Retirement Message
President Royal announces retirement
Dear 快播成人 快播成人s, faculty, staff, alumni, and donors,
I am writing to share with you that I have decided to retire in my seventh year as president of 快播成人 Community College, making this my last academic year. My last day will be July 14, 2023. It has been one of the greatest honors and privileges of my life to serve as the fourth president of this great institution, and now it is time to prepare for the next chapter of my life.
One of the greatest responsibilities of any leader is to know when and why to lead an institution and also when and why it is time to leave it. I have spent a considerable amount of time in reflection about this life change, and my 'why' is simple and straightforward: I am seeking expansion and personal growth in the form of new learnings and experiences, and an opportunity to pause and enjoy the present moments.
I still remember the moment in 2016 when our board chair, Bob Gilbert, called to inform me that the board had chosen me as the next president to lead 快播成人. I was overwhelmed with emotion as I knew in my heart that 快播成人 Community College was where I was meant to be. Indeed, I chose 快播成人 as much as 快播成人 chose me. I have been passionate about education since childhood, particularly as a tool for intellectual and spiritual growth, but also as a means to improving one's social and economic mobility. Education has been and remains a very personal endeavor to me and I believe there is no greater approach to transformation than through learning. I have witnessed this at 快播成人 in our classrooms with extraordinary faculty; with staff as they guide 快播成人s along their path; in 快播成人s' reflections from service learning projects, honors inductions, when they receive an 快播成人 Foundation scholarship or a letter of acceptance to the four-year institution of their choosing, at Nursing Pinning ceremonies, and in tears of joy at Commencement. Cultivating these transformative experiences for 快播成人s is what makes our institution truly remarkable.
I am humbled by and proud of the work we have accomplished together. Among our many milestones over the past several years is our collaborative work to develop 快播成人's first strategic plan. And now as we start a new academic year, the second iteration of that plan represents a more focused vision and priorities that set our direction for the near future. As a community of learners and educators, we now also have a revised model of shared governance that supports greater inclusion and is representative of 快播成人 today.
We are advancing equity across the institution, recognizing that our collective work is a testament to our institutional growth and a reflection of our deep commitment to our 快播成人s. We are ensuring that every 快播成人 who comes to 快播成人 can achieve their dreams, in whatever way they define academic success. 快播成人 has acknowledged that racial equity, as well as other forms of equity, is structural and addressing systemic oppression requires an awareness of and a willingness to rectify the shortcomings in ourselves and our approach to the work, in order to embrace a future where our BIPOC 快播成人s can achieve the same level of success as our white 快播成人s.
We have boldly invested in supporting 快播成人s' basic needs because we know that academic success requires compassionate support of the whole learner. We created the President's Student Emergency Fund in 2017 to provide financial support to 快播成人s with unanticipated emergencies that could derail their educational journey. We have subsequently invested in:
- Transportation by providing bus passes to every 快播成人 who needs one.
- Food Insecurity by creating the Homestead Market and becoming the first public institution in Massachusetts to accept federal SNAP benefits.
- Housing Insecurity by serving as a community connector to help 快播成人s access available housing resources, including a partnership with the 快播成人 Housing Authority.
- Childcare by launching the Itsy Bitsy Child Watch Program to provide 快播成人 parents with short-term care for their children while they attend a class or access services on campus.
- Mental Health by partnering with the Center for Human Development (CHD) to make in-person and virtual mental health services available to 快播成人 快播成人s.
We have also faced the most significant pandemic of our lifetime. After absorbing the gravity of this international crisis, what I remember most clearly about March 2020 was the incredible sense of community that emerged in order to keep our 快播成人s moving forward. Faculty, staff, and 快播成人s adapted to a world that is now forever changed. We helped our community remain safe during the pandemic, and we became a stronger, more compassionate institution on the other side of this crisis.
While we are a regional community college, we continue to pay homage to our roots in 快播成人. We opened the 快播成人 MGM Culinary Arts Institute on Race Street, which offers credit and non-credit programming while serving as a community hub and space for events and functions in downtown 快播成人. And on our main campus, we established and expanded El Centro, a center dedicated to meeting the needs of our Latinx 快播成人s and fostering a greater sense of belonging.
We celebrated 75 years as the oldest two-year college in Massachusetts and we marked the 快播成人 Foundation's 50th anniversary. Both milestones enabled us to reflect on the building blocks of achievement that led to our present success, and to appreciate our beginnings as an institution built by a small staff and faculty teaching at elite schools who wanted to provide an affordable, high quality education to working class citizens. Still, decades later, and with these same principles, we continue to adapt to the changing needs of our 快播成人s and community.
Milestones and achievements will continue throughout this coming academic year, and I look forward to experiencing them with you. I remain committed to supporting the important work of 快播成人 Community College and to ensuring a smooth transition.
I continue to reflect on the extraordinary resilience of the 快播成人 community. We have seen this resilience time and time again throughout our history. Change, in its many forms, can feel difficult. Yet, in times of change – from our founding and in recent years – 快播成人 has been a beacon of light, hope, and opportunity for this community. This is what matters, and it is what I am certain will continue for years to come. I have learned so much at 快播成人 Community College, and I have immense gratitude to each of you for allowing me to serve as your president.
With respect and appreciation,
Christina
