Oct. 2023 News Blog
News briefs from the HCC campus and beyond
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All-Star Cast
HCC students celebrated the season Oct. 25 with a Halloween costume contest and Halloween karaoke in the Campus Center during Student Activity period. Check out more photos in our Facebook photo album.
Guest Columnist
Professor Adina Giannelli, chair of the Criminal Justice Department 
and president of the HCC chapter of the Massachusetts Community College Council, wrote a guest column for MassLive and the Springfield Republican newspaper about a contract funding delay in the state legislature titled "Massachusetts Not Playing Fair on Community College Pay." In her commentary, published online Oct. 26 on MassLive and in print in the Republican Oct. 30, Giannelli talks about her grandfather, a veteran who went to community college on the GI Bill, and passed along his appreciation for public education. "He was proud when his children completed their associate degrees at Massachusetts community colleges in adulthood, and proud of his grandchildren, six graduates of state public higher education among them," wrote Giannelli, herself a graduate of the University of Massachusetts. "No one enters this profession for the money. But I think we all can agree: community college employees deserve a living wage."
We Still Here
In a fitting coda to Hispanic Heritage Month, HCC welcomed filmmakers Eli Jacobs-Fantauzzi and Kahlil Jacobs-Fantauzzi to campus Oct. 17 for a screening of "Nos Tenemos" (We Still Here), their documentary about the impact of Hurricane Maria on the community of Comerío, Puerto Rica, and the youth who live there. The film chronicles efforts to rebuild their devastated neighborhood in the mountains of the island and highlights 24-year-old Mariangelie Ortiz as she leads a group to Washington D.C. to protest in the halls of Congress. In a question and answer session that followed the film, Latinx Studies major Mishie Serrano asked the brothers why they decided to focus their film on the youth. "I taught for 18 years in public schools," said Kahlil. "I think that sometimes adults and communities kind of take up most of the space and there's no room for young people's voices. And I think because of the hurricane, there was room for young people to grow and to also not just try and create what was but create what could be. I think that there's nobody more accurate or better positioned to think creatively than young people." Above, filmmakers Eli Jacobs-Fantauzzi (back with hat) and Kahlil Jacobs-Fantauzz (front in orange shirt) join HCC students and staff after a screening of their film.
Labor of Love
For the past five years, Visual Art Professor Felice Caivano has been collecting doilies crocheted by women whose identities are largely unknown. Those doilies, hundreds of them, are now covering the walls of the Jasper Rand Gallery at the Westfield Athenaeum in an exhibition titled "Labors of Love: Doilies and Lace Reimagined." On display through Sat., Oct. 28, "Labors of Love" is both a celebration and a social commentary. "I want to draw attention to what has become an all but forgotten craft form, to give the viewer pause to think about the needlework and especially the uncredited women who made the work," Caivano told a reporter from The Reminder. "I'd also like the viewer to think about the labor involved in making the doilies ... and what the doilies meant to the women who made them and those who used them." The exhibition consists of three parts: "Uncredited" is a site-specific installation covering most of the wall space; "When" is a series of doilies (positioned into a large dollar sign) on which Caivano has embroidered percentages representing how much money women earn by year compared to men since passage of the Equal Pay Act in 1963. "Labors of Love" is a giant ball of lace trim. "This is an installation that can be appreciated for its effect as artwork, and at the same time makes an important statement about women's history," said Guy McLain, executive director of the Atheneaum. Above: Felice Caivano stands next to her installation "Uncredited."
A Match Made at HCC
They met as students, where they couldn't help but get acquainted given their mutual interests and shared HCC activities - theater, Student Senate, Green Key Honor Society. He was a math major who went on to get his bachelor's degree from UMass; she studied liberal arts and earned her bachelor's from Hampshire College. On Oct. 1, Lucien Dalton' 16 and Hannah Trobaugh '16 got married. Lucien now works at HCC as a tutor in the Math Center and a supplemental math instructor, while pursuing his master's degree. Hannah, daughter of HCC English professor Elizabeth Trobaugh, is at the University of Connecticut, working on her MFA in technical direction with a focus of engineering and puppetry. The couple officially started dating in the fall of 2016. "We bought a two-family house in South Hadley this past March," Lucien reports. Many HCC-affiliated folks attended the nuptials, which were held at the Water's Edge Resort and Spa in Westbrook, Conn., including, pictured above: the mother-of-the-bride (Prof. Trobaugh); Kim Hicks, dean of Arts and Humanities; former students and alumni Aleeza Kropf; HCC simulation technician Andrew McMahon '16; sister-of-the-bride Tess Trobaugh; brother-of-the-bride Gabe Trobaugh; Nina Devine; Lia Ashburn '22, and Martha Whitting '16 (formerly Martha King-Devine). That's the bride in the yellow dress, third from the left, and the groom wearing the burgundy bow tie, far right. (Photo by Jefferson Apuzzo)
The Fabulous HCC
Most people might know Monte Belmonte from his many years as a DJ for WRSI (99.3 The River) or for Monte's March, his annual fundraising walk against hunger. Monte's new gig is the Fabulous 413, a daily afternoon radio interview show on New England Public Media (88.5 FM) that celebrates life in Western Massachusetts - "a kind of 'Mister Rogers' Neighborhood' for grown-ups," according to the show's online description. On Wed., Oct. 4, inspired by Hispanic Heritage Month, Monte and his co-host Kaliis Smith targeted HCC, the only community college in Massachusetts with a Latinx Studies program. For an hour before HCC's Latinx Fiesta, they set up in the Learning Collaborative to record a segment titled "Transforming HCC" with Professor Raúl Gutiérrez, co-founder of the Latinx Studies program, and two of his students, Mishie Serrano and Alannah Brunt. The segment aired Thursday, Oct. 5, but you can stream it online anytime from The Fabulous 413 Podcast page. Above, Fabulous 413 hosts Kaliis Smith, left, and Monte Belmonte, right, pose with Prof. Raúl Gutiérrez, and students Mishie Serrano and Alannah Brunt.
