HCC celebrated Pride Month in June by raising the rainbow flag over the campus for the first time in its 75-year history. Dressed in a black, Pride Month shirt, HCC President Christina Royal presided over the flag-raising ceremony, which was held by the bus loop at the main campus entrance to the Frost and Donahue buildings. “I’m very excited that at Holyoke Community College we have a very active group of faculty, staff and students who are engaged and interested in continuing to further the progress that we made to ensure that HCC is an LGBTQ-plus friendly campus and institution,” said Royal. “We very much feel that diversity is a huge asset to this institution and this region, and we believe very deeply in being able to ensure that we have a wide variety of representation, and that everyone can be seen and heard as they come to HCC.”
President Christina Royal and assorted HCC staff members hold up the Pride flag before it was hoisted up the flag pole in recognition of Pride Month in June.
‘Together’ Tallies
Led by auto dealer Gary Rome, the HCC Alumni Council, and HCC Foundation board trustees, HCC raised $126,824 for scholarships and student support programs during its one-day “Together HCC: Drive to Change Lives” campaign. Organizers had set a goal of 150 donors for the 24-hour, April 27 fund drive. The final tally was 295. Rome, an HCC Foundation board member, had issued a donation challenge of $10,000 if the campaign met its goals. He presented a check to HCC officials at his Holyoke dealership on May 4. The money raised will go toward student scholarships, the Thrive Student Resource Center and Food Pantry, and the President’s Student Emergency Fund. “The reason we got involved in this campaign is because we wanted to shine a spotlight on this wonderful institution right here in our backyard, dispel the misconception that community colleges receive all their funding from the state, and highlight how important it is to raise funds to help support our community college.”
HCC Foundation board chair Corey Murphy, left, auto dealer Gary Rome, HCC student Carolina Peña, and President Christina Royal hold a ceremonial check from Gary Rome at his Hyundai dealership in Holyoke on May 4.
This Beer’s for Us
Four Black-owned breweries in Massachusetts joined forces this spring to craft a special beer whose proceeds will go toward the creation of a new scholarship for students of color who enroll in HCC’s beer, cider and wine-making program. The effort was led by Ray Berry, owner and founder of White Lion Brewery in Springfield, and C.J. Eldridge, co-owner of Arcpoint Brewing in Belchertown, along with the owners of Crue Brew Brewing in Raynham, and 67 Degrees Brewing in Franklin. The limited-release beer, a juicy New England IPA called “As One,” was introduced to the public at White Lion March 29. The beer – and the idea for a scholarship – was inspired by news articles about the experiences of Black brewery owners in a historically white-dominated industry. “We want to attempt to spread brewing out to more people of color, and get them into the business,” said Eldridge. “Let them see what it’s about.”
Ray Berry, owner of White Lion Brewery, left; Michele Cabral, HCC executive director of professional education and corporate learning; Amanda Sbriscia, HCC vice president of Institutional Advancement; and HCC president Christina Royal, proudly display “As One.”
Now Introducing …
Every spring, Campus Cleanup Day offers HCC faculty, staff and students the opportunity to help beautify the campus before Commencement. Most of their time is spent picking up trash, weeding garden planters, and spreading mulch. This year, however, students in Professor Elizabeth Trobaugh’s English composition classes were looking for an environment-based volunteer project and decided to spend their April 29 class time ridding the campus of invasive plants – in keeping with the Cli-Fi (climate fiction) stories they were reading. “We regularly talk about nature, and we talk about invasives,” Trobaugh said, “and so right now they’re doing work that could help our world not become as overrun and degraded.” During this pandemic year, Campus Cleanup Day also offered Trobaugh the opportunity to meet her students for the first time in person. “Of course, everyone’s wearing masks, and I had to try to recognize people by their eyes,” she said. “Is that you, Sharon? Is that you, Joey? And they all thought I was taller. On Zoom, I look taller.”
Prof. Elizabeth Trobaugh with her students on Campus Cleanup Day.
Community Commitment
Miren Alcántara
HCC student Miren Neyra Alcántara was one of 212 U.S. college students selected for a Newman Civic Fellowship, which recognizes college leaders who demonstrate a commitment to addressing challenges in their communities. The fellowship is a year-long program administered by Campus Compact, a Boston-based nonprofit working to advance the public purposes of higher education. Alcántara is a Latinx Studies major at HCC and president of the college’s Latinx Empowerment Association. Early last spring, the LEA Club organized a book drive to stock a “Little Free Library” its members put together in the Holyoke Flats, one of the city’s poorest neighborhoods. As part of the fellowship, students participate in a civic engagement project of their own design. “I plan to continue working on the ‘Little Free Library’ project,” said Alcántara, who was also named a finalist earlier this year for Business West magazine’s “Young Woman of Impact” award. “We are hoping to expand on it, add some workshops with the children and adapt it in a way it becomes sustainable through the years as more students join and continue the club.”
Vaccination Volunteers
HCC student-nurses collectively volunteered for hundreds of hours during their spring 2021 semester to assist with COVID-19 vaccination clinics in Holyoke and Chicopee. From early April through early June, 125 students from HCC’s Associate of Science in Nursing and Practical Nursing programs worked at 18 COVID-19 vaccination clinics at multiple sites, including the Holyoke Senior Center, the Holyoke Health Center, the Holyoke Mall, the Chicopee Castle of Knights, and the Chicopee River Mills Senior Center. At the clinics, the HCC students were often the principal health care workers on site, performing the full gamut of tasks, from setup to breakdown: welcome consultations, data entry, health assessments, vaccination administration, and post-vaccination observation. Some days they administered as many as 400 vaccines. “It’s empowering to know we are vaccinating so many people and keeping the community safe,” said nursing student Melissa Perry. Many of the students volunteered at multiple sites. For the most part, this was all done outside their HCC coursework. “Our students really impressed me with their dedication and service,” said nursing professor Tara Kavanaugh, who organized the volunteer effort. “They impressed me with their commitment to public health, their selflessness, their devotion to their communities, improving the lives of others and their passion for wellness.”
