President’s Update

Dear MCC Campus Community:

Yesterday, starting at about 2:15 p.m., rain, hail, and exceptionally strong winds swept across the MCC main campus and golf course causing large branches to break off and trees to be uprooted and fall. A few trees and power lines along Quarterline landed in the road and we lost power. Those on the main campus were advised to shelter in place until the weather cleared and campus was closed. (Campus continues to be completely closed to all, including employees.)

While classes were not in session yesterday due to the holiday, athletes and other employees on campus were able to find safety and stayed inside until the storm passed. We are thankful that only one person received a minor scrape, and no other injuries were reported.

Both remote and in-person classes were canceled for today due to the loss of power and the limited ability to connect to remote classes. The College is also postponing a Student Town Hall event and public vaccine clinic that were scheduled for tomorrow. Athletic events planned at off-campus locations will still take place today.

Unfortunately, a few vehicles in the parking lot were damaged, some branches landed on a ventilation fan on the roof of the Bartels-Rode Gymnasium, and the digital sign on the corner of Quarterline and Marquette was toppled. Most significant is the loss of over 15 trees on the south side of main campus and over 25 trees at the adjacent University Park Golf Course. Both remain closed today as tree removal crews and our staff work to clear them.

The cleanup will be extensive, but our exceptional Physical Plant staff has been working diligently to clear the trees and branches. Once power is back on, our Office of Information Technology staff will analyze the condition of our systems and restore them as quickly as possible. Students, faculty, and staff may experience problems accessing MyMCC, Blackboard, email and other MCC systems until power and these systems are fully restored.

As always, the safety of our students and employees remains our top priority. Thank you for your patience as we wait for power to be restored and work through the cleanup that is needed. MCC will continue to post updates to our social media sites found at the bottom of muskegoncc.edu, send alerts through our RAVE instant notification system, and send emails.

Dale Nesbary, Ph.D.
President