President Eddinger delivers “Insights from the Pandemic” at Annual Dallas Herring Lecture
Thursday, November 12, 2020
Bunker Hill Community College (BHCC) President Pam Eddinger presented “Insights from the Pandemic: The Reckoning and the Hope at Our Nation’s Community Colleges” at the Virtual Dallas Herring Lecture on Tuesday, November 10. The annual event is hosted by the North Carolina State University College of Education’s Belk Center for Community College Leadership and Research, and honors Dallas Herring, founder of the North Carolina community college system.
President Eddinger discussed how the COVID-19 pandemic illuminated the fragile conditions of community colleges and their students, and the consequences institutions face from years of systemic defunding of public education – from urban to rural institutions, and large to small institutions.
“COVID lit up the inhumane conditions in our communities,” said President Eddinger, stressing the important role community colleges have in ensuring equity in economic recovery from the pandemic. “And difficult as it is to witness the misery, I think we will seize this moment of clarity to think anew about our role as colleges in our community and how we can be agents of change in the coming decades.”
A panel discussion followed President Eddinger’s lecture. Participants included Dr. Avis Proctor, president of Harper College (IL), Dr. William Serrata, president of El Paso County Community College (TX), and Dr. Kandi Deitemeyer, president of Central Piedmont Community College (NC).