As each new academic year begins, our college community assembles for a convocation (we call it Fall Focus) to launch a new semester and a new year. This year’s event was powered by the theme “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Focus.” Writ large, this title translates into a universal theme “Leading with Equity,” a mantra which transcends a single event,…
Continue readingMany of us think of commercials as a time to get up from the couch to grab something to drink and a bag of chips before Downton Abbey or the last episode of Game of Thrones resumes. CCBC commercials, however, strike a note worth heeding. We are not selling jewelry or potato peelers; instead, we are selling “futures.” CCBC College…
Continue readingFor many reasons, our community colleges will not look the same when we finally emerge from the pandemic. Recently I read a review of a first novel, titled “You Never Get it Back,” by a young woman named Cara Blue Adams. Her title offers an apt description of the ennui that many of us are feeling right now as we…
Continue readingWe come from different places, different experiences, but there is one thing we all share in common. We have all spent two years, ravaged by two pandemics—one the virus, of course, and the other, an emerging awakening to the issues of social justice. It is more important than ever for us to come together to lean into these hard conversations….
Continue readingWe at CCBC are quite aware that when we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic we cannot be the college we were two years ago. Many business and industry partners as well as Maryland’s Governor Hogan have already implemented policies to eliminate the four-year degree requirement for thousands of jobs. The new policy acknowledges that many potential employees may have obtained…
Continue readingIn celebration of Juneteenth, I started with a poignant statement from President Biden: “Nations don’t ignore their most painful moments. They confront them to grow stronger.” In honoring the recently minted holiday of Juneteenth, that is the sentiment we carried forward during our recognition. We celebrated the end of slavery in the United States in 1865, more than two years…
Continue readingCCBC’s annual Commencement ceremony is the climax of our academic year. It is the day we pay tribute to the talent, hard work, passion and resourcefulness of several thousand students whose work has culminated in an associate degree or a certificate. It is a reward, not only for students and their families, but for the tremendous efforts made by faculty…
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