GRCC In the News, 9-9-13

Why GRCC students are creating a sugar ribbon capable of stretching 200 feet

Sept. 6, 2013; MLive

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – It started as an experiment.

But Chef Gilles Renusson’s sugar ribbon pull assignment, first attempted in 2009, has since turned into an annual event at Grand Rapids Community College.

Raeuf Roushangar:
Accomplishing much with little

9/6/13 msutoday

“‘My only request is that he doesn’t mention his religion in school,’ the principal told my mother. I was just starting first grade, standing beside my mother at the time, and while I didn’t understand, I just did what I was told.”

… He eventually found his way to Grand Rapids Community College where he got a tutoring job.

“In my life, I always find people who believe in me,” Roushangar said. “The people in charge of the tutoring service at the college believed in me.”

Meet Portage Public Safety’s newest police officers and firefighter, sworn in Friday

Sept. 6, 2013; MLive

PORTAGE, MI –When the newest Portage Public Safety officers were sworn in Friday, Chief Richard White gave each of them a coin to represent their commitment to integrity and a code of ethics.

… Ashley Lubberts, police officer: Lubberts attended Rockford High School, before attending Cornerstone University on a volleyball scholarship. She attended the police academy at Grand Rapids Community College. She is engaged to Benjamin Hoekstra.

State Reps. Dillon, Brinks take week-long SNAP Food Stamp Challenge

Sept. 7, 2013; MLive

GRAND RAPIDS, MI — For a week, state Reps. Brandon Dillon and Winnie Brinks will attempt to walk in the shoes of those who struggle to put food on the table each day.

(Article doesn’t mention it, but Dillon is a GRCC graduate.)

Inside Track: Gillespie’s crowning achievement: businesses supporting each other

Sept. 6, 2013; Grand Rapids Business Journal

His legal name is Thomas Gillespie, but that’s not who he really is.

… After prison, Gillespie went back to work at his father’s business, Gillespie Funeral Services, 1865 Eastern Ave. SE, where he now helps run the marketing and public relations aspects of the company. He took some classes at Grand Rapids Community College, he said, but it was his interactions with local African-American business owners and leaders that led to his journey into the business world.

MICHIGAN BRIEFS: Mercantile-Firstbank merger creates ‘formidable’ rival

Sept. 8, 2013; Crain’s Detroit Business

… Muskegon Community College plans to move part of its campus to downtown Muskegon as part of a $24 million proposal approved by the MCC board of trustees last month, MiBiz reported. The measure calls for a new creative arts facility, additions to the college’s science and gymnasium/health center and another building to be built downtown, if voters approve.

Many midsized cities have used campuses for development, MCC President Dale Nesbary said, pointing to Grand Rapids Community College, Kalamazoo Valley Community College and Lansing Community College as examples of schools that have moved parts or all of their campuses into urban areas.