DOWAGIAC — Five people who all shared something in common stood up in front of a packed room full of Rotarians Thursday.

At the Dowagiac Rotary Club’s weekly meeting, five Rotarians: Dr. Joseph Odenwald, Susan Coulston, Brent Brewer, Dr. David Fleming and Michael O’Brien, who all work at Southwestern Michigan College, were officially inducted during a ceremony led by Rotarian Bob Cochrane.

“This is a formality to let them know they are part of the group,” Cochrane said. “We have a number of members who have never been inducted so we gathered a bunch of them today to officially do that.”

While the members have already been attending weekly meetings, the induction ceremony was being pushed by Rotary Club President Melody Wallace in an attempt to help improve member retention.

During the induction ceremony, Cochrane read ways that Rotarians could help get the most out of their membership by serving on club committees, identifying needs in the community and suggesting hands-on projects, working with a youth services club, hosting a youth exchange student and recommending a friend or colleague for membership in the club.

Rotary’s newest members were met by the club with a round of applause.

While members of Rotary know the SMC inductees’ professional lives, each new Rotarian shared more about their personal ties to the area.

Fleming, of Edwardsburg, is originally from West Virginia, a fact he discusses with longtime Rotarian Charlie Gratz often.

“My life’s been education,” he said. “I’ve always been a college professor. That’s what I’ve kind of always known.”

Fleming moved his way up academically at Davenport University and moved to SMC in 2011.

Brewer, born and raised in Dowagiac, has strong ties to the area. He is a third generation Dowagiac resident.

“Didn’t move far from home,” he said.

O’Brien, originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, found his way to SMC through the University of Indiana-Bloomington and then Chicago. With a background in advertising, O’Brien worked previously for more than 25 years in Chicago and South Bend.

Coulston, a Berrien Springs native, has lived in the Niles area for more than 30 years. She attended college at Miami of Ohio and is a certified public accountant by trade and worked in public accounting for many years. She came to SMC in 2010.

“I have spent a lot of my time involved in the Berrien County Youth Fair,” Coulston said.

Odenwald, SMC’s newest president, grew up in Fairway, Louisiana around agriculture. He attended Louisiana State University as a first-generation college student.

“I came out here on a Sunday afternoon two and a half years ago and said, ‘My god, they have corn around the college. This is heaven.’”