The Grand Valley Police Department has identified a current Grand Valley State University student as the individual responsible for a string of ‘email misrepresentations,’ wherein the student sent a number of emails falsely representing themselves as faculty, staff or administrators of the university in order to set up fake meetings to attempt to cancel classes.

“Clues identified within the past week led investigators to a current Grand Valley State University student,” Capt. Brandon DeHaan, assistant director for GVPD “We interviewed that student and that person confirmed they sent the emails.”

DeHaan said the student will receive a judicial referral to the Dean of Student’s Office to explore violations to the student code, including Section 206.06: Computer Usage, which dictates that “forging electronic mail to make it appear as though it originated from a different person is prohibited” and Section 206.15, which prohibits with misrepresentation of oneself as an “official representative of the university without authorization to procure goods or services or to receive a benefit.”

GVPD plans to meet with the Ottawa County Prosecutor’s Office later today to review the case for potential criminal charges.
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