Bunker Hill Community College’s work with low-income students earned praise from President Barack Obama at a national gathering of education leaders yesterday at the White House. Referring to the need of low-income students to prepare for college-level work, Obama said, “Bunker Hill is addressing this by giving more incoming students the chance to start catching up over the summer before their freshman year.”

In a wide-ranging discussion moderated by WBUR Radio’s On Point host Tom Ashbrook at the Westin Copley Place in Boston on January 30, Bunker Hill Community College President Pam Y. Eddinger stressed the role of community colleges as “Democracy’s college” in today’s higher education landscape. The conference included representatives of two- and four-year colleges and universities throughout the Northeast. Eddinger shared a panel with the Chancellor of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and the President of Bentley University.

Bunker Hill Community College President Pam Y. Eddinger described the increasingly critical role played by community colleges today on WBUR’s National Public Radio program On Point with host Tom Ashbrook. Noting that half of today’s undergraduates are now enrolled in the nation’s community colleges, Eddinger said community colleges have become “the anchor of the future.” Community college presidents from California and Texas also took part in the discussion.

Former WBZ-TV news anchor Liz Walker shared her story of personal transformation and career-change with a Bunker Hill Community College audience on February 13 as part of the College’s celebration of Black History Month. The College’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion sponsored the talk, titled “Taking Risks to Serve the World.”

Bunker Hill Community College (BHCC) received the Leah Meyer Austin Award for its success in increasing student retention and completion at the annual conference of Achieving the Dream in Orlando, Florida, today. Along with this prestigious recognition, BHCC will receive $25,000 to support its ongoing student success work. BHCC shared the honor with Montgomery County Community College.

The Academy Award-winning actress, author and activist Marlee Matlin addressed a packed audience at Bunker Hill Community College yesterday. Using American Sign Language and an interpreter, she described the frightening loss of her hearing at 18 months, her parents’ decision to raise her at home, her determination to become an actor, her battles with addiction as a successful young star, and the challenges of being an advocate for the deaf community.

For the third consecutive year, Bunker Hill Community College (BHCC) ranks among the region’s largest colleges and universities, according to the Boston Business Journal’s new Book of Lists.

Bunker Hill Community College is the 12th fastest growing of U.S. community colleges with enrollments of 10,000 or more, according to an analysis by Community College Week, an independent publication covering community, technical and junior colleges. The largest and most affordable community college in Massachusetts, BHCC currently enrolls more than 14,000 students.

Bunker Hill Community College is proud to announce its recipients of the annual National Institute of Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD) Excellence Awards. The awards recognize men and women each year who have demonstrated an outstanding commitment and contribution to their students and colleagues.

Bunker Hill Community College (BHCC) student Quan Nguyen was one of the 29 graduates of Massachusetts public colleges and universities honored at the State House on May 8. Secretary of Education Matthew Malone, Senate Chair of the Joint Committee on Higher Education Michael O. Moore, and Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education Richard Freeland attended the “29 Who Shine” ceremony

The TRIO-Talent Search program assisted 150 Chelsea High School students in 2013-2014 with services designed to prepare them for college. An array of two- and four-year colleges, universities, professional colleges, community colleges and colleges of art and design in 13 states have accepted many of the TRIO-Talent Search participants. “We work closely with students and their families to ensure that students are choosing colleges that will be the best fit for them,” said Program Director Austin Gilliland.

John Pitcher, CPA, MBA, has joined the executive staff of Bunker Hill Community College as vice president of administration and finance. “His depth of experience and proven leadership skills will serve BHCC and our students well,” said BHCC President Pam Y. Eddinger.

Two Bunker Hill Community College students will participate in the American Society of Radiologic Technologists (ASRT) Student Leadership Development Program. Brenna K. Lapsley and Said M. Belkouch are two of only 75 radiologic science students nationwide chosen to participate in this year’s program.

U.S. Senator Edward J. Markey will be the commencement speaker at Bunker Hill Community College’s 40th Commencement exercises on May 31, 2014.

U.S. Senator Edward J. Markey delivered the keynote address today at the 40th Commencement exercises at Bunker Hill Community College (BHCC). A record-breaking 1,352 graduates received degrees and certificates, the highest number in the College’s history.

Building upon the Patrick Administration’s commitment to help strengthen the Commonwealth’s community colleges’ workforce development programs, Secretary of Administration and Finance Glen Shor recently recognized graduates of the joint certificate and internship program developed by Bunker Hill Community College and the Department of Revenue (DOR) to educate students who have chosen a career in taxation or auditing. The certificate program was launched last fall. Students who successfully completed the prerequisite courses were then accepted into a paid internship program at DOR which included rotations in auditing and taxpayer services.

Bunker Hill Community College (BHCC) has received a Bridging Cultures at Community Colleges grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). The College will receive $120,000 to conduct a three-year project in Asian American studies in partnership with the University of Massachusetts Boston’s Asian American Studies Program. “The project will provide a template for partnering with community organizations and institutions to produce robust humanities scholarship that is grounded in the Boston area’s rich local history, culture and communities,” said Pam Y. Eddinger, President of Bunker Hill Community College.

Marialena Montijo received the Christian A. Herter Scholarship at a State House ceremony on May 22, 2014. Montijo is enrolled in the TRIO-Talent Search program, a Bunker Hill Community College partnership with Chelsea Public Schools and FUEL Education. TRIO-Talent Search, which receives funding from the U.S. Department of Education, identifies and assists individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds who have the potential to succeed in higher education.

Bunker Hill Community College Foundation received a $10,000 Workforce Development and Education Grant from Bank of America Charitable Foundation on June 24, 2014. The College will use the funds to upgrade equipment in the Allied Health Programs’ classrooms and laboratories located at the College’s Chelsea Campus.

Executive Director of the Museum of African American History Beverly A. Morgan-Welch is this year’s recipient of the President’s Distinguished Service Award from Bunker Hill Community College. The award recognizes extraordinary commitment and service to the College. It is the highest honor the College bestows on a civic leader.

Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh recognized eleven Bunker Hill Community College students at a City Hall ceremony on July 15, 2014. Each of the students received a scholarship of $1,000 from First Literacy to help defray the cost of college.

Whole Foods Market in Charlestown, Massachusetts, donated 5% of the net proceeds of purchases made by customers on June 17, 2014, to the Bunker Hill Community College Foundation. The fundraising effort netted $3,480, which will be used for scholarship support for a Charlestown resident attending the College.

Rachel Kaprielian, Secretary of the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development (EOLWD) spoke at Bunker Hill Community College today, August 7, 2014, in honor of the College’s inaugural class of twelve Culinary Arts Fundamentals Program graduates. The 100-hour, four-week non-credit Program aims to increase employment options and decrease barriers to careers for individuals with disabilities. It offers basic cooking and baking skills, contextualized communication, team building, safety rules, and sanitation and safe food-handling procedures.

President Pam Y. Eddinger was among a select group of higher education and nonprofit leaders assembled by the Obama administration on August 12, 2014, to discuss efforts to boost student readiness for college. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, White House Domestic Policy Council Director Cecilia Munoz, and other administration officials hosted the gathering in the Indian Treaty Room at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.

Five BHCC faculty and staff members were among those honored at a special performance recognition ceremony at the Massachusetts State House on July 31, 2014, hosted by the Massachusetts Department of Revenue.

Daniel Kuol Paac, a history and government major at Bunker Hill Community College and a native of Sudan, will intern at the Massachusetts State House beginning September 12 as part of the Governor’s Internship Program. In a highly competitive application process Paac was one of only two Community Affairs interns accepted into the program for fall 2014.

Seventeen Vertex administrators and scientists visited Bunker Hill Community College on September 11 for a day of career discussions and sharing of industry perspectives with faculty and students in the business and science departments. Vertex is one of 15 corporate partners taking part in the College’s popular Learn and Earn program, which provides students with paid work experience in prestigious Greater Boston companies.

Bunker Hill Community College has won recertification as a Leader College by Achieving the Dream, a national nonprofit dedicated to helping community college students succeed. BHCC is one of 16 institutions nationwide to win such designation for demonstrating sustained improvement and accomplishments on key student achievement indicators. “It is an honor for Bunker Hill Community College to be recertified as an Achieving the Dream Leader College,” said BHCC President Pam Y. Eddinger. “We value our role in the National Reform Network, both as a learning college as well as an advocate for continuous improvement through evidence-based practices and broad engagement.”

A consortia proposal submitted collectively by the 15 community colleges in Massachusetts led by Massasoit Community College has been selected by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) for the fourth and final round of federal funding from the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training Grant (TAACCCT). The community colleges are advancing a comprehensive approach to addressing the training and educational needs of workers and employers statewide with a focus on articulated pathways to careers in high-growth STEM sectors (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math; as well as advanced manufacturing and healthcare). The $20 million grant is the highest funded of the 66 awarded in the country by U.S. DOL. The project, entitled Guided Pathways to Success in STEM (GPSTEM), will use the national Complete College America Guided Pathways to Success model to assist eligible students in obtaining degrees and certificates in STEM fields. The model focuses on reducing the time to completion of certificates and degree programs, resulting in more students entering employment in the Commonwealth and/or transferring into baccalaureate programs to add to their credentials.

Biomedical engineering student Quan Nguyen is one of only 20 students nationwide selected by the Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society as a 2014 Oberndorf Lifeline to Completion Scholar. Nguyen received the $1,000 scholarship for having maintained a minimum 3.0 GPA while enrolled at the College as a Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) member in good standing.

Television, film and stage actor Giancarlo Esposito launched Bunker Hill Community College’s annual Compelling Conversations speaker series on October 16, delivering a dynamic, comprehensive and interactive talk to an enthusiastic audience. Before his talk, Esposito enjoyed a lunch prepared by Culinary Arts students and interacted with students at two Learning Community Seminars, “Telling our Stories” and “Do the Right Thing.” After he spoke, he answered questions from students in the audience, and signed autographs in the Mary L. Fifield Art Gallery.

The 2014-2015 College Catalog won a Gold Medallion of Excellence Award in the Academic Catalog category for District 1 at the annual contest sponsored by the National Council for Marketing and Public Relations (NCMPR) on October 13, 2014. Taking home the Bronze Medallion of Excellence Award for Digital Illustration was an illustration created to accompany the story “In a House of Books,” which appeared in the fall 2014 issue of BHCC Magazine. The awards, which honor outstanding achievement in communications, were presented at the Capital Creativity Conference at National Harbor, Maryland.

In what is likely his final visit to Bunker Hill Community College (BHCC) as Governor of Massachusetts, Deval Patrick this morning described the state’s ongoing commitment to education in Massachusetts. “Education is the single most important work we have before us,” he told a gathering of BHCC faculty, staff, students and friends of the College. Accompanying the Governor were key members of his administration, including Secretary of Education Matthew Malone, Commissioner of Higher Education Richard Freeland and Chair of the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education Charles Desmond.

Bunker Hill Community College students Niamh Daly, Yamileth Lopez and Jody Roberts were named Coca-Cola Leaders of Promise Scholars by the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society (PTK). The students will receive scholarships of $1,000 to further their associate degree studies; they are also encouraged to assume leadership roles by participating in PTK programs.

The Bunker Hill Community College Workforce Development Center has received a $150,000 grant from the Commonwealth Corporation’s Regional Training Capacity Pilot Program. The College will use the funds to implement the Pathway to Success in the Food Industry program, a sequence of workplace English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) classes contextualized for the food industry. The classes will consist of multiple levels of ESOL instruction offered to non-native English-speaking employees working with partner employers in the nearby communities of Chelsea, Everett, Lynn, Malden and Revere.

For the second consecutive year Bunker Hill Community College has been named to the list of top Military Friendly Schools by Victory Media, the premier media entity for military personnel transitioning into civilian life. The list singles out the colleges, universities and trade schools that do the most to embrace America’s military service members, veterans and spouses as students and ensure their success on campus.

The Bunker Hill Community College men’s soccer team won the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Regional Championship November 2, 2014. This is the College’s third regional championship in the last three years. The team will now compete in the NJCAA Division III National Championships, which begin Thursday in Herkimer, New York.

Former U.S. Marine Rye Barcott visited Bunker Hill Community College on November 6 in honor of Veterans Day 2014. He met with students in the Learning Community Seminar Media Literacy in the 21st Century, enjoyed a lunch prepared by Culinary Arts students in the College dining room, stopped in at the Veterans Center, and signed copies of his book following a talk he delivered to an audience of faculty, staff, students and visitors.

Liberty Mutual Insurance and Eaton Vance have joined the ranks of Bunker Hill Community College’s Learn and Earn Program as its 14 and 15 corporate partners. Each company will pilot three positions in Spring 2015 as part of the College’s popular internship program, which offers paid work experience to BHCC students.

Bunker Hill Community College President Pam Eddinger will join President Obama, the First Lady and Vice President Biden along with hundreds of college presidents and other higher education leaders to announce new actions to help more students prepare for and graduate from college.

Bunker Hill Community College ranks among the 20 fastest growing of U.S. community colleges with enrollments of 10,000 or more, according to an analysis by Community College Week, an independent publication covering community, technical and junior colleges. The largest and most affordable community college in Massachusetts, BHCC currently enrolls more than 14,000 students.

Bunker Hill Community College has won national recognition for its service to the community. BHCC was among the institutions named to the 2014 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for their volunteer and service work. This is the fifth year that BHCC has been named to the President’s Honor Roll. In 2013 BHCC Community Engagement programs reached an estimated 4,000 students, who provided approximately 5,000 hours of service to the Greater Boston community.