Grand Rapids Community College (GRCC) is a public

community college A community college is a type of educational institution. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an "open enrollment" for students who have graduated from high school (also known as senior sec ...

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the List of municipalities in Mi ...

History

Grand Rapids Junior College was established on September 21, 1914, after University of Michigan faculty passed a resolution encouraging the establishment of junior colleges in Michigan. Grand Rapids Junior College was the first junior college in Michigan. The college operated out of Central High School, 421 Fountain St. NE, until 1924. The course offerings, based on University of Michigan offerings, were mathematics, history, rhetoric and composition, German, Latin, biology, and physics. All of them were focused on college transfer. The college's first graduating class numbered 49 students, who paid $60 per year for tuition. The following year, to encourage enrollment, tuition was reduced to $40 per year for Grand Rapids residents and $50 for nonresidents. In 1918 Grand Rapids Junior College received its initial accreditation from the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools. In 1944 the college acquired the Main Building from Grand Rapids Public Schools. Grand Rapids Public Schools Superintendent Arthur W. Krause closed Davis Technical High School to save costs and gave the building to Grand Rapids Junior College. The Main Building was renamed the Raleigh J. Finkelstein Hall in March 2019.

Campuses

Grand Rapids Community College has several campuses located throughout

West Michigan West Michigan and Western Michigan are terms for an arbitrary region in the U.S. state of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Most narrowly it refers to the Grand Rapids- Muskegon-Holland area, and more broadly to most of the region along the Lower Pe ...

. GRCC's main Campus in located in Grand Rapids, Michigan. GRCC's downtown learning spaces include a Main Campus and DeVos Campus. These campuses are located adjacent to

Grand Rapids Medical Mile Grand Rapids Medical Mile is a designated area within the city of Grand Rapids, Michigan, Grand Rapids, Michigan. It began with medical-related development in the Hillside District of Grand Rapids, Michigan, bordering both sides of Michigan Street ...

and Heritage Hill Historic District. Due to its location in Downtown Grand Rapids, GRCC is close to local festivals and art shows such as

ArtPrize ArtPrize is an art competition and festival in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Anyone over the age of 18 can display their art, and any space within the three-square-mile ArtPrize district can be a venue. There are typically over 160 venues such as museu ...

and Festival of the Arts. The downtown campuses are within walking distance to museums, fitness facilities, restaurants and shops. In addition to the main campus, Grand Rapids Community College has the Lakeshore campus in

Holland, Michigan Holland is a city in the western region of the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated near the eastern shore of Lake Michigan on Lake Macatawa, which is fed by the Macatawa River (formerly known locally as the Black River). ...

. The Lakeshore campus is composed of six different buildings (locations). Classes offered at the Lakeshore campus are taught at West Ottawa High School north building, Grand Valley State University's Meijer Campus, the Careerline Technical Center, the Midtown Center, Patrick A. Thompson M-TEC.

Facilities

GRCC's eleven-block downtown campus includes several classroom buildings, a learning center and library, Spectrum Theater, the Applied Technology Center, a remodeled music building, a fieldhouse with natatorium, a student center (including the Diversity Learning Center), Bostwick Commons, and the state-of-the-art Calkins Science Center. An off-campus “Learning Corner” has been added to serve the East Hills and Eastown neighborhoods as well as the greater Grand Rapids Community.

Library and Learning Commons

The Library & Learning Commons (LLC) is located on a hillside in downtown Grand Rapids and offers learner-centered services with the goal of creating successful students capable of continuing their studies or joining the educated workforce of Michigan. Many professors bring their classes to the LLC both for general research and classroom instruction. The library is supported by a staff of thirteen, half of whom hold professional library degrees. Study spaces are equipped with modern computer workstations, wireless technology, and flexible seating to facilitate collaboration. Collections include extensive licensed electronic resources and are further enhanced through participation in MEL, the

Michigan eLibrary Michigan eLibrary or Michigan electronic library (shortened as MeL), is an online library service of the state of Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midw ...

Athletics

Grand Rapids Community College's athletic teams compete as the Raiders in men's

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

, and

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

, and in women's

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

, and

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

. The college's teams participate in

Michigan Community College Athletic Association The Michigan Community College Athletic Association (MCCAA) is a junior college conference throughout Michigan and northern Indiana in Region 12 of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA). The men's sports organized by the MCCAA ...

(MCCAA) competition with the exception of the independent men's tennis team. The school has won 70 MCCAA titles and been awarded the MCCAA All-sports Trophy 13 times. GRCC is a member of the

National Junior College Athletic Association The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), founded in 1938, is the governing association of community college, state college and junior college athletics throughout the United States. Currently the NJCAA holds 24 separate regions ...

(NJCAA) and has won numerous NJCAA district and regional championships and has appeared in national tournaments several times. The baseball team has won five NJCAA tournaments and the school has been national runner-up five times in five different sports. In addition, the Raiders' football team was honored by the NJCAA as the non-scholarship team national champion in 2005 and 2009, has played in national championship games in 1956, 1988, and 2005, and has played in ten other bowl games. The college does not participate in the MCCAA-sponsored sports of men's and women's cross country and men's soccer. Former GRCC varsity sports include men's cross country, swimming and diving, track and field, and wrestling, and women's swimming and diving. In January 2012, GRCC discontinued its football team.

Notable alumni

* Garrett Børns – Musician *

Russell Christopher Russell Christopher (12 March 1930 in Grand Rapids, Michigan – 9 November 2014) was an American operatic baritone who specialized in comprimario roles. He received his Bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Michigan, where h ...

– Metropolitan Opera baritone singer *

Ed Cole Edward Nicholas Cole (September 17, 1909 – May 2, 1977) was an American automotive executive for General Motors. Career Cole was the son of a dairy farmer. In his youth, he designed, built, and sold homemade radio sets, and as a teenage ...

– automotive executive for General Motors *

Edward Fenlon Edward "Ned" Fenlon (October 7, 1903 – September 19, 2010) was an American politician who served as a Member of the Michigan State House of Representatives, as well as a circuit judge in Michigan. He was a member of the Michigan Democratic Party. ...

– Michigan Representative * Lawrence J. Fuller – U.S. Army major general and deputy director of the Defense Intelligence Agency *

Arnold Gingrich Arnold W. Gingrich (December 5, 1903 – July 9, 1976) was the editor of, and, along with publisher David A. Smart and Henry L. Jackson, co-founder of ''Esquire'' magazine. Among his other projects was the political/newsmagazine ''Ken''. Influenc ...

– co-founder of ''Esquire'' magazine *

John A. Hannah John Alfred Hannah (October 9, 1902 – February 23, 1991) was president of Michigan State College (later Michigan State University) for 28 years (1941–1969), making him the longest serving of MSU's presidents. He is credited with transformi ...

– president of Michigan State University and head of the United States Agency for International Development *

Scott S. Haraburda Scott Stanley Haraburda (born 1963) is an American soldier, engineer, inventor, and 2nd dan judoka. In addition to making key contributions to the development of heat exchangers and spacecraft propulsion, he led a team of military officers in ...

– U.S. Army colonel and president of the Indiana Society of Professional Engineers *

Bill Hardiman William Clyde Hardiman III is an American Republican politician from Michigan. He was the mayor of Kentwood, Michigan from 1992 to 2002. He then ran for Michigan state senate in 2002 in the 29th district, defeating Steve Pestka, and served fro ...

– Michigan Senator * David Robert Mullen - Award-winning artist and photographer *

Steve Pestka Steven Pestka (born October 5, 1951) is an American politician, attorney and businessman. Pestka served as a member of the Michigan House of Representatives, judge, and a Kent County commissioner. He was the Democratic Party nominee for the Uni ...

- Michigan Representative *

Dave Rozema David Scott Rozema ( ; born August 5, 1956) is a former pitcher in Major League Baseball who played from 1977 through 1986 for the Detroit Tigers and Texas Rangers. Listed at 6' 4", 185 lb., Rozema batted and threw right-handed. Early years R ...

- major league baseball pitcher *

Michael Sak Michael G. Sak (born 1959) was a politician from the U.S. state of Michigan. He was a member of the Michigan State House of Representatives, representing the 76th district, located in urban Grand Rapids. He is a Democrat and was Speaker pro Te ...

- Michigan Representative *

Sekou Smith Sekou Kimathi Sinclair Smith (May 15, 1972 – January 26, 2021) was an American sportswriter who covered the National Basketball Association (NBA). Early life and education Smith was a native of Grand Rapids, Michigan. He graduated from Jackso ...

—Award-winning sports journalist, NBA analyst *

K. William Stinson Kaye William "Bill" Stinson (April 20, 1930 – January 9, 2002) was a U.S. Representative from Washington. Early life and education Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Stinson attended the public schools and Grand Rapids Junior College for two ...

- U.S Representative *

Rodney Vaccaro Rodney Patrick Vaccaro (born April 24, 1952) is an American screenwriter and film producer. He wrote ''Three to Tango'', a 1999 film which starred Matthew Perry, Neve Campbell, and Dylan McDermott, and in 2001 won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstan ...

– Emmy award-winning screenwriter *

Daniel Vosovic Daniel Vosovic (born March 25, 1981) is an American fashion designer and a finalist in season 2 of the reality show ''Project Runway''. Biography Vosovic was born March 25, 1981, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and raised in the nearby city of Lowe ...

– Fashion designer and contestant on ''

Project Runway ''Project Runway'' is an American reality television series that premiered on Bravo on December 1, 2004. The series focuses on fashion design. The contestants compete with each other to create the best clothes and are restricted by time, mater ...

'' *

Elizabeth Wilson Elizabeth Welter Wilson (April 4, 1921 – May 9, 2015) was an American actress whose career spanned nearly 70 years, including memorable roles in film and television. In 1972 she won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for ...

– Tony award-winning actress *

Lumen Martin Winter Lumen Martin Winter (December 12, 1908 – April 5, 1982) was an American public artist whose skills in sculpture, paintings, and works on paper, were widely known during his lifetime. His ability to master a wide range of media – including oil ...

– American muralist, sculptor, painter and mosaic artist

References

External links

* {{Coord, 42.9665, -85.6666, type:edu_region:US-MI, display=title Community colleges in Michigan Michigan Community College Athletic Association Education in Grand Rapids, Michigan Educational institutions established in 1914 Two-year colleges in the United States Universities and colleges in Kent County, Michigan NJCAA athletics 1914 establishments in Michigan