Page 24 - BusinessWest June 13, 2022
P. 24

  Education
 Marking a
Milestone
At 75, HCC Celebrates All That’s Changed, and All That Hasn’t
Holyoke Community College, the state’s first community college,
is marking its 75th anniversary
this year. This has been a time
to reflect on how the school has evolved to meet the changing needs of those living and working in
the communities it serves, while remaining loyal to the mission with which it was founded — to open
Idoors to opportunity.
t’s called the Itsy Bitsy Child Watch Center. And the name says it all — if you know about
this kind of facility. It’s not a daycare center — there’s already one of those on the Holyoke Com- munity College campus. And it’s not an early
education facility — the college has no intention of getting into that business, according to its president, Christina Royal.
Instead, it’s a ... child-watch center, a place where students can bring young children for a few minutes or a few hours, while they’re attending classes, taking part in meetings, or perhaps huddling with advisors.
“We were birthed to create opportunities for working adults to be able to get a quality education, and that’s really important still today. Education is accessible to all — that’s the most important piece about community colleges; access is a tenet of a community-college education.”
At top, the original home to HCC, the former Holyoke High School. Above, the campus, and its renovated campus center, today. At left, Christina Royal, the college’s fourth president.
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