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I must admit that I am shameless when it comes to never turning down an opportunity to talk about community colleges or about my own college, CCBC. After 52 years of serving as a community college professional, these institutions are a part of me; that magical “open door” mission is in my blood. And why would you ever stop doing…
Continue readingAt CCBC, it has become a truism that 21st century students need a 21st century education and skills to prepare for 21st century jobs; and, they need 21st century models to achieve these goals. We recently held a press conference at CCBC to celebrate one of the best of those 21st century models: the Baltimore County College Promise Scholarship program. …
Continue readingEach year I have the privilege of presiding over CCBC’s Graduation Ceremony held under a massive tent on the lawn of our Essex campus. With a capacity to hold 5,000, the tent overflowed with guests gathered to honor and celebrate their very own graduate, often the first in the family to earn a college degree. Grandmothers, babies, moms, dads and…
Continue readingMay is a busy month at CCBC. It marks the end of the academic year but also serves as a time to celebrate: students, of course, scholars, athletes and leaders, but also our faculty and staff, not just for years of service—for putting in time—but for the real achievement. To that end, I recently hosted CCBC’s Emeritus Induction Ceremony where we…
Continue readingSpring is among the best times of the year at any college because almost everyday we get to celebrate students, athletes, scholars, service, honor recipients…all the way up to Commencement. So it was with both pride and pleasure that I welcomed 400 of our academic elite at the recent Student Awards Banquet. Here at CCBC we often say that our…
Continue readingThis year I have had the honor of serving as the chair of the Board of Directors of the American Association of Community Colleges. As chair, I recently had the privilege of convening our association’s national convention in Orlando, Florida, welcoming 2,000 community college colleagues from around the country. In the spirit of the conference theme: “Our time has come,”…
Continue readingAlthough the perception of America’s colleges as tranquil oases of learning may have always been little more than a fanciful image, a harsh reality faces every community college president today. We are confronted with a challenge framed by a simple question: How do we keep our campuses safe? Whether the weapons wielded by potential attackers are high powered rifles or…
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