HCC Board of Trustees Meeting Today

Some of you may be aware I am a member of the Holyoke Community College Board of Trustees. The fourth Tuesday of every month we have our monthly board meeting. We have many wonderful people from Holyoke and the region that sit on the board with me. There is 11 members total. HCC is a special gem we have here in Holyoke and as your Councilor I do everything I can do to support the institution and its mission of educating our young people. As a person who has spent many years in the classroom as a student, I know the real value of an education: it transcends the financial but also enrichs a person both academically and spiritually. Knowledge is power and it is very uplifting to have a better understanding of the world we live in and that is really what an education provides you.

We have a special guy in Dr. Bill Messner as the President of HCC and I am glad he is leading the college at this critical hour. He had big shoes to fill in Dave Bartley and Bill has been fortunate to inherit such a strong institution built up by Dave.


In the course of our many duties at our morning meeting, we wished good bye to our friend and Chairman, Dr. Ned Barowsky. Unfortunately, Ned was not re-appointed by the Governor and he will be sorely missed. Ned chaired the college's very successful capital campaign last year which raised over $5 million. Ned is a great guy and I am glad to call him a friend.

The Governor did appoint Sr. Jane Morrissey, SSJ to replace Ned and I look forward to working with her in the years ahead. The Board of Trustees may be the leaders of the institution but we are only as strong as the employees, faculty and students of the college and because of them we are very strong. I am also happy to report that enrollment is up significantly again this semester so more and more people are turning to Holyoke as the center for their educational needs. That is something all Holyokers can be proud of!