The week of January 16th, 2023

Eight Saginaw Valley State University students capped off a highly competitive moot court season at the American Moot Court National Tournament January 14-15. Just 80 teams — 160 students — of the some 500 students who competed this season advanced to the national competition.

The SVSU team of Kennedy Kreger, a political science major from Battle Creek, and Jeffrey Ramsey, a political science major from Greenwood, finished in the top 32.

Julie Keil, associate professor of political science and a moot court adviser, said Kreger and Ramsey's strong finish, along with the performances of the other teams, should put SVSU in the top 25 schools in the nation.

Micah DelVecchio, SVSU associate professor of economics, presented an economic outlook to hundreds of community leaders at the Saginaw Chamber of Commerce Percolator Breakfast Thursday, Jan. 11. Highlights of the presentation included: 

Saginaw Valley State University and Alpena Community College will hold a signing ceremony to formalize a partnership to grow the nursing talent pipeline. Under the agreement, students who complete an Associate Degree of Nursing (ADN) at ACC can earn a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) from SVSU's fully accredited program.

SVSU President George Grant Jr., HHS Dean Marcia Ditmyer and nursing faculty will attend the signing event at Alpena Community College on Thursday, Jan. 26.

Dozens of SVSU faculty, staff, and students gathered in downtown Saginaw and joined other community members to participate in the the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Unity March on Monday, Jan. 16.

On Wednesday, Jan. 18, SVSU hosted the MLK Jr. Regional Celebration, featuring a "fireside chat" with Bakari Sellers and a musical performance by gospel artist Marvin Winans.

Today, more than 30 SVSU students participated in the MLK Jr. Day of Service, providing support to three organizations in Saginaw: First Ward Community Center, Mustard Seed Shelter and Saginaw-Shiawassee Habitat for Humanity.

SVSU's Office of Military Student Affairs, Zahnow Library, and the History Department collaborated to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Paris Peace Accords which ended the Vietnam War. The opening ceremony in the Roberta Allen Reading Room featured more than 25 posters from the Pentagon highlighting facts of the war. 

Speakers included Jake Kokowicz, president of SVSU's chapter of Student Veterans of America, and Jon Baesler, professor of history.

Student veterans, staff, faculty, administrators, and Vietnam veterans from the region attended the event. The display will remain in the Roberta Allen Reading Room, on the fourth floor of Zahnow Library, until next Friday, Jan. 27.

Emily Buska, who recently graduated with a degree in biology, participated in a poster presentation at The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology Conference on Thursday, Jan. 5 in Austin, Texas.

Emily attended with her faculty advisor Art Martin, professor of biology, and Jay Scott, professor of biology. She presented under Foraging Behavior and Predator Prey Interactions with her research called “The impact of a predator, Largemouth Bass, on the shelter usage of the Rusty Crawfish.

Emily received grant funding from SVSU’s Student Association and SVSU’s Undergraduate Research Program to attend the conference.

The SVSU track and field team is hosting the Doug Hansen Open Friday, Jan. 20, starting at 2:30 p.m. in the SVSU Fieldhouse.

The men’s and women’s basketball teams host Lake Superior State University Saturday, Jan. 21; the women’s game tips at 1 p.m., followed by the men’s game at 3 p.m. Earlier that day, SVSU Athletics will host a Community Youth Day, starting at 11:30 a.m., with a youth clinic hosted by members of the golf and tennis teams.

SVSU does not discriminate based on race, religion, color, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, age, physical impairment, disability or veteran status in the provision of education, employment and other services.