Community Screening & Discussion: Warrior Lawyers: Defenders of Sacred Justice

Warrior Lawyers (2021) is a one-hour PBS documentary that is particularly timely and relevant given our country’s current reckoning with racial inequity, institutional racism, and social injustice.

The program focuses on the stories of Michigan Native American Lawyers, Tribal Judges, and their colleagues who work with Native Nations and their citizens to achieve Sacred Justice. These unseen role models strive daily to address and resolve unique and complicated historical, governmental, legal, judicial, and social welfare issues, most often rooted in discrimination, historical trauma, and cultural destruction.

Take a journey into past and present-day Indian Country to learn of untold stories that shine a light on Native Americans rising up to create a new path for today and the next seven generations.

Thursday, May 19 at Noon
RSVP: tinyurl.com/grccequity

**Access to the film will be granted to registered attendees on May 16.

My GRCC Story: Academic suspension letter ‘triggered a change’ in Seth Noyes, who wore it on his mortarboard at commencement

It was the kick in the butt Seth Noyes needed.

It was 2017 when Noyes tore open a letter from Grand Rapids Community College saying his grades were so bad the college had placed him on academic suspension.

“Honestly, I hadn’t really taken college seriously up to that point. But I decided then that I wasn’t going to give up,” said Noyes, now 24.

“I took that letter and I hung it above my light switch so I would see it every single day before I left my room. I told myself over and over again that I’d wear that letter on my cap if I ever graduate.”

And that’s just what he did.

On April 29, Noyes walked across the stage at GRCC’s Gerald R. Ford Fieldhouse and proudly accepted his diploma for a Management and Supervision Associate Degree.

Pasted to the top of his blue mortarboard was a copy of that suspension letter.

“That letter really triggered a change within me,” said the Rockford native. “I contacted the academic advisors at GRCC and they pointed me down a path … but it was the change within me that really helped me travel down that path.”

Noyes first enrolled at GRCC in 2015 after graduating from Rockford High School.

“But I didn’t have my head in the game back then. It was bad,” he said.

After his suspension, Noyes re-enrolled at GRCC in 2018, got help from the college’s academic advisors, and studied hard to raise his GPA. He worked full time at several jobs and paid every penny of his tuition out of his own pocket.

Noyes retook several classes he’d failed earlier. Even though he already earned an associate degree, he still has a few more classes to retake to boost his GPA high enough to enroll at Grand Valley State University.

But he’s hopeful.

“I’d tell other people not to let bad stuff define you. It’s about how you respond to those challenges that shows the kind of person you are.”

This story was reported by Beth McKenna.

Tech Tip: The IT Knowledge Base

Did you know that the IT Customer Support team provides a Knowledge Base with a wealth of self-help articles to assist with all of your technology needs?

Every time a question is asked to the Support Desk it is documented, not only in ticket form, but in article form. Once the question has been asked frequently enough, or after we can verify our answer or resolution works and is accurate, we publish that article for the campus community. 

Articles are organized in different categories so you can browse articles regarding one topic, and from the Knowledge Base homepage, you can view our popular articles and articles that have recently been published or updated.

For more information on how to use the IT Knowledge Base, including how to search by category, check out the article: How to Search the IT Knowledge Base.

For more information and helpful tips, please visit the IT Customer Support Portal or contact the IT Customer Support Desk at x4357.

If you have a suggestion or a Technology Tip you think can be useful, you can submit them by emailing techtips@grcc.edu 

Annual Fire Inspections

Annual fire system inspections are scheduled to occur the week of May 2 for all buildings on campus that have a fire suppression system.

Dependable Fire Protection is the contractor that will conduct the inspections and Facilities will be present to assist with the inspections.

Below you will find a tentative list of the buildings that will be tested each day. 

5/3

Ford Fieldhouse

Ford Natatorium

Calkins Science Center

DeVos Campus 

Campus police/ facilities

5/4

RJF

College Park Plaza

Bostwick Office Suite

5/5

Student Center

LRC

Music Center

Preschool

5/6

Lakeshore

Ramp A

Ramp B

Ramp C

Please be aware that these tests will require the alarms to sound briefly at each building – strobes will sound, people will not need to evacuate.

Reach out to me with any questions.

Abbot Kastanek

Associate Director of Facilities Management

Facilities l Grand Rapids Community College

Office: 616-234-2183 l Email: akastanek@grcc.edu