Bunker Hill Community College Celebrates Veterans Day with Author Rye Barcott
Monday, November 10, 2014
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.
Drawing upon his experiences as both a U.S. Marine and the founder of the nongovernmental organization Carolina for Kibera, Barcott urged students to find ways to use their talents to create opportunities. He reminded them that by earning their degrees they will be “joining a global elite [because] only five percent of the world’s population holds a college degree.” He urged them to take risks in the service of others, to make one another better people, and to keep in mind that “everything that matters is difficult.”
Barcott served as a Marine in Iraq, Bosnia and the horn of Africa. His book It Happened on the Way to War describes “fighting war, and waging peace.” The organization he established in the settlement of Kibera, Kenya, while serving in the military uses a unique model of participatory development to break cycles of violence and extreme poverty. Acclaimed by Archbishop Desmond Tutu as “tremendous,” the book was named one of the best non-fiction titles of the year by Reader’s Digest.
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About Bunker Hill Community College
With more than 50 years of academic excellence, Bunker Hill Community College (BHCC) is Massachusetts' largest community college, annually welcoming a diverse community of around 16,000 students. With campuses in Charlestown and Chelsea, BHCC extends its reach across several locations in Greater Boston. The College offers associate degrees and certificates, early college and dual enrollment, community education, corporate training, and industry-specific training programs. BHCC is celebrated for its diversity, boasting a student body where 65% identify as people of color and more than half are women. The College also embraces a global perspective, with over 600 international students representing 90 countries and conversing in more than 65 languages. Our commitment to diversity is further reflected in BHCC's designation as a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) and an Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institution (AANAPISI).