News

1980 SMC Nursing Graduate Left Cardiology for Anesthesiology

Rick VanTuyl grew up in Dowagiac, watching Original Road and Trail Race (now Steve’s Run) runners stream past his house at the foot of Wilbur Hill Road. VanTuyl, 64, graduated from Union High School in 1977 and earned his Southwestern Michigan College associate degree in nursing in 1980, the only man of five who made it to the finish line. Flash forward four decades and VanTuyl is at the pinnacle of his profession as a nurse anesthetist for Henry Ford Health since 2002.

SMC Fall Choir Concert Leans on Love, Opera

“Song and Saga,” Southwestern Michigan College’s fall choir concert, was performed Nov. 2 in the theatre of the Dale A. Lyons Building on the Dowagiac campus. Director of Choral Activities David Carew structured seven suites like the year-end Collage Concert, which unspools in a seamless stream of sound, unbroken by applause. “In general, the theme is love,” Carew said. “In this day and age, we need to lead with love, which is the title of the first piece” performed by the Collegiate Chorale.

SMC Founders Day Celebrates 60th Anniversary

Southwestern Michigan College, “a good idea that got loose in the world,” celebrated its 60th anniversary Nov. 1 with the inaugural Founders Day. Chloe Itimu, who aspires to become a pediatrician in her native Malawi, spoke as a student benefiting from support from the Aline Ahrens Memorial and Grady scholarships.

SMC Mourns Loss of Alumnus Scott Novak

Scott Novak, the dean of southwestern Michigan sportswriting for 40 years, died Oct. 23 at 63. Southwestern Michigan College’s final home volleyball game Oct. 29, a 3-1 win over the Glen Oaks Vikings, began with a moment-of-silence tribute, his visage smiling down from the video scoreboard. Novak got his start at SMC as sports editor of the campus newspaper, The Southwester, in 1981.

Costumed Audience Slips into Character at Creepy Concert

“Spooktacular,” Southwestern Michigan College’s Halloween-themed fall band concert Oct. 25, lived up to its name and then some. A 16-month-old toddler vigorously conducted the Symphonic Band for the Alma Mater, her baton a blur.

SMC ‘Sawdust Day’ Promotes Building Trades

Communicate and be empathetic and kind was the advice architect Tony Leininger left prospective construction trades students from area high schools Oct. 25 at Southwestern Michigan College’s “Sawdust Day.” Leininger, of CARMI Design Group in Niles, not only works on SMC projects, such as the current residence halls expansion, he is in his 14th year teaching for the college.

SMC Construction Students Pour It On

Southwestern Michigan College Construction Trades Green Technology students collaborated this week with the Building and Grounds Department to pour two sidewalks. One sidewalk is in front of Thomas F. Jerdon Residence Hall. The other is outside the Student Activity Center of the Charles O. Zollar Building.

Jazz on the Lawn Previews ‘Spooktacular’

Southwestern Michigan College Jazz Ensemble’s “Jazz on the Lawn” outside the Dale A. Lyons Building previewed “Spooktacular.” The fall band concert takes place Friday, Oct. 25, at 7:30 p.m. in the theatre of the Dale A. Lyons Building on the Dowagiac campus.

Dual Enrollment Director Spans MTV, SMC

New Director of Dual Enrollment Juliann Jankowski brings to Southwestern Michigan College her extensive higher education experience and a wealth of stories from her time at Club MTV.

Faculty Recital Premieres ‘Aurora’

Southwestern Michigan College’s Oct.10 brassy faculty recital, “Danny Lopez and Friends, Too,” treated the audience to the world premiere of Holland composer and classical guitarist Dr. Robert Lunn’s “Aurora.” “Danny has been asking for the last few years for us to play a piece together,” Lunn said. “I suggested over the summer I write one."