Former GRCC Assistant Director of Student Life and Conduct terminated after a report of sustained cy

On May 22, 2025, Ashley Fox, former Assistant Director of Student Life and Conduct at Grand Rapids Community College, was terminated from her position after an internal investigation found she had engaged in an escalating “pattern of harassment” for over a year, sending messages from her GRCC-issued computer that “included threats, impersonations” and mockery.

Fox had worked at GRCC since 2018, holding her most recent position since 2021.

According to documents The Collegiate obtained from the college via the Freedom of Information Act, GRCC Police received a cyber stalking complaint on May 12 from someone unaffiliated with GRCC regarding emails that Fox had allegedly sent her and subscriptions she had created to the complainant’s website. According to the Investigation Summary and Findings report, the harassment began on April 13, 2024 and “escalated over time” until May 3, 2025. Many of these messages included references to the complainant’s middle name, home address and experience with abuse. In the documents released by GRCC, the complainant was identified as the “ex-wife of Fox’s current partner.”

GRCC’s IT department verified that firewall record logs showed that Fox had accessed the complainant’s site at the same time the messages were sent.

In an interview with the GRCC police on May 13, the complainant said she did not intend to press charges, and “that she just wanted this to stop.”

The same day, GRCC Human Resources sent Fox a letter informing her that she was being put on “indefinite administrative leave with pay, pending our investigation of potential policy violation.” Fox continued to receive her salary, but did not have computer access or access to the GRCC campus during her leave. The letter did not specify which policy she was potentially in violation of.

Three days later, on May 16, Fox met with Human Resources Business Partner, Aaron Stewart, and Director of Equal Opportunity Compliance, Lisa Thomas. In this meeting, Fox admitted that she created multiple accounts, some dating as far back as April 2024— including “shessovainitsdisgusting,” “Irememberwhenyoumovedupstairsandistillwatch” and “watchingyoumoveat1434” — to send emails to the complainant that she meant to be “annoying,” and to “hurt her feelings.”

One email included in the Corrective Action Notice Fox signed on May 22 read, “Ugh I wish I could pretend to want to be in your proximity. Abuse must rings (sic) in our ears as you lead and sends (sic) roots into your body as you lie outwardly about your flourishment (sic) and desire to help others. So sad. Someone, something (sic) help you you broken human. See you on the 22nd.”

In another email, Fox attempted to impersonate the complainant’s partner’s ex-partner and wrote, “I’m writing to you because I can’t ignore what’s been eating at me. There’s a truth of yourself that I can no longer keep quiet about. I need you to confirm with [complainant’s partner] what’s been going on with your past-and you need to tell your employers, your clients, or I will. It’s time.”

Fox forwarded that email to the complainant’s employer while “adopting a falsely supportive tone to cause disruption,” according to the summary report. She also admitted to sending many of these emails from a GRCC-issued computer, during work hours, while on GRCC’s campus.

“Ashley Fox admitted to intentionally harassing (Redacted), including impersonating third parties and sending anonymous messages designed to emotionally destabilize and professionally disrupt the reporting party,” read the Investigation Summary and Findings report. “She did so using GRCC-issued technology and during periods when she was on campus, during working hours. The conduct was targeted, sustained, and personal in nature, but was executed using institutional resources and in a manner that undermines the College’s ethical standards, reputation, and legal compliance.”

It was determined that these actions were in violation of GRCC’s Misconduct, Administrator Code of Ethics and Acceptable Use of Technology policies— the last of which prohibits staff members from “(assuming) another person’s identity without proper authorization” and “(communicating) under the identity of any entity without proper authorization from that entity.”

Fox could not be reached for comment.