News

SMC Enrollment Rebounds After Pandemic

The Southwestern Michigan College Board of Trustees heard Aug. 9 that enrollment trends which turned a post-pandemic corner in 2022 continue to move in a positive direction ahead of the Sept. 5 start of Fall Semester.

Cleveland Rocks Nick Neppach's Rural World

Constantine’s 2010 Valedictorian Nick Neppach continued compiling accomplishments at Southwestern Michigan College, achieving a 4.0 grade-point average, earning an Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degree in pre-engineering and capturing the 2015 Darrin Williams Memorial Scholarship awarded to the top math/science student. He was the third Constantine graduate to win in four years.

Six Students Complete SMC ETS Public Safety Camp

Southwestern Michigan College Educational Talent Search’s Public Safety Camp July 24-28 exposed six high school students to a variety of careers, including, for the first time, the Coast Guard. Participants included Mya Vazquez of Dowagiac, Chelsea Etling, Amy Duckworth and Ossian Duckworth of Niles and Meagan Conrad and Taylor Gableman of Cassopolis.

AEP Foundation Grant to Fund SMC's Grady Scholars’ Third Year

Southwestern Michigan College announced today that the American Electric Power (AEP) Foundation, on behalf of Indiana Michigan Power, has renewed its grant in the amount of $12,000 to fund the third year of scholarships for the Grady Scholars leadership-development program. The scholarships are named for George Grady (1933-1977), a Dowagiac resident, Navy diver and Korean War veteran who served as Michigan’s first African American police chief for nine years from 1965 through 1974.

SMC STEM Camp Explores Ocean Acidification

Whether you’re saving oceans from climate-change acidification one chicken egg at a time, coding moves for animated dancers, making oobleck or engineering truss bridges, hands-on activities stress problem-solving, critical thinking, communication, creativity and collaborative teamwork. Southwestern Michigan College’s fifth STEM camp July 25-27 for students entering grades 4-6 this fall attracted 183 children — 43-percent female — from across Michiana to the William P.D. O’Leary Building.

SMC's STEM Camp Cultivates Growth Mindset

Southwestern Michigan College Educational Talent Search’s (ETS) STEM Camp July 10-14 was frustrating by design. Whether it’s building “brush bots” from a motorized toothbrush for racing or assembling a footlocker from a pile of panels to store their credit card-sized Raspberry Pi computers, there were no directions, forcing campers to “practice your growth mindset.”

SMC Names Jay Jenkins as Head Coach, Women’s Basketball

Southwestern Michigan College announced today that Jay Jenkins will join the athletic department as Head Coach, Women’s Basketball.

"You Gotta Love It" Still Sums Up SMC Wrestling

Southwestern Michigan College’s wrestling team reappeared last fall after a 30-year absence, and they made their presence felt. Among other honors, the team earned the college's first Michigan Community College Athletic Association championship in school history.

Michigan Reconnect Helps Veteran Find Her Welding Passion

Katie Brownlow earned her one-year Southwestern Michigan College welding certificate in April and parlayed her internship into a job with Cotton Gin Smokers, premium, hand-crafted barbecue smokers made on Terminal Road, Niles. Brownlow, a single mom and veteran who turns 38 in July, plans to continue to her welding associate degree. “I’ve got that fire in me again,” Brownlow said, “and it’s not burning out. I’m not going backwards anymore.”

SMC Museum Artifacts Auctioned July 29

Some 1,500 artifacts collected by Southwestern Michigan College when it operated an on-campus museum, including hundreds of circus posters and a hand-carved walking stick from James Polk’s 1844 presidential campaign, will be auctioned July 29.