In recent days, I have been asked by a number of concerned faculty, staff and students, and leaders in our community, what Northern Essex Community College is going to do to serve our students, many of whom are Latino, immigrants, low-income, and first generation, now that the new administration in Washington is aggressively attacking higher education and seeking to dismantle any signs of diversity, equity, and inclusion on campuses.
My response: More.
That is not some kind of defiant, political stance.
Rather, it is simply an acknowledgement that the college’s fundamental mission since our founding in 1961 has been to effectively educate all of the residents of northeast Massachusetts, and our work is far from done.
In our nation’s capital, the second Trump administration launched with a culture war, blaming DEI for everything from the Los Angeles wildfires to the recent horrific crash of a jetliner and helicopter over the Potomac River; vowing to end “radical and wasteful government DEI programs and preferencing;” firing huge portions of the federal workforce; and seeking to eliminate funding meant to serve the most marginalized and vulnerable among us, including many students on college campuses.
Without doubt, American higher education is under threat and in crisis.
Here in the Merrimack Valley, the seeds of America’s industrial revolution are buried deep in our character and our culture. We are practical and resourceful. We have rolled up our sleeves and weathered other crises in recent years, like the Columbia Gas Explosions and the COVID-19 Pandemic and, by living our mission and our core values, and by leveraging our unique strengths, we will weather this one, too.
At NECC, we will:
Follow the law.
We are a public college in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts that was formed through laws, with a mission to educate students to become informed, responsible citizens. This is not just lip service. We demonstrate this value through opportunities like our Civic Scholars Program and being recognized as one of America’s “Most Engaged Campuses” for student voting.
We recognize that our democracy relies on respect for our laws, and that any institution or individual that violates them is violating one of our nation’s greatest strengths.
Advocate for our students and communities.
Enshrined in our laws is the freedom of speech, the right to assemble, to protest, and to petition the government to right wrongs. While it is not the task of colleges or their presidents to take a stand on every issue of the day, it is the responsibility of college faculty to seek the truth within their subjects and to state it as they see it, and the obligation of college leaders to ensure the safety, protect the rights, and advocate for the needs of their students.
Here at NECC, we have risen to the defense of our students and communities before when they have been unjustly attacked, and we have helped pass laws, like the recent Tuition Equity Bill, to expand opportunities for everyone we serve, and we will continue to support or lead efforts that protect our students’ safety and rights, and aid their success.
Welcome and serve immigrants.
Geography is destiny in countless ways.
The geography of NECC includes campuses in two Massachusetts Gateway Cities with proud industrial histories: Haverhill and the “Immigrant City” of Lawrence which, for more than 150 years, has been celebrated as home to generation after generation of Irish, Germans, Italians, Lebanese, Polish, and now Dominicans and others from across the Caribbean and Central and South America.
The accents may have changed, but the dreams, the challenges, the perseverance, and the will to succeed and to thrive is as powerful as ever.
At NECC, we know that we are a nation of immigrants, and that despite the overheated rhetoric about migrants invading the country, committing crimes, and taking jobs, the proportion of foreign-born residents in America is about the same today as it was in 1890: 14%.
About a third of immigrants to the United States have at least a bachelor’s degree, making them as educated as native-born Americans. They commit fewer crimes, are stabilizing our population at a time when birth rates are declining, and improve the country’s economy.
Recognizing the need for more educated and skilled workers for tomorrow’s Bay State workforce, in the months ahead NECC will be building on the recommendations in a recent report from the Massachusetts Business Roundtable, Tapping Untapped Talent:
How Foreign-Educated Immigrants Can Strengthen the Massachusetts Economy, by expanding our award-winning PIES Latinos de NECC program to help even more skilled immigrants validate their credentials and build on their education to reach their professional potential—right here in the Merrimack Valley.
Welcome and serve everyone.
As the first federally designated Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) in all of New England, Northern Essex Community College serves the largest proportion of Latino students of any higher education institution in the northeast, and we will continue to provide services our Latino students need to succeed whether the U.S. Department of Education and the HSI designation continue to exist or not (NECC, after all, has been around longer than either of them).
We also serve thousands of other students representing a wide array of races, ethnicities, abilities, gender identities, and other personal characteristics, and each and every one of them deserves our full attention, which is why our strategic plan is called “Success for All.”
At NECC, our approach to diversity, equity and inclusion is a practical one.
We are less focused on some of the traditional higher ed trappings of DEI (like prescribed language guides, land acknowledgements, and “decolonizing” the curriculum) and instead prioritize policies and initiatives that matter most to our students and truly create more equitable outcomes, like:
- Expanding access to classes that teach ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) alongside career skills
- Raising money to provide stipends for low-income students participating in unpaid internships
- Enrolling nearly 1,000 students a year in Early College classes that boost college enrollment and degree attainment for everyone, especially for students of color
- Operating the first police academy in the state to become ABLE (Active Bystandership for Law Enforcement) certified to teach future police officers to overcome biases and intervene in misconduct, particularly in communities of color
- Collaborating with the University of Massachusetts to create the Community College Advantage Scholarship to help students with the greatest needs afford a high quality UMass education
- Leading the statewide SUCCESS (Supporting Urgent Community College Equity through Student Services) program, which is helping more students, including those facing systemic barriers, to persist in college and graduate
Live our mission and values.
Any organization’s mission and core values are meant to be at the heart of who they are and what they do. They are the purpose and principles the organization is built on, not meant to change frequently with trends, challenges, or new leaders.
At NECC, our mission remains the same: To educate and inspire our students to succeed.
And so do our values, which include insisting on a high standard of educational excellence in an environment of respect and fairness, nurtured by a culture of inclusion that reflects the layers of cultural and self-identity that proudly make up our region, nation, and world.
Whatever happens in Washington, and however its effects may ripple across the nation and through American institutions, here in our practical, resourceful corner of the Commonwealth, we are steadfast in our commitment to serving all of our students.
And we have more work to do.
