Vennie Gore is the Senior Vice President for Student Life & Engagement at Michigan State University. He administers housing and culinary programs for 17,000+ students. In his role, Vennie also oversees a multitude of auxiliary units, and units within the areas of Diversity, Equity and Belonging, Student Involvement and Leadership, Student Development and External Relations, University Health and Wellness, University Licensing, Digital Strategies, Human Resources, Assessments, Project Planning and Health and Safety.

 

Vennie has served in various leadership roles including co-chair of the University Strategic Plan and the Multicultural Center project steering committee. He has been instrumental in expanding student support programs, on-campus University Health and Wellness initiatives, and spearheaded many other initiatives. Vennie’s efforts have been central to our student success efforts – both in academics, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging, and leadership.

 

Vennie is a graduate of the University of South Carolina and received his master’s degree in college student personnel from Indiana University. He received his Executive Management Certification from the Foster School of Business and participated in the Institute for Educational Management from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Vennie has served as a member of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Student Segmentation Advisory Board and been a member of the board of directors for the Capital Area United Way. Among his various leadership and service awards, Vennie most recently received the Diamond Award from the American College Personnel Association in March 2023.

By the time of Harris's death, Rotary International had grown to more than 200,000 members in 75 countries. While the club provides a venue for both business and social networking, the primary focus is on local and international service projects. As of 2022, there are about 1.4 million members worldwide.

 

Before his death, he made it known that he preferred contributions to The Rotary Foundation in lieu of flowers. By coincidence, days before he died, Rotary leaders had committed to a major fundraising effort for the Foundation.

 

Upon news of his death, Rotary created the Paul Harris Memorial Fund as a way to solicit these donations. Rotarians were encouraged to commemorate the late founder of Rotary by contributing to the fund, which would be used for purposes dear to Harris’ heart. In the 18 months following his death, The Rotary Foundation received $1.3 million, which helped support the Foundation’s first program — scholarships for graduate study abroad.

The following members have recently elected to resign from our club due to job relocations.

We have an opportunity to volunteer with the Lansing Food Bank on Tuesday, May 7th from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.  We will be helping sort food.  Please contact Jason Brunette if interested. Email:  Jason.Brunette@martincommercial.com 

Lansing Rotarians were gathered at our usual spot in the Gannon Building when President Nick rang the bell to bring us to order. He proceeded to lead us in reciting the four-way test and introduced Kayla Park for the Reflection. Kayla’s reflection focused on having “the courage of a child,” where we can take risks without the sometimes-paralyzing self-doubt we face as adults. We all then sang along to America the Beautiful as our patriotic song.

 

President Nick introduced his guest, Karen Sturdivant, from the podium. He announced that Sandy Draggoo is at home recovering from knee surgery.

 

Steve Robinson introduced our special music, the Ukulele Kings comprised of Ben Hassenger and, Patrick Malloy, and Steve Szilagyi. They talked about the upcoming Mighty Uke Day in Lansing to support a non-profit, Music is the Foundation, which just delivered 20 ukuleles to Post Oak School. They proceed to play 2 fun and entertaining songs including 3 Cool Cats.

 

Next President Nick presented Red Badges to Joseph Yang and Brianna Schneider. We love new members!

 

Craig Stiles inspired us to make our donation for the Paul Harris Appeal and noted that if we make our donation online we should let Cathy know so she can address the matching funds. Craig went on to share some history of Paul Harris and the beginning of Rotary.

 

Matthew McGaughey announced the March birthdays, who are still working their way to 100% participation having raised $814 so far. His question for March was a hidden gem in Michigan. Adventure Mine, Canyon Falls Gorge, and MSU’s Beal Gardens were among the answers. We all sang Happy Birthday to our fellow Rotarians.

 

President Nick announced the upcoming DEI Committee meeting and the upcoming New Member Orientation.

 

Chair of the Month and Day, Umakanth, gave a warm introduction of our guest speakers, Ranjani Krishnan and Dr. Satish Joshi, both from MSU. Satish and Ranjani are doing incredible work with sustainable business models in India and other countries where incomes are so low that even small start-up investments are impossible. They gave the example of places where people make $1.25 per day in pay so even a $100 investment is out of reach. But using cooperative business models can enable people to come into successful operation. Shared equipment is one tool they talked about. These business models can help them survive natural disasters, and even beat the 5 year business failure rate of the US. Mutual monitoring and advice from fellow cooperative members is a big factor in their success.

 

Evan Winter circulated the mic for our members to ask questions. Then President Nick thanked Ms. Krishnan and Dr. Joshi for their presentation. He noted that we will make a contribution to our foundation in their honor.

 

Posted by Chris Swope chris.swope@lansingmi.gov