Gene DuPuy

Sea Grant Fellow tutors RCC students in science; they started college at RCC

Genevieve DePuy was 15 years old when they took their first class at Rogue Community College. It was an online class—a decade ahead of the COVID-19 pandemic. “I liked the flexibility,” Gene said, “I could go to high school and then come home and take my RCC class online at my own pace.”   Over the next three years, RCC’s flexibility remained a huge draw for...

Cathy Kemper-Pelle

President Kemper-Pelle announces plan to retire in 2022

In a June 29 message to the campus, Rogue Community College President Cathy Kemper-Pelle announced her plan to retire at the end of June 2022.  “I have thoroughly enjoyed my leadership role at RCC and will miss working with such a stellar group of individuals,” Kemper-Pelle wrote in an email to employees. “However, Rob and I have five grandchildren who have graciously endured a long-distance relationship, and...

SBDC welcomes new director

GRANTS PASS — Rogue Community College announces Ruth Swain as new director of the RCC Small Business Development Center (SBDC). Swain, who recently served as interim director of the Mt. Hood Community College SBDC, brings nearly 30 years of success in managing and leading initiatives for business and community development. She succeeds Ron Goss who recently retired after more than a decade with the RCC SBDC.   Swain has extensive training...

Founding faculty recall RCC’s early days

In 1970, Mary Slayter was already a role model for young women. She spent a decade earning two college degrees while raising three children, eventually securing a full-time teaching job at Grants Pass High School. Mary believed in the power of education. Which is why, when Rogue Community College opened its doors, Mary wanted in. “I enjoyed teaching at Grants Pass High School, but the...

Remembering RCC’s first president, Henry Pete

Henry Pete recognized an incredible opportunity — for himself, but especially for the community — when he accepted the role of Rogue Community College’s first president in 1971. “It is not often in a person’s career that he has the opportunity to participate from the beginning in building an institution that is going to have the impact on an area that this new college will...

Ron Goss receives prestigious Cutler Award

Rogue Community College Small Business Development Center Director Ron Goss was announced this week as the recipient of the 2020 Cutler Award from the Oregon SBDC Network. The award is among the highest honors an SBDC director can receive for services to Oregon businesses and the Oregon SBDC network.  “I doubt that there are many businesses in Oregon that haven’t in some way benefited from...