Ulloriaq Grønvold’s journey from police officer to Greenland’s first Master of Laws graduate has been driven by a determination to fight abuse and to serve as a role model.
A loud applause and cheers erupt as Ulloriaq steps forward to receive his diploma in Ilisimatusarfik’s packed cafeteria.
There is good reason for the strong support. Ulloriaq is Ilisimatusarfik’s first graduate from the Master’s programme in Law. In addition, he was one of only three men to graduate at the winter commencement ceremony. By comparison, 42 women graduated. Ulloriaq was also the graduate student with the highest grade average – a result we will return to later.
Ulloriaq possesses extraordinary determination and drive. It began in his hometown of Qeqertarsuaq when he was child. There, he experienced a silent acceptance of dealing of marihuana within the local community. As an adult, he also learned that someone close to him had been sexually abused.
“There was this silent acceptance among people… a feeling of ‘that’s just the way it is.’ I wanted to fight against it. I wanted to make a difference,” says Ulloriaq.
“I wanted to put up a fight and make a positive change” – Ulloriaq Grønvold.
Prosecutor in an assault case at age 22
In 2008, he enrolled at the Police Academy in Nuuk. He was 22 years old. During his training, he already began appearing in court as a prosecutor.
While serving as a trainee officer in Qaqortoq, he was sent to Narsaq, where a court hearing was scheduled for a man charged with assault. Ulloriaq was asked whether he could act as prosecutor in the case. It was not unusual for police officers to appear in court as prosecutors, so he agreed and was instructed on what to do.
“I remember the defense attorney. He looked experienced, and I was afraid he would completely outmanoeuvre me. He didn’t, and the defendant was sentenced to eight months in prison for assault,” says Ulloriaq, who will never forget that case.
“It was a privilege to investigate a case from the beginning and then appear in court and see a conviction. It provides a sense of closure that made me feel I was making a difference,” says Ulloriaq Grønvold.
As a police officer, Ulloriaq Grønvold apprehended several marihuana dealers. Sometimes this even happened while he was off duty. The photo is from 2016 and shows him with Bjørn Bjerregaard, a close friend and former colleague.
Photo: Ulloriaq Grønvold
Wanted to go home to Qeqertarsuaq
Later, he prosecuted several cases, including major narcotics cases involving six defendants at once. However, some aspects of the police work were difficult. For example, he remembers an extremely busy New Year’s Eve in Qaqortoq as a police trainee. When he finally got off duty the following day, he was so exhausted he slept for 16 hours. “I knew I would not be able to work as a police officer until retirement. Once I had children, night shifts would not fit with family life either. So I needed further education, and law was the obvious choice because it interested me. On the other hand, I did not want to study in Denmark. At that time, that was the only option if you wanted to study law.” At the same time, an old dream came true: Ulloriaq wanted to move back to Qeqertarsuaq and work as a police officer there. That happened in 2018. “I wanted to be a role model and help address the problems I had witnessed as a child.” Were you able to do that? “I think so. I managed to seize some narcotics, but it was also a tough year. I was alone at the station, and one day, during a police operation, I was attacked. Colleagues from other towns had to be called in. Situations like that are the reason there are now always at least two officers stationed at a police post.”
Name: Ulloriaq Grønvold From:Qeqertarsuaq Age: 39 years old Children: Father of two children, aged seven and two, a boy and a girl. Status: Partner of the children’s mother, Nivi. Education: Master of Laws and graduated from the Police Academy in Greenland.
What if I can’t keep up?
That same year, Ilisimatusarfik opened its doors to law students at the bachelor level for the first time. The following year, in 2019, Ulloriaq walked through those doors. It was also intimidating. What if he could not keep up? And what about his family’s finances now that he had resigned from his job?
Those worries turned out to be unfounded. He was quickly contacted by defence lawyer Finn Meinel, who needed someone like Ulloriaq Grønvold in his firm. In 2021, he became an authorised defence counsel, and shortly thereafter, while still studying at university, he entered the courtroom in a completely new role.
“As a prosecutor, my job was to send people to prison. Now it is the opposite, and I see my role as making sure that rule of law is upheld and ensuring that everything is handled properly,” says Ulloriaq.
When he completed his bachelor’s degree in 2022, he knew he wanted to continue studying. However, the Master’s programme had not yet started at Ilisimatusarfik, so several of his fellow students moved to Denmark to continue their education. Ulloriaq was not interested in studying Danish law when he intended to work as a lawyer in Greenland.
Instead, he got a head start by taking distance-learning courses at the University of Southern Denmark, knowing that a study abroad period would be required at Master’s level. Therefore, when the graduate programme was launched in 2024, he was already one step ahead of his classmates and was able to graduate first.
“Now my children will be able to say that their father was the first real lawyer to graduate from the university”
– Ulloriaq Grønvold.
An average grade of 11,2
Today, Ulloriaq Grønvold almost feels sick to his stomach when he thinks about how busy he was while studying his Master’s degree. He had started a full-time job as Head of Secretariat at the National Defender, his studies were full-time as well, and he was now the father of two children. Nevertheless, he achieved the highest grade average in the programme; with an A on his thesis, his final average was 11.22.
“When I received the grade for my thesis, I started crying. I felt that I had been a bad father because I had so little energy left due to the thesis. I was under so much pressure,” he recalls.
“I felt some pressure when I had to submit my thesis. But now my children will be able to say that their father was the first real lawyer to graduate from the university.”
Ulloriaq received DKK 5,000 from Greenland Business Association for achieving the highest grade average in the Master’s programme. He spent the money on an Easter holiday in Iceland for the entire family. “I wanted to give something back to my family for the period when I wasn’t really there for them,” he says.
Mainphoto at the top of the article by: Emil Stach