Trustees draft letter of protest to House leadership
At a meeting of the Board of Trustees of Greenfield Community College, trustees reluctantly approved the adoption of a college service fee of $116.50 per credit, an increase of $10 per credit. The increase corresponds to the decrease in state funding, according to Board Chair Patricia Crosson. "We are left with no choice but to approve this," said Crosson.
"We are deeply concerned about the escalating costs to students," responded GCC President Robert L. Pura. "The bottom line is that current funding for higher education is not serving the commonwealth because it is placing more and more of the costs on students. This will inevitably lead to pricing higher education out of the reach of all too many of our working families in the state. We cannot afford to continue down this path. There's a direct correlation between our investment in public higher education and the future economic and social well being of our community, of this region and of the commonwealth."
As a result of the failure to fully support public higher education, and the consequent fee increase, the Board of Trustees drafted a letter addressed to House and Senate leaders imploring the legislature to find a way to fund the gap in public higher education over a period of time not to exceed seven years. "If the gap were to be funded within this time period," reads the letter, "we believe our objective to hold our fees at a level equal to the rate of inflation, while re-building our financial position, will be possible."
In other business, trustees learned about the findings of doctoral student Ellen Rainville, who studied GCC students with learning differences over the course of a year to discern how the college could better support them, and listened to a tribute to 21-year faculty member Gretchen Watson, Professor of English, who died suddenly approximately two weeks ago.
Dean David Ram recalled how Professor Watson's extraordinary dedication resulted in the use of technology in all GCC courses and classrooms. Her motivation, according to Ram, was access and excellence. "We talk about access and excellence all the time," said Ram, "and I know what motivated Gretchen " it was access.
"Gretchen said, 'When students show up at private colleges, it's with laptops and internet access. Our students ought to have that here. We're doing them a disservice if we don't teach them how to do this.'
"Not only did she recognize the need for it, but she went around to all the different departments necessary to pull it together and make it happen. Who asked her to do that? Nobody. But she cared about access and she lived it, every day. She was so unassuming, so modest, and yet did so much great work. She has changed the lives of thousands of people in this area and the loss to this college is just inestimable."
For more information about the meeting, please call board of trustees chair Patricia Crosson at (413) 774-6356 or the office of the president at (413) 775-1410.
Artists of all kinds invited to participate Nov. 4 at GCC
Dr. Stuart Rosenfeld, a nationally renowned expert on the creative rural economy, heads an eminent roster of leaders who recognize the economic importance of the arts and want to see this segment of the Franklin County economy really take off in the next ten years. They, along with artists and craftspersons of all kinds, will be working to make that happen by participating in a day-long summit hosted by Greenfield Community College on Saturday, Nov. 4. The summit is the capstone event of the Fostering the Arts and Culture project, a collaboration of area arts and economic organizations funded by a grant from the John and Abigail Adams initiative of the Massachusetts Cultural Council.
According to studies done by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, the arts constitute the third largest economy in Massachusetts. Project Coordinator Dee Boyle-Clapp explains how: "When a symphony or festival is held," says Boyle-Clapp, "people come and spend money on B&Bs or area restaurants. The event brings in a lot of people and money stays in the area. Commerce happens because of the creative economy."
Since last spring, Boyle-Clapp has headed a community-wide collaboration that has sponsored a series of "creative conversations" among artists/craftspeople, business courses to help them become more profitable, a database to identify and communicate with one another, and a new Web site (www.massartandculture.org). All of these projects are aimed at bringing artists together and fostering the connections that they need to grow their businesses and strengthen the local creative economy.
The summit explores local issues, then looks at the bigger picture in Massachusetts and, finally, the national perspective. "It's not just Franklin County artists struggling alone," says Boyle-Clapp. "There are creative rural economy efforts taking place across the country and in other parts of the world. We are connected in this effort and can learn from one another."
Following a networking breakfast and welcome, there is a panel discussion that will include Meri Jenkins from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, Beth Siegel, President of Mt. Auburn Associates, and Stuart Rosenfeld, keynote speaker.
Then, participants can choose from three break-out sessions, explains Boyle-Clapp. "The first group is called 'Building the Creative Economy through marketing and audience-building.' Panelists will share an example of how marketing has given them regional exposure and what the impact of that exposure has been.
"A second option will be 'Building the Franklin County Manifesto: A Dedication to a Creative Community.' In almost every major art movement, there's been some kind of document that people have created and supported to declare their intentions, hopes and dreams. That has been a manifesto. We'd like this group to dream and create the key elements of what the Franklin County creative economy is all about and turn it into a manifesto that area artists can sign onto. A manifesto is a clear statement saying, 'I am not alone. I am working with other people and together we will work to accomplish shared goals.' For regional artists, providing a clear membership in shared beliefs will be empowering.
"The third session, called 'Building the creative economy: Franklin County circa 2016,' will create a vision for 2016: What's going to happen in Franklin County and how do we get there?
"At the Summit, the artists themselves will prioritize where they want to see Fostering the Arts and Culture Partnership focus their efforts," says Boyle-Clapp.
Keynote speaker Dr. Stuart Rosenfeld is president of Regional Technology Strategies Inc., in Carrboro, N.C. "He works with regions trying to get them to build their own creative economies," says Boyle-Clapp. Dr. Rosenfeld's current interests include research and policy formulation for various states and regions on regional industry clusters and business networks and particular roles for community colleges, all with an emphasis on less-populated areas. He has served on committees for the National Academy of Sciences, and published numerous papers and books, including "New Strategies for Regional Development."
Networking is one of the bonuses of attending the Creative Economy Summit.
"One of the things that has come out of the focus groups is that in this region artists are living in isolation. Franklin County is 704 square miles, with geographic barriers that people have to travel to find each other," says Boyle-Clapp. "Many artists and craftspeople are lonely and want a community to support one another's work. As a result, creating community has become an important component of Fostering the Arts efforts"
For more information, contact Dee at (413) 775-1264 or visit www.massartandculture.org. To register for the summit by phone, please call Karen at (413) 775-1803 (M-F, 9 to 4), or call the 24-hour line with credit card at (413) 774-7690 (Creative Economy Summit CSW 669). To register by mail, send checks to GCC (write "Summit" on memo line) c/o Dee Boyle-Clapp, N317, GCC, One College Drive, Greenfield, MA 01301.
The fee of $20 includes breakfast and lunch catered by Rose-Ann's Bakery.
During the third and final phase of renovations to the Greenfield Community College campus, the cafeteria in the core is closed. But Karen Phillips, Director of Auxiliary Services, made sure the college community wouldn't go hungry. Over the summer, Phillips worked with student Jenna Krawczyk and Food Service Coordinator Deb Cloutier to expand the offerings of the Business Club's Café Academia, located in the East Building. The result is a new and improved food court that offers six flavors of coffee plus pastries and bagels in the morning, run by the Business Club, and lots of great grab-and-go foods for lunch, run by the college. Even the wireless internet access, pioneered by the Business Club last year, has been enhanced. It all adds up to a popular student hang-out that continues to serve as a small business incubator for entrepreneurial-minded Business Club members.
"They staff the area from 7:30 to 10:45 a.m.," explains Phillips. "They pay for all their expenses and they keep all their sales revenue. It's the same (as last year), except that they're sharing a brand new space with us."
And they're sharing a new coffee vendor: Pierce Brothers Java Coffee Roasters, who air-roast their fair-trade, organic, kosher coffee beans on Hope Street in Greenfield. "The Pierce Brothers were willing to provide us with brand new equipment and more flavors of coffee," says Krawczyk, 20, of Amherst, who worked with Phillips to secure the new contract.
Phillips and Cloutier have put in place a winning alternative to the former full service cafeteria. "We're buying everything wholesale from Big Y and re-selling it at just enough cost to cover our basic expenses," says Phillips. "We're selling wrap sandwiches for $3.50 and pizza for $1.30 a slice. So we're giving the students a break."
Panini, grinders, desserts and beverages round out the offerings. Phillips reports that the most popular item is the pizza, which sells out within an hour, followed by the wraps. "We've been selling out our food almost every day except Fridays," she adds.
Careful buying is one of the many lessons that Krawczyk is learning as the Business Club's coffee bar manager. "When I first started ordering the muffins and pastries, I started with just a dozen to see how well they would be received," explains Krawczyk. "Then I listened to customers say, 'I wish you had bagels,' so I added a dozen bagels and sold out.
"It's hard (deciding how much to order). I haven't upped the order yet. I'm thinking I'm probably going to downsize a bit on the muffins and doughnuts and order more bagels. When you have leftovers, you can't sell them the day after."
That kind of attention to ordering has made the Business Club's operation highly profitable, which enables the club to make a donation to a different charity each month. They also donate to the college's scholarship fund every semester, and take a trip at the end of the year. "Last year it was New York City," says Krawczyk. "It was $100 per person for four days. We went to Broadway, we went out to dinner, we toured NBC studios and the Mercantile Exchange. We had so much fun."
Business Club members who staff the Café Academia learn lessons that they'll take with them into the business world.
"The biggest challenge is being able to have peace of mind," says Krawczyk, whose duties include scheduling. "Every single day, every time there's a shift change, I'm always thinking, 'Oh, I hope so and so's on their way to their shift' and 'Oh, I hope I trained him or her well enough.' So it's being able to let go and trust that people understand where they're supposed to be and to keep track of that if it doesn't happen. The scheduling has gotten to be really easy because I have so many people wanting some shifts."
Customer satisfaction is another lesson. "Everybody deserves personalized attention," Krawczyk says. "Even if you're really busy making a bagel or brewing a port of coffee, customers needs to know that you're here for them. Coffee is a large part of people's lives, as I'm finding out running this, and we're here to deliver a good product."
Krawczyk came to GCC as a business major. "I was pretty sure that business was something I wanted to study," says Krawczyk, "but my parents suggested I figure that out before I went to a big, expensive four-year school. That turned out to be a really good idea."
For Krawczyk and other Business Club members, the Café Academia is a chance "to be empowered by things you take on and learn from. That's the biggest lesson," says Krawczyk.
"There'll always be a place on this campus for a full-service cafeteria," says Phillips, "because we host a lot of community events." In the meantime, no one's going hungry and the Café Academia's enhanced facility means an even brighter future as the Business Club's entrepreneurial classroom.
Hires Nathaniel Greenspan to coordinate 2 feasibility studies
Thanks to Congressman John Olver, who earmarked federal funding of $100,000 for the purpose, Greenfield Community College has taken a key step toward the possible construction of a fine and performing arts center for the College and larger community with the hiring of a consultant, Greenfield resident Nathaniel Greenspan, to oversee the completion of two feasibility studies that will determine the shape and funding of such a facility.
Greenspan, the owner of Mountainside Marketing in Greenfield, holds a degree in music business from Berklee College of Music, Boston, and an MBA from UMass Amherst. He has worked in music management, promoting jazz artists for TKA in Boston, and was a founder of SonicBids, a Boston-based company formed to create electronic press kits for musicians. A guitarist, Greenspan played, toured, composed and recorded with a band, Zagnutt, before coming out to western Massachusetts in 2000 to earn his MBA, where he "fell in love with the Pioneer Valley." Since then, he has worked in marketing for UMass, before starting a consulting business in Greenfield.
"Nat's ability to bridge the worlds of business and entertainment, and to have such a solid footing in both, makes him the perfect person to guide us at a pivotal point in this project," says Regina E. Curtis, Director of Development at Greenfield Community College.
Greenspan will lead a steering committee composed of members representing the arts, business and College communities in the greater Franklin County area. Over the next 18 months, the group will conduct two consecutive feasibility studies.
"The first one, explains Curtis, "will be a needs assessment to discern the interest in a fine and performing arts center being constructed and what people would be interested in seeing and doing in such a facility if it existed. The outcome of that study will prepare us to embark on the second one, a capital financing feasibility study. That's where we do an assessment of the community, state and federal funding sources to identify the funding sources needed to build such a facility."
The first step will be to assemble the steering committee, drawing from the large number of highly qualified people interested in serving. "Dedicated people are finding out about this project," says Curtis, "and writing to say that they would like to be on it, so there's considerable interest in it."
"What that says to me," says Greenspan, "is that there is a considerable portion of the area that not only would like to see this come to fruition, but would like to be a part of it, and I think that speaks well for the public response. Now our mission is to look at this from a business and management standpoint and make sure we translate that enthusiasm into a cogent, workable, sustainable plan."
Greenspan describes himself as someone who is equally comfortable with sheet music and spread sheets. "I see my role in this position as taking the input of what will likely be a very dynamic search committee and making sure that all of their great ideas are eventually transformed into a thoughtful analysis of this opportunity."
For more information, please contact Regina Curtis at (413) 775-1426 or curtisr@gcc.mass.edu.
Greenfield Community College invites nominations for the "Living the Dream" and " Bright Light" awards honoring adults and young people who have carried on, in their community, the ideals of peace and social justice exemplified by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Nominations should be made in the form of a letter to President Robert L. Pura at Greenfield Community College, One College Drive, Greenfield MA 01301. The deadline is Friday, December 1st. A selection committee will work with Dr. Pura in naming the successful recipients.
The awards will be presented on MLK Day, January 15, 2007, the national holiday set aside to reflect upon the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. For more information, please call Herb Hentz at (413) 775-1809.
Sun Shines on 'Green' Campus
On Sept. 27, Greenfield Community College dedicated its new pole-mounted rack of 18 photovoltaic panels that are harvesting an inexhaustible and free source of energy " the sun " and converting it into two kilowatts of clean, nonpolluting electricity to provide lighting, power computers and maintain proper ventilation in the nearby East Building.
While two kilowatts is not nearly enough to provide the college with all of the electricity it needs, said Professor Brian Adams, who spearheaded the project, this system does produce what the typical American home consumes and can be used as a model for people to understand what it would be like to install a similar system at their home. "It's only a drop in the electrical bucket for GCC's energy needs," Adams told the assembled crowd, "but every bucket begins with a single drop. Enough buckets here, enough buckets there and we can begin to wash away our unhealthy reliance on fossil fuels."
"That's an important lesson," said President Robert L. Pura at the dedication. "Recently, I've been talking to a human ecologist who reminded me that the environmental issues of today are not only about preserving parks and such, it's about how we will live on this planet and whether or not the planet will be sustained in the long term. I'm glad that the college is moving ahead with a project that speaks to our leadership role in the community."
The installation was constructed by a local company, Pioneer Valley Photovoltaics Cooperative (PV)2, and designed by GCC alum Matt Sirum ('01), a worker/owner and president of its board. "As far as electrical generation is concerned, it's making clean power, which is really important," said Sirum, "but because of where we are, here at GCC, it's even more powerful because it's in public view. It's a real example of what solar energy might look like on a residence or a small business. If this were a smaller facility or a residence, the power above and beyond what was produced and used in the building would go out to the grid in an agreement with the utility company, and the homeowner or business owner would actually get credit for that from the utility."
Sirum discovered his calling at GCC. "The first class I ever took at GCC was the human ecology course and it opened my eyes to understanding how people interact with this planet," said Sirum, who went on to make key professional contacts as a result of taking Professor Adams' sustainable energy course. "Every student had to do a service learning project," recalls Sirum, "and I went to the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA) and everything just kind of blossomed from there. I don't think I'd be in this business today if it wasn't for the people I've met and what I learned here at GCC early on, years ago."
Walton and Betty Congdon, whose Northfield home is a popular stop on sustainable energy tours, came to celebrate GCC's new installation. "This is a great way of teaching about this energy source," said Walton Congdon. "I see it (photovoltaics) as one of a number of ways of generating the electricity that we're going to be desperately needing. There is no one answer to our electric energy problems. I'll be most interested to see what the output of this is."
That will be apparent for all to see at an informational kiosk which should be in place in the East Building in about six months, and eventually on the GCC Web site via a computerized tie-in that charts real-time electrical generation and climate data for use by students in business, math, science, human ecology and economics classes. "We are an educational institution," notes Adams, "and our fundamental priority is to provide our students with learning opportunities."
The project has been a long-time dream of the science department that was finally realized in 2005 when Regina Curtis, who had just come on board as director of development, investigated the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative's "Small Renewables Initiatives" funding program. "In order to apply," recalls Curtis, "you actually have to have bid out and awarded a contract with a vendor who has designed your photovoltaic system and is ready to go. The application's a very technical document, so that took quite a bit of work." Professor Brian Adams and director of physical plant Harry Gaines worked tirelessly to complete the application, which was supported by the efforts of State Senator Stan Rosenberg (D-Amherst) and U.S. Congressman John Olver.
"Using clean and renewable energy supplies has rightly become a national priority," Rosenberg said. "I'm proud that GCC, in partnership with Pioneer Valley Photovoltaics and the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, has taken a leadership role in that effort."
Said Olver recently, "Greenfield Community College is demonstrating leadership by embracing solar technology. I applaud the steps the college is taking to reduce their overall use of energy and to eventually become a small energy producer. It is a win-win situation all around."
Now that the system is set up and tied into the grid, the plan is to keep adding panels. "We're not going to stop at two kilowatts," says Adams. "Two kilowatts is almost like a prototype. As people get excited about it and we raise more money and the state comes up with more matching grants, we'll keep expanding. The goal would be to use as much renewable energy on campus as possible."
Helping the college to achieve that goal is the mission of the Green Campus Committee. "Education happens in classrooms and it also happens in transportation, in food service, in building construction and energy use," said Montserrat Archbald, chair of the Green Campus Committee. "We have to be aware of what GCC is teaching our community by the way we carry out these functions. One of the most important things we can teach right now is environmental stewardship, and a big part of that is renewable energy. Installing photovoltaic panels demonstrates GCC's commitment to environmental responsibility and global citizenship."
And this is only the beginning.
Come back in five years, predicts Adams, and the entire south roof of the East building will be covered with photovoltaic panels "installed, of course, by graduates of the renewable energy certificate program at GCC!"
In seven years, Adams envisions the parking lot framed in by walls of PV panels providing electricity for the new generation of plug-in hybrid vehicles. "While you're sitting in class getting your intellectual battery charged, your car is getting powered up with its battery charged from the sun."
Return to campus in 10 years, invites Adams, to celebrate a school that, through intense use of conservation and energy efficiency features, is a net electricity exporter on sunny days. "The GCC Electric Company," quips Adams: "'We bring good things to light!'"
Not all of this vision is may come to pass, Adams admits. "But as the saying goes, 'where there is no vision, the people perish.' A vision of a future based on renewable energy supplies is an optimistic, hopeful, life-affirming and realistic one."
Adams also wants people to know that the college has a "Green Fund," administered by the GCC Foundation, to which people may contribute to help make a variety of "green" projects happen as soon as possible. To learn more, call him at (413) 775-1454.
New Peace and Social Justice degree offers timely option for students
Professor Abbie Jenks chose a fitting date " the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi " to celebrate the new liberal arts degree option in Peace and Social Justice Studies now being offered at Greenfield Community College. At an Open House last Monday in the Social Sciences Studio, Professor Jenks was joined by local peace activist Randy Kehler, Sunny Miller of the Traprock Peace Center, Jo Comerford of the Western Mass. Food Bank and student Patrice Mason for the official launch of the program. Songwriter and activist Tom Neilson provided music.
Jenks characterizes peace studies as an emerging field, just like environmental studies and women's studies once were. "Both the environmental studies and the women's studies curriculums are much more mainstream now, but it took a while for that to occur," says Jenks. "I'm seeing the same sort of parallels with peace studies."
GCC is one of only six or seven community colleges nationwide to offer a peace studies curriculum, according to Professor Jenks. "It makes GCC a leader because there are very few community colleges that have a full program like this. There are other schools that might teach a course or two or offer a minor in peace studies."
The curriculum offers four courses: Introduction to Peace Studies, Conflict Theory and Mediation, Peacemaking in Practice, and Psychology of Peace, Conflict and Violence. In addition, students are guided to courses that fit in with the philosophy behind peace and social justice. To meet the laboratory science requirements, for example, student choose from environmental science, ecology or fresh water ecology. "As we have to take care of ourselves, we also have to take care of our earth," explains Jenks, "and it's important to understand how it all fits together." Courses in politics, civil liberties, sustainable energy, public speaking and statistics are other choices that will one day help students espouse the cause.
The resulting liberal arts degree option in peace and social justice studies (LPJ), "leads anywhere you want it to lead," says Jenks. "Some people go into politics, some go into education; some people become lawyers, some people go into business. You can apply the philosophy behind the program to any work that you go into. If you go into finance or investment," she posits as an example, "then you might consider where your investments are going."
Students can transfer to peace studies programs on the four-year level at the University of Connecticut, Brandeis, Tufts, Clark, Assumption and others across the country. Jenks envisions graduates going to work for nongovernmental organizations like Amnesty International, Oxfam, Human Rights Watch, or the American Friends Service Committee. Or, she says, they may become involved in local, regional and global issues that affect us today.
It's an area, she believes, that students are hungry for.
In her Introduction to Peace Studies class last fall, she says students were expressing just how hopeless and helpless they felt about the war, environmental issues and concerns with global warming. "They were overwhelmed by it and kind of immobilized, and I think this is exactly what a lot of people struggle with.
"That's one of the things I've designed my program to address: You don't just learn about all these things, you also learn what you can do about it."
Local peace activist Randy Kehler told the audience that most of us grew up being taught only two options for dealing with injustice or something that we felt was wrong: "Either fight back with verbal or physical violence, or just get meek and let it roll over us. This is the third way," said Kehler, "and the last fifty years are full of examples from all over the world demonstrating 'the force more powerful,' which is collective or individual nonviolent action."
Sunny Miller of Traprock Peace Center in Deerfield shared a hand-out listing "198 Methods of Nonviolent Action" plus one of her own: With teacup and saucer in hand, Miller challenged the audience to observe a new kind of tea party on the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party (Dec. 16). "Sit down, in public spaces and private spaces, in front of a prison or a military shipment, and think together about how we can extricate ourselves from the military machine."
It's an activity tailor-made for Jenks' curriculum. The seminar in nonviolence and social activism requires 20 hours of service learning " "like a mini social action project," according to Jenks. That ties in with one of the missions of Greenfield Community College, which is to create a heightened sense of civic responsibility.
"It gets people connected with the wider peace community early on to experience how things are done, try out some of the skills of organizing, and see what you actually can do as an individual and how that fits into the bigger picture," says Jenks.
Patrice Mason, 44, of West Whately, is one of 22 students taking Professor Jenks' Introduction to Peace Studies. "I'm trying to expand my thought processes into thinking globally, as a global citizen," says Mason, "and how to bring about peace and justice for all to resolve conflict among nations. In today's world, with corrupt politics and the whole world based on money instead of looking out for each other, I decided I needed to do my part to fix it. I couldn't stand around and just watch it happen anymore."
Mason first attended college during the Reagan years. "My parents were deceased, but I was receiving my father's V.A. benefits to continue my education," said Mason. "Reagan pulled all that and I had to leave college. I married and raised a family, but I always promised myself that I would come back and this seemed like my perfect niche."
Carol Gabranski, 51, of Williamsburg, is taking Professor Jenks' class for personal enrichment. She already holds advanced degrees, is a teacher of the deaf, and volunteers for a coalition for peace and justice in Northampton. "I wanted to learn more about conflict resolution, the psychology of peace and those types of concepts," says Gabranski, who foresees applying her new knowledge to working on peace events or peace causes.
Professor Jenks describes herself as a baby boomer child of the '60s and recalls protesting the Vietnam War. She has a background in psychology, holds an M.Ed. and an MSW (Masters in Social Work) and has been a social worker and clinician, working in agencies like the Department of Social Services and the Department of Youth Services. She has been a school adjustment counselor with elementary-age kids, worked as a consultant and therapist in long-term-care facilities with the elder population, and has worked in a day care center with a protective contract, meaning they have kids referred to them through the Department of Social Services.
"What I observed through that work were the environmental issues and injustices that many of those people I worked with had to deal with," says Jenks. "Those problems were race, gender, class, all the kinds of interlocking forms of oppression and how all of that fit in to where they were at. So it wasn't just about individual pathology; it was about the whole range of social problems."
Jenks is active in an Amherst-area grass roots group that's interested in promoting nonviolence and social justice. "It's not just antiwar," says Jenks, "but it's the ideals of nonviolence and how that can solve conflicts differently."
She hopes that people will see the PSJ degree as more than just some new courses to take, but as an opportunity to learn about a different way of going about things.
"One of my students last year said, 'Wow, nobody ever taught me about nonviolence.' That, to me, said volumes about what our culture is like," says Jenks, "not just ours in American, but the way humankind has handled things. If more of us learn about nonviolent intervention, then maybe we'll have less violence in the world."
"It's going to take programs like this one," said Jo Comerford, of the Western Mass. Food Bank, "to shift the paradigm so that we as a nation consider nonviolence first. So I am particularly grateful to GCC and I can't wait to see what comes from this program and hopefully the hundreds more that start by using this one as a model."
Greenfield Community College | One College Drive | Greenfield, MA 01301-5129 | (413) 775-1000 (tel) | (413) 775-5129 (fax)