Lakers celebrate all things GVSU at Homecoming 2026

The Grand Valley class of 1976 reconnected at the Alumni House on the morning of October 3 for their 50 year reunion. President Emeritus Arend "Don" Lubbers, who was Grand Valley president at the time of the class's graduation, was in attendance and gave remarks.

"The year of your graduation was the highest enrollment in the 1970s," said Lubbers: 7,540 students.

"I remember feeling excitement in the '70s. It was my first decade of three as a college president. We were experimenting with a cluster college concept," said Lubbers.

"As we defined the vision of Grand Valley, we saw the necessity to educate for specific professions in the community," he added, speaking about the colleges of business, nursing and engineering that launched in the 1970s and 1980s.

Following Lubbers' remarks, director of Alumni Relations Mike Przydzial, '12, asked the class of '76 what Grand Valley means to them. The answers varied: It's that Grand Valley was key to growing up and experiencing the world for the first time. It's Grand Valley Singers and the Laker Shakers (an early iteration of the Laker Dance Team). It's the launching pad for successful careers in music and special education and it's professors who taught and connected with their students every day.

For Deborah Clanton, '76, Grand Valley means legacy.

Clanton and her college roommate, Robbie Mondine, '76, were charter members of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority: the first Greek life on campus. A retired Grand Rapids magistrate, Clanton received a Distinguished Alumni award in 2008, and is still involved with the Delta Sigma Theta sorority, even stopping by the sorority's tailgate before the reunion. "They treat us like royalty," she said.