GCC holds event: Pizza with the President

By TOM LAVENTURE

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Ironwood - A week of activities designed to welcome students and encourage social interaction included Pizza with the President on Thursday at Gogebic Community College.

Students streamed through Aces Lounge during lunch hour to meet GCC President George McNulty, who handed out pizza and soft drinks together with Dayle Jackson, director of student outreach and engagement. It was a different way to connect with students by serving them in the student lounge setting, McNulty said.

"This is a good example of how we can show our support for students and for me personally, I'm able to interact with students in this sort of environment," McNulty said.

Jayda Wroblewski, a second semester cosmetology student from Ramsay, said this was the first time she saw and met the GCC president in person. She enjoyed the experience.

"It was very nice," Wroblewski said. "It was good to see everybody all together and participating."

Everyone is very busy and having these set times to meet and talk about things is a good way to make sure that people connect, McNulty said. There is the opportunity to discuss various topics but it's really a friendly show of support, he said.

"We're here just to interact with students outside the classroom a little bit and kind of show them that we're accessible, that I'm accessible and that it's important to meet them where they're at," McNulty said. "It's pretty cool."

Zachary Livingston, Ewan, said he is in his first two weeks at GCC and hopes to find his calling while completing his general studies. He said people are accessible at GCC and the pizza event was another example with the school president greeting him.

The financial aid office is another example, he said. He was able to walk in and talk to someone here where he was directed online at other larger schools, he said.

"You get a chance to actually talk to them," Livingston said.