In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, and in celebration of Black History Month, Hudson County Community College (HCCC) will welcome Malcolm X’s daughter, Dr. Ilyasah Shabazz at the College’s 2025 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial. The event will be held beginning at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, January 28, 2025, at the HCCC Culinary Conference Center, 161 Newkirk Street in Jersey City, NJ. Following Dr. Shabazz’s speech, attendees will enjoy lunch and the Opening Reception of the Civil Rights Art Exhibition in the Benjamin J. Dineen and Dennis C. Hull Gallery in the Gabert Library. Guests may RSVP at https://form.jotform.com/242805965321155.
Dr. Shabazz is an author, public speaker, and activist who promotes interfaith dialogue to build bridges between cultures for the world’s young leaders. She was the inaugural Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Fellow at Worchester State University for the 2023-2024 academic year, and assisted with diversity and inclusion initiatives throughout the campus. Dr. Shabazz is an adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, where she has taught a variety of courses including American Cultural Pluralism and the Law.
HCCC President Dr. Christopher Reber stated, “Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X sacrificed their lives in the fight for equality. They shared a common goal: improving Black lives and all lives. We are honored to welcome Dr. Shabazz as our guest speaker.”
Although Dr. King and Malcolm X met and were photographed together only once during a Senate debate on the Civil Rights Act in 1964, their widows bonded. Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” and Malcolm X’s “The Ballot or the Bullet” speeches helped define their visions for civil and human rights. Their parallel paths are detailed in The Sword and The Shield dual biography.
More information on the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial event may be obtained by contacting the HCCC Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at 201-360-5399 or [email protected].
About Hudson County Community College
Hudson County Community College serves more than 20,000 credit and non-credit students annually. The College offers more than 90 degree and certificate programs, including award-winning English as a Second Language; Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM); Culinary Arts/Hospitality Management; Nursing and Health Professions; and Humanities and Social Sciences. The HCCC Culinary/Hospitality Management program was ranked number six in the U.S. by Best Choice Schools. The College’s School of Continuing Education and Workforce Development offers cutting-edge, industry-recognized, stackable credentials in alignment with high-priority workforce needs.
HCCC has partnerships with major four-year colleges and universities in the greater New Jersey-New York area and beyond, accommodating seamless transfer of credits for further undergraduate and graduate education.
The College’s commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion has been recognized with the 2021 Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT) Northeast Region Equity Award; the “INSIGHT Into Diversity” 2021, 2022 and 2023 Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award, this year honoring HCCC as one of six community colleges nationally to be named “Top Colleges for Diversity;” the “INSIGHT Into Diversity” 2022 and 2023 Inspiring Programs in STEM Award, and 2024 Inspiring Programs in Business Award. The College received the 2023 Outstanding Member Institution Award from the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU). HCCC was a finalist in seven categories of this year’s American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) national “Awards of Excellence” and earned CEO of the Year, Faculty of the Year, and Student Success Awards.
For the third consecutive year, HCCC was selected as one of 18 community colleges in the United States to be named among the “2024 Most Promising Places to Work in Community Colleges” by the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD) in collaboration with “Diverse: Issues in Higher Education.” HCCC was one of 22 community colleges in the nation, and the only college in New Jersey, to be recognized by ModernThink LLC and “The Chronicle of Higher Education” as a 2022 and 2023 “Great College to Work For®.” HCCC is one of two colleges in the United States to be named a Top Ten Finalist in all three program categories for the nationally recognized 2023 Bellwether Awards, and received the 2023 Bellwether Award for the College’s cutting-edge “Hudson Scholars” program, which also won the 2024 Bellwether Legacy Award.
The College’s exemplary work advancing student success has been recognized with 2023 “Leader College of Distinction” designation by Achieving the Dream, the national nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing community colleges as catalysts for equity and mobility in their communities. HCCC was also presented the Campus Prevention Network Seal of Prevention in 2023 and 2024 for demonstrating leadership in digital prevention programming focused on student safety, well-being, and inclusion.
