In preparation for the upcoming school year, Grand Rapids Community College held its 112th annual Opening Day ceremony on August 20, marking President Kathryn Rogalski’s first Opening Day ceremony at GRCC. The Ceremony itself had major updates with student enrollment and engagement, seeing an increase across the board, and had awards given out to honor staff and faculty’s commitment and actions at GRCC.
At 7:45 a.m., the Ford Fieldhouse gymnasium was bustling with hundreds of staff and faculty members, all talking and catching up with each other while enjoying some free food.
“Opening day is always exciting, right? It’s a fresh start,” said History professor and GRCC Faculty Association President Mike Light. “One of the cooler things about being in higher education is it flips all the time. It’s always a new day.”
Also present during the event was a time capsule that is set to be opened on GRCC’s 150th opening day in the year 2064. The time capsule currently stores various items from prior school years. This year‘s items have not been chosen; however, staff members can help to decide what goes in it this year.
Shortly after the complimentary breakfast, Grand Rapids Community College President Rogalski took the stage, welcoming everyone to the upcoming school year by first highlighting her own journey on her 172nd day as GRCC president.
“I could not have imagined the warm welcome that you would have given me and that the community gave me. And I just want to say, it has been surreal to start here and to be here for the past almost six months. You’ve made it a very special beginning. And thank you so much for everything,” Rogalski said.
Rogalski continued by connecting her experience with her position as president to the actions and commitment that the staff and faculty have toward the school and, more importantly, the students.
“Everywhere I go in West Michigan, there is a GRCC story, and it is impressive. After all that listening, there’s one thing that has become incredibly clear to me. And that is that you all believe deeply in this college, and your work every day shows that,” Rogalski said. “Our golden raiders and our alumni stay connected because they care. Our past GRCC presidents have reached out to me to support (us) out of their love for GRCC.”
Rogalski stated that she wants to begin looking to the future of GRCC and the changes it will bring, demonstrating how different GRCC is from when it first started in 1914 with a video of the first phone policy on campus allowing staff to have phones in their offices.
Rogalski expressed her pride in what the school has done for students, winning the Achieving the Dream award for student impact along the way. She also shared video clips of statements from recent alumni that represent different aspects of the Achieving the Dream award.
“You all consistently change the way students view what they are capable of. So many come to us, truly pioneers in their families, when it comes to college,” Rogalski said to the crowd. “You enable them to achieve something no one ever modeled for them.”
She then asked the crowd to think of their own stories of how students have been impacted by their efforts.
Sandy Gregory, the Office Manager at the Center for Counseling and Well-being, was one of the first people to share their experience.
“I will say that while we have an impact on students, I think those interactions impact us more. One student that I helped years ago through the emergency fund was living in a storage shelter. She was in one of our health programs; she asked for help to get her car out of the impound. And we officially aimed to get her housing,” Gregory said. “She said, ‘I need the money to get my car out. I’m in my last semester. My car gets me to work, gets me to school; my textbooks are there. I can manage this last semester where I’m at.’ So listening to her story and what she needed changed my whole worldview. Our students work harder than I ever have, and I work hard.”
Rogalski then turned the presentation toward the near future of GRCC and highlighted the diversity and vibrancy that students bring to campus.
“As you can see from our stories from what was shown here and stories that you shared, our students are so different. They have different needs, they have different friend desires, they have different goals, and that’s what makes our work exciting and so important and why we come here every day,” Rogalski said.
As she spoke about students, Rogalski also acknowledged changes to the world at large with new technologies like AI and current problems with the education system. With these changes, Rogalski emphasised how important teachers and professors are to student understanding and learning, urging the crowd to keep doing their best work whenever possible.
“In order to stay strong and continue to face these challenges, it will require us to get stronger and more focused,“ Rogalski said.
Comparing her point to running up a hill, Rogalski encouraged everyone in attendance to keep going.
As she concluded her presentation, Rogalski invited Provost Sheila Jones to the stage to present the technical information regarding the next school year.
“Good morning everyone, and happy new year. You know I like to say it, right? January is not New Year’s to me; it’s now,” Jones said.
Jones started her presentation by restating that the current enrollment for the fall semester has reached 11,724 students. This number includes early college students, seeing a 7% increase in growth since the year prior, degree-seeking students, seeing a 1% increase, and full-time students, seeing a 6% increase.
Jones then highlighted the increase in GPAs with students who were successfully connected with a CARES referral compared to those who weren’t, showing a 7.3% increase.
“If student needs are covered, they can focus on their academic pursuits. We know they appreciate this level of care,” Jones said.
Continuing with the trend of increased points of interest, Jones then welcomed new staff and faculty members who have joined the GRCC community
Jones announced that some changes are on the horizon for the faculty evaluation system, including a new initiative for GRCC named the Jumpstart To Success program. This initiative will help students learn about available resources, a guided discussion on the book “Equity Talk, to Equity Walk” beginning in September, the continuation of the campus common read with its third phase focusing on GRCC’s History, and the introduction of new programs and classes to GRCC’s catalog.
While on the topic of classes, Jones introduced a new peer educator program named FLORISH. Starting this fall, FLORISH is being operated out of the Center for Counseling and Well-Being and will help teach educators about student interactions with mental health resources based on these four Rs: Rooted, Reaching out, Resilient, and Radiating.
Jones also touched on the new Student Resource Center at GRCC that is set to open in the Winter of 2027. The center will include academic support and tutoring, testing services, the Center for Counseling and Well-Being, disability services, the library and the Woodrick Center.
As she concluded her segment, Jones thanked everyone in attendance for all their work over the summer.
“Reaching the start of a new academic year is truly a team effort,” Jones said. “There are so many steps, plans, and undertakings to prepare a campus for our students each fall. With every computer that was refreshed, every floor polished, whiteboard wiped, flower planted, wall painted, as well as countless applications and verifications processed, and syllabi and learning materials prepared, each and every one of you contributes to making GRCC a welcoming and supportive teaching and learning environment.”
Jones then invited Rogalski back to the stage to present the Excellence in Education Award for both faculty and staff. These awards are designed to be a celebration of the commitment and actions that certain individuals have made to the betterment of students and GRCC as a whole.
For the full-time faculty award, Rogalski announced the winner to be English professor Vikki Cooper and invited her and her family on stage to receive it.
“I should have known,” said Cooper, recounting her family’s strange behavior, insinuating that they knew before the award. “Yesterday, Nikki was bugging me about ‘what are you wearing for opening day?’ Whatever I decide.”
For staff, Rogalski announced the winner as IT technician Bryan Dorr. Dorr went on stage to receive his award, but chose not to speak at the podium.
After the awards, Rogalski invited everyone to join in reshooting the infamous GRCC human letters photo outside of Parking Ramp A, updating it for the new members of the staff.
Much later in the day, GRCC also held an award ceremony for the Adjunct Faculty Award. The winner of the award was adjunct faculty member Martin “Marty” Hillard.
