GRCC extends condolences to English professor Mursalata Muhammad and her family upon the death of her mother-in-law.
Mursalata says:
My mother-in-law, Evelyn Wright Sewell Carson (11 April 1937 – 19 March 2023), transitioned peacefully at her home in Greenville, SC.
“Momma” Evelyn, supported her community in many ways. She was a long time volunteer for several civil service organizations including the Palmetto State Law Enforcement Officers Association.
Our family welcomes donations to the following organizations in her memory.
PSLEOA Greenville Chapter Palmetto State Law Enforcement Officers Association 334 Laurel Drive Greenville, SC 29607 Pres Sabrina Bragg
A huge thank you to the GRCC community for rallying with Versiti and donating blood!
We had a total of 11 faculty/staff members and 2 students who were able to successfully donate blood on Wednesday, March 22, 2023.
This totaled 13 units of blood, (9 units whole blood, 4 units double red cells), that will be delivered to the local hospitals for patients.
Thank you to those who donated, those who came to see if they could donate, and those who helped promote the event. Your time (and blood!) is greatly appreciated and I’m happy to see the support that GRCC has for the community.
If you would be interested in donating or helping host the next opportunity, please reach out to rebeccalubbers1@grcc.edu.
The Versiti team and I are looking forward to seeing you next time!
Are you suffering from email overload? Unable to distinguish legitimate emails from unimportant ones?
If so, you can use filters to declutter your inbox.
Gmail filters are rules that are automatically applied to new emails. With Gmail filters, emails can go straight to archive, be labeled or even deleted.
Melissa Gheorghiu graduated high school in 2000 and never attended college. She was a little nervous about starting at Grand Rapids Community College as a single mother of three children.
Flash forward a year, and Gheorghiu ahs been wildly successful. She was named to the All-Michigan Academic team, is a leader of Phi Theta Kappa honor society and worked a project to help fellow students and community members overcome obstacles to success.
“I have a friend who told me I should go to college,” Gheorghiu said on the My GRCC Story podcast. “I’m good with numbers, and he said I should go into finance. So, I decided to try it. GRCC is local, and it does stuff online, which I need to do since I’m a single mom.”
Gheorghiu completed GRCC’s Honors Program and is involved with the Psi Beta Honors Society for psychology students and TRIO Student Support Services, a program for first generation college students.
She has made the Dean’s List every semester since she enrolled. She is a chapter officer for Alpha Upsilon Kappa and serves on the PTK bylaws committee for the Michigan region.
Gheorghiu is a semifinalist for the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship and received a GRCC Salute to Women award this year.
She will start a combined bachelor’s and master’s program in finance at the University of Michigan next fall.
“I honestly didn’t know what to expect,” she said of her decision to attend college after 20 years away.
“I knew in high school I did really well, but that was some time ago and now I have three small children. So, I juggle my children and my house and being a mom. But I put the time into all my studying and it’s really paid off. And I also reach out to any and all professors at the beginning of every semester to introduce myself and let them know who I am, that I’m an honors student and also a PTK officer, and tell them what I’m expecting.”
Gheorghiu said she took advantage of GRCC’s online opportunities so she could scheduled classes around her family responsibilities. She said GRCC tutoring labs were a great asset, and can be accessed remotely.
She encourages others who have been away to try taking courses.
“You don’t have to be a full-time student like I am,” she said. “You can do it part time. Last semester I took five classes, I completed an honors project, plus I did the capstone project and I’m an officer for PTK, so I come and do stuff on campus for that as well. And – I did it!”
Gheorghiu said she became interested in the Honors Program after getting an email saying she qualified on her high school grade point average. She was excited to learn about capstone projects, which include a community service component.
She worked with classmate and felloe nontraditional student Kim Budde on a clothing drive, which took place in November.
“I knew exactly what she wanted to do,” she said. “I have three children who are constantly growing, and clothing can be very expensive. I always have giant piles of clothing in my house that need to be donated, and I knew other people could benefit from it.”
The students collected enough clothing to fill 12 eight-foot-long tables, and shared leftovers with local shelters.
The My GRCC Story podcast isavailable here, Spotify, Apple Podcasts and other hosting sites.
Grand Rapids Community College women’s basketball’s magical season came to an end at the NJCAA Division II National Basketball Championships on Thursday, losing to No. 10 seeded North Central Missouri College, 78-67.
“Today was a tough loss because our kids fought with everything they had, which is indicative of how they played all year,” head coach David Glazier said. “We played well, just didn’t make enough plays down the stretch.”
Both teams traded buckets for nearly the entire first half, before a late run by North Central gave the Pirates an eight-point lead at the break.
GRCC closed the gap after a 25-point third quarter that included going 11-for-11 from the free throw line. The team got to within one point, 50-49 in the fourth quarter, but North Central made more plays down the stretch to win and advance in the tournament.
Grace Lodes, who was recently named All-Region and the Conference Defensive Player of the Year, finished her GRCC career on a stellar note, going nine-of-17 from the field for 23 points while adding six rebounds and six blocks.
Conference Player of the Year Sally Merrill finished with 13 points and eight rebounds, and Second Team All-Conference player Marlene Bussler tallied 10 points and five boards.
GRCC finished the season 19-10 overall and tied for third place in the conference. The team upset its final two opponents in the regional tournament to advance to the NJCAA National Tournament for the second time in three years.
“Any loss is always tough to stomach, but this one that ends a great season was a different level of tough because it signaled the last time any of our seven sophomores will play for the season,” said Glazier, who was named District B Coach of the Year.
“Alyssa Katerberg, Emersyn Koepke, Karissa Ferry, Sally Merill, Allison Kellogg, Marlene Bussler and Grace Lodes have left a tough mark to match on this program. We are forever grateful for their efforts and contributions! It is hard to see them move on.”
Every two years, students at GRCC take part in the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE). For the 2023 iteration, this survey will be open to students Monday, March 13 through March 31, 2023.
They will receive an email to their GRCC student email with a link to the survey and their unique access code.
Please encourage your students to complete this survey, as it provides us with the student perspective that is crucial to our work!
Student responses are anonymous and will be aggregated when analyzed.
At that same time, the faculty version of this survey will be administered and will be sent directly from CCSSE. We appreciate all feedback in order to make meaningful and impactful decisions.
If you have any additional questions, please contact institutional research at IR@grcc.edu.
In need of a laptop for class? Come visit our new walk-in space for the GRCC Online Store!
We have a variety of laptops that are very reasonably priced and perfect for school use! We are located on the Devos Campus of GRCC in room 115 of Sneden Hall.
Our hours are 1 – 6 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays and noon – 6 p.m. on Wednesdays.
Bring in your student RaiderCard to claim an extra 15% off!
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