Grand Valley State athletics will have a dedicated Spanish language broadcast for all home football games during the 2023 season, including the home-opener set for this Saturday (Sept. 9) at Lubbers Stadium. This is the first known dedicated Spanish speaking broadcast for a NCAA Division II football program. Elio Benitez and Miguel Esparza will handle the call which can be heard on four stations across the state of Michigan, La Poderosa 93.3 FM and 810 AM in Grand Rapids along with 103.1 FM and 1080 AM Midland/Lansing.
 
There are more than 62 million Hispanics in the United States, and an estimated 41.7 million U.S. residents, or 13.5% of the population, speak Spanish at home. Over 16 percent of Grand Rapids population is Hispanic and growing. 

"We are honored and extremely excited to be part of the first-ever GVSU Football Spanish language broadcast team," said Benitez. "We are confident that the Spanish language broadcast will achieve the level of Championship Excellence that is synonymous with the program, Vamos GVSU! Vamos Lakers," added Benitez.

Benitez and Esparza have a long history of broadcasting professional sports in Chicago during the last 20 years, leading the Spanish broadcasts for the Chicago Bulls, Cubs, Bears, Blackhawks and Chicago Fire. In addition, Esparza called games for Louisville basketball and soccer. 

Grand Valley State remains the only predominantly white institution to have earned Excelencia in Education's Seal of Excelencia, recognizing the university's commitment to Latino student success. Grand Valley's Seal of Excelencia was recertified in September 2022. Institutions are certified by Excelencia in Education for three years and can choose to apply for recertification. Latino student enrollment at Grand Valley State in 2013 was 4.1 percent, however it increased to 6.7 percent last year. The six-year graduation rate for GVSU Latino students (61 percent) is higher than that rate for all other Michigan public universities. Last year, 4.3 percent of GVSU faculty and staff identified as Latino, compared to 2.7 percent in 2013.

GVSU has numerous pathways that serve Hispanic students and position them to succeed, including the Laker Familia program. The purpose of the Historically Black College/University (HBCU)/Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) Pipeline Consortium is to collaborate, not compete, with HBCU's and HSI's to create meaningful positions, while simultaneously expanding talent pipelines in West Michigan.

GVSU offers several articulated course pathways between our HBCU and HSI partners for students to find a degree that fits their academic goals.