January 6, 2021, saw the first-ever assault on the United States Capitol, the seat and the iconic image of America’s representative democracy. Across the country, citizens continue to wonder how we, as a nation, can begin to heal the pain and wounds created that fateful afternoon. Grand Valley State University’s presidents, past and present, encourage us to explore these challenges together. By examining our most cherished institutions, we can learn from their history and apply lessons for our future.
The first installment of the Presidential Roundtable series was virtually hosted on February 24, 2021 and featured Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center. He was joined by GVSU President Philomena Mantella and past Presidents Thomas Haas, Mark Murray, and Arend Lubbers for an event that probed our nation’s most revered document, the Constitution, and its impact on the events of January 6 and beyond.
The Presidential Roundtable Series is presented by Grand Valley State University, the Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies, and the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation, assisted by the GVSU College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, the Brooks College of Interdisciplinary Studies, the Office of Student Life, the Frederik Meijer Honors College and its Padnos/Sarosik Civil Discourse Program. Learn more about the Presidential Roundtable Series - "The Constitution, Elections, and Democracy"
Watch the Program Here
When
February 24, 2021
Program Supporters
Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation
Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library & Museum
About Jeffrey Rosen
Jeffrey Rosen is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Constitution Center, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization whose mission is to educate the public about the U.S. Constitution. Located steps from Independence Hall in Historic Philadelphia, the Center engages millions of citizens as an interactive museum, national town hall, and provider of nonpartisan resources for civic education. Rosen became President and CEO in 2013 and has developed the Center’s acclaimed Interactive Constitution, which brings together the top conservative and liberal legal scholars in America to discuss areas of agreement and disagreement about every clause of the Constitution. The online resource has received more than 40 million hits since launching in 2015.
Rosen is also professor at The George Washington University Law School and a contributing editor of The Atlantic. He is a highly regarded journalist whose essays and commentaries have appeared in the New York Times Magazine, on National Public Radio, in the New Republic, where he was the legal affairs editor, and The New Yorker, where he was a staff writer. Rosen is a graduate of Harvard College; Oxford University, where he was a Marshall Scholar; and Yale Law School.
About President Philomena V. Mantella
President Philomena V. Mantella began her tenure at Grand Valley State University in 2019, and her entrepreneurial disposition and her drive to expand access to the university quickly became evident. Mantella is the fifth president of GVSU, and she brings more than three decades of higher education experience to her role. She not only leads where she is, she develops transformational collaborations with other institutions. She strategically designs these partnerships to improve pathways for diverse learners across their lifetimes and to provide enterprises with talent. Collaborations across unique sectors mark her leadership style and her vision for education and the role it plays in the health of communities. She is committed to ensuring institutional integrity and building consensus for the mission and the noble cause of education.
Mantella has worked at public and private institutions in New York, New Jersey, Michigan and Massachusetts. She has a Ph.D. in college and university administration from Michigan State University, and master’s and bachelor’s degrees from Syracuse University. Immediately prior to joining GVSU, she spent 18 years at Northeastern University as senior vice president of Enrollment and Student Life and the chief executive officer of the Lifelong Learning Network.
About President Emeritus Thomas J. Haas
As a retired Captain with more than 23 years of commissioned service in the United States Coast Guard, GVSU President Emeritus Thomas J. Haas knows what it means to contribute to something bigger than oneself. Over the past 35 years, he has been a tenured faculty member, department chair, dean, university vice president, and university president, keeping students at the center of his work since the beginning. Affectionately known on campus as “T-Haas,” Grand Valley’s fourth president concluded his service at the helm of our Laker community in the summer of 2019. President Emeritus Haas shared his personal and professional leadership lessons with the Hauenstein Center’s newest Cook Leadership Academy graduates.
About Mark Murray
Mark Murray became the third president of Grand Valley State University on July 1, 2001. He left Grand Valley in 2006 to become president of Meijer, Inc. He is now vice-chairman of Meijer, having transitioned out of day-to-day business leadership at the company. Mark serves on the board of DTE Inc. in Detroit, and is an independent trustee for Fixed Income and Asset Allocation with Fidelity in Boston. Before arriving at Grand Valley, he served as state treasurer and education policy advisor to Governor John Engler from 1999 to 2001. Prior to his appointment to that office, the lifelong Michigan resident spent more than 20 years in various state government leadership positions, including state budget director, and posts in the departments of social services and commerce.
About Arend Lubbers
Arend (Don) Lubbers was Grand Valley State University's highly celebrated president from its youth in 1968 to its modern image in 2001. Don grew up on college campuses. His father was president of Hope College from 1945 to 1963, and was a professor and president of other colleges before that. Don graduated from Hope and earned his Master of Arts in History from Rutgers University in 1956. He taught at Wittenberg College in Ohio before returning to Rutgers in 1958 to pursue a doctorate. In 1960 he was appointed president of Central College in Pella, Iowa at the age of 29, becoming the youngest college president in the nation. Don was still among the youngest college presidents in the nation when he accepted Grand Valley's offer in November 1968 and assumed the Presidency in January 1969. When Don retired in 2001, he was the longest-serving public university president in the country. During Don's tenure, Grand Valley saw the construction of academic buildings and residence halls in Allendale, the creation of the Meijer Campus in Holland, and the opening of the Eberhard Center and Richard M. DeVos Center in Grand Rapids (all occurred during the Lubbers presidency).
