{"id":23007,"date":"2024-12-17T15:17:17","date_gmt":"2024-12-17T20:17:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom2\/2024\/12\/17\/top-stories-of-2024\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T12:06:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T16:06:14","slug":"top-stories-of-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/12\/17\/top-stories-of-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Top Stories of 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"

The year 2024 has been historic for Northern Essex Community College. We saw the advent of free community college, started exploring the creation of an innovative shared campus with Whittier Tech, celebrated our students and programs, and “hired” everyone’s favorite new employee, Winnie!<\/p>\n

Here are the most-read NECC News<\/a> stories from 2024:<\/p>\n\n

Making History<\/strong><\/p>\n

In signing the FY25 State Budget, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey made another historic investment in higher education. Community college is now tuition and fee-free for most Massachusetts residents who don\u2019t have a bachelor\u2019s degree under the newly-created MassEducate program<\/a>. Several of the most-read stories from 2024 showcase significant milestones in making higher education more affordable and accessible:<\/p>\n

Free Community College is Here\u00a0<\/a>
\nAdministration to Explore Shared Campus Model for Whittier Regional Vocational Technical High School<\/a>
\nNECC Northern Essex Community College Becomes First US Educational Partner of the Dominican Republic<\/a>
\nNECC Providing Stipends for Internships<\/a><\/p>\n

Academic Innovation<\/strong><\/p>\n

Northern Essex continues to be at the forefront of reducing barriers for students through developing free course materials and textbooks, known as Open Educational Resources (OER). Three of this year’s top stories focused on the college’s innovative work in OER:<\/p>\n

NECC Equity-Focused Projects Receive State Funding<\/a>
\nNew Grant for Creation of Free Class Materials<\/a>
\nNECC Hosts Faculty Showcase for OER Textbooks<\/a><\/p>\n

A Lasting Legacy<\/strong><\/p>\n

This year, we also paused to remember a man who left an indelible mark on Northern Essex. Former President Dr. John Dimitry passed away this summer. In his 20 years as president, Dr. Dimitry led with compassion, tenacity, and a dedication to equity, which remain embedded in the fibers of NECC to this day. Read more about his legacy:<\/p>\n

Remembering NECC President John R. Dimitry<\/a><\/p>\n

Student and Alumni Success Stories<\/strong><\/p>\n

Students and alumni find success in many ways at Northern Essex, and many cite the tight-knit community as a major source of support. Of the most-read stories of 2024, these six showcase the hard work of students, alumni, faculty, and staff:<\/p>\n

Graduate Plans to Help Teens Map Out Their Futures<\/a>
\nChange of Plans Leads to Change of Heart for Liberal Arts Major<\/a>
\nTurning the Tables on the NECC Observer’s Entertainment Reporter<\/a>
\nJournalism Student Receives National Fellowship<\/a>
\nAt the Cutting Edge: One Alum’s Journey from Construction to AI<\/a>
\nCriminal Justice Student Chosen for Exclusive Study Abroad Program at The Hague, Netherlands<\/a><\/p>\n

Meet Winnie!\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Winnie officially joined the NECC family in April as a 9-week-old puppy. She is training to be the school’s comfort dog! Her arrival (and continued presence) made quite the impression on the community:<\/p>\n

Summer Classes Going to the Dogs<\/a>
\nMeet Winnie, NECC’s Soon-to-be Comfort Dog<\/a><\/p>\n

Much to Celebrate<\/strong><\/p>\n

Throughout the year there have been many reasons to celebrate, with members of the NECC community getting well-deserved awards and honors:<\/p>\n

NECC Student Literacy Magazine Parnassus Wins National Award<\/a>
\nHurricane Diane Set to Land at Firehouse Center for the Arts<\/a>
\nAlumni, Staff Among Top 100 Latino Leaders in MA<\/a>
\nCelebrating Hispanic Heritage Month<\/a>
\nNECC Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2024<\/a><\/p>\n

Do you have an idea for a great story for 2024? Want to share your accomplishments or those of your peers? Contact Melissa Bouse, director of public relations at mbouse@necc.mass.edu<\/a>. Thank you to all who have shared your stories and made 2024 one to remember!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The year 2024 has been historic for Northern Essex Community College. We saw the advent of free community college, started exploring the creation of an innovative shared campus with Whittier […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":130,"featured_media":26097,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[334,399,585,55,158],"class_list":["post-23007","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","tag-innovation","tag-mass-educate","tag-students","tag-alumni","tag-comfort-dog"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTop Stories of 2024 - NECC News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/12\/17\/top-stories-of-2024\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Top Stories of 2024 - NECC News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The year 2024 has been historic for Northern Essex Community College. We saw the advent of free community college, started exploring the creation of an innovative shared campus with Whittier […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/12\/17\/top-stories-of-2024\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"NECC News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-12-17T20:17:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-05-14T16:06:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/02\/234-6686-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"mbouse\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"mbouse\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/12\/17\/top-stories-of-2024\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/12\/17\/top-stories-of-2024\/\",\"name\":\"Top Stories of 2024 - NECC News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/12\/17\/top-stories-of-2024\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/12\/17\/top-stories-of-2024\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/02\/234-6686-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-12-17T20:17:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-14T16:06:14+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/b067809b6ac2476027bcd15cea07449b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/12\/17\/top-stories-of-2024\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/12\/17\/top-stories-of-2024\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/12\/17\/top-stories-of-2024\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/02\/234-6686-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/02\/234-6686-1.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":800},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/12\/17\/top-stories-of-2024\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/home\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Top Stories of 2024\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/\",\"name\":\"NECC News\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/b067809b6ac2476027bcd15cea07449b\",\"name\":\"mbouse\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c9bc5063d1d57b90679530f25125157606b6c761a74463fd22130b67b9567bc5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c9bc5063d1d57b90679530f25125157606b6c761a74463fd22130b67b9567bc5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"mbouse\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/author\/mbouse\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Top Stories of 2024 - NECC News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/12\/17\/top-stories-of-2024\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Top Stories of 2024 - NECC News","og_description":"The year 2024 has been historic for Northern Essex Community College. We saw the advent of free community college, started exploring the creation of an innovative shared campus with Whittier […]","og_url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/12\/17\/top-stories-of-2024\/","og_site_name":"NECC News","article_published_time":"2024-12-17T20:17:17+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-05-14T16:06:14+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":800,"url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/02\/234-6686-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"mbouse","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"mbouse","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/12\/17\/top-stories-of-2024\/","url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/12\/17\/top-stories-of-2024\/","name":"Top Stories of 2024 - NECC News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/12\/17\/top-stories-of-2024\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/12\/17\/top-stories-of-2024\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/02\/234-6686-1.jpg","datePublished":"2024-12-17T20:17:17+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-14T16:06:14+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/b067809b6ac2476027bcd15cea07449b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/12\/17\/top-stories-of-2024\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/12\/17\/top-stories-of-2024\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/12\/17\/top-stories-of-2024\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/02\/234-6686-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/02\/234-6686-1.jpg","width":1200,"height":800},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/12\/17\/top-stories-of-2024\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/home\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Top Stories of 2024"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#website","url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/","name":"NECC News","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/b067809b6ac2476027bcd15cea07449b","name":"mbouse","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c9bc5063d1d57b90679530f25125157606b6c761a74463fd22130b67b9567bc5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c9bc5063d1d57b90679530f25125157606b6c761a74463fd22130b67b9567bc5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"mbouse"},"url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/author\/mbouse\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23007","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/130"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23007"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23007\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26365,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23007\/revisions\/26365"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26097"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}