writes and teaches in the areas of constitutional law, civil liberties and critical legal studies. Goetting has taught at several law schools and his writings have been included in Harvard Law & Policy Review, Berkeley Journal of Gender, Law & Justice, and the University of Colorado Law Review, among other scholarly publications.

 

Vuletich joined the Cooley faculty in 2008 after working with the State Bar of Michigan since 1999. She is an expert in legal ethics and was recently the guest lecturer at Hertford College, Oxford University.

 

For more information, visit hauensteincenter.org/

GVSU Hauenstein Center Conservative/Progressive Summit set for May 4-6

By Nate Hoekstra, Grand Valley State University


Politics and discourse in America today are more contentious than ever, and engaging with people of opposing political views in a civil manner is often difficult for many.


Yet in the face of intense polarization, the Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies at Grand Valley State University (GVSU) will bring together more than two dozen nationally renowned scholars and writers to discuss the most difficult issues of modern American life and politics.


From May 4-6, the Hauenstein Center will host its annual Conservative/Progressive Summit, which will feature lectures and panel discussions specifically designed to bring serious, thoughtful discussion about the shifting political and intellectual terrain of American life to the forefront.


Speakers will include professors, authors, and journalists and contributors from media outlets including The Atlantic, The American Conservative, U.S. News and World Report, Vox, National Review, The New Republic, The Nation and more. Together, they will discuss political coverage in the media, religion and American civic life, the Trump administration, higher education, the history of conservative thought, the Constitution, and more.


A full event schedule along with speaker biographies and information can be found here.


What: Hauenstein Center Conservative/Progressive Summit


When: May 4-6, 2017


Where: Charles W. Loosemore Auditorium, Richard M. DeVos Center, 401 Fulton St. W., Grand Rapids, MI


The event is free and open to the public, but registration is requested here.
“The three-day conference will not pretend to find the answers to political division,” said Hauenstein Center director Gleaves Whitney. “Instead it will attempt to promote understanding of opposing viewpoints that are often absent from critical analysis among like-minded people.”


The summit is presented in partnership with the Kate and Richard Wolters Foundation, the Progressive Women’s Alliance of West Michigan and the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal.


The annual summit is a one-of-a-kind event in political discourse, said Common Ground program manager Scott St. Louis.


“The Hauenstein Center’s Conservative/Progressive Summit is a unique event that showcases a broad range of American political thought on the same stage,” St. Louis said.


For more information, visit HauensteinCenter.org/RSVP.

Philosopher to discuss anger in politics at April 4 Hauenstein Center event

Barbara C. Nussbaum

By Nate Hoekstra, GVSU

 

Does getting mad about politics work?

 

Politics in the United States today is an exceptionally divisive topic, and has generated significant anger among many political circles — an emotional response that influential philosopher Martha Nussbaum will argue isn’t the best way to generate change.

 

Nussbaum, a world-renowned philosopher, author and law professor, will discuss anger and its place in politics and personal lives, while addressing its effectiveness as a change agent. Martha Nussbaum: Anger and Revolutionary Justice will be hosted by Grand Valley State University’s Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies on Tuesday, April 4 at 7 pm at the L.V. Eberhard Center, Grand Valley State University’s Pew Grand Rapids Campus.

 

The event is free and open to the public, but registration is requested at hauensteincenter.org/rsvp.

 

Nussbaum, recently named the 2017 Jefferson Lecturer in the Humanities by the National Endowment for the Humanities, will discuss the concept that anger is not an effective response to perceived injustice, noting that three of recent history’s great freedom movements were directed by leaders who aspired to non-anger, including Mohandas Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Nelson Mandela.

 

She will discuss her book Anger and Forgiveness: Resentment, Generosity, Justice and explore why there will always be a need for leaders who can recognize the humanity of people who think differently when the stakes are high.

 

Nussbaum’s Jefferson Lecturer distinction is the highest honor the federal government bestows for distinguished intellectual achievement in the humanities. She is also the University of Chicago’s Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Ethics. In 2016, she was awarded the Kyoto Prize in Arts and Philosophy. Other awards include The Centennial Medal of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University, and the American Philosophical Association’s Philip Quinn Prize.

 

She is one of only two women to give the John Locke Lectures at Oxford, the most eminent lecture series in the field of philosophy.

 

Nussbaum has taught at Harvard, Brown University and Oxford, and has published 24 books and more than 500 academic papers.

 

For more information, visit hauensteincenter.org