GRCC In the News 02/07/2022

Grand Rapids Community College plans COVID-19 vaccine clinic with booster shots Feb. 15

2/4/22 MLive

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – Grand Rapids Community College is hosting a COVID-19 vaccine clinic with booster shots available to the community this month.

First-gen college grad gives credit to parents, K-12 years

2/4/22 schoolnewsnetwork.org (Kent Intermediate School district)

Caledonia  — Hours before ringing in 2022, Caledonia High School alum Amer Bektaš sat in the announcers booth, calling the Orange Bowl playoff football game in Miami, Florida for the University of Michigan student radio program, WCBN Sports. 

… Grand Rapids Community College served as the bridge for Amer to knock out introductory level classes and gain two years’ experience as a first-generation college student. 

Journalist shares mission, story behind The 1619 Project

2/4/22 schoolnewsnetwork.org (Kent Intermediate School District)

The truth cannot destroy us, journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones, Pulitzer Prize-winning creator of the The 1619 Project and a staff writer at The New York Times Magazine, told an audience of more than 600 during a virtual event Monday evening.

Hannah-Jones was keynote speaker for the 27th Annual Diversity Lecture Series at Grand Rapids Community College. The question-and-answer formatted event was titled “Crossroads: Academic Freedom and (the) Ivory Tower.” B. Afeni McNeely Cobham, chief equity and inclusion officer and executive director for the Woodrick Center at GRCC, and equity fellow Leslie Neal interviewed Hannah-Jones. 

Deputy Todd Frank to retire after 29 years of service

2/4/22 The Post (Cedar Springs)

Deputy Todd Frank, 53, of the Kent County Sheriff’s Office, has come full circle. He started his first full-time job as a police officer working for the Cedar Springs Police Department in 1995, and within a couple of weeks, he will end his career here as well, after 25 years with the Kent County Sheriff’s Office. 

… Dep. Frank grew up in Kentwood and graduated from Kellogsville High School. He attended Grand Rapids Junior College (GRCC) to get a radiology degree, but then switched to criminal justice, and also attended the police academy. From 1993-1995, he was with the Kent County Sheriff Reserve; from 1993-1994 he had a part time job with the Lake Odessa Police Department; and in 1995, he was hired full time by the Cedar Springs Police Department. In 1997, he was hired as a county patrol officer by the Kent County Sheriff’s Office.