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Date: 4/26/2021
HOLYOKE – Union members at Holyoke Community College (HCC) are calling on Gov. Charlie Baker to appoint a Holyoke resident to the board of trustees.
Holyoke resident and Massachusetts Community College Council HCC chapter president, Laura Schlegel, said currently on the board of trustees there was not a single Holyoke resident. “The board is made up of the chairman, who is Bob Gilbert, and members that are not from Holyoke. They’re from East Longmeadow, West Springfield, Longmeadow, one lives in Connecticut,” she said.
She said while she was unsure of how the process worked, all board members of HCC, much like other community colleges in the area, were appointed by the governor “for various reasons.” However, she said this has resulted in a lack of representation for Holyoke residents, staff, students and even local businesses. “They’re not people who live in Holyoke, or know the population of Holyoke,” she said.
The City of Holyoke, Schlegel said, was unique in many ways, including that they are largely “a hispanic serving” community and was “sometimes listed as the poorest city in the state.” HCC, she explained, was “looking at cutting our ESL program,” and had “already significantly cut our career services program in a city where people are looking for work, looking for jobs.”
“These are factors affecting our students and unless you live in the community, see what’s happening in the community, it’s hard to see where our students are coming from,” she said. “It’s a larger perspective that helps all of us who live [in Holyoke] and work at the community college.”
Additionally, she said having someone representing Holyoke on the board would also be beneficial to staff. Having started her own professional journey at HCC she said she’s “taken that journey.”
She said having “someone working for us that we know we can go to on the board” and express the needs of community or business members would aid in many ways. Additionally, she said it would help staff have a voice with regard to issues that may come to light. “We don’t always have access to the board, having someone who’s dedicated to Holyoke and the college may help with the fact that ESL is in jeopardy, [and] our career services program has been cut,” she said. “It would really give us a voice on the board that could really bring some issues to light.”
Anyone wanting more information on how to support the union’s request or that has questions should email Schlegel at lschlegel@hccc.edu.