The Executive Leadership Team at Grand Rapids Community College hosted a listening session on Monday, March 24, where staff and faculty had the opportunity to address their current concerns and grievances. Those in attendance expressed worry and frustration about the current culture of the college and about how recent executive orders may impact GRCC.
Staff and faculty had the opportunity to ask questions in person, via Google Form before the event, or via the Zoom livestream. There were over 120 participants in the Zoom and more than 65 staff and faculty members gathered in the auditorium at the Applied Technology Center.
Instability and distrust within leadership lead to cultural campus concerns
Notably absent from the conversation was GRCC President Charles Lepper, who has been on paid administrative leave for over 10 days. Representing the ELT was Lisa Frieburger, Vice President of Finance and Administration and current Acting President of GRCC, Provost Sheila Jones, Vice President of College Advancement and Executive Director of the GRCC Foundation Erin Van Egmond, Vice President for People, Culture and Equity Nygil Likely and Chief Information Officer Debra Hintz.
One audience member asked for help understanding “how we got to this point” in regard to the college’s currently strained relationship with Lepper.
After only two years as president of GRCC, Lepper was announced as a finalist for the presidential position at Madison-Area Technical College in Madison, Wisconsin. Just over a week after that, the board informed the campus community that he had been placed on leave and that Freiburger would be serving as the acting president. The exact date and reason for his leave was not provided.
“(Lepper’s leave) was a decision, or a mutual decision, again I want to be careful because I don’t know everything so I don’t want to make anyone feel like I do, but that was a decision done with the board and made by the board,” Friburger said before noting that no final decisions have been made.
Another audience member asked for clarity regarding the roles that the board of trustees and the ELT currently play.
“The board is working diligently to determine next steps with our president…,” Freiburger said. “They have communicated with us as a campus community several times. I know they are committed to continuing that communication as soon as they’re able, I would expect that we will get something else, we as a campus community from that board yet this week. … Our work, my work, our collective work, is to continue to do what we do, right? We serve students…. I am standing in as acting president right now to help manage the day-to-day operations and the guidance that we need to keep us moving forward.”
As the situation continues to evolve, a faculty member called on the board to inform the campus community of their decisions as soon as possible.
“Please do not keep us in the dark any longer than we have to be,” he said, inspiring applause from the audience in response.
Throughout the conversation, the ELT reaffirmed their commitment to communication and transparency on multiple occasions. One audience member, however, urged them to do more.
“The last two years have changed our culture here, particularly the last year. I would like to know what in particular you’re going to do to continue to have transparency, continue to have communication,” she said. “This culture is not what it was a couple (of) years ago and it’s hurtful to see all the people that have been affected by that. The words are fine. I want to know what actions are going to be taken.”
Freiburger acknowledged that the concerns presented by this staff member were a common theme in recent feedback. She said she hoped that the listening session could serve as the first step in showing the leadership team’s commitment to change.
“We recognize that a big piece of what we’re hearing is lack of trust… with the leadership team. And that’s us,” Freibuger said. “So we want to be here (and) we want to listen.”
According to Freiburger and Egmond, the ELT will host another listening session before the semester concludes in April.
The potential impact of recent executive orders on the GRCC campus largely unknown
A slew of recent executive orders from the Trump Administration have the potential to overhaul higher-education in ways never before seen by the American public. The first attacks came against diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) on all educational campuses, as on Feb. 14 Washington officials directed schools to do away with DEI efforts with two weeks’ notice or risk losing all federal funding. More recently, on March 20, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to dismantle the Department of Education.
The frequency and ferocity of these executive orders are new territory for the college to navigate.
“I don’t think any of us have been through anything quite like this before,” Freiburger said. “We are all working through what I would consider to be new territory. I have not in my career, whether it’s been here or in my previous K-12 world, come across something quite as drastic as this.”
As the situation continues to evolve each day, there is no definitive answer as to how these orders may change campus. Freiburger shared that the ELT is in “information gathering mode” and “reading absolutely everything we can (and) asking questions to anyone that will answer to the best of their knowledge”
The ELT aims to be “thoughtful and deliberate” in their review of the recent changes, while also keeping compliance in mind, according to Freiburger. She also shared that the leadership team is looking to be “inclusive in the conversations (regarding these changes) to the extent that that’s possible with a campus of thousands and thousands.”
While both staff and students alike may be feeling an increased sense of anxiety as a result of these orders, a Zoom participant asked what additional resources the college is providing to help cope.
Jones mentioned that the Center for Counseling and Well-Being recently began offering weekly support groups for students, while staff members have had the opportunity to attend drop-in sessions twice this semester.
In regard to the orders, Egmond added that the college has not yet been provided with all of the necessary guidance, but that the ELT aims to be prepared in the event they have to make decisions as a result of these directives.
“What we aren’t doing is running to make any immediate changes … we have not made any changes or any immediate decisions as of this point in time,” Freiburger said.
In the face of many unknowns and a whirlwind of change, one Zoom participant asked what members of the college community can do to help.
“Keep students at the center of everything that we’re doing,” Freiburger said. “…Collectively, let’s take care of GRCC. Let’s take care of each other.”
