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For those of us who are academics, Commencement is the high point of the academic year. We pay tribute to the talent, hard work and resourcefulness of both our students and ourselves. This year, on a beautiful sunny Saturday, CCBC celebrated 2,700 graduates. Although not all 2,700 attended the event, an impressive sea of 800 caps and gowns filled the…
Continue readingJuneteenth is the oldest commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. Although President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, the news took two years to travel to the last enclave of enslaved people in Galveston, Texas on June 19, 1865. While Juneteenth has been recognized for decades by black communities across the nation, it has gained…
Continue readingMany pedagogical achievements have been born in the prolific incubators of community college classrooms. Faculty and staff have transformed these big ideas about teaching and learning into practical applications now mirrored in community college classrooms across the country. After reading the third volume of CCBC’s own journal, TALES: Teaching and Learning Excellence Through Scholarship, I am reminded of the invaluable…
Continue readingIn 1987 as a junior administrator at Prince George’s Community College in Maryland, I spent a week in Phoenix, Arizona at a Leaders Seminar sponsored by the American Association for Women in Community Colleges (AAWCC) under the guidance of two sheros: Dr. Mildred Bulpitt and Dr. Carolyn Desjardins. The strength of that experience lay in the exposure to these two…
Continue readingSmall businesses are the lifeblood of any economy. In fact, according to the U.S Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy, 99.5% of Maryland businesses are small businesses, meaning entrepreneurial spirit is critical to thriving communities. In short, because we serve largely local populations, community colleges are tailor-made to develop local talent to foster an ecosystem of entrepreneurship. This is yet…
Continue readingThe theme of this year’s Black History Month, “African Americans and the Arts,” beckons us to explore the intersections of creativity and heritage, echoing these timeless words by James Baldwin with renewed significance: “The world is before you, and you need not take it or leave it as it was when you came in.” From antiquity to present, Black sculptors,…
Continue readingYears ago, when times were a bit hard, I used to say to my children “It’s OK, we’re tough, we’ll get through this!” This outlook now permeates my role as a community college President who firmly believes that our sector of higher education is a miracle of resilience. We are so used to dealing with the challenge of hard times,…
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