{"id":34920,"date":"2026-07-01T01:03:58","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T05:03:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/running-the-campus\/https-president-necc-mass-edu-fifteen-years-of-memorable-moments-a-gallery\/"},"modified":"2026-07-10T14:08:02","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T18:08:02","slug":"https-president-necc-mass-edu-fifteen-years-of-memorable-moments-a-gallery","status":"publish","type":"running-the-campus","link":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/running-the-campus\/https-president-necc-mass-edu-fifteen-years-of-memorable-moments-a-gallery\/","title":{"rendered":"Fifteen Years of Memorable Moments: A Gallery"},"content":{"rendered":"

Each and every day I have the privilege of working with incredibly talented and dedicated educators at a community college\u2014an institution I have always prized dearly\u2014toward our common mission of providing affordable, easy to access education to lift up the lives of our students and enrich the communities we serve.<\/p>\n

Today is the last day of my fifteenth year as the president of Northern Essex Community College.<\/p>\n

As I look back and celebrate a decade in this job I love so much, these pictures represent just a few of the many memorable moments along the way so far:<\/p>\n

Inauguration Week<\/h2>\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n

April 27, 2012: Three of NECC’s four presidents, John Dimitry, David Hartleb, and me, attended the college’s 50th Anniversary Celebration at DiBurro’s, honoring 50 alumni and community supporters with our “Making a Difference Awards.”<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

April 30, 2012: My family, including my biological and adoptive parents, who were meeting for the first time, gathered for my inauguration and the college’s 50th anniversary.<\/p>\n

We Are Lawrence!<\/h2>\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n

March 13, 2012: When Boston Magazine ran a scurrilous article about Lawrence headlined, “City of the Damned,” hundreds of people, including many students, faculty and staff from NECC, marched in a “We Are Lawrence” parade to demonstrate our pride in the Immigrant City.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

November 26, 2014: Growing partly out of the “We Are Lawrence” pride movement, and building on the work of dozens of dedicated business and community leaders, the Lawrence Partnership formally launched at an event held in the Everett Mill.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Photo by Mike Dean
\nwww.mikedeanphotos.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

April 13, 2012: Members of NECC’s Board of Trustees playing “air shovels” at the groundbreaking ceremony for the El Hefni Health and Technology Center, the newest building on the college’s growing Lawrence campus.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

March 17, 2016: Governor Baker and members of the legislative delegation tour the Lawrence Police Station with me, NECC Board of Trustees Chairman Jeff Linehan, and Mayor Dan Rivera to discuss the need for state support to build a new facility. It’s Saint Patrick’s Day, and next to these two giants I look like a leprechaun! [NOTE: In 2020, thanks to the work of many, and especially Mayor Rivera and Governor Baker, the state agreed to provide $49 million in funding toward the cost of the new police station, which is opening to the public later this year.]\n

Haverhill Roots<\/h2>\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n

April 24, 2012: As part of NECC’s 50th Anniversary Celebration, we dedicated a plaque on the grounds of the Greenleaf School, where the college offered its first classes to 181 students in 1961.<\/p>\n

Fun & Games<\/h2>\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n

October 7, 2013: Students from NECC’s recreational flag football team join me in promoting the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education’s “Within Our Sights” student success campaign.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

April 25, 2014: I played the “Hip Hop President” in a spoof of “Freaky Friday” called, “Oh Crap, I’m Old!” for Haverhill Media’s 25th Anniversary Celebration. Curious? You can watch it by clicking here<\/a> and fast forwarding to 14:30.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

March 24, 2014: I went back into the classroom for a semester to teach NECC’s Student Success Skills seminar. This is my class, promoting the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education’s “Within Our Sights” student success campaign.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

May 4, 2013: The start of the first annual NECC Campus Classic 5K! A portion of proceeds that year benefitted victims of the Boston Marathon bombing.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

November 15, 2016: The President’s Running Club (motto: “We run the campus!”) sporting our NECC winter running hats.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

December 5, 2015: The President’s Running Club at the Newburyport Santa Dash!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

September 13, 2015: I met the legendary local runner Lou Peters (93 years old) at the Lawrence Firefighters 9\/11 Memorial 5K and asked him if he would come run the NECC Campus Classic that spring. Without missing a beat Lou replied, “Sure, if I’m still around.” Happily, he was, and he ran on campus in 2016.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

May 4, 2013: Daughter Zo\u00eb (aka Little Sis Z) ran in the first NECC Campus Classic Kids Fun Run and met the Northern Essex Knight!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

August 7, 2019: The “Merrimack River Valley Voyagers” embark on our 4-day expedition, paddling the 117-mile length of the Merrimack River from Franklin, New Hampshire to the Atlantic Ocean at Plum Island, Massachusetts. The journey was chronicled by Merrimack Valley Magazine in “The Course of the Merrimack<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

NECC on Top of the World!<\/h2>\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n

August 24, 2019: Trekking across the Teton Crest Trail in Wyoming.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

June 4, 2017: The Summit of Mount Lady MacDonald in the Canadian Rockies, Canmore, Alberta.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

January 2, 2020: The Summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, Africa.<\/p>\n

The Happiest Day of the Year: Commencement<\/h2>\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n

May 20, 2017: Umbrellas and sunglasses joined caps and gowns when NECN meteorologist (and former NECC student) Matt Noyes was our 2017 Commencement speaker.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

May 19, 2018: My daughter, Thomasina (aka Big Sis T) graduates with her associate degree from NECC two weeks before receiving her diploma from Amesbury High School.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

May 15, 2021: It was “High Fives & One Big, Beautiful Family<\/a>” as we donned masks and foam “NECC Grads Are #1” hands for a pandemic-safe commencement this spring.<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

May 14, 2022: My daughter, Zo\u00eb (aka Little Sis Z) graduates with her associate degree from NECC two weeks before receiving her diploma from Amesbury High School.<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Although he can still be seen riding his mower around campus a few times a week, Paul Tomasz retired as Head Groundskeeper in 2022 after more than 35 years of keeping NECC’s campus beautiful, and we celebrated his service by dedicating the Haverhill campus’ “Live Your Dreams” statue to his career and accomplishments.<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

May 18, 2024: NECC’s comfort dog, Winnie, receives her diploma for graduating from obedience school at our 62nd Annual Commencement Exercises.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

In 2024, the Northern Essex Community College Theatre Program took the country by storm with its production of “Hurricane Diane,” earning thirteen national awards, the most of any college, at the American College Theatre Festival in Washington, DC for director Brianne Beatrice, lead actress Mirrorajah Metcalfe, and others. Bravo!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

On August 24, 2023, we celebrated the passage of Massachusetts’ Tuition Equity Bill, which provides in-state tuition and financial aid to all of the state’s high school completes, including undocumented students, at NECC’s Lawrence campus with student Joan Shauri, who arrived in the United States from Tanzania when she was five years old and, thanks to the new law, graduated from NECC with her Nursing degree in 2026.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

On March 26, 2023, NECC leaders climb to new heights by summitting Pico Duarte in the Dominican Republic, the highest mountain in the Caribbean at 10,074 feet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":126,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-34920","running-the-campus","type-running-the-campus","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFifteen Years of Memorable Moments: A Gallery - 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\/running-the-campus\/https-president-necc-mass-edu-fifteen-years-of-memorable-moments-a-gallery\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fifteen Years of Memorable Moments: A Gallery - NECC News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Each and every day I have the privilege of working with incredibly talented and dedicated educators at a community college\u2014an institution I have always prized dearly\u2014toward our common mission of […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/running-the-campus\/https-president-necc-mass-edu-fifteen-years-of-memorable-moments-a-gallery\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"NECC News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-07-10T18:08:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/running-the-campus\/https-president-necc-mass-edu-fifteen-years-of-memorable-moments-a-gallery\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/running-the-campus\/https-president-necc-mass-edu-fifteen-years-of-memorable-moments-a-gallery\/\",\"name\":\"Fifteen Years of Memorable Moments: A Gallery - NECC News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/running-the-campus\/https-president-necc-mass-edu-fifteen-years-of-memorable-moments-a-gallery\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/running-the-campus\/https-president-necc-mass-edu-fifteen-years-of-memorable-moments-a-gallery\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/president.necc.mass.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Three-Presidents-1024x819.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-01T05:03:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-10T18:08:02+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/running-the-campus\/https-president-necc-mass-edu-fifteen-years-of-memorable-moments-a-gallery\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/running-the-campus\/https-president-necc-mass-edu-fifteen-years-of-memorable-moments-a-gallery\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/running-the-campus\/https-president-necc-mass-edu-fifteen-years-of-memorable-moments-a-gallery\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/president.necc.mass.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Three-Presidents-1024x819.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/president.necc.mass.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Three-Presidents-1024x819.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/running-the-campus\/https-president-necc-mass-edu-fifteen-years-of-memorable-moments-a-gallery\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/home\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Fifteen Years of Memorable Moments: A Gallery\"}]},{\"@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\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Fifteen Years of Memorable Moments: A Gallery - 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\/running-the-campus\/https-president-necc-mass-edu-fifteen-years-of-memorable-moments-a-gallery\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Fifteen Years of Memorable Moments: A Gallery - NECC News","og_description":"Each and every day I have the privilege of working with incredibly talented and dedicated educators at a community college\u2014an institution I have always prized dearly\u2014toward our common mission of […]","og_url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/running-the-campus\/https-president-necc-mass-edu-fifteen-years-of-memorable-moments-a-gallery\/","og_site_name":"NECC News","article_modified_time":"2026-07-10T18:08:02+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/running-the-campus\/https-president-necc-mass-edu-fifteen-years-of-memorable-moments-a-gallery\/","url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/running-the-campus\/https-president-necc-mass-edu-fifteen-years-of-memorable-moments-a-gallery\/","name":"Fifteen Years of Memorable Moments: A Gallery - NECC News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/running-the-campus\/https-president-necc-mass-edu-fifteen-years-of-memorable-moments-a-gallery\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/running-the-campus\/https-president-necc-mass-edu-fifteen-years-of-memorable-moments-a-gallery\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/president.necc.mass.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Three-Presidents-1024x819.jpg","datePublished":"2026-07-01T05:03:58+00:00","dateModified":"2026-07-10T18:08:02+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/running-the-campus\/https-president-necc-mass-edu-fifteen-years-of-memorable-moments-a-gallery\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/running-the-campus\/https-president-necc-mass-edu-fifteen-years-of-memorable-moments-a-gallery\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/running-the-campus\/https-president-necc-mass-edu-fifteen-years-of-memorable-moments-a-gallery\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/president.necc.mass.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Three-Presidents-1024x819.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/president.necc.mass.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Three-Presidents-1024x819.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/running-the-campus\/https-president-necc-mass-edu-fifteen-years-of-memorable-moments-a-gallery\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/home\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Fifteen Years of Memorable Moments: A Gallery"}]},{"@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"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/running-the-campus\/34920","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/running-the-campus"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/running-the-campus"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/126"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}