With a deep sense of humility,
of profound respect for this magnificent institution,
especially its extraordinary community of colleagues in learning,
and inspired by the great academic chain of being
that's been forged throughout the ages,
I humbly and eagerly accept the presidency of Bristol Community College.
With unqualified commitment and
boundless enthusiasm, I dedicate myself to
this College and to this community.
I first met Jack in the fall of 1999.
He was one of the people we invited to come to the
college to be interviewed for the position.
I think right off the bat he made
a very good impression on a lot of people.
Well it had a great history under
President Farley and before that President Hudnall.
It's ideally located in terms of a
community college, I think, with now
they call them gateway cities.
I don't think they call them that then.
Low levels of literacy, low levels of
educational attainment.
This is ideal position for a community college
and I wanted to be part of that growth
One of the most important things is location. location, location.
And it has to be nearby, accessible, and easily obtained for the students.
And that was a big lesson for me.
Community college campuses
have played an instrumental role in the
revitalization of the downtown area.
And I know, and I'm very confident that
that will happen here in New Bedford as well.
We're part of the community.
We're not just in this city, we're of the city.
I thought that what would happen by
opening a campus in New Bedford would be simply,
to move current BCC students
who lived in New Bedford, simply closer to home.
And not necessarily a great influx of new students.
And how wrong I was.
We surveyed the students in New Bedford and
some 60% had not been in higher education,
and let alone not being at BCC.
I used to hear from a lot of people in New Bedford
that wanted to take courses that they just couldn't get
to Fall River because of transportation.
Because a lot of our students that go to
our New Bedford campus, they don't have cars
You can't rely on public transportation to come to Fall River.
But because it was right there and they got
programs that they can do on weekends.
It's very affordable to a lot of people
in New Bedford who might not have had a chance to go to college.
In addition, this partnership, at first with the
Princeton Review and then with Higher Education Partners, HEP,
enabled us to form a very productive public-private partnership
that was a pioneering effort
and attracted a lot of attention.
We were able to put in state-of-the-art labs.
Expand our nursing program. Open up some other health programs.
As well as our liberal arts and other offerings that we normally do.
We're standing in front of a literally a dream that's come true.
The opening of our Bristol Community College center at Attleboro.
This center is the fulfillment of our dreams
and will be a place where dreams come true for countless area learners.
BCC has had, and still continues to have,
a tremendous impact in Attleboro.
Mayor Judy Robbins at the time and I
were anxious when Jack contacted us.
He was very pro trying to do something in Attleboro.
And we are very excited that he had shown an interest.
We were able to get this Texas Instrument campus building.
And it's worked out just terrific. We have remodeled it
to state-of-the-art equipment and labs
befitting what the residents of greater Attleboro need for their education.
This is a perfect opportunity for us.
It was a great place for the convenience of our residents.
It's a great economic development tool for the city.
And it's been a resounding success.
What a milestone event for Bristol Community College.
We're very pleased to
welcome you to this brand new Taunton center.
Bristol Community College Taunton Center at the Silver City Galleria Mall.
Taunton again we went through a number
of buildings and the financing just didn't work out.
And then all of a sudden this idea came open at the mall.
Another public-private partnership.
A pioneering project that kind of broke the mold, if you will.
And they got a lot of attention.
A lot of publicity as we moved into the mall and it's state-of-the-art.
The impact on the community in Taunton is
I just can't say enough about what BCC has
done for our families our children's moms and dads.
I've had the good fortune to go visit some of the classes at BCC.
The impact in terms of their employment opportunities
and their self advancement has just been incredible.
I think people will look back on this day as a kind of a turning point.
Here is another step for Bristol Community College.
And I'm just very excited about this.
Workforce development and adult basic education
and English for speakers of other language.
Those areas are crucial in economic development.
You can't go very far without earning
that high school equivalency.
Or being able to communicate in English.
And also being trained as a worker.
Businesses may not necessarily know about it,
but they rely on the work product
that comes out of the facility on Davol Street.
There are many colleges that I have learned that say
that they have a workforce center.
Or say if they have a workforce academy or an Institute.
There is nothing like what has been created here at Bristol Community College.
I've always believed that higher education
should not only profess what should be done.
What the community should do about this topic or that topic.
But we should model it and do it ourselves.
It's important that the college stand as a
beacon for the importance of sustainability.
We've showed that it could be done.
And there is a bit of an investment cost.
But it's quickly paid back in the outcome.
For example, the solar panels provide 70% of the electrical costs of the campus.
The new building is zero. So it costs nothing
to the College to maintain if you will
in terms of electricity and utilities.
So it is something that we're very proud of.
We have to be of the community,
not just in the community.
A part and parcel of the community and that means going to
these events and being attuned to what
what the needs are throughout the community.
It helps us with our programming but it also ensures in them,
them, the people in the community,
that BCC is standing by as a resource to help any way we can.
I wanted to marry faculty research interests
with the needs of the community and the college.
To have a particular interest that fits in
with the community is very important and or betters the college.
So some of the examples of the Presidential Fellowship:
The Luso Centro was the first one.
And it turned out to be still going strong
today and marries the great Portuguese
Luso-speaking culture that we have in the whole region.
You know if you're teaching five classes,
if you have a lot of committee work,
or if you're doing some of the other release time work,
there really isn't the time to pursue a particular thing.
So I really appreciated the fact that that I had those opportunities.
And that he provided those opportunities.
Our Trustee chair,
Joseph Marshall is a Vietnam veteran
and he was instrumental with getting us some
funding to move forward with a veterans center.
We're very excited about that
and continue to strengthen the services that are available to our veterans.
We also have a Multicultural Student Center,
the Women's Center.
We are very excited about all this.
We're expanding the health center.
These are all student services at this point.
I hope that we can expand it in the future into community services.
I wanted to marry BCC with the community
and recognizing the great achievements of Dr. King.
But also in a larger scale, to become a warm and welcoming
environment for all points of view.
And I'm very proud of that the
community breakfast continues to this day.
And we have a course, a free course
for community people on the writings and speeches of Dr. King.
And I thought it was a wonderful way to honor him
and demonstrate BCC's commitment to diversity.
The idea is to promote community feeling about BCC.
Every game we're in the newspaper about BCC.
And it is a recruiting tool
You know what is very important is that not
just for the athletes but for faculty
and staff and other students who come to the games.
And they get into the spirit.
It's been one of the heart warming things of my career
to see dedicated faculty and staff and students
coming to the games regularly.
There are probably a hundred thousand people in Bristol County
who have taken college classes,
improve themselves, improve the lives for their families,
improve their community, because of his leadership.
That's personal impact. That's civic impact.
It's community impact that makes us stronger and better able to compete.
More and more people have come to realize
the importance and the value of community colleges.
The affordability for their
children and other students who want to
see in price comparisons and the quality.
It is no good unless there's great quality.
And we have the best faculty in the world here.
Since I came here President Sbrega has been nothing but super supportive.
I mean we have facilities that rival most four-year institutions.
So we have state-of-the-art equipment.
We've always had his support
in traveling to various conferences and training opportunities.
So I can't say enough about how supportive he's been
of the life sciences and biotech specifically.
His thing has always been
about the students and...
it's the present the future students the present students and the past students.
One of the things that I think
the students really like about him is that
he's very involved with the student body.
So he'll have maybe like an
International Day or orientation or just
like a club event and he's always there
you know talking to students getting their concerns.
So I think I think his leadership and
just his presence in general is going to be very missed.
When I met with Jack, he was the reason
why I actually came to BCC.
I had really researched the position.
I had researched the college. And it truly is a BCC family.
And he was responsible for that.
Jack has an addiction to popcorn.
He loves popcorn. When he has a bad day
if I'm around I know, I always made him some popcorn.
And he very much enjoyed that.
Try to give him the low sodium the low, you know,
a little bit of butter not much butter.
The healthier one. But he loves popcorn.
And not too many people know that.
Well I believe he has the same thing for lunch every day.
And I don't know if that's okay to share that, but.
And it's a lovely lunch but it's a homemade bread that his wife makes him.
And he has that every day for lunch if he's in the office.
Large paper clips.
Yes, yes, oh yes, yes, he wants large paper clips.
The large. The jumbo.
No. He does not like those little ones. No.
I think his dedication and devotion to
BCC has been absolutely outstanding and unsurpassed.
He really...He lives, eats, and breathes the collage.
And no matter is small enough that
he will take it on. And, you know,
whether it's a student and faculty or staff,
you know he'll...He as well, as our office,
you know we are trained to help anybody who
comes through the door or calls us
at least direct them to the appropriate
person. And Jack takes it beyond, you know.
He really takes everything to heart.
And everything really means so much to him.
It was an honor and a pleasure to work with you and the BCC family.
I hope I lived up to your expectations.
Have a wonderful retirement with Jo-Anne and your family.
He was the community's president.
I mean he was the guy who walked around talk to everybody,
knew everybody. Wasn't up in his ivory tower.
Just you know, ruling. He he he considered everybody a friend.
My wife has just been unbelievably...
Throughout my whole, our whole marriage of 43 years.
She's been just wonderful.
Wonderful understanding uh-huh.
Some of the things... Oh, I got a meeting I have to go to tonight.
There were a lot of family sacrifices that were made.
I think, you know the kids always knew that dad
taught them to follow their dream and
for them to be a part of fulfilling his
dream was just a really important piece to them as well.
Everything about him makes me very proud.
From being a young kid to being an adult,
we've watched him work so hard.
Where...Even when we would be playing
games he'd show up in a suit and tie
because he'd be at a meeting and he
he wouldn't miss it for anything.
He's always always been there for us and
that's when I'm proud of the most.
Being a father now. A father of four. I look back on
many kind of subtle lessons he taught, so.
I draw on his fatherhood more than ever now.
I'm not sure where are we going to go.
I mentioned to Jo-Anne that I would like to
volunteer in the Children's Museum.
As soon as I said I'd have those children
marching lockstep down the hall you know
and get them in order. She said you're
you're not going anywhere near that place.
The first thing he needs to do is
clean out his files, Jack.
And then I hope he's going to be able to find some time
and maybe get into some of his Vietnam history as well.
I'd like to see him do whatever he wants.
Because and I think he
can achieve anything he puts his mind to.
I'd like to see him be with his
grand kids all the time because he absolutely adores them.
Babysit. Babysit or help coach Little League.
We forward to having him around a lot more.
He could do a lot of things probably.
I think he should just like stay here
because he's done a lot of hard work.
Congratulations Grandpa!
As you can imagine there's a long list of
things I'd miss. But perhaps most important
is the personal relationships.
Working with such wonderful people.
I don't mean personal friendships but just
personal knowing all the faculty and the
staff and the students.
I'm going to miss that's going to be a
big void in my life upon leaving.
It's been wonderful just walking outside,
talking to people outside the office.
Talking to people around the campuses
it's been a great thrill for me.
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