All posts by Melissa Bouse, NECC News

Sports

Basketball team ranked #5 in poll

 
NECC basketball team
Photo courtesy of NECC News

The Northern Essex Community College men’s basketball team will start their season ranked number 5 in the National Junior College Athletic Association preseason poll.

This is the 28th consecutive time the Knights have been included in the national rankings.

The back-to-back Region 21 Champions will feature a new look in the new season, as they return just three players with previous experience in the Knights uniform.

However, a talented and deep roster should have the Knights in contention for a third straight trip to the national tournament.

Javien Kirmil (Lowell) who appeared in 33 games last season with 18 starts is back with Karl Wolfgang (Douala, Cameroon) who saw action in 30 games with 13 starts. They will be be joined by Ryan Pacy (Salem, New Hampshire) who returns from the 2022-23 team where he averages 8.8 points per game in 21 appearances while battling through injury.

Kirmil and Wolfgang combined for 14.4 points a game last season. The Knights have combined to go 65-4 over the last two years and have been unbeaten in league play during that time.

A trio of former Merrimack Valley stars in Joendy Rosario (Lawrence), Jeremy Valdez (Haverhill) and Alejandro Delgado (Haverhill) join the mix this season. Also joining the team and expected to make an immediate impact are Christian Sanders (East Boston) andYunosuke Matsuda (Tokyo, Japan).

The Knights are set to open up their season on Saturday, November 2nd against Monroe-Bronx in Lincroft, New Jersey, at the Brookdale Basketball Classic. The first home game is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 7.

News

Community College Advantage Scholarships

 
UMass has welcomed first graduates to receive the awards

All four University of Massachusetts undergraduate campuses in Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth and Lowell this Fall welcomed 66 community college graduates who are the first to be awarded the UMass Community College Advantage Scholarship, a new two-year $10,000 scholarship given to students in the top 10 percent of their class who enroll at UMass.

Launched in December 2023, the UMass Community College Advantage Scholarship guarantees students in the top 10 percent of their graduating class admission to the University of Massachusetts and a minimum of $10,000 over two years, or $2,500 each semester, to complete their bachelor’s degree. The scholarship is designed to expand access to a bachelor’s degree for historically underrepresented students and encourage timely completion for students at Massachusetts’ 15 community colleges.

“We are thrilled to welcome these talented and motivated students who worked hard to be at the top of their class, earned the UMass Community College Advantage Scholarship, and decided to attend one of our nationally ranked UMass campuses,” UMass President Marty Meehan said. “We are confident students awarded this scholarship will thrive on our campuses as they work toward their bachelor’s degree and then join the ranks of so many UMass graduates working and making a difference in Massachusetts and around the world.”

The UMass Community College Advantage Scholarship is awarded in addition to federal and private grants and financial aid. Students remain eligible for additional aid, based on individual circumstances.

“Since the community colleges have the greatest diversity of any sector of higher education, such a scholarship incentivizes more students to transfer to UMass while diversifying their student body and providing essential financial support for students to succeed,” said Northern Essex Community College President Lane Glenn, who worked closely with UMass President Meehan to launch the scholarship.

To be eligible for the UMass Community College Advantage Scholarship for the Fall 2024, students must have:

Graduated from a Massachusetts community college in the top 10 percent of their graduating class.

Be eligible for in-state tuition.

Completed the 2024-25 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or equivalent state financial aid application.

Completed their associate degree prior to the beginning of the Fall 2024 semester.

The UMass Community College Advantage Scholarship is among several initiatives aimed at expanding access to a four-year college degree, which data shows significantly increases a person’s income over their lifetime.

Some other UMass’ college affordability initiatives include:

Increasing university-funded financial aid by 73 percent to $406 million annually.

Launching early college programs at all UMass campuses to give thousands of high school students opportunities to earn transferrable UMass college credits for free, creating significant savings on tuition costs.

With the launch of MassEducate, which provides free community college to Massachusetts residents, the university is also exploring additional ways to improve the transfer process for community college students to help more students succeed. Some initiatives under consideration include increasing the number of staff dedicated to helping students with the transfer process, boosting funding for merit-based financial aid, and building additional capacity in key academic programs.

Last year, 44 percent of all UMass transfer students came from a Massachusetts community college, and the university anticipates the number will increase with MassEducate.

The UMass Community College Advantage Scholarship is available to students transferring to UMass Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, and Lowell. For more information on the UMass Community College Advantage Scholarship, visit the dedicated webpage.

Arts and Entertainment, Slider

“Hurricane Diane” competes at festival, will return to NECC

 
Photo courtesy Brianne Beatrice

The spring semester started with a bang for Northern Essex Community College theater students and professor Brianne Beatrice. They went right back into the theater to start re-rehearsing last spring’s production, Hurricane Diane.Beatrice learned just before the holiday break that representatives from the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF) selected the production as a finalist for the Region 1 Festival, taking place from Jan. 30 to Feb. 3.

Regardless of the outcome, it won’t be the final curtain call for Diane. NECC Theater is restaging the production on the Haverhill Campus on  Feb. 23 and 24 at 7 p.m. and at 2 p.m. on Feb.  25. Tickets are on sale now. 

“We have to remount the entire production to perform at festival,” says Beatrice. “All the students, everyone got right back into it. By next Monday, we’ll be good to go. We get there on a Tuesday, load in Wednesday, and perform Thursday.”

“Festival,” as it’s called, brings together hundreds of college theater students, professors, and professionals from New England and New York to showcase their work and share their expertise. Hurricane Diane was one of just six finalists chosen out of 60 productions, including shows from many prestigious, four-year schools.

“It’s crazy our work is being honored like this. They’re looking for good art, and our art is being recognized,” Beatrice remarks. This is the second show Beatrice has produced at NECC to be chosen for festival. The first was Stupid F*cking Bird in 2019.

A woman in a chair performs in a play.
Mirrorajah Metcalfe as Diane Photo courtesy of NECC News

The title role in Hurricane Diane is played by Liberal Arts: Writing major Mirrorajah Metcalfe of Haverhill. AmericanTheater.org describes the character as “a permaculture gardener dripping with butch charm.” In reality, Diane is the Greek god Dionysus. She’s returned to the modern world to gather mortal followers and restore the Earth to its natural state. Where better to begin than with four housewives in a suburban New Jersey cul-de-sac? The comedy serves as a commentary on the blind eye we all turn to climate change and “the bacchanalian catharsis that awaits us, even in our own backyards.”

Four more Northern Essex students round out the cast: Olivia Barberian, Gwynnethe Glickman, Jessica Newey, and Ana Barrera. 

Metcalfe and Barberian were also selected to compete for Irene Ryan Acting Scholarships. 

Each will perform two monologues and a scene. Newey, meanwhile, is nominated for The LMDA/KCACTF Student Dramaturgy Award.

Winners in each award category, including the production, will move on to the national festival later this spring in Washington, D.C. Northern Essex offers a variety of theater and acting courses. Additionally, they stage several full productions and readings throughout the year. 

News, Uncategorized

Honors students awarded scholarships

 
Four people standing together against a brick wall
Scotty Silva, Emily Ellis, Wildalis Tejada, Elvis Soto, and Soiri Rosario (not pictured) were each awarded $1,000 scholarships. Photo courtesy NECC Newsroom

Northern Essex Community College is proud to recognize the accomplishments of five honors students. Emily Ellis, Scotty Silva, Wildalis Tejada, Elvis Soto, and Soiri Rosario each earned a $1,000 scholarship from the NECC Foundation, Inc. These students completed at least one honors course in the fall semester and maintained an overall GPA of 3.2 or higher.

Scotty Silva, Emily Ellis, Wildalis Tejada, Elvis Soto, and Soiri Rosario (not pictured) were each awarded $1,000 scholarships.

“I’m very thankful for the opportunity to have the help with tuition,” said Haverhill’s Scotty Silva, who took Honors American Literature I in the fall and is currently enrolled in the Honors Seminar: Dinosaurs! “I like that we can have in-depth discussions in a small setting.”

The number of honors classes offered at NECC was doubled for the 2022 Fall Semester. Classes are now available on the Haverhill and Lawrence Campuses, and one meets online. “It is our hope that we can double our honors offerings again in the future,” remarked NECC Provost Paul Beaudin. “We want to ensure that every local student knows we’re the community’s college. We serve all students: those who need support and those who already excel academically.”
Emily Ellis, of Malden, is a psychology major who plans to study neuroscience at a four-year institution after graduating from NECC. She says taking honors courses allowed her to discover new interests. “I took American Literature last semester, and I found myself really enjoying reading 200-year-old texts!”

Any student can register and take honors classes regardless of GPA. However, students who take three honors classes and maintain a GPA of at least 3.2 will be designated as members of the Commonwealth Honors Program. That means if they transfer to a state university, they’re automatically enrolled in the Commonwealth Honors program there, and their honors courses transfer easily. “MA is the only state that has this seamless transition from the community colleges to the state universities,” says Honors Program Coordinator Ginger Hurajt.

Learn more about the honors program and class options here. Anyone with questions should contact Commonwealth Honors Program Coordinator Ginger Hurajt at ghurajt@necc.mass.edu.