Hudson County Community College is holding its 48th Annual Commencement Ceremony on Wednesday, May 21, 2025 at Sports Illustrated Arena in Harrison, NJ. The College’s Class of 2025 is its largest ever, with 1,540 graduates.

The Hudson County Community College (HCCC) Class of 2025 is the largest in the College’s history, with more than 1,540 students graduating. They include single parents, siblings, career changers, older adults, immigrants striving to achieve the American dream, lifelong learners, and others.  

The HCCC 48th Annual Commencement Ceremony will be held on Wednesday, May 21, 2025, at 10 a.m. in Sports Illustrated Arena, Harrison, NJ. The event will include greetings and introductions from HCCC President Dr. Christopher Reber, HCCC Board of Trustees Chair Jeanette Peña, and Hudson County Executive Craig Guy. Dr. Darryl Jones, Vice President for Academic Affairs, will host the Presentation of Graduates. Master of Ceremonies is Senior Vice President for Student Affairs and Enrollment Dr. Lisa Dougherty.

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The Hudson County Community College (HCCC) School of Nursing and Health Professions has been recognized with the Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Health Professions Award. Pictured here, the HCCC Class of 2024 Nursing Graduates.

HCCC is the only community college in the United States to earn this honor.

Jersey City, NJ –   The Hudson County Community College (HCCC) School of Nursing and Health Professions has been presented with the 2024 Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Health Professions Award from Insight Into Diversity magazine. The award is a national honor recognizing United States colleges and universities offering health programs that demonstrate an outstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion. HCCC is the sole community college in the United States to receive this award.

“Hudson County Community College is proud to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the 70 institutions receiving this award that offer baccalaureate, master’s and doctoral degrees,” said HCCC President Dr. Christopher Reber. “We are keenly aware of the important role our School of Nursing and Health Professions plays in addressing the healthcare workforce shortage by offering courses in a broad range of fields and providing students with the resources and support they need to succeed.”

“The HEED Health Professions Award process includes a comprehensive and rigorous application with questions relating to the recruitment and retention of students and employees — and best practices for both; continued leadership and support for diversity; and other aspects of campus diversity and inclusion,” said Lenore Pearlstein, publisher of Insight Into Diversity magazine. “We take a detailed approach to reviewing each application in deciding who will be named a Health Professions HEED Award recipient. Our standards are high, and we look for schools where diversity and inclusion are woven into the work being done every day across their campus.”

Insight Into Diversity magazine selected the HCCC School of Nursing and Health Professions in recognition of the College’s focus on recruiting and retaining traditionally underrepresented and first-generation college students. The College was recognized specifically for the following initiatives and outcomes:

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 Final determination of scheduling rests with New Jerseyâ€s direction and guidance.

Hudson County Community College (HCCC) President Dr. Chris Reber announced that most fall 2020 for-credit, workforce development, and noncredit courses will be offered online or remotely, with many lab, culinary, health sciences and related courses offered on-ground subject to state approval and adherence to safety protocols recommended by the health care community.

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“On behalf of our Trustees, administration, and, most especially, our students, I want to thank Governor Murphy and the State legislators for working to remove the financial barriers that restrict members of our community from obtaining a college education,” said HCCC President Dr. Chris Reber.  “A college education has become essential to establishing a career and earning family sustaining wages.  We are honored to have been chosen to pilot the Community College Opportunity Grant during the Spring 2019 semester. This program will benefit families seeking opportunities that might have been impossible before.”
 
Earlier this year, the Governor and legislature approved $25 million in funding to begin the CCOG pilot initiative in Spring 2019.  The CCOG pilot program will allow HCCC to offer current and new students from low-income families the opportunity to attend community college tuition free.  Students with adjusted gross incomes of up to $45,000, who take six or more credits in the Spring 2019 semester will be eligible to receive CCOG awards for tuition and educational fees after applying any other federal or state grant aid they receive.
 
Hudson County Community College has comprehensive Financial Aid programs with 83 percent of HCCC students receiving assistance.  Additionally, the County of Hudson and HCCC Foundation provide over $500,000 in scholarships each year. Still, there is a large population in Hudson County in need of tuition assistance. 
 
“Since becoming President, I have spoken with hundreds of our students and I am inspired by their persistence and dedication to attaining a college education,” Dr. Reber stated.  “Thousands of HCCC students struggle every day with balancing full-time employment, full-time studies, and caring for their families. This program will go a long way in easing their burdens and providing a free and accessible education to thousands of continuing and new students next spring.”
 
The NJ Secretary of Higher Education and the NJ Higher Education Student Assistance Authority (HESAA) evaluated applications from colleges before selecting pilot institutions. The application criteria included the colleges†plans for outreach and support for students, how cost projections fit within statewide funding constraints, and geographic diversity.
 
Information about the CCOG program will be available by contacting admissions@hccc.edu or by calling (201) 714 – 7200. The Collegeâ€s multilingual Financial Aid staff will assist prospective students in applying for CCOG grants.

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Five Films Feature Mermaids, Wrestlers, and a Pregnant Olympic Hopeful

 By Sally Deering

Filmmaker Delaney Buffett took a film crew to Florida to interview ‘mermaids†swishing their tales in underwater ballets at the Weeki Wachee Springs mermaid theater for her documentary THE SPRING. This award-winning documentary short can be seen — along with four other shorts by women filmmakers — at Hudson County Community Collegeâ€s first-ever Indie Film Festival on Thurs, Mar. 15, Thurs, Apr. 12, Tues, Apr. 17, and Sat, Apr. 28. 

Along with Delaney Buffett, the filmmakers are all up-and-comers, many of them grads from local films schools who have had their films screened at the Tribecca Film Festival and other competitions. Every day of the HCCC festival, all five films will be shown. They are:  First Match, directed by Olivia Newman about a determined 14-year-old wrestler who prepares for her first co-ed match. Kid Warrior, directed by Vanessa Black, which follows a teen activist who has taken on major oil companies in the fight against climate change.

New Deep South: Kayla, directed by Rosie Haber – a series that explores the LGBTQ culture emerging in the American South; Run Mama Run, directed by Daniele Anastasion about an elite track athlete who continues to train for the Olympic trials while pregnant; and, Delaney Buffettâ€s The Spring, about the women of Weeki Wachee Springs mermaid theater.

Filmmaker Delaney Buffett

 â€œIâ€m from South Florida, I grew up there,” Delaney Buffett says. “My parents told me about Weeki Wachee Springs when I was a kid. I remember I was discussing it with my dad. (Delaneyâ€s father is Jimmy Buffett of “Margaritaville” fame.)  I didnâ€t believe him at first. I went on their website and talked to a couple of friends who made films. We were breaking out, making short-form content and short-form documentaries. My best friend Katie Corwin, and then my other friend, my roommate Chloe Corner and the rest of the crew of women went down there with me and we shot it there.”  

THE SPRING is about the talented female swimmers who don mermaid tails and put on shows in a small underwater theater at Weeki Wachee Springs State Park in Florida. The shows are a huge tourist attraction and have been ever since founder Newton Perry, a U.S. Navy swim coach got the idea in 1947. Before he could train swimmers and teach them underwater routines, Perry first had to clear the spring of abandoned cars and rusted appliances dumped there by local residents. He eventually turned the spring into a mermaid cave with rocks and seaweed and discreetly placed air hoses for the “mermaids” to breathe oxygen under water. Today, the mermaids perform in a sophisticated 400-seat underwater theater.

“When we went down there we didnâ€t know what to expect,” Delaney Buffett says. “The mermaids perform an underwater ballet. They have tails on and they do tricks, drink Cokes underwater. One mermaid eats an apple. Its awesome.”

Wicki Wachee Springs Mermaid Circa 1947

HCCC Cultural Affairs Director Michelle Vitale invited Buffet and the other women directors to screen their films in honor of Womenâ€s History Month, she says. The festival, which opened on March 2^nd, has enjoyed enthusiastic attention from the general public and HCCC faculty who are bringing students to see the films, she says.

“Some of the films are inspirational,” Vitale says. “Itâ€s a special arrangement of films and filmmakers that Delaney brought together for the festival. You donâ€t have to be a woman to enjoy them either. One is about an environmentalist, the others are about LGBTQ life in the south, a mermaid community in Florida, a pregnant runner and a young wrestler. They run the gamut from sports to the environment.”

When creating the festival, Buffett took into consideration the diversity of HCCC students and the local community. Vitale says: “Itâ€s a broad range of directors and material.”

The success of the festival has inspired Vitale to host another film festival at HCCC, she says. Meanwhile, she encourages local residents to stop by the 6^th floor atrium in the HCCC library building and check out the work thatâ€s being shown – and for some buttered popcorn, too!

“Everybody loves film,” Vitale says. “Film is very relatable. Every art has their special thing. With film, its an intimate experience.”

If you go

Thurs, Mar. 15 at noon, Thurs, Apr 12 at 2 pm, Tues, Apr 17 at 10 am & 6:30 pm,

And Sat, Apr. 28 at 1:30 pm.

Womenâ€s Indie Film Fest

Hudson County Community College

Benjamin J. Dineen III and Dennis C. Hull Gallery

71 Sip Ave, 6^th Fl, JC

(201) 360-4176

www.hccc.edu/cultural-affairs

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HUDSON COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE, Benjamin J. Dineen III and Dennis C. Hull Gallery, 71 Sip Ave, 6^th Floor Gallery, JC. Opens Jan 25 and runs through Mar. 2: OUT ON BROADWAY: A VISUAL LEGACY. Curated by James E. Crochet.  “On display will be costumes, sketches, and accessories from award-winning costume designers such as Gregg Barnes, James E. Crochet, Jess Goldstein, William Ivey Long to iconic LGBT characters in shows like Kinky Boots, La Cage aux Folles, Hairspray, Cabaret, Grey Gardens, and Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Explore the creations that have made a night out on Broadway a memorable experience.” (Pictured: William Ivey Long, Chrysler Building Dress from The Producers.)

ON STAGE

MILE SQUARE THEATRE, 1400 Clinton St., HOBO.  www.milesquaretheatre.org. Opens Jan. 31 and runs through Feb. 25: DRIVING MISS DAISY by Aflred Uhry, directed by Mark Cirnigliaro. “Set in the South ,the play explores the budding friendship between an elderly white Southern Jewish woman, Daisy Werthan, and her African-American chauffer, Hoke Colburn. The play features Barbara Broughton, Count Stovall and Matthew Lawler.” Tix: $30-$40; student/senior discount $18.

ART SHOWS

BARSKY GALLERY, 49 Harrison St, HOB. www.barskygallery.com. Opening Sat, Jan 13 (Opening Reception 6-9 pm) and runs through Sat, Feb 24: DESOLATED, SOLO EXHIBITION BY VALERY YERSHOV. “Barsky Gallery is proud to announce its upcoming solo exhibition of Russian-born, NYC-based artist, Valery Yershov. DESOLATED showcases 20 new paintings from the artistâ€s most recent body of work.”

107 BOWERS GALLERY & ARTSPACE, 107 Bowers St, JC. www.107bowersgallery.com. Opens Sat, Jan. 20, (Opening Reception 2-8 pm). Show runs through Sat, Feb. 24: CARNIVAL OF DREAMS, featuring artists Johnnie Ginder and Orange Li.

GUTTENBERG ARTS CENTER, 6903 Jackson St, GUTT. (201) 868-8385. www.GuttenbergArts.org. Now through Jan. 31: MADE HERE: FALL 2017 GROUP EXHIBITION. Featured artists: Dahlia Elsayed, Jessica Rohrer, Jeremy C. Smith and Alisha Wessler. “The works included in MADE HERE were created during the artists†residences this past fall. The title “MADE HERE” carries not only multiple definitions, but multiple conceptual meanings ranging from location to identity, the politics of materials and the historical nature of place.”             

MANA CONTEMPORARY, 888 Newark Ave, JC.  Now through Feb 1 in the Mana BSMT Gallery: ALEX CZETWERTYNSKI: FIRST LIGHT. “Mana BSMT is pleased to present First Light, a solo exhibition by New Media Program resident Alex Czetwertynski. Against the backdrop of our media-driven society, the exhibition pays homage to the characters, forces, and energies that come before the digital images that surround us. Featuring six new media and light works, including sculpture and installation, First Light invites us to explore the elemental forces that power our screens and devices.”

NOVADO GALLERY, Contemporary Art, Design & Ceramics, 110 Morgan St, JC. www.novadogallery.com. Opens Sat. Jan. 20, (Opening Reception 7-9 pm) and runs through Feb. 25: OFF THE WALL!  THE NEW COLLECTORS SHOW. Group exhibition featuring 15 Jersey City artists: Gianluca Bianchino, Jerome China, Mark Finne, Carlos Frias, Frank Gavere, Enrico Gomez, Lisa Ficarelli-Halpern, Doug Madill, Lauren Pitcher, James Pustorino, Bryan Rackleff,  Fabricio Suarez, Robert Streicher, Charlee Swanson and Kati Vilim  (Pictured:  Kati Vilim, Momentary Space 1.)

CLUBSCENE

FOX & CROW, 594 Palisade Ave, JC, www.foxandcrowjc.com. Fri, Jan 19, 10-11:59 pm: ENILDO RASUA. Sat, Jan 20, 10-11:59 pm; JASON GREEN AND THE LABOR OF LOVE.  Thurs, Jan 25, 8-10 pm: SEAN KIELY. Fri, Jan 26, 10-11:59 pm: KARYN KUHL. Sat, Jan 27, 10-11:59 pm: PAUL MEYERS and TODD COOLMAN. (Pictured: Sean Kiely.)

BRIGHTSIDE TAVERN, 141 Bright St, JC. Every first Monday of the month, RJO All Stars Jam Session at 7:30 pm. www.riverviewjazz.org. Mon: Jazz Jam Session; Tues & Wed: Karaoke; Thurs: Open Mic Night; Fri: Comedy, Private Parties, Dance, Karaoke, Open Mic; Sat & Sun, Brunch, Private Parties, Dance, Karaoke, Open Mic.

KIDS†SHOWS

JC THEATER CENTER, Merseles Studios, 337 Newark Ave, JC. www.jctcenter.org.  Saturdays at 2 pm Tix: $10-$12: MISHKA is the Scandinavian folk tale about a little bear that runs away and then finds his purpose. Directed by Marion Schoevaert of Shadow Puppet Theatre, where silhouettes of characters are projected onto a screen. The show is for kids of all ages.

THE NEW VICTORY THEATRE, 209 W. 42^nd St, NYC.  (646) 223-3010; www.newvictory.org. Through Jan. 28:  A SICK DAY FOR MORRIS MCGEE. “Every day, Morris McGee takes the No. 5 bus to his job at the zoo. Every day, he lovingly attends to the elephant, the tortoise, the penguin, the owl and the rhinoceros (who always has a runny nose). Every day, that is, until it’s Morris who has the sniffles! Based on a Caldecott Medal-winning book by Philip C. Stead, this charming puppetry performance about one creature of habit and his kindhearted coterie will warm your heart and chase away the winter chills.”

CHARITY EVENTS

PULLS FOR PUPS, 150 Bay Crossfit, 150 Bay St, JC. Sat, Jan. 20, 9:30 am-1 pm: PULLS FOR PUPS: Half Marathon Indoor Team Rowing-A-Thon. “Participants will be in teams of 6 to row a half marathon to raise money to aid our local shelters in caring for homeless animals. Pull4Puppies is a charitable event to assist shelters in providing care for animals with NO homes. 100% of all money raised will be donated to this cause. We will be providing local food and ice cold beer to participants.”

SEND US YOUR ARTS LISTINGS. If you have an art opening or performances coming up including visual arts, performing arts and street arts, send an email to:  riverviewobserver@gmail.com and weâ€ll list it in ARTScene.  ALL ARTScene LISTINGS ARE FREE.

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To view online, go to http://www.hccc.edu/uploadedFiles/Pages/Programs_and_Certificates/Community_Education/NonTraditionalPrograms-Catalog-WinterSpring-2017.pdf. For more information, or if you have any questions, call 201-360-4246 or email communityed@hccc.edu.

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