Marangelly Vargas-Gonzalez ’24 and Luis Centeno ’24 show off some of their lunch options from the window of the HCC Culinary Arts Truck.
A few years ago, when she was enrolled in HCC’s free, six-week line-cook training program, Marangelly Vargas-Gonzalez ’24 told a television reporter that her ambition was to one day run a food truck operation. After graduating from HCC in June with her associate degree in culinary arts, Vargas-Gonzalez had the chance to do just that. She and her culinary arts classmate Luis Centeno ’24 spent their summer selling lunches in the HCC Courtyard on Tuesdays and Thursdays out of the college’s culinary arts truck. “We’re trying to bring diverse cultures to the menu. This week is Mediterranean,” Vargas-Gonzalez, 34, said during the June 11 grand opening. For $10, customers had their choice of a Greek-stye quinoa salad with either grilled chicken or crispy chickpeas, bottle of water and cookie included. The meals were prepared in advance at the HCC MGM Culinary Arts Institute, where they both also work as lab techs, and then packaged for sale in to-go containers. Other weeks’ menus featured Asian fare, American classics, and Jamaican. Centeno, 57, a retired U.S. Army veteran, said they wanted to offer something unique. “We didn’t just want to offer tacos, hot dogs, and hamburgers.” Summer sales were so successful, they are continuing their operation this fall outside the culinary arts institute on Mondays, in the campus courtyard on Wednesdays, and at select community events.
Model Models
Whatever legacy they might leave behind as they ultimately move on from HCC, their images will remain for many years to come, captured in acrylic in the new mural that covers the main wall in the Campus Center cafeteria. Last spring, students Tahir Bey, Carineh Santana ’24, and Arnaldo Lassend posed at the request of artist Betsy Casañas, who took a photo of the trio reading books on a Campus Center stairway. Casañas used the photo to sketch out the mural, which was commissioned by the HCC Foundation for the inauguration of President George Timmons and meant to showcase the values of HCC: kindness, inclusion, trust, innovation, and collaboration. During Inauguration Week (April 16-19), Casañas invited students, faculty, and staff to help paint it. After the mural was complete, the models took a moment to reflect on the impact of their larger than life-size likenesses. “It’s a little bit weird, walking by and seeing yourself. It’s going to take some time getting used to,” said Bey, a student from Springfield who is part of the Gateway to College program. “It is weird, but also, it’s moving. I wouldn’t imagine myself being on a wall at HCC. Now everyone walking by can see it,” said Santana, an engineering major now at the University of Massachusetts. “I thought it was going to be on some hidden wall,” said Bey. “And then I saw them painting over here. I was like, whoa. Not hidden at all.”
Tahir Bey, Carineh Santana ’24, and Arnaldo Lassend stand in front of the new campus mural that bears their likenesses.
The Fabulous HCC
Most people might know Monte Belmonte from his many years as a DJ for Northampton, Mass.-based WRSI (99.3 FM The River) or for Monte’s March, his annual fundraising walk against hunger. Monte’s current gig is The Fabulous 413, a daily afternoon radio interview show on New England Public Media (88.5 FM) that celebrates life in western Massachusetts — “a kind of ‘Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood’ for grown-ups,” according to the show’s online description. One day last October, inspired by Hispanic Heritage Month, Monte and his co-host Kaliis Smith brought their mics to HCC, the only community college in Massachusetts with a Latinx Studies program. For an hour before HCC’s annual Latinx Fiesta, they set up in the Learning Collaborative to record a segment titled “Transforming HCC” with Spanish Professor Raúl Gutiérrez, chair of the Latinx Studies program, and two of his students, Mishie Serrano and Alannah Brunt ’24. The spot aired Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023, but you can still stream it online anytime from The Fabulous 413 Podcast page on the National Public Radio website: npr.org.
Fabulous 413 hosts Kaliis Smith, left, and Monte Belmonte, right, with Professor Raúl Gutiérrez and students Mishie Serrano and Alannah Brunt
Salamander Study
A red eft salamander found in the woods behind HCC.
Environmental science students at HCC spent their last Friday class of the spring semester searching the wet woods behind campus for something no one wants to find — Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans, an emerging pathogen lethal to salamanders. The good news is the virulent Bsal fungus that has ravaged certain salamander species in Europe and Asia has not yet been found in North America. The search for it, though, is on. Students from HCC and other colleges across the country are participating in a group project called the Student Network for Amphibian Pathogen Surveillance, which is supported by the U.S. Geological Survey and Environment, and Climate Change Canada. To detect Bsal, however, one must first locate salamanders to examine, and lots of them. Fortunately, there are many in and around the stream that runs behind the west side of the HCC campus. Once in hand, students swabbed the little critters and then returned them to their habitats. Vials of collected swab samples were sent to a lab at the University of Vermont in Burlington for analysis. People should care about the results, said Laurel Carpenter, assistant professor of environmental science, because salamanders, like amphibians in general, are important environmental indicators. “Their health or absence can alert us to possible concerns,” she said. “They act as a sort of canary in the coal mine for us.”
Assistant Professor Laurel Carpenter swabs a salamander for the presence of a lethal fungus known as Bsal.President George Timmons cuts the green ribbon celebrating the grand opening of the Scholarship Resource Center while manager Laura Freeman applauds.
Scholarship Central
Feroza Sherzai holds the distinction of being the first HCC student to apply for a scholarship through the new HCC Scholarship Resource Center. The Holyoke resident arrived at the center on Jan. 31, just as the grand opening celebration had begun. She immediately sat down at one of the center’s three computer work stations. “This is a very good opportunity for students,” said Sherzai, a student in HCC’s Academic English as a Second Language program. “I came here to fill out the application. I had a lot of questions.” On hand to answer those questions was Laura Freeman, manager of stewardship and donor relations for HCC and coordinator of the center. “She was very good,” Sherzai said. “She was very patient with me.” The Scholarship Resource Center, on the first floor of the Donahue Building, is the first of its kind among community colleges in Massachusetts. Its purpose: to make it easier for students to apply for scholarships that are available through the HCC Foundation. The center saw a steady stream of students throughout the four-hour open house, which culminated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony led by President George Timmons. “It’s not always easy navigating financial aid or understanding expectations when you’re filling out an application,” said student Sunrise Iaim Smith of Chicopee. “Just having people who know the process there to support you makes it feel a little better, especially since it’s my first time.” The center’s opening seems to have had a positive impact. This year, the HCC Foundation awarded 388 scholarships worth more than $335,000 to 323 incoming, current, and transferring HCC students.
Fall Grads Feted for First Time
Alanna Brunt ’24 at Commencement on June 1. She was one of the student speakers at HCC’s first fall graduate reception last November.
The first time Alannah Brunt tried HCC, she flunked out after one semester. The next semester, she only passed one class. “I was working a ton of hours and had not yet invested in school,” she said. “I hadn’t found a way to get excited about being a student. It was COVID times, folks, and it was not fun.” But Brunt eventually did find a way to get excited about college, and her success led her to the stage of the Leslie Phillips Theater as a student speaker for the college’s first-ever Fall Graduate Reception on Nov. 29. According to the Registrar’s Office, 172 students qualified as fall 2023 graduates. Like Brunt, many of them planned to transfer to four-year schools. Although fall graduates are always invited to attend Commencement in the spring, historically, many do not. The fall graduate reception was meant to change that. “This is really just the beginning of your celebrations as a college graduate,” said President George Timmons. “Today, we honor your achievements with this reception because what you just achieved deserves immediate recognition. In June, we will come together again and formally welcome you as HCC alumni.” Brunt was there for the June 1 event at the MassMutual Center in Springfield, having recently completed her first semester at the University of Massachusetts.
