Hudson County Community College announced that Marlon Peña Crespo has been named the Class of 2026 Valedictorian. Commencement ceremonies are scheduled for Tuesday, May 19, 2026 at Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison, NJ.

Hudson County Community College (HCCC) announced that Marlon Peña Crespo has been chosen as the Class of 2026 Valedictorian. He will address his peers, family, friends, faculty, and others at HCCC’s 49^th Annual Commencement Ceremonies on Tuesday, May 19, 2026 at the Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison, NJ.

Marlon is completing his Associate in Science degree in Computer Science, earning a perfect 4.0 Grade Point Average. A member of the Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society, Marlon is a semifinalist for the prestigious Jack Kent Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship. He navigated a new educational system after arriving in the United States from Cuba, transforming that challenge into academic excellence and a commitment to using technology for social impact. Marlon is focused on leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) to solve real-world challenges, particularly improving access to resources for underserved communities. He specializes in rapid prototyping and translating human-centered needs into robust, scalable solutions.

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Hudson County Community College announced that President Christopher M. Reber, Ph.D. (pictured here) is resigning effective June 30, 2026, and will go on to serve as President of Harrisburg University of Science and Technology.

Hudson County Community College (HCCC) Board of Trustees announced that the College’s President, Dr. Christopher M. Reber, has tendered his resignation effective June 30, 2026. Dr. Reber has accepted the position of President of Harrisburg University of Science and Technology in Harrisburg, PA.

“On behalf of the Board of Trustees, I want to thank Dr. Chris Reber for his dedicated leadership and eight years of service to Hudson County Community College,” said HCCC Board of Trustee Chair Jeanette Peña. “We are grateful for his many contributions and wish him continued success in his new position.”

Michael Fiaschetti, Chair of the Harrisburg University Board of Trustees, stated the experience Dr. Reber brings to the table, and “his undeniable energy and enthusiasm leave no doubt in my mind that HU’s future is in capable hands.”

Dr. Reber came to HCCC in July 2018. Under his leadership, HCCC earned several national honors, including the 2024 Bellwether Legacy Award for HCCC’s acclaimed Hudson Scholars student success model. Dr. Reber himself was named Community College CEO of the Year by the American Association of Community Colleges in 2024 and Executive of the Year by the New Jersey Business & Industry Association in 2025.

In announcing his resignation to the HCCC community, Dr. Reber wrote: “It has been the honor of my life and career to work side by side with all of you! I will always love Hudson County Community College and its people.” He continued: “Thank you for calling and entrusting me to serve you over

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Hudson County Community College students and alumni contributed to one of the largest soil microbiome mappings in the United States. Pictured here, from left: HCCC Instructor of Chemistry Raffi Manjikian, and students Katerin Marquez, Ashley Medrano, Alketa Muja, Zoe Canizares, and Aadil Ishtiaq.

Lincoln Park is one of the jewels of Hudson County, with 150 acres of athletic facilities, playgrounds, a track, golf courses, and kayak rentals on the scenic Hackensack River. Statues commemorate Abraham Lincoln and other historic figures and times. The park’s foundation – its soil – is part of the planet’s most biodiverse habitat, the source of more than half of all existing species. Its microorganisms largely remained unstudied – until now.

Hudson County Community College (HCCC) students, guided by Instructor of Chemistry Raffi Manjikian, spent a week collecting soil samples in Lincoln Park for one of the largest soil microbiome mapping projects ever attempted. Students and alumni who participated in Biodiversity and Informatics for Genomics Scholars (BioDIGS) were members of the local American Chemical Society chapter. Students and alumni Ashley Meddano, Alketa Muja, Zoe Canizares, Katerin Marquez, and Aadil Ishtiaq are majoring in Biology, Nursing, Chemistry, Education, and Business, respectively. Professor Manjikian and the students were part of the BioDIGS consortium, involving about 150 researchers across many institutions, who collected samples and catalogued the findings.

The BioDIGS consortium combed through more than 40 locations throughout the United States, including farmlands, hiking trails, forests, parks, and Superfund sites. Students received pre-assembled soil collection kits and sent their samples to Johns Hopkins University, where analysis and DNA-sequencing was leveraged to unlock microbial genomes. Scientists and students looked for genetic relationships and patterns between the soil, the environment, and human health. Their work was published in the prestigious journal Nature Genetics.  

The consortium logged more than 1,000 newly discovered bacterial strains, a fraction of the planet’s microbial “dark matter.” Research revealed information about arthropods, annelids, nematodes, plants, fungi, bacteria, archaea, bacteriophages, and other microbial species.

As a faculty fellow of the Genomic Data Science Community Network (GDSCN), Professor Manjikian provided students with the rare opportunity to engage in real-world scientific inquiry supported by the National Human Genome Research Institute and the National Science Foundation. “GDSCN works towards a vision where researchers, educators, and students from all backgrounds can fully participate in genomic data science research,” he said.

“My participation in the BioDIGS project began with a simple curiosity about the soil in Lincoln Park, a heavily frequented public space in Jersey City,” said HCCC alumnus Aadil Ishtiaq. “By contributing to this broader comparative study, I hope to gain insights into the potential variations and similarities in soil microbiomes, revealing how human activity and environmental factors shape these essential ecosystems.”

“We are very proud of our students and Professor Manjikian for their contributions in this important work that involved more than 40 research and teaching institutions,” said HCCC President
Dr. Christopher Reber. “The BioDIGS project is vital to understanding the soil microbiome and its impact on animals, plants, and humans, its relevance to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education, and the advancement of data science.”

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  Hudson County Community College will graduate its largest class ever at their 48th Annual Commencement Ceremony on May 21, 2025 at Sports Illustrated Stadium.

The Class of 2025 is the largest in the College’s History.

  Hudson County Community College (HCCC) will celebrate the academic achievements of more than 1,550 students at the College’s 48th Annual Commencement ceremonies. The event will be held on Wednesday, May 21, 2025, at 10 a.m. at Sports Illustrated Stadium, 600 Cape May Street in Harrison, NJ.  The College expects approximately 7,000 graduates, family members, faculty, staff, trustees, and guests to attend.

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The new tower will house NCAA gym, fitness center, science labs, theater, classrooms, and administrative offices.

   Hudson County Community College (HCCC) held a “Topping Out” ceremony on Thursday, April 17th, 2025, at 2 Enos Place on the College’s Journal Square Campus in Jersey City, for the new Center for Student Success. Students, faculty, staff, honored guests, the project team, and others signed the beam and raised it into position.

The 11-story, 153,186 square-foot HCCC Center for Student Success resides one block from the Journal Square PATH. The tower will replace several of the College’s small, segregated, and aging buildings. The blueprint includes 24 classrooms; full-size National College Athletics Association (NCAA) gymnasium to facilitate the debut of the College’s Athletics Department; fitness center; black-box theater; health sciences laboratories; 85 offices; eight conference rooms; a “University Center” for sister colleges and partners to offer baccalaureate instruction; expanded student services areas; and more.

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Hudson County Community College students enjoy a sharing a book together in the College’s Culinary Arts Park on the Journal Square Campus.

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Hudson County Community College (HCCC) President Dr. Christopher Reber (back row center) is pictured here with Hudson Scholars students.

 Recently, Hudson County Community College’s (HCCC) innovative and transformative Hudson Scholars program was presented the prestigious Bellwether Legacy Award for impacting student success in retention and college completion, particularly for those from traditionally underserved groups. The Legacy Award, the highest honor bestowed by the Bellwether College Consortium, is just one of many national accolades Hudson Scholars has received in the past two years. Others include the League for Innovation in the Community College’s 2022 Innovation of the Year Award, Bellwether 2023 Instructional Programs and Services Award, and Provident Bank Foundation’s prestigious 2023 Signature Grant ($100,000).

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Hudson County Community College has substantially increased student retention and completion over the past five years. Pictured here, are joyful members of the HCCC Class of 2023

Hudson County Community College (HCCC) has earned “Leader College of Distinction” designation from Achieving the Dream (ATD), the national reform movement of high-achieving community colleges. The honor is bestowed upon innovative higher education institutions that demonstrate sustained and significant outcomes in the advancement of student success. HCCC is one of six Leader Colleges to receive this honor.

ATD is the acclaimed national nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing community colleges as hubs of equity and mobility in their communities. ATD created the Leader College of Distinction Award in 2018 to recognize colleges that meet challenging student success goals. It is the highest designation of institutional success outcomes in the ATD network of colleges.

“This recognition is important to our colleges. It affirms to their faculty and staff and communities the importance of their student success work and that they are making progress on important milestone metrics in their journeys,” said Dr. Karen A. Stout, President and CEO of Achieving the Dream. “Hudson County Community College is an exemplar of excellence within the ATD Network. It is driving accelerated and scaled gains in equitable student success results, which affect substantive improvements for students, families, and the community HCCC serves. Their dedication and hard work both inform and inspire other colleges, and we admire them for their work.”

HCCC joined the ATD network of 300 colleges in January 2019 and achieved Leader College status last year by demonstrating continuous improvement in retention and graduation rates, especially among Hispanic and African American students; attending annual ATD DREAM meetings; filing annual student success action plans and reports; and serving as an invited presenter at ATD national meetings and webinars.

“We’re proud to be named a Leader College of Distinction, and thank our Trustees, faculty, staff, and students for helping produce transformative results that empower our students and our community,” said HCCC President, Dr. Christopher Reber. “ATD’s mission aligns with our College’s mission of opening new pathways for our most vulnerable learners and helping ensure that students achieve their academic and professional goals. Seeing our students complete degree and certificate programs, become gainfully employed, and engage in civic participation is inspiring, and compels us to continue building upon our successes.”

Hudson County Community College utilizes evidence-based data and programs and ATD best practices to shape policy and practices that result in student success:

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