Contact information: 413/775-1420
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Contact: Liz Carroll
Phone: 413/775-1420
E-mail: carroll@gcc.mass.edu

Media contact: Liz Carroll
Marketing & Publications
413/775-1420 | carroll@gcc.mass.edu

Release date: March 28, 2005

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Legislator profile: Representative Christopher Donelan

Knows GCC up close and personal

Representative Christopher Donelan (2nd Franklin District) knows Greenfield Community College first-hand from the time when he taught a criminal justice course as an adjunct faculty member. "I was amazed at the diversity of the student body,” says Donelan. "You have kids fresh out of high school, you have adults thinking about changing careers, and you have senior citizens who are there for the love of learning or because they want additional knowledge for some volunteer work they want to do. There were quite a few professionals who were in my classes taking night courses, and I learned a lot by teaching. So it was a great experience for me.”

It drove home a lesson he carries with him every day to the State House: "The value that Greenfield Community College brings to the entire Franklin County community is obvious. The opportunity for our young people to have access to higher education or job training is invaluable.

"What we struggle with in Boston,” continues Donelan, "is trying to convince the city folks that an investment in education in rural Massachusetts is just as important as it is in the big cities. Whenever there's a cost/benefit analysis done, where they calculate what government costs vs. the number of people served, it's much more difficult to justify spending in a rural area like ours. So we have to fight harder for the resources out here. But our people are just as valuable, and they're worth the investment.”

Making that case in Boston, Donelan contends, is a matter of standing together. "When there was talk about closing Greenfield Community College, we basically joined forces with legislators from other parts of the state to make the point that all of Massachusetts needs the benefit of higher education, not just the highly populated areas. By doing that, we were able to push our case and ensure that the state invests in all of its people, not just those in the big cities.”

The current challenge for higher education is the budget, according to Donelan. "GCC has weathered several budget cuts throughout this fiscal crisis, and the management of Bob Pura has been incredible in maintaining a high level of services in spite of cuts. But we're at a point now where we have to look to the future of GCC and how to adequately fund the college to meet future students' needs.

"GCC truly is the community's college; they're very good at meeting local needs, which I think is what a community college is supposed to be. On a broader perspective, the future of public higher education needs to be stable and secure to that any child in Massachusetts who wants to gain access to one of our colleges and universities has the opportunity to do that.”